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How to overclock your AMD CPU with Ryzen Master

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Omer Khan
How to overclock your AMD CPU with Ryzen Master

AMD offers a free overclocking program called Ryzen Master that allows you to experiment with overclocking your AMD Ryzen CPU. Ryzen Master makes overclocking a lot easier than it used to be.

Ryzen Master lets you easily revert to default settings if something goes wrong. You still need some basic overclocking knowledge, but it's a nice and easy gateway to the world of overclocking.

What is overclocking?

Overclocking increases your processor clock speeds (measured in megahertz or gigahertz) beyond the advertised specifications. Ticking clock speeds makes your CPU run faster and that, in turn, improves performance. You need to unlock a CPU before you can overclock, and all AMD Ryzen processors come unlocked by default. Intel, by comparison, unlocks only specific SKUs of its processors.

These days, a CPU overclock can show overall performance improvements and can also improve performance for CPU intensive work. As for games, it may or may not improve your experience, depending on how much your favorite games depend on the GPU.

Still don't know How To Overclock Ryzen 5 2600

All CPUs have at least two advertised clock speeds: the base clock and the boost clock. The base clock is the fastest speed at which the CPU will run for light and medium intensity computing tasks. Boost is how much more speed you can increase when under heavy load, such as when playing games or editing videos. Going beyond boost speed is the goal of any overclock.

If we look at the Ryzen 5 2600 (the CPU we'll be using as an example in this article), we can see on AMD's site that it has a 3.4GHz base clock and a 3.9GHz max boost clock. If we were looking at Intel processors, these measurements would be called "processor base frequency" and "maximum turbo frequency."

What you will need

Cinenbench R23 performs a test rendering an image of a table and chairs with a sofa in the foreground.
Cinenbench R23 running a render test.

Using Ryzen Master is very different from using a traditional overclock that is set in the BIOS. With Ryzen Master, if you restart PC, the overclock clears and the CPU returns to its default settings. However, there is no need to fear, as re-activating the overclock is as simple as clicking a button. The advantage of this is that you can configure your PC to overclock gamer or other intensive tasks, and then return it to stock settings the rest of the time to avoid wear and tear on your parts.

Warning: Although it's a bit easier with Ryzen Master, overclocking still has the potential to damage your system and void your warranty. If you're smart about overclocking, the risk is reasonable, but you can never completely eliminate it. Consider yourself warned. Let's also add that these instructions are for typical desktop PCs. Trying to overclock a laptop or compact desktop is not advisable. It is much more difficult to keep components cool.

Before overclocking a Ryzen CPU, there are a few things you will need. First, a reliable power supply unit (PSU) with more power than you normally need in a non-overclocked state. A Corsair recommends in a blog post that a power supply should meet your power needs while maintaining 50-80% of the power supply's rated power. You can estimate the power consumption of your PC using PC Part Picker. Next, you will need something better than the Wraith heatsink that came with your Ryzen processor. Overclocking generates more heat, which requires something more robust, such as an all-in-one liquid cooler with dual fans or an aftermarket fan with a serious heatsink.

You'll also need a Ryzen processor, of course (as this won't work with Intel CPUs), and the Ryzen Master Software, which you can download from the AMD website . Our overclocking example uses a standard Ryzen 5 2600 desktop CPU, but this can also work with Ryzen desktop APUs that have integrated GPUs. In fact, Ryzen Master may even allow you to overclock its integrated GPU, but that's an adventure for another time.

Let's also download some more useful pieces of free software: Asus Realbench , Cinebench , Core Temperature , and OCCT . These are for comparing the CPU and monitoring its temperatures.

The last thing you will need is a little patience. Going through an overclock, even an easy one with Ryzen Master, is slow. The basic idea we are looking for with this overclock is a moderately faster CPU that is stable and consumes as little power as possible.

Getting acquainted with Ryzen Master

Before we start changing any settings in Ryzen Master, let's open and run the latest version of Cinebench using the multi-core and single-core CPU benchmarks. Each test takes about 10 minutes to run. Be sure to write down your score for each test as they will allow you to compare the not overclocked and overclocked states of your PC. During benchmarking, turn off all other running programs and any wired and wireless connectivity (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ethernet) to get a more accurate picture of what your system can do

Assuming everything looks good, it's time for a bigger test. Run the Asus Realbench stress test for four to eight hours using half of your system's RAM. Do this preferably during the day when you can get inside and make sure the temperatures stay below 80 degrees Celsius.

If the test runs correctly and your temperatures are good, you probably have a stable overclock. Now run Cinebench again, this time shutting down as many background programs as possible, as well as wired and wireless connections. Then use that score to compare your official overclock performance to that no-overclock benchmark we ran earlier. In our test case, we increased our Cinebench multi-core score by almost 800 points.

Remember, Ryzen Master is not a permanent overclock. After each reboot of the system, the clock speeds are reset to their default values. However, recovering the overclock is as simple as reapplying the “Profile 1” settings.

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