Overclocking AMD Threadripper 2950X

[sajeev3105]

Dear All,
Greetings of the day. I need some help on overclocking my Threadripper 2950X. Hope to find the same here. Before I put out my doubts and observations here is my base system:

Motherboard: MSI X399 MEG CREATION (Bios Version:7B92v12 (latest version as per manufacturers website))
CPU: Threadripper 2950X
RAM: 64GB(8 X 8GB) DD4 2933 MHz Gskill TridentZ CL14
HDD: 2 * 1TB M.2 NVME SSD, 1 * 1TB SSD
GPU: 2 * RTX 2080 Ti FE (In NVLink Config)
Cooling: Custom Water Cooling, 2 Radiators (420MM + 280MM)
PSU: 1200 Watt Cooler Master V1200 Platinum Standard

I believe I have a good & a powerful workstation with me. I would like to Overclock my processor and see how far can I push my system and get the maximum speed out of it as I think I have a good enough cooling system. Now I tried a tweak by going to the bios and adjusting the CPU Ratio to 42 from the default 35 and increasing the Core Voltage to 1.4125, now the system apparently works fine but as soon as I run Firestrike 3D TimeSpy benchmark initially I get a blank screen but may be after a couple of minutes the screen resumes normal. Now my questions are:

1. Am I doing something wrong here?
2. Can I actually Overclock this system?
3. Is there something called Turbo Boost on this motherboard for this CPU and if yes then how do i activate it. I have seen videos of some people setting Base clock of 1950X (Not 2950X) to 4.1 and getting a Turbo Boost of 4.9.

I am new to Overclocking and still don't understand a lot about it and thus would request you guys to please help.

Cheers

Sajeev

 

[Johan45]

First thing I should get out of the way is the likely hood of someone hitting 4.9 even on one core is very low and I would think that has to be a misreading of some sort video or not I call BS. These CPUs just don't run like that.
I would also suggest looking for performance boost overdive in that BIOS, I'm not familiar with the board but PBO works quite well and will boost the PCs base performance while maintaining the 4.4 GHz boost clock

 

[sajeev3105]

Thanks Johan, may be the video I was referring to also has an issue while disclosing the figures(

). So in your opinion doing it through PBO in bios is a better option as compared to doing it manually in the bios? This motherboard is pretty complicated in terms of finding the section you want, thus having it do manually would be more easy in case someone guides me on correct settings. Anyway I will try and find the precision boost overdrive in the bios.

Best Regards
Sajeev

 

[Johan45]

You can do it manually but you will lose the higher speed boost of 4.4 GHz. Give the PBO a try, you should be able to get in the 4.0 all core range and still keep the 4.4 boost. That setting is typically under something called AMD CBS on mine it's in the advanced section but I have an ASUS board

 

[Woomack]

On ASRock it was as simple as to switch from AMD default to ASRock mode and you could set CPU ratio and memory manually.

I had no MSI TR motherboard but as I see all is described on the page 71 of the user's manual. Check OC Explore mode at expert and try core performance boost option. No idea if the same is on every BIOS version but I can't see any additional settings.
You may also try OC profiles as it usually changes some settings and can give you tips what should be enabled/disabled if you can't see or set something.

 

[sajeev3105]

Unfortunately this motherboard doesn't come with any pre loaded profile... Now when I get into PBO Mode I find two of them, One is Precision Boost Overdrive (Set to auto) and the other being Precision Boost Overdrive Scalar (Also set to Auto). Under Precision Boost Overdrive I can only see the options of 300 Watt, 500 Watt, 800 Watt, manual and disable. Which should I be selecting?

Best regards
Sajeev

 

[Johan45]

I'd pick 300W I think your cooling should handle it easily if all good try 500W. If not you can always back down

The scalar is usually just a number 1 or 2 or 3 and the higher the number the higher the cores will run. You'll have to test it and see where your system fits in

 

[sajeev3105]

Just a small reconfirmation required, if I select 500W will my 1200Watt PSU still be able to run my 2 RTX 2080ti FE's?

Rgds
Sajeev

 

[ITAngel]

Just a small reconfirmation required, if I select 500W will my 1200Watt PSU still be able to run my 2 RTX 2080ti FE's?

Rgds
Sajeev

I would say is okay I had run before dual 1080Ti on a water cooling system with a 1920X and had no issues but your system may use a bit more cpu power but those 2080ti pull about 250W naturally. That is about 500W on their own which would had compared to my dual 1080Ti 250W. I would say you are fine just don't go crazy overclocking the cards on top of your cpu. I also had about 9 to 10 fans on that case with LED strips and such. Plus 3 to 5 drives as well. I miss that system. By the way my PSU was only 850W.

 

[sajeev3105]

Wow...I will do it and let you guys know how it goes.

Rgds
Sajeev

 

[T56impala]

I’ve overclocked mine with ryzen master in creative mode and have been running a steady 4.1 for a while now on all cores. My memory, set in the bios of the x399 tiachi, is running at 3200. I’ve only started messing with the Vega 64. I really know very little about overclocking a gpu and only minimal about overclocking a cpu. If not fo ryzen master, I don’t think I’d even attempt it.

My temps are in the mid 50s on the coolermaster 360 aio. Mid 80s running cinebench. I’m hoping the new loop I’m piecing together will lower temps a bunch.

 

[Keith Myers]

I've never got PBO at any level to work on any of my ASUS boards. The most they will boost to is the 3900 range. I have 280 AIO's for cooling. This is with 24/7 Seti cpu task loads. I can get the cpus to clock to 4025 using a manual multiplier though.

I can however get PBO Level 1 to work on the Asrock FatPro Gaming X399 board with the 2920X. It keeps the cores over 4100 consistently with the same Seti cpu task loads.

 

[Keith Myers]

New 3900X cpu replacing one of the 2700X's. Still can't get PBO to work on them with an all-core load. If enabled the average of all the cores falls down to around 4025-4050Mhz at 1.35V on Auto. If I just plug in a static 41.5 multiplier, and run with offset that nets 1.25V under load, I can maintain all cores at 4150Mhz and 8° C. less than Auto voltage. Once again, for an all-core load, it is best to just lock all cores instead of trying to run PBO which may get a few cores higher but can't keep all cores at the same clocks.

Plus, the BIOS' required for Ryzen 3000 on ASUS Crosshair VII Hero are totally broken. The BIOS turns off all fan outputs sporadically twice a day so that your cpu overtemps from no airflow. Put all fans on a fan controller to survive.