Ryzen 5 2600 - AMD's Cool'n'Quiet setting

[TRD_Mike]

Hi All,

New to the forums, and somewhat new to Ryzen overclocking.
I've successfully managed to OC my CPU to a stable 4.2ghz @ 1.3625v.

However, I'm having a hard time deciding on if I want to enable the AMD Cool'n'Quiet setting in my motherboard (MSI B450 Tomahawk with latest BIOS 7C02v15).

The first question is, when overclocking my PC as a daily driver that's primary used for gaming, is it more preferred to keep the CPU clock freq at a constant 4.2ghz all the time, or let it throttle itself when not under load?

I'm getting conflicting reports from MSI themselves.

In this video produced by MSI, he's talking about how you want to enable Fixed mode because you want all your cores to run at OC no matter what, regardless if in idle, heavy load, or light load, because you want perfect system stability and if you leave downclocking and power saving options enabled it can cause your system to become unstable. Yes, I understand this tutorial is for OC'ing a Intel chip, but is it not the same for AMD chips?

In this guide produced by MSI on how to overclock a Ryzen 7 on an X470 board, the very last step they tell you that once you've found stability on your OC settings, to go back in and ENABLE AMD Cool'n'Quiet.

When you're utterly satisfied that your overclock is stable, go back into the BIOS for one last time. Navigate to the OC and look under the CPU Features section to find the AMD Cool'n'Quiet option. The Cool'n'Quiet feature is responsible for reducing your processor's frequency and voltage when it's idling. This not only helps save power but also keeps your system as quiet as possible since your fans for your cooling solution won't work as hard.

So back to my question: Which is preferred, keeping your CPU clock frequency and voltage static, or letting your mobo be dynamic and throttle or downclock your CPU when not under load?
Any advice is welcome, and thanks.

 

[Blaylock]

In this guide produced by MSI on how to overclock a Ryzen 7 on an X470 board, the very last step they tell you that once you've found stability on your OC settings, to go back in and ENABLE AMD Cool'n'Quiet.

I have used both methods but have not found stability issues with AMD's Cool & Quiet once an overclock has passed all the stability testing, only during the actual overclocking procedure. Cool and Quiet has been around for generations and is a pretty reliable feature.

 

[trents]

Try it for yourself and see.

 

[Johan45]

I run my R5 2600 at 4.2 as well with power savings enabled. It idle at 1500 .6V and cycles up to 4.2 GHz without issue. Been like this 24/7 for over a year now.

 

[Zerileous]

Nice OC!

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Very nice clocks.

This is static overclock. Only thing changed between these screen shots is balanced and performance mode in W7 change power settings from the screen saver window.
And this is one of my daily settings.

This is After with Balanced (power saving mode) enabled W7



And this one is Performance (All power savings off no green) enabled W7

 

[TRD_Mike]

I have used both methods but have not found stability issues with AMD's Cool & Quiet once an overclock has passed all the stability testing, only during the actual overclocking procedure. Cool and Quiet has been around for generations and is a pretty reliable feature.

Thanks for the reply. So I turned on Cool'n'Quiet in the UEFI last night after my post and sure enough my CPU downclocked at idle to 1.5ghz. Which is great, I'd prefer it that way. But it seemed to keep the voltage locked at 1.3625v. I'd like to have the voltage drop at idle as well. It got late and I didn't have time to look into a setting to to achieve that. I've also started researching P-States and C-States, maybe one of those setting will allow me to reduce voltage at idle. I also haven't had time to jump on my computer today to stress test, so hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow and report my results.

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I run my R5 2600 at 4.2 as well with power savings enabled. It idle at 1500 .6V and cycles up to 4.2 GHz without issue. Been like this 24/7 for over a year now.

View attachment 204473

View attachment 204474

Very nice! This is what I would ultimately like to achieve. As I posted above, I turned in Cool'n'Quiet last night and it downclocked my CPU when at idle to 1.5ghz, but seemed to keep my voltage locked. It got late and I didn't have time to play around, nor have I had time today. Hopefully tomorrow. Been researching P-States and C-States to see if that will help reduce voltage at idle. What all did you enable/disable in your UEFI to get your voltage to drop at idle?

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Nice OC!

Thank you!

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Very nice clocks.

This is static overclock. Only thing changed between these screen shots is balanced and performance mode in W7 change power settings from the screen saver window.
And this is one of my daily settings.

This is After with Balanced (power saving mode) enabled W7

View attachment 204514

And this one is Performance (All power savings off no green) enabled W7

View attachment 204515

Nice clocks yourself! Hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow to jump on my PC, but I will for sure have to play with Win10 power settings after I get the UEFI dialed in.

