AMD’s Ryzen 7000 processors will run ‘significantly above 5GHz’
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AMD also has good news for Ryzen 7000 builders: cooling compatibility with AM4 systems.
By Mark Hachman
Senior Editor, PCWorld May 23, 2022 3:33 am PDT
Image: AMD
At Computex, AMD executives added key details about their upcoming Ryzen 7000 processor, including demonstrations that pushed clock speeds well above 5GHz, and a confirmation that its new AM5 socket will preserve compatibility with the cooling solutions used by current Ryzen chips in the AM4 socket.
AMD revealed the three chipsets that will accompany the launch the Ryzen 7000, and several third-party motherboards that will support it as well. AMD chief executive Dr. Lisa Su also showed off the new Ryzen 7000 handily outperforming an Intel Core processor running a project in a Blender render task.
In January, when AMD first unwrapped the Ryzen 7000 and its Zen 4 architecture, the company would only specify the “second half” of 2022 as the launch date for the new chip. At Computex, AMD executives nailed down “the fall” as the launch timeframe for its new processor. Unfortunately, we still don’t know all of the details of the new Ryzen 7000, as AMD plans to trickle them out over the course of the summer.
“Wherever our partners have a need for more computing capability, you will find AMD,” Su said during a keynote presentation at Computex.
The Zen 4/AM5 technology builds off of the current Ryzen 6000 Mobile processor, whose performance proved exemplary in a recent PCWorld review. AMD’s goal for the Ryzen 6000 Mobile was to take aim at mainstream laptops, and AMD couldn’t resist showing off a few of its recent wins, including the Alienware m17 R5 Ryzen Edition, Asus ZenBook S 13 and the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 and Yoga Slim Pro X. Metamechbook and Origin will also build in the Ryzen 6000 as system integrators. AMD also said that it will be adapting the Ryzen architecture for “Mendocino,” a new chip for long-lasting budget laptops costing less than $700.
One of the more interesting Ryzen wins, though, hasn’t been launched yet: the Corsair Voyager, a gaming laptop optimized for streaming. The Voyager ships with a small Apple-like touch bar at the top of the screen, designed around a version of the Elgato Stream Deck, along with several shortcut keys. Inside will be the “latest” AMD technologies, DDR5 memory, and a 1080p webcam said Frank Azor, the chief architect of gaming solutions and marketing for AMD. It’s due this summer.
AMD’s Frank Azor holds up the Corsair Voyager, a laptop with an integrated Elgato Stream Deck touch bar.
AMD
Good news for Ryzen 7000 builders
We already know several features of the Ryzen 7000: that’s it’s moving to an incompatible 1718-pin AM5 LGA socket, that AMD will manufacture it on a 5nm process technology, and that it uses DDR5 memory technology in place of DDR4, just like Intel’s rival Alder Lake chips. There are two chiplets, each with four Zen 4 cores, plus an I/O die that includes the integrated RDNA2 graphics core.
What we learned Monday morning Taiwan time, however, is that PC builders will be able to use the same coolers as they used for AM4 systems, even if the socket itself has changed, according to David McAfee, the general manager of AMD’s desktop business. It’s not clear what TDP levels each of the individual chips will run at, however; all McAfee would say in that regard is that the platform will max out at 170W (which refers to AMD’s own Package Power Tracking, not Thermal Design Power or TDP, according to analyst Dr. Ian Cutress.) McAfee also clarified some of the I/O capabilities, as well: 24 PCI Express 5.0 lanes, up to 14 “Superspeed” 20Gbps USB-C lanes, WiFi 6E and Bluetooth LE 5.2, and up to four HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2 ports.
AMD
We also now know the three Socket AM5 chipsets that AMD will ship alongside the Ryzen 7000 as well. They’ll include the X670E, the X670 and the B650, McAfee said.
McAfee described the X670E as the “best of the best,” with the most extreme overclocking headroom and the most power phases to push overclocking to its limits.
