Overclocking & Test Setup
Overclocking
We dialed in a 3.9 GHz overclock for all three Ryzen processors, and the tuning experience was similar across the trio. A 1.3875V core voltage and 1.2V CPU SoC voltage paved the way for extended stability in Prime95. During our tests in the U.S. lab, we saw the 1700 peak at 65°C (according to AIDA), while the 1700X and 1800X reached 70°C.
Waste heat appears to accumulate quickly at higher clock rates (we hit 82°C with the 1800X at 4 GHz using Corsair's H100i v2). The Wraith Spire cooler can dissipate up to 95W, but it’s best to purchase a beefy cooler if you plan on pushing the limits of Ryzen's frequency headroom. Regardless of the heat sink we used, or the unsafe voltages we dialed in, though, we couldn't run at the same 4 GHz with our 1700. Our sample just wouldn't make it past our stress tests. Your mileage may vary, of course.
AMD recommends a "safe" limit of 1.35V for long-term overclocks, but doesn't provide warranty coverage for voltage settings beyond default. The company also claims Ryzen can take up to 1.45V, though it doesn't recommend this for long-term use.
| Ryzen Memory Support | MT/s |
|---|---|
| Dual-Channel/Dual-Rank/Four-DIMM | 1866 |
| Dual-Channel/Single-Rank/Four-DIMM | 2133 |
| Dual-Channel/Dual-Rank/Two-DIMM | 2400 |
| Dual-Channel/Single-Rank/Two-DIMM | 2677 |
We bumped Corsair's LPX memory modules up to DDR4-2933 for our overclocked tests. There are reports that higher data rates yield notable gains from Ryzen processors. Unfortunately though, even after the most recent wave of BIOS updates, support for 3000 MT/s+ is dicey. The motherboard ecosystem continues to mature, and we plan to follow up when AMD opens up additional timings and improves memory overclocking with an update later in April.
Test Setup
For this piece, we split testing between our German and American labs. The team in the U.S. ran the gaming benchmarks, while the Germans measured performance in HPC and workstation apps, and then collected thermal/power data. They used MSI's X370 XPower Gaming Titanium motherboard and we went with Asus' Crosshair VI Hero and an EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FE. We stuck with AMD’s recommended presets for our stock configurations to minimize issues attributable to the dissimilar boards.
If you want to know more about how the Tom's Hardware DE system looks and is controlled, check out How We Test Graphics Cards.
| Test Systems and Measurement Setups | |
|---|---|
| Systems | Germany AMD 1Ryzen 7 1800X, 1700X, 1700MSI X370 XPower Gaming Titanium2x Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3000 @2666 MT/sIntel LGA 2011-v3 Intel Core i7-6900K MSI X99S XPower Gaming Titanium 4 x 4GB Crucial Ballistix DDR4-2400Intel LGA 1151 Intel Core i7-7700K MSI Z270 Gaming 7 2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4-3200 @2400 MT/sAMD Socket AM3+ FX-9590 Asus Crosshair V Formula 2 x 8GB Corsair Dominator DDR3-2133 @1866 MT/sGermany All1x 1TB Toshiba OCZ RD400 (M.2, System SSD)2x 960GB Toshiba OCZ TR150 (Storage, Images)be quiet Dark Power Pro 11, 850WWindows 10 Pro (All Updates)US AMD 1Ryzen 7 1800X, 1700X, 1700Asus ROG Crosshair VI Hero2x Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3000 @2666 MT/sUSA Intel 1Intel Core i7-7700KMSI Z270 Gaming M72x Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3000 @2400 MT/sUSA Intel 2Core i7-6900KASRock X99 Extreme44x Crucial DDR4-2400US All1TB Samsung PM863SilverStone ST1500, 1500WWindows 10 Pro (All Updates) Version 1607 |
| Cooling | Germany- Alphacool Eispumpe VPP755 Pump - Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 Full Copper 240mm- Alphacool Eisblock XPX CPU-Alphacool Cape Corp Coolplex Pro 10 LT- 5x be quiet! Silent Wings 3 PWM- Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut US-Corsair H100iv2-Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4-Arctic MX-4 |
| Case | Lian Li PC-T70 with Expansion Kit and Mods |
| Power Consumption Measurements | - Contact-free DC Measurement at PCIe Slot (Using a Riser Card) - Contact-free DC Measurement at External Auxiliary Power Supply Cable - Direct Voltage Measurement at Power Supply- 2 x Rohde & Schwarz HMO 3054, 500MHz Digital Multi-Channel Oscilloscope with Storage Function - 4 x Rohde & Schwarz HZO50 Current Probe (1mA - 30A, 100kHz, DC) - 4 x Rohde & Schwarz HZ355 (10:1 Probes, 500MHz) - 1 x Rohde & Schwarz HMC 8012 Digital Multimeter with Storage Function |
| Thermal Measurements | - 1 x Optris PI640 80Hz Infrared Camera- PI Connect Analysis Software with Profiles |
| Noise Measurements | - NTI Audio M2211 (with Calibration File)- Steinberg UR12 (with Phantom Power for Microphones)- Creative X7, Smaart v.7- Custom-Made Proprietary Measurement Chamber, 3.5 x 1.8 x 2.2m (L x D x H)- Perpendicular to Center of Noise Source(s), Measurement Distance of 50cm- Noise Level in dB(A) (Slow), Real-time Frequency Analyzer (RTA) - Graphical Frequency Spectrum of Noise |