Ryzen 3600 Voltage

[PowerPie5000]

I installed my Ryzen 3600 earlier and I've noticed the stock voltages appear a tad too high... Or is it just me? I've had a little look around the Web and as usual there's some conflicting information.

Basically, my cores can reach up to 1.46v when boosting to 4.2GHz. My chip has no issues reaching its advertised speeds (a problem some people seem to be having). My 3600 appears to run at 3.9GHz when all cores are being used (at 1.375v).

Do these voltages seem normal? I read a comment somewhere on here saying the ryzen 3000 series has a voltage range up to 1.5v and it's nothing to worry about?

My motherboard is the Asrock X470 Taichi with the latest BIOS (L3.43). I'm also using an Alpenfohn Matterhorn cooler. The chip seems to sit between 66-70C when gaming which is a bit higher than my I7 6850k with the same cooler, case and airflow setup (it usually maxed out at around 60C when gaming).

All the BIOS options are left at stock settings. The RAM is running in XMP mode, but sadly it's only DDR4 2666 stuff from my X99 build which I'll be changing soon to something faster.

 

[PowerPie5000]

I've cleaned up and updated Windows along with installing all the latest drivers and Windows is also now using the Ryzen balanced power plan instead of it's own.

My idle voltage is 0.919V across all cores (at 2.2GHz) which is perfectly fine. My load voltage now reaches up to 1.475V when boosting to 4.2GHz.... This is with everything at stock/auto settings in the BIOS. Temperatures now reach around 78C after gaming for a while, which is quite a bit more than my previous i7 6850k with the same cooler, case and fan setup. My 6850K used to reach around 60C when gaming and the CPU fan used to sit at around 1000rpm... That's a 140W 14nm chip. My Ryzen 5 3600 is a 65W 7nm chip and it reaches 78C with the cooler fan now reaching 1500rpm! I'm glad I didn't use AMD's stock cooler.

My idle temps are now between 40-50C... A bit more than the 30C idle temps for my i7 6850k.

I'm getting the impression that this is just how the new Ryzen chips are and it's not much to worry about? Maybe things will be refined a bit more with more BIOS updates... It's just a shame Asrock can be a bit slow with BIOS updates.

 

[PowerPie5000]

Ok I'm starting to think there's something wrong with my Ryzen 5 3600. I've re-seated the cooler as the temps weren't that great and I've just finished playing a match of Apex Legends... My CPU was running at 81C!! The side panel on my PC case near my leg was red hot too (motherboard side)! The voltages also reached 1.488v at 4.2GHz. How can I be getting those sort of temps when I'm using a cooler that is better than stock? Surely I would have fried my chip if I used the included stock cooler? I expected better than this to be honest. I like the performance, but I'm disappointed with everything else. The voltages, the heat, the constant boosting when I'm not even doing anything.... Literally the slightest little thing I do and the processor goes boost, voltage and heat crazy!

I could browse the web and have gaming clients and other apps open in the background with my i7 6850k and it would remain in a low power state, run cool cool and with low voltage until something worth boosting for loads up. All I have to do is blink with this AMD chip and it's all go!! I literally have to exit everything running in the background for it to reach idle clocks and voltages. It's annoying!

Surely this isn't right for a 65w chip?

 

[PowerPie5000]

Which mobo?

Asrock X470 Taichi with the latest bios (3.43). I do have a beta BIOS (3.46) from one of the Asrock team on a German site, but I'm not sure if I should bother as it uses AGESA 1.0.0.3AB (or ABA?) that AMD have pulled due to some problem or bugs?

This chip just runs way too hot and wants to boost constantly at voltages nearing 1.5V. I have to close all background apps for it to enter idle states, and even then it idles at around 50C with a good cooler and good case airflow.

I'm starting to think AMD still had some bugs and BIOS issues to iron out, but at the same time they wanted to release their chips on the 7/7 date.

I can see all sorts of complaints over the net regarding the Ryzen 3000 series (voltage, heat, boost speeds etc...). My chip has been hammered with high volts and temperatures just from gaming. Some benchmark scores are also starting to drop slightly and I really hope it's not CPU degradation starting to settle in already.

 

[PowerPie5000]

Asrock have just released a new BIOS today for the X470 Taichi (and probably other X470 boards too). It's version 3.50 and the description just says "Update AMD AGESA Combo-AM4 1.0.0.3"... It doesn't say if the AGESA is the AB or ABA version. I know Asrock are a little slow when it comes to the BIOS side of things, but hopefully they won't be using the dodgy AGESA version that AMD puled about a week ago.

Anyway, I think I'll go ahead and give it ago... Even if it does say it can't be downgraded once flashed (although I managed to revert back to 3.43 when I tested the 3.46 beta BIOS).


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[PowerPie5000]

Ok not sure why my previous post is in black font, But nevermind.

I updated the Asrock Taichi X470 BIOS to the latest 3.50 version released today and have already noticed something isn't quite right. My Ryzen 5 3600 now idles at 3.6GHz @ 1.038v.... Before it would idle at 2.2GHz @ 0.919v. I've just reinstalled the latest AMD chipset drivers too. This is using the "Ryzen Balanced" power plan and everything set to default/auto in the BIOS as before.

 

[PowerPie5000]

The normal Windows balanced mode lets it idle properly, but Ryzen balanced doesn't. It has at least shaved a very small bit of voltage from the boost speed (maxes out at 1.450V now)…. But at the same time the performance has decreased very slightly in benchmarks, but not by much. It doesn't boost as often to 4.2GHz now either, but it still hits 80C+ with the cooler fan running flat out when playing a game for 20 mins or so (Apex Legends at the moment).

 

[PowerPie5000]

Do you mind trying this setting (i read another member used this)?

Windows Power: High Performance
Advance Power Option: Minimum Processor State: 1%; Maximum: 100%

Just tried it and it pretty much behaves the same way as windows balanced mode. Is it supposed to do anything differently? Asrock have definitely dialled back the auto voltages with their new BIOS as my cores never go over 1.450v now. Temps are still a bit crap though considering my case has multiple fans (positive airflow config) and a Matterhorn cooler which I have re-seated a couple of times now. The side panel on the case behind the motherboard gets absolutely baking during a gaming session!

 

[PowerPie5000]

It is suppose to allow the cpu to downclock, vcore to go down during idle, and not lose performance. I use CPUz Bench to test each mode.

Windows balanced plan also allows the cores to downclock and the volts to drop to around 0.9v. It's a shame the Ryzen balanced plan can't do the same. CPU-Z bench shows better results using the Ryzen power plans instead of Windows default plans... But only a slight difference.

It's strange as the Ryzen balanced plan dropped the clocks and voltage when idling before I updated today to the latest BIOS from Asrock.