It will have two PCIe 5 graphics slots and a PCIe 5 storage slot, said Robert Hallock, Ryzen director of marketing for AMD, in a separate briefing for reporters. The X670 will be the chipset for most mainstream Ryzen builders, McAfee said, with PCIe 5 running to the M.2 slots as well as the primary graphics slot on many boards, he said. There will be memory overclocking as well. Finally, the B650 boards will “offer the perfect balance of price point and capability,” but without the overclocking capabilities of the other boards — PCIe4 will be used for graphics, but PCIe 5 for at least one NVMe SSD slot, Hallock said.
“So we’re trying to make our chipset portfolio a little more flexible going into this generation with two premium options, letting users step up to full [PCIe5] or down and tailor their prices accordingly,” Hallock said in a pre-brief for reporters.
The three chipsets that will accompany the AMD Ryzen 7000.
AMD
All of the boards will include PCIe 5 running to at least one M.
2 storage socket, McAfee said. PCIe 5 SSDs deliver up to 60 percent improvement in sequential read performance versus Gen 4, McAfee said, and AMD expects PCIe 5 SSDs from Crucial and Micron to be released in time with the AM5 board ecosystem, he said.
AMD revealed some of the third-party Ryzen 7000 motherboards, too.
AMD
While the SSDs themselves will help speed up PC load times, so will AMD’s work elsewhere in the system. AMD has created Smart Access Storage, which is the counterpart to Windows’ DirectStorage technology that Microsoft created and will dramatically decrease loading times on PCs. Smart Access Storage uses both AMD’s Smart Access Memory as well as Radeon GPU asset decompression to improve both game load times and texture streaming, Azor said.
“Smart access storage gets you out of the load screen and into your gameplay faster than ever,” Azor said. AMD will have more details in the coming months, he said.
Ryzen 7000 performance details
Unfortunately, we don’t know too much more about the Ryzen 7000’s performance than we did previously.
But if you think that the performance of the Zen 3-based 5800X3D delivers — 15 percent more performance than the 5800X, Su said — the Ryzen 7000 may offer more of the same: a 15 percent boost in single-threaded workloads compared to the prior generation, she said. In part, that’s because AMD doubled the level-2 cache to 1 megabyte per core for higher throughput. The clock speeds will also run “significantly above 5 GHz and with higher IPC [instructions per clock] and faster clock speeds,” she said. AMD also added dedicated instructions for augmented reality and neural networks. AMD will have more details later, executives said.
Su showed off a preproduction version of the Ryzen 7000 running a copy of Bethesda Softworks’ Ghostwire: Tokyo, where clock speeds reached 5.5 GHz. In a second demonstration, Su showed off a Blender render project running against a “competitor system,” she said, In that demonstration, the Ryzen 7000 finished the project 31 percent faster.
“Hopefully you can see why we’re so excited about our next generation Ryzen 7000 CPUs and AM5 platforms,” she said.
“You’ll hear a lot more over the coming months.”
Correction: The AMD Ryzen 7000 will consume 170W PPT, not 165W as an earlier version of this story incorrectly stated.
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor
As PCWorld’s senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.
AMD’s Ryzen 7000 CPUs will break the 5GHz barrier — and require a new motherboard
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AM4 had an incredible run
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Yes, the lid actually looks like that.
Image: AMD
This fall, AMD is planning a clean break with the past, and it thinks your need for speed might convince you to do the same. Today at Computex 2022, the company revealed the key facets of its next-generation Ryzen 7000 desktop CPUs, their Zen 4 architecture, and — for the first time in five years — a brand-new kind of motherboard you’ll need to buy. While even some of the company’s oldest AM4 motherboards can be updated to support its latest Ryzen 5000-series desktop CPUs, the upcoming Ryzen 7000 requires AM5.
As the company told us in January, the Ryzen 7000 are the first PC chips based on a 5nm process, and the AM5 motherboard platform is designed to support DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 out of the box.
AM5 = 5nm + DDR5 + PCIe 5.0 + 5GHz
But there’s a fifth “five” in the mix: AMD says Ryzen 7000 chips will be able to boost north of 5GHz, the first desktop chips from the company to do so. AMD showed off a 5.5GHz clockspeed during its Computex presentation while playing Ghostwire: Tokyo, matching the 5.
