Get the Most from
Your AMD CPU
1
GET PREPPED
First, you need to get set up. Before doing anything, take a
trip to Google and find out the actual overclocking headroom
on your CPU. Overclocking is best done gradually, but it’s good
to know what the effective maximum clock you’re likely to reach
is, so you don’t push too far too early, and risk damaging your
processor. It’s also worth checking purely because there’s a
chance that your CPU isn’t actually up to much when it comes
to overclocking—lower-end chips can have very minimal
potential for it, and sometimes it’s best to just stick to automatic
overclocks. We’ll get to that later, though.
>> You’re also going to want a fairly robust cooling solution.
That means no stock air coolers, although AMD’s Wraith Max
may cover you for some tinkering. Ideally, we recommend an
all-in-one cooler with a 240mm radiator—or larger, if you’re
using a custom liquid-cooling loop to cool multiple parts. Once
your system is ready, download and install the Ryzen Master
software from the AMD website, and fire it up [Image A]. It’s time
to get started.2
RUNNING ON AUTOPILOT
Upon booting up Ryzen Master, you’re greeted with the
homescreen. This displays live data from your CPU,OVERCLOCKING IS A FINICKY BUSINESS: Adjusting frequencies and voltages to try to eke out
a bit of extra performance from your rig—while simultaneously avoiding the terror of the blue
screen of death. It’s often a lengthy process, too, demanding repeated trips into your BIOS
to make minuscule adjustments. AMD processors are also known to be a little tougher to
effectively overclock than Intel’s K-variant chips, which have excellent overclocking headroom.
Thankfully, there’s an easier way to manage overclocking on AMD processors. While there
is plenty of licensed and unlicensed overclocking software out there, AMD has its own official
piece: Ryzen Master, which can adjust both CPU and RAM settings on the fly in Windows. No
BIOS trips necessary.
Ryzen Master isn’t necessarily the easiest piece of software to use, mind you. The
overclocking system is fundamentally the same as overclocking in the motherboard BIOS,
insofar as it involves raising the operating frequency of the CPU, then raising the voltage
supplied to the motherboard socket in order to prevent crashes. However, the Ryzen Master
interface is mercifully much easier to navigate than most BIOSes, and it comes equipped with a
few other nifty features that make overclocking a breeze, even for those without the usual tech
mastery required. –CHRISTIAN GUYTONYOU’LL NEED THIS
AMD RYZEN CPU
Your system should have
a Ryzen CPU, ideally a
2000-series or better.AMD RYZEN MASTER
SOFTWARE
This can be downloaded
from http://www.amd.com.including the current operating frequencies of each
individual core, the power draws, and the temperature.
The first step here is to choose a profile that you’re going
to work in. Ryzen Master comes with two preset profiles,
called “Creator Mode” and “Game Mode,” then two blank
profiles for you to name yourself. All four actually have
the same initial settings, but for now select “Profile 1.”
>> Check out the annotated diagram to make sure
you’re on the right page. From here, there’s a few
different options. If you like the easy life, you can hit
the “Auto Overclocking” option at the top of the screen,
then select “Apply and Test.” Ryzen Master has its own
benchmarking test, which it can run after applying new
settings to stress-test the CPU. However, we’ve found
that this test isn’t too rigorous—hardcore benchmarks
such as Prime95 and AIDA64 put the processor under
heavier strain, and in our testing, the CPU would reguarly
p as s the R y zen Mas ter s tre s s te s t before cr ashing w ithin
two seconds of Prime95’s operation.
>> With the auto overclocking mode, you have a
couple of settings to tweak. Power supply options can
be changed at the top of the interface, although the
only setting we really recommend changing is ‘“Boost
Override CPU.” This should default to 100, but if you’re
not seeing the performance you want after engaging
auto overclocking, try turning it up by increments of 25.
The other potential option here is the “Precision Boost
Overdrive,” originally created by AMD for Threadripper
processors. This supposedly redistributes power with
even greater precision, as required by individual system
components and CPU cores, but ultimately doesn’t
produce much of a difference in performance from the
auto overclocking mode.3
CLOCKED IN
If you’re up for a bit more of a challenge, though,
there’s the manual mode. If you’re familiar with
CPU overclocking via the BIOS, this stage should beA62 MAXIMUMPC OCT 2019 maximumpc.com
R&D
©^WI
NDOWS,^
AMD