AMD Ryzen 5 1600X Overclocked Benchmark Results At 4.1GHz
By Nathan Kirsch •
AMD Ryzen 5 1600X – Overclocking to 4.1GHz With No Manual Voltage Increase
A recent trip to the local Micro Center location in St. Louis, Missouri showed that all the AMD Ryzen 5 6-core processors were sold out and rightly so as the Ryzen 5 1600X and Ryzen 5 1600 are both exceptional values. The AMD Ryzen 5 1600X is the flagship processor of the Ryzen 5 series and boasts 6-cores and 12-threads of processing goodness at over 4GHz clock speeds for just $249.99. AMD released the first quad-core processor (Phenom II X4) in January 2009, so many enthusiasts are ready to add more cores to their system here in 2017. No wonder they are sold out locally!
The AMD Ryzen 5 1600X CPU is a 95W TDP part that comes without a HSF, so you’ll need to purchase your own CPU cooler. The Ryzen 5 1600X has a base clock speed of 3.6GHz and can run all the way up to 4.1GHz thanks to AMD’s eXtended Frequency Range (XFR) technology. This processor is priced $90 less than the Intel Core i7-7700K quad-core processor ($339.99 shipped) and should do better in multi-threaded workloads or when multi-tasking in general.
AMD Ryzen 5 1600X Stock Specs
- 95W TDP
- 3+3 CCX config
- 16MB L3 cache
- 512K L2 cache per core
- 3.6GHz Base
- 3.7GHz All-Core Boost
- 4.0GHz 2-Core Boost
- 4.1GHz XFR
We already showed you the performance of a stock AMD Ryzen 5 1600X processor, but what about overclocked up to the max?
We were able to push the limits of our AMD Ryzen 5 1600X processor and was able to increase the all-core clock speed from 3.7GHz all the way up to 4.1GHz on this 6-core CPU! To do this we just increased the clock frequency in the UEFI on the MSI X370 XPower Gaming Titanium motherboard as we didn’t even need to increase the CPU Voltage as the board was already running the 1600X at 1. 380V according to CPU-Z! Most AMD Ryzen 5 1600X processors seem to do 4.0 to 4.2 GHz on all cores with a decent motherboard and CPU cooler, so we are happy with 4.1GHz.
We tried to go beyond 4.1GHz by manually increasing the Voltage, but we were unable to get 4.2GHz stable at over 1.45V on the 1600X and we didn’t want to go beyond that Voltage. We also noted that the CPU temperature was spiking beyond 80C while using the Corsair Hydro Series h210i Extreme Performance liquid CPU Cooler ($134.99) and that is hot enough for most.
If you wanted to use more exotic cooling methods you might be able to get the Ryzen 5 1600X processor up to nearly 6GHz! Overclocking expert der8auer used LN2 cooling on a Ryzen 5 1600X processor and was able to reach 5.9GHz on one of these processors with 6C/12T enabled! Pretty impressive results and it just goes to show that these processors have more than 4.0-4.2 GHz in them if you wanted to use extreme cooling techniques.
Overclocking an AMD Ryzen 5 CPU is very easy and the benefit of overclocking it can be beneficial in terms of performance. Luckily, all of AMD’s new Ryzen processor, from Ryzen 7 down to Ryzen 3 (all) can be overclocked and you can do it with either an X370 or B350 motherboard. There are two ways on how you can overclock your Ryzen processor; either via your motherboard’s BIOS or by using AMD Ryzen Master utility. In this overclocking guide, we’ll show you how to overclock any AMD Ryzen 5 CPU on an X370 AM4 motherboard from Asus, Gigabyte and MSI. This overclocking guide is also applicable to B350 motherboards since they usually have similar BIOS user interface. We’ll also show you some overclocking results we got when we tested and benchmarked the Ryzen 5 1600X processor.
Before we proceed in this simple and easy to follow Ryzen 5 overclocking guide; here’s a little reminder specially for those who are doing this for the first time; or if you have no clue to what you are about to do at all.
WARNING: Overclocking your processor is potentially dangerous. According to AMD, damages caused by use of your AMD processor outside of official AMD specifications or outside of factory settings are not covered under any AMD product warranty and may not be covered by your board or system manufacturer’s warranty. Overclock at your own risk!
