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AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

So, apologies if this sounds dumb, but a BIOS update shouldn't be required before installing this CPU, right? I have a BIOS update ready for my new MSI X870 Tomahawk Wi-Fi ready to go, and I could use BIOS Flashback, but I was planning on going the traditional route of booting into the flash tool via the UEFI.

For what it’s worth, I contacted Asrock on this exact issue today.

The motherboard shipped with BIOS version 3.06, which apparently works for booting a 9800X3D according to their website, but the website also only says this cpu was ‘validated’ on version 3.10. Huh.

Their support team recommended using BIOS flashback, out of the two options.
 
For what it’s worth, I contacted Asrock on this exact issue today.

The motherboard shipped with BIOS version 3.06, which apparently works for booting a 9800X3D according to their website, but the website also only says this cpu was ‘validated’ on version 3.10. Huh.

Their support team recommended using BIOS flashback, out of the two options.
I used MSI's flash straight from USB onto the board method instead of going through M-FLASH in the UEFI and it worked perfectly. I'm up and running.
 
I used MSI's flash straight from USB onto the board method instead of going through M-FLASH in the UEFI and it worked perfectly. I'm up and running.

Thanks. Yes, ‘flashback’ is what Asrock call their ‘straight from USB’ option.

Good to know it worked. I think there’s just a natural, healthy fear of bricking the board :p
 
Thanks. Yes, ‘flashback’ is what Asrock call their ‘straight from USB’ option.

Good to know it worked. I think there’s just a natural, healthy fear of bricking the board :p
Yeah I'm sure MSI have a funky name for it too, just couldn't remember. And yes, it was almost paralysing but in the end worked a treat. Documentation isn't great - only works with FAT32 media, but at the very least my motherboard manual mentioned nothing of the sort. Only hiccup I had, fortunately.
 
Some comedy content where the 14900k is the better gaming cpu vs 9800x3d. User benchmark in video form.


The amount of money, time and patience Intel fans will throw at the screen just to beat a stock AMD CPU, never stops amazing me!

Stock 9800x3d with bargain bin RAM and cooled by bargain bin floppy cooler and tomatoe sauce for thermal paste. Slap together in 10 mins and play games for three weeks.

Vs

Binned 14900KS, delid, direct die cooled with custom water loop and Liquid Metal. Uber elite RAM, custom water cooled, uber elite motherboard, and spends three weeks fine tuning overclocks, gets 1fps higher than 9800x3d and then CTD 5 minutes later. **** yeah tots worth it boyz, let's go!!


That video thumbnail is the face he makes after realising he spent triple the price of an AMD setup, just to get 1% more performance and an unstable system that Intel will decline warranty for. And the reason he always looks so sweaty in his videos is because his 1000watt Intel setup keeps the room at a toasty 30c
 
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So my chip arrived at 10:30am this morning.
DPD guy left it on my doorstep with no knock which is surprising, but I got my delivery e-mail and went to retrieve it.

Shut down my PC, whipped the AIO straight off the old CPU while it was still warm and before the TIM had a chance to cool down and solidify.

Straight in with the screwdriver, whipped out the old motherboard and out comes a standoff, annoying.

So I go and find a tool that will remove the standoff, screwdriver on one side, deep hex socket on the other, comes off fine.

I turn around to speak to my missus, the standoff still in the hex socket (I think...), conversation over I go to look for the standoff... Gone... vanished...

I spend the next hour searching the floor, looking through various piles of clutter, can't find the blasted thing anywhere.
I go through my spare screws and fittings looking for something suitable, nothing....
I end up going to a spare Lian Li case I have in the cupboard, remove a standoff from it, and use that.

Panic over.

5800X3D goes in new motherboard.
New motherboard goes in.
Cable everything up.
First boot.

No video output, and some absolutely garbage error codes on the onboard debug display.

Maybe the BIOS is incompatible with such a new CPU.

Grabs a USB stick, uses a laptop to format it to FAT32 and whack the latest BIOS on it, ranaming it to MSI.ROM.

Seems to flash okay, but still nada.

The next two hours are spent checking every cable, reseating everything, trying different combinations of things plugged in and unplugged.

I was contemplating RMAing things, but was it the board, or the RAM, or the CPU?? I couldn't figure it out.

