# AMD Ryzen 5 3600 auto boost stops around 4000-4100 MHz



## Bjørgersson (Apr 24, 2020)

Hello everybody,

I've replaced my furnace of an i7-6700K with a new Ryzen 5 3600 and I cannot seem to reach 4200 MHz boost clocks on auto BIOS settings. It's running in an MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX with the latest BIOS and 3200 MHz XMP enabled; I've attached screenshots of its corresponding settings. What setting(s) should I change to be able to hit 4200 MHz across all cores as in the TPU review? I know, it's only a few MHz, but still, I want it to reach its max clocks and the user's manual wasn't really of my help. 

Thanks for your help in advance!


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## Cranky5150 (Apr 24, 2020)

Ryzen's boost frequency, or any boost frequency is mostly going to depend on temperature of the CPU. What is your cooling like? Using stock heatsink? etc.. I would just do a manual overclock at 4.0 on all cores and call it a day.


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## londiste (Apr 24, 2020)

1.440 VCore?
3600 boosts to 4.0-4.1 GHz and overclock (especially automatic overclock) is bound to suck after that.


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## Bjørgersson (Apr 24, 2020)

Cranky5150 said:


> Ryzen's boost frequency, or any boost frequency is mostly going to depend on temperature of the CPU. What is your cooling like? Using stock heatsink? etc.. I would just do a manual overclock at 4.0 on all cores and call it a day.


I have an Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure, the temps have been between 60-70 °C so far.
It hits 4 GHz by default, so I don't see the point of manually overclocking it for the same result. Well, I don't want to overclock it at all, just use its original boost.


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## HD64G (Apr 24, 2020)

Temperature might be the problem in your case. if stock cooler and an air-starved case is the combo, this could restrict clocks of CPU below its max boost no matter what you try.

Update: Just saw your post about your CPU cooler. Since you have a potent cooler for this CPU, if possible show us your case from the side and show us how air is directed and how many and where are the fans placed in it.


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## Bjørgersson (Apr 24, 2020)

londiste said:


> 1.440 VCore?
> 3600 boosts to 4.0-4.1 GHz and overclock (especially automatic overclock) is bound to suck after that.


I haven't been checking the voltages, I don't know if it's running at 1,44 V during gaming as well.



HD64G said:


> Temperature might be the problem in your case. if stock cooler and an air-starved case is the combo, this could restrict clocks of CPU below its max boost no matter what you try.


I have an Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure CPU cooler and two of the original Fractal Design Dynamic X2 GP-12 fans in the front running at 800-850 RPM and another one in the back at the same speed that came with my Fractal Design Define C case.


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## bug (Apr 24, 2020)

Initial round of motherboard BIOSes were limiting the boost speeds. Make sure you have your BIOS up to date.
And I hope you realize you're looking at a <5% difference here. Don't get too hung up on it, enjoy your build, it's not slow as it is.


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## Bjørgersson (Apr 24, 2020)

bug said:


> Initial round of motherboard BIOSes were limiting the boost speeds. Make sure you have your BIOS up to date.
> And I hope you realize you're looking at a <5% difference here. Don't get too hung up on it, enjoy your build, it's not slow as it is.


I updated it yesterday but it seems like MSI just released a new BIOS today, so I'll update it as soon as I'll get around to it.
I know that it's an insignificant difference, but it still bugs me. 



HD64G said:


> Temperature might be the problem in your case. if stock cooler and an air-starved case is the combo, this could restrict clocks of CPU below its max boost no matter what you try.
> 
> Update: Just saw your post about your CPU cooler. Since you have a potent cooler for this CPU, if possible show us your case from the side and show us how air is directed and how many and where are the fans placed in it.


Here they are.


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## bug (Apr 24, 2020)

chfrcoghlan said:


> I updated it yesterday but it seems like MSI just released a new BIOS today, so I'll update it as soon as I'll get around to it.
> I know that it's an insignificant difference, but it still bugs me.
> 
> 
> ...


Airflow looks good. Keep an eye on temps, if they get too high, you may need to reseat the heatsink. Reapply the paste while you're at it.
If all that fails, remember that mobo was built before Zen2, it may simply not be able to squeeze that last bit of juice you're missing.


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## Cranky5150 (Apr 24, 2020)

You sure about that Bug? It's a max version, not the first version. I believe it came out after the 2000 series were released.


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## bug (Apr 24, 2020)

Cranky5150 said:


> You sure about that Bug? It's a max version, not the first version. I believe it came out after the 2000 series were released.


That's Zen+. Zen2 is 3000 series.


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## Bjørgersson (Apr 24, 2020)

Cranky5150 said:


> You sure about that Bug? It's a max version, not the first version. I believe it came out after the 2000 series were released.


Yes, it comes with a Ryzen 3000 ready label on the box.


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## londiste (Apr 24, 2020)

chfrcoghlan said:


> What setting(s) should I change


First, run hardware monitoring during load and try to determine what limits the frequency. Power limit is the most likely cause, followed by temperature. Increasing power limit or enabling PBO helps with power but then you have to deal with additional power causing higher temps, especially with PBO only working below a temperature threshold (what was that, 75C?). Also, the chip itself might not go much higher on all-core or only be able to do so at insane voltages.


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## bug (Apr 24, 2020)

chfrcoghlan said:


> Yes, it comes with a Ryzen 3000 ready label on the box.


That just means the BIOS has been updated so it can boot a Zen2 CPU out of the box. It doesn't mean it has been reengineered


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Apr 24, 2020)

Try setting the bios to all default settings in stead of auto.


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## TheLostSwede (Apr 24, 2020)

Try using HWiNFO








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If you leave that running in the background, sensors only, it can log the max boost frequency for you.
Hitting peak boost is sort of a millisecond thing, although with more recent UEFI/AGESA updates on my system, I actually boost 50-75MHz above the rated boost speed. That said, early on, I was more like 150-200MHz below the rated boost speed so...
I should not that I don't use PBO and all settings are at Normal rather than Auto. This might also be part of your problem, as Auto pretty much means that the motherboard is control, not the CPU.
Some of it might come down to what MSI has done UEFI wise. I presume the latest UEFI has AGESA 1.0.0.4B?


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## WatEagle (Apr 24, 2020)

chfrcoghlan said:


> Hello everybody,
> 
> I've replaced my furnace of an i7-6700K with a new Ryzen 5 3600 and I cannot seem to reach 4200 MHz boost clocks on auto BIOS settings. It's running in an MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX with the latest BIOS and 3200 MHz XMP enabled; I've attached screenshots of its corresponding settings. What setting(s) should I change to be able to hit 4200 MHz across all cores as in the TPU review? I know, it's only a few MHz, but still, I want it to reach its max clocks and the user's manual wasn't really of my help.
> 
> ...


Hi, same chip and mobo here.
also mine does not reach 4200mhz during normal usage. But in gaming in stays between 4075 and 4150 mhz. 4200 is the 1 core max boost clock.
it's not worth to set all cores on 42x cause it's not a cool chip on stock (I also use an aftermarket cooler), if you do this it wil become hotter.

AFAK Ryzen 3000 cpus are really pushed to the max from gabric, not wort manually oc them.

What I've done is I set custom PBO limits: PPT 90w, TDC 60A, EDC 70A. This helped to sustain higher frequencies for longer


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## Bjørgersson (Apr 24, 2020)

Thank you everybody for your comments. I'll only be around my PC next time this Sunday, we'll see what the new BIOS does on auto and default settings.


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## TheLostSwede (Apr 24, 2020)

chfrcoghlan said:


> Thank you everybody for your comments. I'll only be around my PC next time this Sunday, we'll see what the new BIOS does on auto and default settings.


Normal/Default, not Auto ;-)


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## droopyRO (Apr 24, 2020)

Also try to undervolt it. I turned off PBO as it was pumping a lot of voltage just to get about 200Mhz more.


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## ChristTheGreat (Apr 24, 2020)

not all chip can boost all core to 4.2ghz easy.

I have a 3600x, which boost 4ghz prime95, 4.1 running BOINC 100% and 4.25 on multiple thread (like 6 thread). reaching 4.1ghz all core, I need a 1.34-1.36v.


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## TheLostSwede (Apr 24, 2020)

ChristTheGreat said:


> not all chip can boost all core to 4.2ghz easy.
> 
> I have a 3600x, which boost 4ghz prime95, 4.1 running BOINC 100% and 4.25 on multiple thread (like 6 thread). reaching 4.1ghz all core, I need a 1.34-1.36v.


Boost doesn't work like that though. Max boost work best in things like games for some reason, not in software that loads all cores heavily. You're never going to achieve full boost in something like Cinebench etc. Also keep in mind that the max boost speed is only for a single core, at least in theory, although it's possible to get multiple cores to hit max boost after each other within a short time span, if you got the cooling to handle it.


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## moproblems99 (Apr 24, 2020)

chfrcoghlan said:


> What setting(s) should I change to be able to hit 4200 MHz across all cores



What has worked the best for my 3900x has been to give it the most vdroop through LLC and to limit EDC through PBO.  To get the number you need for EDC, Run Hardware Monitor/Info and run something like cbr20 and look at the percentage of EDC used and then the value.  You can lower EDC by a few amps and not lose performance.  Lower too much and you'll start dropping performance.  You can also mess with the scalar which is supposed to increase/decrease voltage during boost.

The goal of all this is to lower voltage and thus temperature.  It seems max all-core boost starts dropping above 60C.  Your best bet is to stay under that if possible.

the other thing to do is to start setting some of the UEFI params from the 1smus power plan.  You don't need to install the plan but some of the settings are helpful.  Everything else is trial and error, at least for me.



droopyRO said:


> Also try to undervolt it. I turned off PBO as it was pumping a lot of voltage just to get about 200Mhz more.



I have found with my chip that undervolting through offset immediately lowers my clocks.


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## ChristTheGreat (Apr 25, 2020)

TheLostSwede said:


> Boost doesn't work like that though. Max boost work best in things like games for some reason, not in software that loads all cores heavily. You're never going to achieve full boost in something like Cinebench etc. Also keep in mind that the max boost speed is only for a single core, at least in theory, although it's possible to get multiple cores to hit max boost after each other within a short time span, if you got the cooling to handle it.




Didn't use the correct word, not boost but clock. each chip is different. The stock AMD settings should be similar to every CPU, but some CPU clock easy all core at x frequency, other will only do the default (like mine, clearly not a good chip)

As for boost, I can confirm you that running BOINC (100% set, all core is 100%) CPU is running 4105mhz and running prime95 at max heat power, running 3975mhz. I can see that running 4/6 thread max, CPU can handle 4.3+ghz.


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## ntdouglas (Apr 25, 2020)

After I built mine it was fluctuating between 4050 to 4075. I updated the bios and then it started boosting between 4100 to 4150. Then I turned off pbo and auto overclock because they obviouisly don't do anything for boosting and that did it. It now fluctuates between 4175 to 4200. This is gaming only. Not a big deal performance wise but it was nice to see 4200.


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## Bjørgersson (Apr 26, 2020)

I'm back.  
I've just updated the BIOS and then set PBO to enabled instead of auto; we'll see if the clocks change during gaming.

The clocks remained the same around 4.0 - 4.1 GHz, but the temps got a bit higher so I've set PBO back to auto.
I think I'll leave it as it is and be happy with the 4.1 GHz.  

edit: Oh, right; are 2.2 GHz idle clocks normal or should they be lower?