5GHz turbo of Intel’s Core i9-12900KS. Not that megahertz mean much for performance in isolation — both Intel and AMD have many laptop chips that can turbo to 5GHz too, and that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re faster at tasks than a lower-clocked desktop CPU.
AMD CEO Lisa Su holds up a Ryzen 7000.Screenshot by Sean Hollister / The Verge
What should actually make a difference: between increased clockspeed and generation-on-generation process improvements, Zen 4 will also have “greater than 15 percent” faster single-threaded performance than Zen 3 (single-thread still being the most important metric for many apps, particularly games). The new chips might also have higher power consumption, though: the new AM5 motherboards can now give the chips up to 170W of power, up from a reported 142W previously.
Image: AMD
Under the unusual rook-shaped lid of a Ryzen 7000, you’ll still see three chiplets: two 5nm Zen 4 CPU modules, and also a new 6nm I/O die that has now integrated RDNA 2 graphics, DDR5 and PCIe 5.
0 controllers, and built-in power management. Intriguingly, AMD marketing director Robert Hallock says every single Ryzen 7000 chip will have some amount of those integrated graphics, so you’ll only need a video card if you need the additional muscle for work or gaming. Integrated graphics aren’t exactly rare on either Intel or AMD desktop CPUs, but it hasn’t been a guarantee.
Another guarantee: at least one speedy PCIe 5.0 NVMe storage slot will be standard on every AM5 motherboard tier that AMD’s announcing today, including the new X670 Extreme, X670 and even the more affordable B650 (note we don’t have any actual prices yet). AMD says it’s already seeing 60 percent faster improvements in sequential read speed, the kind of thing that might give us the mythical 1-second game load times that Microsoft’s DirectStorage promises (but won’t necessarily deliver on day one).
Image: AMD
PCIe Gen 5 graphics support isn’t guaranteed, it depends on the tier: you’re sure to get it with an X670 Extreme motherboard, it’s optional for OEMs to included it on an X670, and you definitely won’t get it with a B650, where your long x16 PCIe slot will be PCIe Gen 4 instead.
Regardless of tier, AM5 is offering 24 lanes of PCIe 5.0 bandwidth, and says these motherboards will have up to 14 USB 3.x ports (I suspect AMD doesn’t specify which standard because the official naming is a mess), some of which will support 20Gbps and USB-C. You also get up to four display outputs on your motherboard itself, and manufacturers can outfit them with HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2.
A handful of the first AM5 motherboards.Image: AMD
Will also this be enough to tempt enthusiasts and gamers away from AMD’s existing AM4 platform, which was so successful at luring so many of them away from Intel? Hard to say, but it’s also hard to fault AMD for moving on. The company made five different CPU architectures fit into the AM4 socket over the past five years, instead of asking all those CPU buyers to add a new motherboard, and even now it’s pledging to continue support. “We want to keep AM4 going into the future so people can continue to benefit from this amazing platform,” says Hallock.
And you won’t have to give away all your AM4 gear if you’re upgrading to an AM5 desktop PC: AMD designed the new socket and chip to work just fine with existing AM4 CPU coolers.
AMD’s not talking about specific chips you can buy today, but says it’ll be trickling out more details over the summer ahead of the fall release.
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Processor requirements Windows Windows 11 supported AMD
processors
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- Article
- Reading takes 5 minutes
The processors listed represent processor models that meet the minimum gender for supported processor generations and up to the latest processors at the time of publication.
These processors comply with the security, reliability, and minimum system requirements design principles for Windows 11. Subsequently released and future generations of processors that adhere to the same principles will be considered supported, even if they are not explicitly listed. The list of processors is not expected to reflect the most current offerings from processor manufacturers between updates. Processor list updates will be performed on each successive public release of Windows.
