User Guide

55931 Rev. 1.0 March 2, 2017
AMD Ryzen Processor Overclocking User’s Guide
AMD Ryzen Processor Overclocking Summary
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Chapter 4 AMD Ryzen Processor Overclocking Summary
AMD AM4-based Ryzen processors are unlocked when paired with the enabling AMD chipsets
and necessary BIOS software and therefore allow the user to adjust the CPU clock above or below
the stock value. When run on boards enabled for overclocking, AMD Ryzen Master will
automatically enable the Overclocking Mode at the user’s initiation of a change to a stock
parameter. The CPU will be returned to stock operation through a system power cycle.
The process for finding a stable overclocking configuration with the AMD Ryzen processor is not
fundamentally different from the previous generation AMD processors (such as the AMD FX
processors). The final operating voltages and frequencies will depend highly on the specific
system’s processor, motherboard, cooling solution, operating environment, and the user’s
decisions on what elements to overclock and to what degree.
4.1.1 AMD Ryzen Processor Normal Operation
To describe how the AMD processor operates in Overclocking Mode it is best to understand how
the AMD Ryzen processor operates normally. When operating normally, the AMD Ryzen
processor has the following characteristics:
1. The frequency of processor core clock is determined by a combination of the software-
requested p-state and then adjusted by a combination of numerous power and performance
optimizing features to attain any of number of fine grain p-states around that software-requested p-
state.
2. Internal control mechanisms measure internal temperatures, power and current consumption,
and manage the operating voltage and frequency of various internal cores to maintain specified
levels. For example, when the number of active cores is below a pre-determined threshold, the
active core temperatures are below maximum, and the consumed total current is below
infrastructure limits, then those active cores will be boosted in voltage and frequency to the c-state
“boost” frequency until any of those conditions are no longer true.
3. The voltages for some of the various cores are internally generated from external supplies.
For example, each of the processor cores uses a supply independently generated from the external
supply. As the operating frequency for each processor core is adjusted to attain various fine grain
p-states, the operating voltage of the core is adjusted to support that new frequency at optimal
power consumption. The voltage adjustments are done using the internal voltage regulator and the
SVI2 controlled external supply voltage, if needed.
4. Software requested p-state or halt states adjust the level of power to which those internal
control mechanisms manage. For example, when software executes a HALT instruction on a
processor core, that core will enter the C1 reduced-power state. If that core does not receive an
interrupt to resume execution, it will progress to increasingly-lower power states until finally
saving the state of the core and being powered off.