Alright so I finished my build, it's up and running (Windows 11 installed).
So, recap:
- ASUS X670E-F (currently on latest BIOS, version 0922* ... more on that one below)
- Air-Cooled 7900X3D (using a Noctua NH-U9S cooler with an extra, 2nd Noctua fan mounted)
- G.Skill 32GB @ 6000 CL30 (works well with EXPO1 settings in the BIOS, auto-detected, stable)
Got all the latest drivers (Chipset, GPU, Audio, Lan).
However, I'm confused (not to say concerned) about a few things; I'd appreciate some help.
#1: The (new?) "Prediction" feature thing in the BIOS. I haven't had the time to search much into it, but it's about Silicon quality and generally-informing how the components can, or should perform?; or something like that. In my case, it says this:
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SP 107 (zero idea what that is, no description, can't hover on it or click it)
Cooler 169 Points (ummm, thanks?)
V for Vendetta... no actually, V for 4932 Mhz = 0.999V @ L5 (haven't done any manual OC in ages, can't even recall what "@ L5" even is)
V for 4400 Mhz = 0.930 @ L5
Heavy Frequency = 4932 Mhz
Dos Threshold = 67
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Now, I do know that the 7900X3D, by default, is rated (minimum) to run at 4.4Ghz, so that it tells me I need 0.930 Volt on the Core if I want to ensure that it runs at that speed is fine, I get it, that's cool. It's the other extreme of the spectrum that I'm confused about. It tells me that if I want to run the CPU at 4932 Mhz, I need 0.999 Volt. Ok... but... the 7900X3D is advertised as being able to reach Boosted speed of 5.6Ghz. I wouldn't mind much of this Prediction thing was telling me that the "Heavy Frequency" would be along the lines of maybe 5.3 Ghz or 5.4 Ghz, so I'd take that. But 4.9Ghz? That seems so completely arbitrary (but obviously there has to be a reason why this feature tells me this, specifically).
The rest? The "Dos Thresh" and the "SP" numbers, no idea what those are and what they mean (and it doesn't explain it at all in the BIOS, thanks ASUS for that; maybe next time include Google in your BIOS, if anything). I'd appreciate some extra guidance (if required) and info about this Prediction stuff going on here (and if what it tells me actually holds up according to my hardware... if anyone would know).
#2: Ok so in Windows, so far everything works, no hanging, no crashing, no freezing. I've done a couple of tests (nothing too crazy and nothing that lasted more than 2 hours straight, all of this is very recent). I've tried a couple of in-game Benchmarks (Cyberpunk 2077, etc). I've played a couple of matches in some MP games, played some Offline games (15 mins to 30 mins sessions, nothing too crazy there). I've been running Cinebench r23 and about 2 hours of Prime95. So far, stability seems to be king (which I highly appreciate). Nothing - so far - seems to be "faulty" (at least in terms of stability).
BUT...
If I put the 'rock solid' stability out of the equation there's some things that got my attention.
1) During the games and synthetic benchmark tests I've done, I've noticed that both the Windows Task Manager [Performance Tab] and AIDA64 Sensors reported that the CPU Speed was essentially never going past the 5 Ghz mark (or nearly so). In fact, HINFO64 reported that the absolute highest 'peak' speed I saw for a very brief moment during my Cyberpunk benchmarking was exactly 5.15 Ghz; and it doesn't last long, we're talking about 2 or 3 cores here and there showing that much for maybe 1 or 2 seconds, every now and then.
2) When idling in the Desktop (literally doing nothing for instance, even as I type this, a single browser window opened and that's it), the CPU speed idles between 4.75 Ghz to 5.15 Ghz too. Even there, it doesn't do too much in terms of 'extremes': I.E. It doesn't power down while idling to save power like say... going down to at least the base speed of 4.4 Ghz... it NEVER does that... nor does it power up too much either I guess, never gets past that weird limit of 5.15 Ghz.
