How to overclock amd ryzen step by step

The arrival of AMD Ryzen to the market has revolutionized the entire computing sector. Not being so far in Intel games, since they are debugging their failures little by little with new BIOS. Above all, the famous DDR4 memory problems that are being solved with AGESA. To get the most out of it, we bring you a guide on how to overclock AMD Ryzen step by step.

And is that many users are getting to have off-road equipment at a very modest price thanks to this new AMD platform. Although one of its great advantages is that all its processors allow overclocking ( regardless of whether it is the normal version or finished in X).

We are the first in Spain to bring it in and we will update it little by little. Prepared? Here we go!

Index of contents

How to overclock AMD Ryzen step by step

The most beginners will wonder what is overclocking? Basically overclocking allows you to accelerate the base frequency of the processor or any chip (measured in MHz or GHz) to a higher factory level. This allows to get a higher performance without any additional cost. It is like modifying the power of a car's engine… but be careful, if you go too far you can break it.

So is there a risk of breaking sooner? Yes and no It all depends if you make the changes with your head or you do it in a crazy way, that is, with over-voltages and without knowing what to play. For this reason, you are here, to teach us what you should touch and above all what each option is for.

Test bench used

We have decided to use high performance equipment for the occasion. But you can follow the same guide with B350 motherboards and AMD Ryzen 5 and 7 processors.

• Processor AMD Ryzen 5 1600. Stock heatsink and Corsair H100i V2. Gigabyte X370 Gaming motherboard 5.16GB RAM memory G.Skill Flare X 3200 MHz. SDS Kingston UV400. 11GB NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti. Power supply EVGA G2 750W.

We recommend reading the differences between X370 vs B350 vs A320 motherboards.

While the software is going to use the following list, I specify in it what function each program will have.

• AMD Ryzen Master (with which we will overclock the processor). CPU-Z (check processor base frequency). Aida64 (tests for bandwidth, write / read and latency of RAM). HWMonitor (temperature control). Prime95 (prime number test). Cinebench R15 (synthetic performance test).

Previous modifications before overclocking

Before starting with the previous configurations you should know that we are not responsible for the improper use when overclocking. Everything you do is under your responsibility.

Have the latest updates in Windows and BIOS

We must first have a version of Windows 10 1607/14393 or higher. And we always recommend that you do a clean installation of the operating system, with the latest drivers.

Also update your BIOS to the latest version, as there are many improvements every week or 15 days (at least in these first months of launch). For example, on the website of every Gigabyte motherboard there is a BIOS download section that is updated every few weeks. Remember: Always use stable BIOS and avoid using BETA (except if you like messing around or greater cause).

Preconfiguration in Windows 10

Another option to modify is the HPET, which we must deactivate. This is no longer necessary, since the latest build of Windows 10, BIOS with AGESA 1.0.0.4 (we go for 1.0.0.6) and AMD Ryzen Tools are fully functional with the serial system. But in case you need it, you should do the following.

• Option 1: Deactivate HPET in your BIOS, if it does not have the option go to the next step. Option 2: We start the console with the CMD command and write:

bcdedit / deletevalue useplatformclock

And you should launch a message: “ The Operation completed successfully “ . Then you will have to restart the operating system for all changes to take effect.

Another recommended option is to have the operating system in high performance. To do this we must go to "Edit power plan" from the control panel and select high performance instead of balanced.

AMD Ryzen Master Tools

We will do all the overclock via software, since it does the same effect (for the moment) as from the BIOS. But it is much faster to test doing it hot and knowing how far our processor goes. But if you're more of a BIOS setup, can you then migrate the settings manually to it?

Although with all the changes, I recommend for the moment the use of the official software for this platform: AMD Ryzen Master Tools.

Before we start fiddling around a bit with the software, we have to take into account some values:

1. CPU voltage: it is the voltage that our processor will receive. It is necessary to have special attention in this aspect, since if we exceed a certain number we can create an important electro-migration and we will degrade our processor. I do not recommend exceeding 1.40v by air and 1.45v by liquid cooling . Also take into account, the higher the voltage we will have a higher energy consumption and higher temperatures. Speeds: They are the MHz that our processor will run, each CPU has its base frequency, with turbo and with XFR (the versions ending in -X). You have to be careful, since with liquid cooling at most we will reach 3.9 GHz almost all, most 4 GHz, some at 4.1 GHz and 4.2 GHz only the black legs. Memory clock: Here we will mark the RAM that we will previously mark in BIOS. I recommend you read its section if you want to do it all at once, but I recommend that you first stable overclock the processor and then test the RAM memory.

In case of entering BIOS, we have to take into account many more values, but we will leave that part for later in our official forum thread.

We recommend that you do not exceed these limits:

• Maximum voltage: As we have said for air, do not exceed 1.40v, while for liquid or compact cooling no more than 1.45v. Maximum temperature: His is not to exceed more than 65ºC in maximum performance. Where if temperatures rise we will start to see throttling with our processor.

