Overclocking¶

This is not a guide. It is a set of notes geared around AM4/AM5.

Ryzen CPU¶

Fabric Clock¶

Infinity fabric is the inter-CCD (chiplet) comm protocol. It relies on using RAM to accomplish communication. This is why RAM speed/latency matters so much on Ryzen.

Fabric clock should be a multiple of the DDR frequency. On AM4 it is ideal if it is a 1:1 relationship. This is not possible on AM5 (DDR5 freqs are too high), but stuff like 1:3 would be something to aim for.

SoC Voltage¶

System on chip voltage. Will help fabric clock. 1.2v iirc is AM4 upper daily. 1.3v is AM5 upper daily.

Performance Boost Optimizer (PBO)¶

You overclock a Ryzen CPU by shunting/translating the boost curve downwards so it boosts the same with less voltage. This also results in the chip boosting further with max voltage.

RAM¶

Frequency and Latency¶

You want the lowest effective latency, which is the combination of frequency and latency settings.

Damn good DDR4 Ryzen speed is 3600CL14. DDR5 is 6000CL38

Advanced Timings¶

Secondary and tertiary RAM timings matter as well. The ones that matter the most are the ones you see published around. These are:

CAS Latency (CL) – The delay between the memory controller requesting data and the RAM responding. Lower = better.
tRCD (RAS to CAS Delay) – Time between row activation and reading/writing a column.
tRP (Row Precharge Time) – Time it takes to close one row of data before opening another.
tRAS (Active to Precharge Delay) – Time between row activation and deactivation.

Beyond this go look it up, I'm too lazy to write the book here again.

Advanced Settings¶

Drive Strength¶

VRMs¶

Phases¶

more phases = more smooth, more better. You want to look for true phases instead of stuff like trash phase doublers. Watch buildzoid videos.

Swtiching Frequency¶

To the max. I don't care about motherboard thermals.

Capability¶

To the max.