Suddenly with all the USB headers unplugged and only 1 stick of RAM in I get the first good boot to BIOS.
I swap RAM sticks, no boot... okay so it must be 1 bad RAM stick.
I swap back, still no boot... so it must be the motherboard or memory controller on the CPU?

Then it dawns on me. The one variable I haven't tried changing yet is a Samsung 990 Evo PCI-E Gen5 SSD in the first NVME slot. I hadn't thought about it as it was hidden under a metal heatsink.

I tear it out, put a Western Digital PCI-E Gen4 one in the slot. Put the heatsink back on.

And it lived.

All the RAM was good, the CPU was perfect, I could reconnect all the headers and drives and cables.

I even put the troublesome SSD in a different slot and it worked fine.

Panic over. I think I still have some hair left...

(Turns out the garbage error codes are a temperature readout that sits on the EZ Debug screen after a "good" boot, not helpful MSI, and not even mentioned in the manual!?!?! I was wondering why it was bouncing between error codes 40, 41, and 42 which aren't error codes mentioned in the manual... It's CPU Idle temperature!!)
 
Is there an alternative to UserBenchMark? I used them in 2019 when I upgraded and if iirc that's when they got into trouble for changing the scoring that favoured Intel CPU's. Coming back to it in 2024 they have links on the page to explain why they are so hated, trying to make themselves out be a rogue outfit that's hated by corpo's for telling the truth. Last weekend I got pushed an article about UBM telling people to buy a 13600k or 14700k instead of the 9800X3D and I thought here we go again, and 2 days later another push article talking about UBM is in trouble again for pushing Intel.
 
Some comedy content where the 14900k is the better gaming cpu vs 9800x3d. User benchmark in video form.


He knows exactly what he's doing. It's not about Intel vs AMD, it's bs-ing for engagement with the video to boost it in the algorithm. If ever you see a video where someone bends over backwards to find reasons to take a dump on an almost universally liked item of any sort, it's almost guaranteed the reason. That's why he plastered his affiliate links in the description and in the comment-replies all over as well. It's the worst kind of content creator - drama farmers.

What a weasel.
 
Had a bit more time to play with my 9800X3D and refine my tuning, and whilst these are not going to be my best scores, they are the best I've managed so far using PBO and just today I experimented with an all core overclock.

PBO


All Core Overclock 5.7Ghz (can optimise further for sure)


I've not yet had much success with ECLK, currently PBO scores better so probably need to find the right balance of voltage, e-clock and curve optimiser settings to max out performance there.

@Poneros @Robert896r1
@Robert896r1 @Poneros
Further tuning, based on the silicon and cooling equipment available to me. 64155 new PB score.


The next step to improve performance further would be to bring out the portable air con unit and press it is against my 360 AIO, which I predict will add maybe a few more hundred points onto my score.

I saw Frame Chasers posted some results of the 9800X3D vs 14900KS in Riftbreaker. A game that is rather unfavourable to AMD CPUs for whatever reason.


I therefore decided to copy his settings running 'The Riftbraker' using my 24/7 tune profile, the results are below. Please note, this is not MAX Overclock.


My results were, 11% better 1% low FPS and 3% better average FPS than is 'MAX OC' results.
 
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@Robert896r1 @Poneros
Further tuning, based on the silicon and cooling equipment available to me. 64155 new PB score.


The next step to improve performance further would be to bring out the portable air con unit and press it is against my 360 AIO, which I predict will add maybe a few more hundred points onto my score.

I saw Frame Chasers posted some results of the 9800X3D vs 14900KS in Riftbreaker. A game that is rather unfavourable to AMD CPUs for whatever reason.


I therefore decided to copy his settings running 'The Riftbraker' using my 24/7 tune profile, the results are below. Please note, this is not MAX Overclock.


My results were, 11% better 1% low FPS and 3% better average FPS than is 'MAX OC' results.

There is lots of issues with his video, even at face value - he delid, direct die water cooled his 14900ks but the 9800x3d was left stock hardware. Other overclockers have shown if you delid and direct die the 9800x3d you can get another 200-300mhz out of it due to the massive temp drop, so it's not an apples to apples comparison at all
 
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