PC Processors

[bluesadam]

Hi everyone!

I have an R5 2600 paired with an Rx 580 8gb. Motherboard is an MSI B450 Tomahawk Max with the latest bios update. Things are great, I have no problems but my gpu is being bottlenecked by 15 to 25% depending on the game. In PUBG, GPU utilization is overall at 75 to 80 percent, same goes in Warzone. Apex Legends goes from 85 to 90 percent.

I was wondering if there were any tweaks I could do to get some more performance from the CPU just enough to eliminate the bottleneck. Everything is set to default at the moment. PBO is set to auto and all core speed is 3650mhz. Temps are quite low at 60 to 65 degrees celcius but I do not see the CPU boost any more than 3650mhz.

Ram is currently running at XMP1 profile which runs them at 2933mhz. XMP2 yields 3200mhz but causes unstability with a lot of BSOD and crashes. So I am looking for your opinions. Thanks a lot for any answer in advance and if you want further information, feel free to ask.

[bodasactra]

The CPU frequency seems very low and you should be able to run 3200Mhz on that board and CPU as long as your brand of RAM is on the QVL (qualified venders list) for that board. The QVL is available at the support site for the board and it means your brand of RAM was tested by MSI on that board and works as intended. I would start with making sure the CPU XFR feature is on in the BIOS. If it is I  would then try Ryzen Master Game setting. If no change then a manual OC to 4.0 all core if you feel safe doing it. you can do it in Ryzen Master profile 1. That CPU should easily MAX your 580 GPU. The 2600 has Precision Boost 2 and XFR capability but it does not officially support PBO, however having it on should not cause adverse affect. The 2600 has been shown to easily OC to 2600X spec 4.2GHz.

[bluesadam]

First of all, thank you for your reply.

At first I ran the ram at 3200mhz but it causes severe instability with constant BSOD, crashes etc. 2933mhz fixes all those problems. About PB and XFR, I cannot find those options on the motherboard bios. There is only CPB (Core Performance Boost) section which is set to auto, with the other option being "disabled". I am not tech savvy when it comes to overclocking, but I can definitely give it a try as temperatures are quite low so I should have some headroom.

Thank you for your answer again. Much appreciated.

[bodasactra · Accepted solution]

Although it is an AMD feature, XFR 2 is considered outside warranty spec and is not on by default. You must agree to use it after a disclaimer is shown where it resides in your BIOS. Unless you clicked an accept box I expect it is off. Its perfectly safe to run but does void any remaining warranty. The core boost is probably the MSI name for Precision Boost 2 and its on. A manual 4.0 GHz OC will still go far for you with or without XFR.

Ryzen is very, very sensitive to RAM timings and speed. Gains of up to 50 fps in some games are not uncommon by simply tuning RAM timings and sub timings using Ryzen RAM calculator, a third party app. You may want to take some time to learn how to max your RAM kit by watching tech vids on the topic, many are out there. If the 3200 MHz loads unstable its a sign it may be close to getting stable. A bad RAM config wont boot at all. Try rebooting a few times at XMP 2 3200 MHz, voltage should be 1.35. This is called RAM training and the board will auto search itself for a stable config for your kit at XMP 2 on each boot until it finds the right one. Its not a sure bet but more than worth a try. Make sure you RAM is in the right slots for dual channel mode. For your board it should be in the 2nd and 4th slots with a 2 X 8 16GB  kit.

You are leaving a good bit of performance untapped. I certainly would keep at it and expect you will be very happy when you get tuned up properly. I paid $89 for a new 2600X on sale last year and after a few hours tuning I beat 93% of all 3600 and 3600X builds tested at UserBenchmark. My CPU-Z scores crush the 3600 stock scores. I am getting the same performance as a $229 Ryzen using an $89 Ryzen. