General Discussions

[Manamute]

Hey everyone, first time posting here, sorry if i get something wrong.

Recently i made a upgrade to my pc to a ryzen 5 1600x, but as soon as i launch my fresh install of windows, i notice that my computer is extremely slow and after checking that everything was mounted properly in my case (cables, cooler, etc.) i open task manager and notice that my CPU seems to be stuck at 0.54GHz no matter how much usage i try to force out of it. My GPU and Power supply were functioning perfectly fine on my older system btw, so i excluded the possibility of them being the culprit.

My specs:

GPU: RX 580 8gb

CPU: RYZEN 5 1600x 6 cores 12 threads

Motherboard: ECS A320AM4-M3D v1.0A

BIOS Version: 2019/12/27 and 2022/05/30

RAM: 16GB DDR4 Hyperx fury 2400MHz

PSU: Fortrek Crusader 500W

Operating System & Version: WINDOWS 10 PRO 22H2

GPU Drivers: AMD Adrenaline Edition 22.Q4

Chipset Drivers: Latest from AMD's official website

Here's a list of things that i have tried:

-Reintsalling Windows

-Updating Windows to its latest version

-Installing chipset drivers

-Updating BIOS (The motherboard came with the 2019/12/27 version and i updated it to the 2022/05/30, the problem persisted in both versions)

-Clearing CMOS (The CPU clock is normal ,3.6GHz, on the BIOS)

I can use Ryzen Master to make it 3.6GHz but i have to apply it everytime i restart the computer, also, if i use the AMDCleanup Utility to delete the drivers, i get the normal clock for a few minutes before my computer starts glitching out and i'm forced to turn it off and then on, and when it comes back on the clock is back to 0.54GHz. Using Ryzen Master to get the normal clock and then doing some testing, i managed to get some temp readings and it doesnt seem to be overheating.

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

[432hz]

The 1600x is not listed on your mobo's support list: https://www.ecs.com.tw/he/Product/Motherboard/A320AM4-M3D_V1.0A/support

Since it's AM4, I would think it should work. Email your mobo vendor to confirm.

[Manamute]

I talked to the vendor before buying it and they said that they didn't have a 1600X available for testing, so i can't confirm. I bought the board because i found a review online that did indeed use this processor and this board specifically, so i thought that they would work properly.

[432hz]

That's tough.

Two thoughts:

1. See if there's a way to launch Ryzen Master on boot with a default profile of your choosing. This is probably the easiest approach.

2. You can have a look in the BIOS for settings which relate to the CPU clock. I'd guess these are currently set to auto. Since the chip may not be "officially" supported by the mobo, they may have to be set manually. The idea here is to apply a comparable setting to what you'd apply via Ryzen Master in the BIOS instead (thereby bypassing the need for RM). Reach out to your mobo company for support on this before doing anything -- applying the wrong settings can damage your CPU.

[Manamute]

Yeah, i thought about your first suggestion too, but after a bit of research i discovered that you simply can't do that, i'm guessing that it's some sort of failsafe by Ryzen Master to prevent a loop of faulty clocks that crash your PC.

As to the BIOS, i scoured the thing top to bottom and couldn't find any CPU clock related settings, also i'm pretty sure that the A320 chipset doesn't support overclocking so i think i wouldn't be able to get far with that one. I also tried messing with other settings in the BIOS, to no avail.

I'm considering buying a new mobo but i'm scared of buying a new mobo and then finding out the hard way that it was the CPU causing the issue, but unfortunately i don't have any other AM4 boards.

[432hz]

You wouldn't be overclocking in BIOS, but rather disabling automated "downclocking" / power saving modes and changing the clock from auto to manual or similar settings. Might be worth an email to your mobo company as the names of such settings can vary.

If you can manually set the CPU clock via Ryzen Master and you're able to run tests and operate normally, I'd think the CPU is ok and suspect the motherboard / BIOS to be the issue.

One other thing you can try is installing the chipset drivers from your mobo's downloads page. Typically the advice for AMD boards is to get the latest from AMD's site, but it might be worth a shot.

[Manamute]

I've contacted ECS about the BIOS, but i noticed something interesting.

The official motherboard manual does mention where cpu clock related settings are, but it says that it's only available to ryzen processors.Is it possible that the CPU incompabtility is causing some options to not be available, even though i AM using a Ryzen CPU? Some other unrelated menus seem to be unavailable as well.

Downloading the motherboard's chipset drivers does fix the problem, but as soon as i restart my computer the clock is back to 0.54GHz. I told another person about this and they said that this could be a sign that it's indeed the motherboard's fault, but i'm not sure.

[432hz]

Your reasoning about the BIOS menu items not being available makes sense to me.

The CPU missing from the mobo compatibility list, the mobo vendor not testing the CPU, the missing BIOS settings, and the CPU's behavior all seem to point to a mobo issue rather than CPU.

I see 2 options: 

1. Buy or borrow a different mobo that's compatible with the CPU and test.

2. Buy or borrow a new CPU on your mobo's compatibility list

You can use PCPartPicker to find a compatible board.

B550s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuPH9pCCK-E

[Manamute]

Yep, looks like buying a new mobo seems to be the only solution at this point

Thank you very very very much for your help and patience, and i apologize if you feel like i wasted your time.

[432hz]

You're welcome. Good luck and let us know how it goes.