Hello everybody!
In this video, I’m going to show you how
to overclock the processor, system memory and graphics card.
I’ll show you what tools to use and how to fine-tune your BIOS.
In today’s video you will see the basics of overclocking; it’s not going to make
you a professional but you’ll be able to see what’s it’s like and how to go about
it.
Getting to know all the aspects and becoming an expert overclocker takes a long time, but
this video can help everyone who’s new to overclocking and faces some difficulties in
boosting their computer.
Before you start, remember that all experiments of this kind are at your own peril and risk,
and you may end up losing your warranty and damaging the computer parts.
So you should think twice before you start.
So if you finally decided to go overclocking, make sure you have a reliable cooling system,
and change settings in small steps, keeping an eye open for any changes in the temperature
and the system stability.
Overclocking the CPU Let’s begin with the processor.
The base frequency for Ryzen 1600 is 3.2 GHz.
In Turbo mode, the processor goes up to 3.6 GHz without any overclocking.
This auto-overlocking function turns on automatically when more than two cores are loaded to the
maximum.
If this frequency is not enough, you’ll have to try the so-called manual overclocking,
experiment with voltage values, install additional cooling equipment, try various modes of operation
to gain more performance and still have a stable build.
AMD Ryzen Master overclocking utility Before you start overclocking, make sure your
motherboard supports it, that is, if this particular chipset is good for overclocking,
and if there any radiators on the power elements.
The first method to overclock your system is to use the utility AMD Ryzen Master.
This way is good for inexperienced users - you don’t have to enter the BIOS and make any
changes there.
You can find the link to this tool in the description under the video.
Start the program, and you will see a warning saying that overclocking may damage your equipment,
affect its operation and result in other problems, including loss of product warranty.
When you agree and click OK, the program’s window opens to reveal panels for overclocking
the processor and memory, and the profile panel.
The first tab is for overview only, and you can’t change anything there.
There are four profiles to use with this tool, and you can select any of them.
To begin with, bring the frequency up 100 or 200 MHZ - in my case, to 3.8 - 4 GHz - and
increase the voltage to 1.35 V: this should be enough.
After that, run some stress tests to check the computer’s stability.
If during the test the system doesn’t freeze, shows no errors or failures, and the computer
doesn’t restart all of a sudden, you can try bringing the voltage down a bit.
Using the trial-and-error method, we managed to achieve stable operation of this build
at the frequency of 4 GHz and the voltage of 1,2625 V.
When we brought the voltage down to 1,25625 it made the computer freeze after 8 minutes
of AIDA stress test.
When you make sure the system is stable after increasing the CPU frequency, you can try
overclocking the memory.
Memory overclocking with AMD Ryzen Master The RAM frequency is divided in two, and that’s
why we see the frequency of 1600 MHz.
All timings are at their default values.
You can check them with the special tool, CPU-Z.
In the Memory tab, you can find the detailed information.
Now all you need to do is to change memory clock or timings and try different combinations
to achieve maximal memory performance by bringing the frequency up or the timings down.
That’s all about overclocking the processor - save the profile and select Apply.
Now you should run a stress test in AIDA64 or any other similar program.
It’s recommended to stress-test your system for at least an hour to make sure the system
is stable.
If you didn’t see any errors, failures or freezes within this hour, the overclocking
attempt was successful.
Overclocking the CPU in BIOS Here’s the next overclocking method - this
time, with BIOS.
In fact, it’s a similar process where you have to increase the multiplier value and
select the corresponding voltage.
Go to BIOS - and you can watch how to enter BIOS or UEFI in one of our videos.
Find the link in the description.
Then go to M.I.T. tab; for your motherboard model, the name could be different - “Overclock
Settings” or something like that.
Choose “Advanced Frequency Settings” and in the line “CPU Clock Ratio” move the
multiplier values up by using the “+” button.
I recommend doing it in small steps of 100-200 MHz to find the value that allows your computer
to operate without any issues in stress tests.
If the computer is stable after you’ve increased the frequency, try bringing it up again in
another small step.
Then go back to the previous menu and open “Advanced Voltage Settings.”
In the line CPU Vcore, change the voltage.
I don’t recommend you to go any further than 0.162 as it can damage the processor.
My motherboard model supports automatic voltage function, but in your particular case you
may need to select the suitable voltage manually.
This is why the process of overclocking takes so much time - you have to try many combinations.
When you’ve found the proper values, stress-test the system.
Overclocking RAM in BIOS With this motherboard, we can use the tab
“Advanced Memory Settings.”
You can select one of the available options in the line “Extreme Memory Profile” or
change the frequency manually in the line “System Memory Multiplier.”
To modify timings, in the line “Memory Timing Mode” change the value from “Auto” to
“Manual,” to unlock this option.
After changing the settings, run the stress test again and if the computer fails to pass
them, go back to voltage settings in the line “DRAM Voltage” or increase timings in
advanced memory settings.
