Ryzen Controller Tool Unlocks Your Ryzen Laptop's Performance

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Ryzen Controller

Ryzen Controller (Image credit: Ryzen Controller Team)

The Ryzen Controller Team, which isn't related to AMD, has developed the Ryzen Controller software for users to overclock or underclock their AMD Ryzen-powered laptops. It's basically the unofficial, mobile adaptation of AMD's Ryzen Master tool, but for laptops.

No two laptops are made the same; therefore, there isn't a universal tool that offers users complete control over the Ryzen processor inside. Having seen the necessity, a group of crafty enthusiasts put together the Ryzen Controller software. The tool supports the majority of AMD's mobile processors, including Ryzen 2000 (Raven Ridge), Ryzen 3000 (Picasso), and even the latest Ryzen 4000 (Renoir) parts.

The software opens up the door that locks away the advanced options that dictate the processor's behavior. The Ryzen Controller Team provides the program as it is, and its usage is at the user's own responsibility and risk.

Ryzen Controller allows you to tweak both the processor and graphics aspects of AMD's mobile APUs. There are options to control the chip's temperature and power limits, as well as boost clock parameters. Essentially, you can overclock your processor for more performance, or even underclock it to save power (and battery) and decrease fan noise. The program also lets you save your settings as individual presets so you can switch between them on the fly, depending on what you're doing with your laptop.

The good news is that Ryzen Controller isn't exclusive to Windows 10 users either. The software also supports Linux distributions, such as Debian and Red Hat.

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Zhiye Liu
Zhiye Liu
News Editor and Memory Reviewer

Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • saunupe1911
    Do they have a Desktop version because Ryzen Master is one confusing overclocking tool! I only use it to monitor and verify my BIOS settings smh
    Reply
  • Darkbreeze
    Overclocking on Ryzen is a waste of time anyhow. You are better off simply running at the default precision boost profile or if you have good enough cooling, using PBO/PBO2. Precision boost overdrive in almost all cases seems to offer better gains than what you'll see from manually overclocking or using any kind of automatic utility.
    Reply
  • Valantar
    Darkbreeze said:
    Overclocking on Ryzen is a waste of time anyhow. You are better off simply running at the default precision boost profile or if you have good enough cooling, using PBO/PBO2. Precision boost overdrive in almost all cases seems to offer better gains than what you'll see from manually overclocking or using any kind of automatic utility.
    I would guess that's why this isn't an overclocking tool, but rather one to control the power and thermal limits that determine boosting behaviour? I seriously doubt this tool has the ability to unlock locked BIOS features like multipliers, voltages and the like.
    Reply
  • madmatt30
    Darkbreeze said:
    Overclocking on Ryzen is a waste of time anyhow. You are better off simply running at the default precision boost profile or if you have good enough cooling, using PBO/PBO2. Precision boost overdrive in almost all cases seems to offer better gains than what you'll see from manually overclocking or using any kind of automatic utility.

    I think the tool is mainly aimed at laptops with severely locked down power limits.

    Its been available awhile but needed manual interaction with no easy frontend interface.

    I have a 3500u laptop with a crippled 12w power limit, manually getting it upto 25w increases performance dramatically.

    I have a £350 laptop that can actually game even though that's not what I bought it for.

    Obviously theres room for abuse and I await the 'I killed my laptop' posts when people overdo it on laptops with poor thermal design.

    Mine though tops out at 72c max when under full cpu/gpu stress so it's entirely capable of managing much more than the stock 12w power limit imposed from the factory (lenovo v155).

    Its an incredibly useful tool for a ryzen laptop owner that has some semblance of common sense.
    Reply
  • Dragonking_1
    Darkbreeze said:
    Overclocking on Ryzen is a waste of time anyhow. You are better off simply running at the default precision boost profile or if you have good enough cooling, using PBO/PBO2. Precision boost overdrive in almost all cases seems to offer better gains than what you'll see from manually overclocking or using any kind of automatic utility.

    Also, adding to what the others have written on unlocking 'locked' performance. Many new laptops like the - Dell G5 SE which have a Ryzen 4000 series chip run too hot (over 100C, which AMD chips can run at apparently unlike Intel) due to lots of errors in bios and drivers - probably because of pushing them out too fast.
    In those cases, being able to limit the power draw of the CPU and GPU would help a lot, before a BIOS and driver update from the OEM can be received.
    Reply
  • Darkbreeze
    Apparently, none of you paid any attention to the comment I was responding to, which was:

    Do they have a Desktop version because Ryzen Master is one confusing overclocking tool!
    Reply