OEMs can use the following CPUs for new Windows 11 devices. New Windows 11 devices must use modern device drivers that have passed the Windows Hardware Compatibility Program for Windows 11 or the latest available modern device drivers based on Declarative, Component, Hardware Support Applications (DCH ).
| Manufacturer | Trademark | Simulation |
|---|---|---|
| AMD | AMD | 3015e |
| AMD | AMD | 3020e |
| AMD | Athlon™ | 3000G |
| AMD | Athlon™ | 300GE |
| AMD | Athlon™ | 300U |
| AMD | Athlon™ | 320GE |
| AMD | Athlon™ | Gold 3150C |
| AMD | Athlon™ | Gold 3150G |
| AMD | Athlon™ | Gold 3150GE |
| AMD | Athlon™ | Gold 3150U |
| AMD | Athlon™ | Silver 3050C |
| AMD | Athlon™ | Silver 3050e |
| AMD | Athlon™ | Silver 3050GE |
| AMD | Athlon™ | Silver 3050U |
| AMD | Athlon™ | 7120e |
| AMD | Athlon™ | 7120U |
| AMD | Athlon™ | 7220e |
| AMD | Athlon™ | 7220U |
| AMD | Athlon™ Gold PRO | 3125GE |
| AMD | Athlon™ Gold PRO | 3150G |
| AMD | Athlon™ Gold PRO | 3150GE |
| AMD | Athlon™ PRO | 300GE |
| AMD | Athlon™ PRO | 300U |
| AMD | Athlon™ PRO | 3045B |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7252 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7262 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7272 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7282 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7302 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7313 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7343 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7352 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7402 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7413 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7443 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7452 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7453 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7502 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7513 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7532 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7542 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7543 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7552 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7642 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7643 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7662 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7663 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7702 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7713 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7742 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7763 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7232P |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 72F3 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7302P |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7313P |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 73F3 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7402P |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7443P |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 74F3 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7502P |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7543P |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 75F3 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7702P |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7713P |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7F32 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7F52 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7F72 |
| AMD | EPYC™ | 7h22 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 3100 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 2300X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 3200G with Vega™ 8 Graphics |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 3200GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 3200U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 3250C |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 3250U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 3300U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 3350U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 4300G |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 4300GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 4300U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 5300GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 5300U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 5400U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 7320e |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 | 7320U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 PRO | 3200G |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 PRO | 3200GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 PRO | 3300U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 PRO | 4350G |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 PRO | 4350GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 PRO | 4450U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 PRO | 5350G |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 PRO | 5350GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 3 PRO | 5450U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 2600 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 3600 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 3600 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 2500X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 2600E |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 2600X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 3350G |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 3350GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 3400G with RX™ Vega 11 GPUs |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 3400GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 3450U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | Processor 3500 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 3500C |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 3500U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 3550H |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 3580U Microsoft Surface® Edition |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 3600X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 3600XT |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 4500U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 4600G |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 4600GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 4600H |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 4600HS |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 4600U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 5300G |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 5300GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 5500U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 5600G |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 5600GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 5600H |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 5600HS |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 5600U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 5600X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 6600H |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 6600U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 7520U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 | 7600X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 2600 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 3600 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 3350G |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 3350GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 3400G |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 3400GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 3500U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 4650G |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 4650GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 4650U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 5650G |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 5650GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 5650hs |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 5650HX |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 5650U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 5750G |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 5 PRO | 5750GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 2700 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 5800 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 5800 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | Processor 2700E |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 2700X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 3700C |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 3700U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 3700X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 3750H |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 3780U Microsoft Surface® Edition |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 3800X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 3800XT |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 4700G |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 4700GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 4700U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 4800H |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 4800HS |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 4800U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 5700G |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 5700GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 5700U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 5800H |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 5800HS |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 5800U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 5800X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 6800H |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 6800U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 6810U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 | 7700X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 PRO | 2700 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 PRO | 3700 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 PRO | 2700X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 PRO | 3700U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 PRO | 4750G |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 PRO | 4750GE |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 PRO | 4750U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 PRO | 5850HS |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 PRO | 5850HX |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 7 PRO | 5850U |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 5900 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 5900 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | Processor 3900 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 3900X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 3900XT |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 3950X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 4900H |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 4900HS |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 5900hs |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 5900HX |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 5900X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 5950X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 5980hs |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 5980HX |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 6900HX |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 6980HX |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 7900X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 | 7950X |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 PRO | 3900 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ 9 PRO | 3900 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ Embedded | Version 2516 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ Embedded | Version 2546 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ Embedded | Version 2718 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ Embedded | Version 2748 |
| AMD | Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO | 5945WX |
| AMD | Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO | 5955WX |
| AMD | Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO | 5965WX |
| AMD | Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO | 5975WX |
| AMD | Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO | 5995WX |
Overclocking AMD Ryzen 9 5900X to 4.