Use the trial-and-error method to gain best performance.
In the end, the final goal should be to bring the memory clock to 3200 MHz.
To avoid overheating the memory, it’s safer to keep to default voltage values and try
increasing the timings instead.
Another important thing to mention is that you shouldn’t overclock the processor and
the memory at the same time: if your computer fails the stress test, you will never know
the actual culprit.
At first, overclock the processor and have the system pass all tests successfully, and
only then try overclocking the memory.
Save current values, run stress tests and benchmarks, play games, and if nothing goes
wrong, then your overclocking has been successful.
Look through general temperature settings or fan settings and enable emergency shutdown
or high temperature warning at 90 C. It is especially important when you start overclocking
your build: when this extreme temperature is reached, the PC will either shutdown or
give a sound signal to you can turn the computer off and save your CPU from overheating.
Overclocking the graphics card with MSI Afterburner Now that we’re done with the processor and
the memory, it’s time to work on the graphics.
You can quickly overclock it with MSI Afterburner.
Find the corresponding link in the description.
For starters, go to the settings.
I recommend configuring them as shown on the screen.
As you can see, voltage settings are locked - it’s strongly recommended to keep the
voltage at default values.
Otherwise, you take a risk of overheating and burning the graphics chip.
So skip the first slider, and set Power Limit and Temp Limit to maximal values.
Now move the “Core Clock(MHz)” slider a little bit - it’s the graphics core frequency.
At first, add 40-50 MHz and click “Apply.”
After all these steps, the system should be tested for stability - you can use the same
3D Mark to run a stress test.
If everything is all right, the test was passed without any failures or artifacts on the screen,
you can add another 40 or 50 MHz and repeat the test.
When you reach the overclocking limit when you no longer see any artifacts, take a 10
MHz step back from this limit for better stability.
After all these steps, click “Apply” and if you want, also click “Startup” to let
the computer boot with overclocking settings.
For memory overclocking, follow the same procedure as for the graphics core.
Move the “Core Clock” slider to the maximal frequency you achieved in overclocking, and
then start boosting the “Memory Clock.”
To do it, move the “Memory Clock” slider like you did it with the “Core Clock”
for 40-50 MHz forward, and then click “Apply.”
Run a stress test and if everything is OK, move the slider forward for another 20 or
40 MHz and repeat the steps again.
When you get the system to work properly with maximum possible values, the video card overclocking
is over.
Core frequency +230(150) Memory frequency +220(150)
Like the processor, the graphics card also has two core clocks, basic and boost; as soon
as the GPU load grows to 50%, the frequency goes up to 90% of the maximal value, and if
the load is 80% and more, the frequency spikes to the peak value and remains there as long
at the card is loaded that much.
Testing the overclocked build After all, let’s test the overclocked build
and see how it fares against the factory settings.
In WinRAR, we gained an entire 7% boost.
In stock, the general speed was 8334 Кb/s, and after overlocking it grew to 9047 Кb/s.
In the CINEBENCH test, the processor scored 1009 points at stock frequencies, and 1261
points after overclocking to 4 GHz.
As you can see, it’s 252 points up, that is, overclocking improved the CPU result by
25%.
Scene rendering time in Corona benchmark has improved from 3 minutes 40 seconds to 2 minutes
57 seconds.
The build passed 3D Mark stress test without any issues, and with the frame rate stability
of 98.8%.
In comparison with the stock figure of 97.8%, that’s a huge increase of 1 percent (in
fact, it’s not:).
In the Sky Diver test, the overclocked build scored 30 308 points which is 1065 points
more than the score of 29 243 at stock frequencies.
In the Fire Strike test, the computer has 11 087 points which is an increase of 109
points from the 10 978 points it scored without overclocking.
Now let’s move on to game tests in full HD resolution with ultra-high and high settings.
For starters, we take Watch Dogs, one of the CPU-intensive projects.
As expected, with ultra-high settings our build shows 50-55 fps compared to 40-45 fps
with stock frequencies.
The framerate is good enough for comfortable gameplay, with the processor loaded to 50-60%
at temperatures rising to 60 C. The graphics card load is 99%.
At high settings, the FPS improved to 60-70 and the processor is loaded by 80-85% It means
the CPU has some potential to work with even more powerful video cards.
The next game in this test is Need For Speed Payback.
After overclocking, we got 90-95 FPS at maximal settings.
The processor load was 60-70%.
At high settings, we were able to squeeze out 100-110 FPS with the CPU load at 75%.
As you can see, overclocking the processor gave quite good results, but if you are overclocking
it for gaming on a budget graphics card that will just bottleneck it anyway, it makes no
sense to boost the CPU - even out of the box, it’s powerful enough.
On the contrary, if you own a powerful video card and you want to get the most out of your
build, overclocking the processor will come in handy.
That is all for now.
I hope you liked this video.
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Leave comments to ask questions.
Thank you for watching.
Good luck.