In our case with the AMD Spire heatsink that brings the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (I have used the one of my Ryzen 7 1700 which is the same but with RGB) and we have not been able to upload the processor, since it comes quite high in frequencies: 3600 MHz serial.

And it is that not all go up to 4 GHz… his thing is that if you want to try your luck, start with 3.8 GHz or 3.9 GHz in case you have had a good processor. If not, you have to buy a good heatsink, in our case we have opted for a Corsair H100i V2 water cooler that is worth over 100 euros and comes with AM4 anchors.

To get to 4025 MHz we have had to dial:

• Processor speed: 4025 MHz (it goes up every +25 MHz). Voltage control: 1.45v (it is the maximum that I recommend). Memory frequency: we have left it by default at 2400 MHz. Latency: by default too.

The results are really good, since we have raised Cinebench R15 from 1151 cb to 1286 cb. We have also noticed a palpable improvement in games, since sometimes we had micro-jerks (in the Ryzen 7 it usually happens) but raising the frequency everything goes much more smoothly and without problems.

The temperatures reached are between 58ºC to 60ºC at maximum power, so we enter the limits well. Of course, with air conditioning at 21ºC in the room. You can always measure it with the HWMonitor application or the native AMD Ryzen Master.

To continue tuning, I recommend going down the voltage until the stress software: Prime95, OCCT and Linx for AMD Ryzen (for now in Mandarin) do not fail. If you are not in favor of pure and hard stress, you can try your daily tasks and demanding games like Battlefield 1, but I warn you that theirs is to make it stable as a rock.

Remember that this method is valid for both AMD Ryzen 5 1400, AMD Ryzen 1500X, AMD Ryzen 1600, AMD Ryzen 1600X, AMD Ryzen 1700, AMD Ryzen 1700X, AMD Ryzen 1800X and the next AMD Ryzen.

RAM memory configuration

If you want to leave your memories at stock speed you can skip this point, but we recommend that you make these changes once the processor overclock has stabilized. We have tested many memories and finding compatible memories at speeds above 2666/2933/3200 is very, very difficult at least until a few weeks ago.

For this reason, we recommend the G.Skill Flare X kit, we have decided to buy it ourselves due to the low stock that there are for the media currently… After reviewing in many foreign forums they commented that it was 100% compatible with the X370 / B350 motherboards. We will leave doubts in this guide!

First you have to read or know the frequency, latency and voltage of your memories. We show you in an image how to identify it (on the official websites of each manufacturer, these specifications always appear):

1. Indicates the speed of the memories. In this case at 3200 MHz. It explains the latency of our memory. In this case in cycles 14-14-14-34. It also indicates the voltage that the memories work. This time at 1.35v.

How do I apply this data in BIOS? Having a Gigabyte motherboard, we must go to the memory section. On other models of motherboards it should not vary much.

We manually insert 29.33 to set a speed of 2933 MHz or 32.00 to set 3200 MHz.

Now we will go to the voltage section and write the 1.35v. In our case we have gone up to 1.36v since we had some vdroop and we wanted to make it 100% stable.

In a last step we are going to write the latency of our memory. In our case it would be CL14-14-14-34. Remaining as in the previous image. Notice that in column one we have manually inserted the latencies while in the second we have those that the motherboard reads by default.

Now we are going to the AMD Ryzen application and we will mark in our profile the frequency that we are going to use the RAM memories: 1467 MHz (Red square; If we multiply it by two it gives us: 2934 MHz) and we will mark the latencies (green square). We will apply and it will ask us to restart the system. If everything goes well, the system must be stable, otherwise we will have to lower the frequency.

What extra performance does having 3200 MHz memory offer us in games? Just a few days ago we showed you what the differences were on the AMD Ryzen and Kaby Lake platforms from 2133 MHz to 3600 MHz. The quick conclusion that from 2600 MHz we do not have an essential improvement, such as from 2133 to 2666. Nor do you obsess with this option.

Possible problems overclocking on AMD Ryzen

• The PC won't start: Try increasing the voltage one more point (press the + key) and it will raise you 0.05 points. Try going up to 1.36v maximum, if not, see the next step. Why is this happening? Like any component it has VDROOP and it is playing the motherboard with the voltage. By putting a little more, we will have stable memories. Except that… Your memory may not be 100% compatible with AMD Ryzen at high frequencies. Then go down the multiplier… 26.66 for 2666 MHz or 2.4 for 2400 MHz. In our case we have had to leave the memories at 2933 MHz because at least for the moment we have not been able to leave it until the 3200 MHz that the memory manufacturer promises. the equipment does not start, it performs a Clear CMOS through the corresponding switch, jumper (check the motherboard) or very badly by removing the battery. Once restored, it starts again. Patience mate!

With this we finish our guide on how to overclock AMD Ryzen step by step. We hope it has been very useful for you and you can post your results and questions both on the web and in our forum. Where we have opened a support thread to continue activating our community.

Remember that our registration is free and we will be attentive as soon as possible to answer you.

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