#3: This one is about Temperatures (weird stuff there, too). Now, prefacing: I made 100% sure that the Noctua cooler was physically well-installed, that the Thermal Paste (the one included in the Noctua cooler box, seems good to me so far) wasn't over-done, nor that it was lacking either. That part is fine. As I mentioned above earlier I have 2 fans on that heat sink installed properly, blowing air in one direction out towards the back of the case. So in terms of actual physical installation and thermal-pasting, it went well.
1) AIDA64 currently reports (as I type this, idling in the Desktop and doing nothing else) a CPU Temperature of 45º C. And the CPU Diode (which I know is the one that is the most important to consider) reports a Temperature of 54º C. IF these reports ARE accurate (and I think they are), then the Temps are actually even better than my previous 5800X (which wasn't even overclocked past the regular auto boosting by default). Even the Motherboard Temperature seems pretty good at 36ºC. That's in a living room ambient temp of around 27.5ºC.
Seems fine yeah? Ok... wait a second, because...
2) When I checked AIDA64 while I was doing the Cinebench r23 testing (Multi-Core test) the CPU Diode Temp absolutely sky-rocketed to orbit at 89ºC to 90ºC. Now, it DID stay at _exactly_ 90ºC and never went any higher (occasionally dropped by 1 or 2 degrees below at maybe 88ºC here and there, but overall remained at 90 exactly). On a side note, however: the regular CPU Temp (non-Diode one) was 50ºC only (but it seems to be a massive gap to me, no?). I do know that the AMD CPUs are "made to" operate well at high temperatures, but I'm not 100% sure if even Cinebench is actually supposed to make CPUs go bunkers like that with Temps. Is it?
3) However, maybe a little bit of "consolation" is that so far only Cinebench made the CPU Diode reach 90 degrees. All the testing I've done so far in actual games barely reach to 70ºC, there seems to be an "average" load Temp (in games) at around 65ºC to maybe 68ºC or so (peaks to 70, haven't seen above not even in Cyberpunk so far).
#4: About Cinebench's actual Benchmark points. I find them "low" for my system (compared to similar systems I've done comparisons to). My Since Core score is 1846 points (highest so far), and the Multi-Core score was I believe around 25900 or so. Whereas other scores of nearly indentical systems I've seen (with at least the same CPU of course) had Single Core scores ranging more into the 1950+ points, and Multi-Core scores that easily went into the 28500 to 29000+ points. Then again, there's this weird "issue" I seem to have where my CPU boost speed can't seem to reach the advertised 5.6Ghz maximum boost (my previous 5800X did actually reach up to its maximum advertised speeds, regularly, without any issues).
#5: About the FSB:Memory Ratio thing (haven't looked in to that stuff for ages at this point). CPUz, and AIDA64 both report a 1:30 ratio, if that makes any sense (I'm saying this as I myself can't recall what it is besides I think some multiplier thing, like 100 Mhz x 30 or something like that). I'd need a memory refresh on this one if anyone can help with it. Am I supposed to get that 1:1 ratio thing? If it's still a thing anymore? (*I only recall back a few years when the first Ryzen generation came out that it was recommended to run AMD CPUs with a 1-to-1 ratio, but it's been too long, that was the last time I did any amount of manual over-clocking, even then it was minimal stuff).
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With all this said, I don't know if - just maybe - the current BIOS (version 0922) is maybe at fault for some of this? Or not (I wouldn't know for sure). Or if I'm maybe not turning On, or Off some BIOS options that should be. Or if I'm doing something wrong in Windows 11 (albeit everything is up to date there, all drivers, and also have all the actual Windows 11 updates installed too). Or maybe it's related to Chipsets drivers, or maybe I should install some AMD software or... I don't know, maybe the Power Plan in Windows? I do want to specify here that - besides all the apparent issues I seem to have - the system actually is stable, nothing 'weird' in terms of shut downs, hangs, freezes, game crashes or anything.
But I do have the feeling that some things may not be quite right (or, on the contrary, everything is right and I'm just over-thinking all of this). If there's anything that anyone is reading in this that immediately sounds some sort of 'alarm' please do let me know. I just want to make 100% sure that everything is as "it should be" for my system. I won't consider that it is "final" until I'm certain of it. Then I'll sleep better.