Clock Frequencies

The following chart shows how well the processor sustains its clock frequency and which boost clock speeds are achieved at various thread counts. This test uses a custom-coded application that mimics real-life performance—it is not a stress test like Prime95. Modern processors change their clocking behavior depending on the type of load, which is why we provide three plots with classic floating point math, SSE SIMD code, and the modern AVX vector instructions. Each of the three test runs calculates the same result using the same algorithm, just with a different CPU instruction set.

Overclocking

The Ryzen 5 7600X comes with a fully unlocked multiplier, which makes multiplier-based all-core overclocking very easy. Because the processor's heat output is lower than the more powerful SKUs, I was able to increase the voltage to 1.30 V, which was about the maximum I could run Prime95 at, without crossing 115°C—even with a powerful AIO. Using Arctic's AIO with "Ryzen offset mounting" helped shave a few degrees off the CPU temperature. At this voltage, with Prime95 running, I kept increasing the multiplier in Ryzen Master until the system became unstable. Turns out I could reach 5.3 GHz "mostly stable". Adding another 0.05 V in voltage ensured complete stability, and temperatures in Prime95 still be low enough to not cause a shutdown.