 

[Johan45]

Did you use offset voltage or do MSI boards even have that?
Even if it doesn't cycle down the current draw drops significantly so it still works

 

[Zerileous]

Did you use offset voltage or do MSI boards even have that?
Even if it doesn't cycle down the current draw drops significantly so it still works

Are you using an offset voltage with a multiplier OC? What offset?

 

[Johan45]

Yep, offset at + 0.225 V this is a 2600 non "X" so as a lower voltage to start with.

 

[Zerileous]

Interesting. Looks like I need to try a manual OC again. I couldn't get past 4.15ghz @ 3.625v1.3625v, but I left cool n quiet on and didn't try an offset.

 

[Blaylock]

Interesting. Looks like I need to try a manual OC again. I couldn't get past 4.15ghz @ 3.625v, but I left cool n quiet on and didn't try an offset.

You might want to double check you voltage. You board is incapable of that many, not to mention your CPU would be magma by now.

 

[Zerileous]

Yeah I meant 1.3625v. Clearly I need some more coffee.

 

[TRD_Mike]

Did you use offset voltage or do MSI boards even have that?
Even if it doesn't cycle down the current draw drops significantly so it still works

Hi Johan. Finally have some time to jump on my PC. I've been helping my son build a water propelled rocket for his science project.
First, to answer your question: Yes, in the latest BIOS update for my mobo board, MSI finally introduced a CPU core voltage offset. However, I'm currently using the Override setting and manually setting the voltage.
Would you recommend me trying to use the offset setting instead of override?

One thing I've found interesting is that my CPU doesn't downclock now..? Even though nothing has changed in my BIOS. I went in and tried changing Cool'n'Quiet between enabled and auto, but still doesn't down clock. Before, a few nights ago when I enabled Cool'n'Quiet, there was very apparent peaks and valleys in Afterburner CPU monitoring, ranging from 4.2ghz to 1.5ghz. Now it stays steady at 4.2ghz with very short and quick dips to 2.8ghz very periodically. Not sure what changed? I checked the Win10 power plan, and it's set to AMD Ryzen Balanced with Minimum Processor State set to 5%.

I'm really curious what you set to get your voltage to drop to 0.6v at idle.

 

[Blaylock]

Have you tried setting the Windows power settings as ShrimpBrime has recommended. Try Switching from Performance to Balanced and back to see if this allows the CPU to down-clock. Balanced is where you'll want to be once you have an established OC.

 

[Johan45]

Like Blay said, Win10 on balanced is now able to handle Ryzen just fine. Initially, it had issues which is why AMD introduced their own plan but it's no longer necessary.

You'll also find, at least I did, power savings behaviour is very BIOS dependant which is why I'm still using a BIOS from last April. It seems to be the only one I have found for the CHVI that lets me set a multiplier and offset voltage that will still cycle down in Windows. Some revert back to the if you OC then it's OC mode and there is NO downclocking. Others would cycle down the speed but not the volts etc...
So to answer your question if you want that behaviour then you need to find the right offset to keep things stable under load. Unfortunately the boost on the non "X" CPUs isn't high enough to use the PBO features and attain a high clock like this

 

[TRD_Mike]

Like Blay said, Win10 on balanced is now able to handle Ryzen just fine. Initially, it had issues which is why AMD introduced their own plan but it's no longer necessary.

You'll also find, at least I did, power savings behaviour is very BIOS dependant which is why I'm still using a BIOS from last April. It seems to be the only one I have found for the CHVI that lets me set a multiplier and offset voltage that will still cycle down in Windows. Some revert back to the if you OC then it's OC mode and there is NO downclocking. Others would cycle down the speed but not the volts etc...
So to answer your question if you want that behaviour then you need to find the right offset to keep things stable under load. Unfortunately the boost on the non "X" CPUs isn't high enough to use the PBO features and attain a high clock like this

Yes, I had Win10 power plan set to AMD Ryzen Balanced, and it keeps my CPU locked at 4.2ghz & 2.3625v. Verified the Processor Power Management is set to 5% min and 100% max. However, change it to just simply "Balanced" it will downclock my CPU, but keep my voltage locked. Even though the Processor Power Management is the same profile between the two. Maybe it's just buggy?

I feel like maybe I'm getting too focused on my CPU voltage dropping at idle. Even with the voltage locked at idle, my CPU is only sitting around 30°, which is fine. I'm just concerned about the longevity my chip if the voltage is locked at 1.3625v.

I think when I have time I will play with the Voltage Offset settings rather than Override and just having a static voltage. I'll report back with any new findings.

Thank you to everyone in this thread who's been so helpful. I really appreciate it.

 

[Blaylock]

First Gen Ryzen max safe voltage (with Temps in check) is 1.42v for 24/7 usage. 1.36v won't affect the longevity of that chip.