SkatterBencher recently released an article and video detailing their experience with overclocking the Ryzen 9 7950X3D. Meanwhile, der8auer wasted no time in delidding first desktop CPU with 3D V-Cache in the Zen4 series.
Unfortunately, users won’t be able to access any secret motherboard menus to unlock “X GHz” settings for the Ryzen 7000X3D. These processors are officially locked for overclocking, at least in the traditional sense. In order to get the best performance out of the Ryzen 7950X3D, users will need to rely on technologies like Precision Boost Overdrive 2 or EXPO (memory overclocking profiles), but even those won’t give the absolute best results.
SkatterBencher delves into the nitty-gritty details of various strategies that can be employed to extract more performance out of the Ryzen X3D CPUs. In particular, he draws attention to the differences between the two Raphael dies (chiplets) found in the new Ryzen 9 X3D package. Specifically, he reveals that CCD0 (which features 3D V-Cache) has a lower maximum frequency limit of 5250 MHz and a lower voltage limit of 1.2V, while CCD1 (which lacks 3D V-Cache) can go higher, up to 5750 MHz and 1.4V. In comparison, the original 7950X SKU only has one Fmax limit of 5850 MHz and a voltage limit of 1.475 volts.
By enabling PBO2 and the voltage/frequency curve optimizer, an overclocker can push the CPU to achieve higher frequencies, albeit with a lot of careful tweaking. This approach can potentially increase the Fmax frequency to 5900 MHz by lowering the V/F curve to compel the CPU to clock higher. However, SkatterBencher reveals an even better method that leverages the ECLK feature available for Raphael CPUs.
SkatterBencher explains that the Raphael ECLK (External Clock Generator) can be utilized for Ryzen CPUs to attain higher clock speeds. By changing the ECLK to 105 MHz, a voltage-frequency-temperature point that was originally at 5.0 GHz/1.1V/50°C can be increased to 5.25 GHz with the same voltage and temperature point.
The bottom line is that it is still possible to overclock the Ryzen 7000X3D series, but this entails adjusting ECLK and VF, which can be challenging for some users (although SkatterBencher has created a helpful, step-by-step guide). Moreover, the results will inevitably vary depending on the cooling solution, motherboard used, and of course, the capabilities of each Ryzen sample.
When tested under Prime95, the CPU ran at a stock frequency of 4255 MHz with all cores at 0.9V, resulting in a temperature of 66.8°C and full package power consumption of approximately 121.6W. By disabling AVX512 instructions, the clock speeds were boosted to 4553 MHz, but this came at the cost of higher temperatures at 81.5°C and power consumption measured at 134.2W. However, through ECLK/PBO/VF overclocking, SkatterBencher was able to achieve a clock speed of 4592 MHz with a temperature of 83.3°C and power consumption of 152.1W for AVX-512 disabled Prime95 workloads (note that this is the average frequency across all cores).
This overclocking technique resulted in up to 9% better performance in synthetic tests, although it produced only minimal performance improvements for gaming.
It’s possible that we’ll be hearing more about overclocking the 7000X3D soon, as another well-known overclocker, Der8auer, has already delidded the first unit. Interestingly, real-life photography of the delidded CPU reveals that there isn’t much of a visual difference between the two dies, which is contrary to what the renders had suggested.