Now that the disclaimer or warning is out of the way; most AMD Ryzen 5 processors, including the Ryzen 7, usually overclocks up to 4GHz. Some, if you are lucky enough, can reach up to 4.1GHz or even 4.2GHz. But the average Ryzen 5 CPU overclocks around 3.9GHz to 4GHz.
We want to show you how to overclock an AMD Ryzen 5 processor via the motherboard’s BIOS because you can fine tune and have better control on the clock speeds and voltages, including the memory’s clock speed. Don’t worry, we won’t tinker much on the BIOS settings. Like I said, this is just a simple and easy overclocking guide. We won’t do any hardcore or advanced overclocking here. Our target is to reach the highest possible clock speed, at a comfortable voltage with the memory’s XMP enabled.
First, let’s check out how to overclock an AMD Ryzen 5 processor on an Asus X370 AM4 motherboard, followed by Gigabyte’ X370 and then MSI’s X370. We don’t have an ASRock X370 motherboard on hand, so I can’t show you the BIOS settings. But basically, if you have an ASRock X370 motherboard, the process should be the same.
To access your motherboard’s BIOS settings or UEFI BIOS, simply hit the DEL key on your keyboard during POST (after you turned on your PC but before it loads windows). I’m sure most of you already know how to access the BIOS, so let’s proceed.
How to Overclock AMD Ryzen 5 on Asus AM4 Motherboard
The UEFI BIOS you see above is from the Asus Crosshair VI Hero X370 motherboard. It’s ROG themed, but the non-ROG or the Prime X370 should have similar layout and menu options. Make sure you are also in advanced mode to see the same BIOS settings as above.
Go to Extreme Tweaker and set the Ai Overclock Tuner to D.O.C.P. Standard; then set the D.O.P.C DDR4 according to the speed of your memory. This is similar to Intel’s XMP, except that in this motherboard, Asus calls it D.O.C.P.
On the CPU Core Ratio, adjust the core clock speed; 40.00 would give you 4GHz. I suggest you try starting at 3. 8GHz first and then move higher once the overclock is stable.
Make sure to adjust the CPU Core Voltage as well. According to AMD, 1.4V is a safe value and anything higher could put too much stress on the CPU and could damage it. That’s it, simply save the settings before you exit. Run Cinebench and see if the overclock is stable. If Cinebench didn’t crash, you may try to increase the clock speed by another 100MHz higher; or lower the voltage by 1 step down (using the + or – key).
Repeat this step until you reach the highest clock speed your Ryzen 5 CPU and motherboard can achieve.
How to Overclock AMD Ryzen 5 on Gigabyte AM4 Motherboard
On a Gigabyte / Aorus X370 AM4 motherboard, the procedures are similar. Go to advanced BIOS settings and access the Advanced Frequency Settings from M.I.T. Increase the CPU Clock Ratio and don’t forget to enable the Extreme Memory Profile as well. This is equivalent to Asus D.O.C.P.
After setting the clock speed and XMP profile, go back to the M. I.T.’s main menu and access Advanced Voltage Settings. Increase the voltage, and try starting at 1.4V. Save the settings, load Windows and run Cinebench or AIDA64’s System Stability Test and see if the settings work.
If not, simply repeat the steps and continue experimenting on the values; adjusting it 1 step higher/lower from before until you reach the optimal overclock setting for your setup.
How to Overclock AMD Ryzen 5 on MSI AM4 Motherboard
On an MSI X370 AM4 motherboard, all the settings you need to adjust can be found on the OC menu. If the menu looks different from the one above, you are probably seeing the EZ mode; simple hit F7 to access the advanced mode.
To overclock an AMD Ryzen 5 CPU on an MSI X370 motherboard, simply adjust the CPU Frequency, enable A-XMP and adjust the CPU Core voltage.
Just remember, most AMD Ryzen 5 processors overclocks at around 3.9GHz to 4.1GHz with a voltage of around 1.4V (sometimes lower). And the only values that we adjusted here are the CPU clock, CPU voltage and enabling the XMP profile.