6 GHz (all cores) on MSI MEG B550 UNIFY-X
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With the release of AMD Zen 3 desktop processors, users have access to an insane amount of processing cores, as well as unprecedentedly fast single-threaded performance within one powerful chip. Whether you’re streaming the latest AAA title to an online audience, processing CGI or editing raw footage, Zen 3 processors are sure to give you a speed boost.
However, the initial performance of a new processor «out of the box» is not necessarily the maximum that it is capable of. Let’s get the juice out of the Ryzen chip with a little overclocking. Shall we try?
In this guide, we will review the BIOS settings, make recommendations, and run tests related to stable overclocking of the 12-core AMD Ryzen 9 5900X processor.
Before we start, we think it’s important to point out that different instances of the same processor, in our case 5900X can show significantly different results when overclocked.
And a small caveat: we will take the processor beyond the recommended operating mode and its characteristics. Motherboards and CPUs have built-in protection mechanisms that limit potential damage or, ideally, shut down the computer before any damage occurs. The instructions in this guide will be safe for most users as we have tried not to take too many risks. However, you are solely responsible for any consequences.
Also keep in mind that overclocking requires changing the CPU voltage. Too high voltage can permanently damage the chip (and even the motherboard). Be careful when changing this setting, as even a 0.05 V increase will be quite significant for the processor. We do not aim to set overclocking records, so if you follow our instructions exactly, you will most likely safely get results similar to ours.
«Iron»: collecting components
Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor with a base frequency of 3.7 GHz and a boost frequency of 4.8 GHz. It is equipped with 64 MB of L3 cache and officially supports DDR4-3200 RAM. The manufacturer has set a 105W thermal pack for this chip, so effective cooling is required to keep its temperature at the proper level. The processor offers 24 lanes of PCIe 4.0 (this interface has twice the bandwidth compared to PCIe 3.0) and thus opens up great prospects for expanding the configuration for a mainstream platform like AM4.
To run the processor, we will need a good motherboard with an AM4 socket and a compatible chipset. We will take the MSI MEG B550 Unify-X model equipped with two 8-pin power connectors. The voltage regulator is made according to the 14 + 2 scheme with direct connection of power modules, each of which is rated for 90 A. Thus, during our overclocking experiments, we will definitely not have to worry about the stability of the power supply.
B550 Unify-X has only two DDR4 slots, which increases the overclocking potential of memory modules. In addition to four M.2 slots (supporting PCIe mode), a 2.5G Ethernet port, and a Wi-Fi 6 wireless module, this motherboard offers an internal high-speed USB Type-C peripheral connector.
We will assemble our configuration in the MPG SEKIRA 500G case. Its tempered glass side panel opens without the use of tools, giving you easy access to your computer’s innards. It supports the installation of water cooling systems with radiators up to 360 mm in size.
A solid water cooling system with a 360mm radiator, such as the MSI MAG CORELIQUID 360R, is a great choice for an overclocked Ryzen 9 5900X 12-core processor. We do not want to run into overheating, so we choose the best from our arsenal!
Cooling is an important factor in overclocking, but power supply is equally important. An insufficiently powerful or low-quality power supply can cause instability in an overclocked computer.
The MPG A850GF power supply has more than enough power for all the hardware components we use. It has a pair of 8-pin ATX connectors, and its 12-volt rails boast excellent performance.
Memory, graphics card, storage: G.Skill Trident Z Royal (16 GB, DDR4-3600), NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super, Kingston A2000 (PCIe)
To get the most out of our Ryzen processor’s Infinity Fabric interface, we’ll install 3600MHz DDR4 memory. This is a 16GB G.Skill Trident Z Royal Kit (2x8GB).