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## bug (Apr 27, 2020)

chfrcoghlan said:


> I'm back.
> I've just updated the BIOS and then set PBO to enabled instead of auto; we'll see if the clocks change during gaming.
> 
> The clocks remained the same around 4.0 - 4.1 GHz, but the temps got a bit higher so I've set PBO back to auto.
> ...


2.2GHz seems high, but are you sure the system is idling? There may be background stuff going on.
Use process explorer to monitor, Windows' task manager seems to not show everything.


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## Chomiq (Apr 27, 2020)

My aorus has CPU vcore setting with normal/auto or user defined. Check if your MSI board has something like this. If it does, set it to normal.


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## TheLostSwede (Apr 27, 2020)

chfrcoghlan said:


> I'm back.
> I've just updated the BIOS and then set PBO to enabled instead of auto; we'll see if the clocks change during gaming.
> 
> The clocks remained the same around 4.0 - 4.1 GHz, but the temps got a bit higher so I've set PBO back to auto.
> ...


PBO should be off, it really doesn't help your boost speeds.


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## Xtracker (Apr 27, 2020)

I see you have MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX Check new AGESA 1.0.0.5 maybe will help you .
My build Ryzen 5 3600 and Tomahawk MAX clocks on gaming around 3975-4050 its good ? 
And weird thing ... i can't set auto OC on this board this CPU runs on stock even +200Mhz weird...


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## Bjørgersson (Apr 27, 2020)

Xtracker said:


> I see you have MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX Check new AGESA 1.0.0.5 maybe will help you .
> My build Ryzen 5 3600 and Tomahawk MAX clocks on gaming around 3975-4050 its good ?
> And weird thing ... i can't set auto OC on this board this CPU runs on stock even +200Mhz weird...


I updated the BIOS yesterday, but it brought no improvement to the clocks. 



bug said:


> 2.2GHz seems high, but are you sure the system is idling? There may be background stuff going on.
> Use process explorer to monitor, Windows' task manager seems to not show everything.


I believe so, the CPU usage is below 5% according to this process explorer and yet the clocks won't go below 2.2 GHz.
Should I use the AMD Ryzen Balanced power profile instead of the default Balanced one?


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## bug (Apr 27, 2020)

chfrcoghlan said:


> I believe so, the CPU usage is below 5% according to this process explorer and yet the clocks won't go below 2.2 GHz.
> Should I use the AMD Ryzen Balanced power profile instead of the default Balanced one?


Try it, it can't hurt.


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## Bjørgersson (Apr 28, 2020)

bug said:


> Try it, it can't hurt.


Switched to AMD Ryzen Balanced power plan, but still can't go below 2.2 GHz even with minimum CPU performance set to 0%. I think I'll need to lurk around the BIOS settings a bit more.


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## Chomiq (Apr 28, 2020)

chfrcoghlan said:


> Switched to AMD Ryzen Balanced power plan, but still can't go below 2.2 GHz even with minimum CPU performance set to 0%. I think I'll need to lurk around the BIOS settings a bit more.


Change minimum cpu power state to 5% in power plan details.
Even with this boost behavior will cause it to spike up due to boost mechanism.


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## Bjørgersson (Apr 28, 2020)

Chomiq said:


> Change minimum cpu power state to 5% in power plan details.


I meant that by minimum CPU performance set to 0%. It was 5% before.


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## HD64G (Apr 28, 2020)

2100-2200MHz is the minimum for Ryzen CPUs me think, so yours is OK. My 2600X doesn't go below that ever.


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## bug (Apr 28, 2020)

HD64G said:


> 2100-2200MHz is the minimum for Ryzen CPUs me think, so yours is OK. My 2600X doesn't go below that ever.


Nice catch. I was also able to find this: https://www.overclock.net/forum/10-amd-cpus/1740788-ryzen-3950x-won-t-downclock-idle.html
It seems AMD chose to lower voltage instead of frequency, so that the CPU remains as responsive as possible. I didn't know that.


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## Bjørgersson (Apr 28, 2020)

Thank you guys!


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