We’re not focusing on graphics performance in our overclocking experiment, so the NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super will be fine as the graphics card. The Kingston A2000 (PCI/NVMe) solid state drive will provide us with a fast boot of the operating system.
Base performance
Before overclocking, it is important to test the performance of the computer at standard settings. This data will become the baseline from which we will measure our overclocking results.
Native mode — Cinebench R15: 3566
Native mode — Cinebench R20: 8338
Native mode — Blender BMW Render: 1 minute 58 seconds
Native mode — Blender Classroom Render: 5 minutes 3 seconds
Cinebench is a popular benchmark that loads each processor core with rendering a tile, and then determines the performance score based on how fast the entire scene was rendered. The overclocked computer should show higher scores in both the R15 and R20 benchmarks. In contrast, the Blender benchmark measures render time, so an overclocked computer will result in less than a baseline result.
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X Overclocking
When overclocking, always change the CPU voltage and frequency first. After reaching a stable level, activate the aggressive settings of the memory modules by loading their XMP profile. If the computer is already on, restart and before the Windows boot screen appears, start pressing the Delete key to enter the BIOS interface. There you will see something like this:
Press the F7 key to access advanced settings.
In the upper left corner, you will see the default CPU and DDR4 memory options.
Go to the overclocking tab and set the CPU frequency multiplier. Set the value to 46 (don’t be alarmed if it’s highlighted in red).
Next, change the CPU Core Voltage setting to AMD Overclocking and select the Override CPU Core Voltage option. Enter 1.33 here (make no mistake!) and press the Enter key.
Now press the Escape key until we return to the initial BIOS screen. Go to the hardware monitoring tab. Of course, overclocking will make the processor hotter, so you should choose aggressive fan settings to quickly remove heat from the radiator.
In our build, the case fans are connected to the System1 header (in yours, they may be connected to another — check this).
If you have fans with 3-pin connectors, use DC regulation with Smart Fan mode.
If the fans, like ours, are 4-pin, use the PWM control with the same mode. Next, we repeat this for the radiator fans of the CORELIQUID 360R water cooling system connected to the CPU1 socket.
Done! Press the F10 key, save the changes and restart the computer.
Overclocking performance
Now let’s run some CPU tests to check the stability of the work and find out what kind of performance boost we got. If you notice that your computer is unstable when running these benchmarks, reduce the processor frequency to 4.5 GHz. You can also, at your own peril and risk, raise the supply voltage to 1.35 V, but we no longer recommend exceeding this mark.
Overclock Mode — Cinebench R15 (Multi): 3885 (8.9% gain)
Overclock Mode — Cinebench R20 (Multi): 9007 (8.0% gain)
Overclock Mode — Blender BMW Render: 1 minute 50 seconds (6.77% increase)
Overclocked mode — Blender Classroom Render: 4 minutes 41 seconds (7.26% increase) stability.
Enabling XMP Profile and Memory Overclocking
Once the CPU tests start to run without stability issues, we can move on to overclocking the RAM. In the BIOS overclock section, change the A-XMP setting to [Profile 1] as shown in the following illustration.
As a result, a pre-installed profile with settings for operating memory at a frequency of 3600 MHz should automatically load. Press the F10 key and save the changes.
When used with 3600 MHz memory on a Ryzen processor, you should see a performance boost under data rate sensitive workloads.
In our tests, the transition from 2666 to 3600 MHz resulted in a performance increase of 5-10%.
In tasks that heavily use all CPU cores, such as Blender and Cinebench, the results should not change much even though the A-XMP profile is enabled.
Indeed, the performance increased by no more than 1% — within the measurement error.
Do I need to run the Prime 95 stress test?
To detect instability in overclocked components, we prefer to use realistic benchmarks like Blender Classroom.
While Prime95 does put a lot of stress on the CPU with AVX instructions, in real life, normal users don’t experience that kind of stress. Therefore, if you test the stability of overclocking with Prime95, you are missing out on the performance boost that the computer could show in normal applications.
Do our instructions work with any AMD Ryzen 5000 series processor?
Yes! But with certain reservations.
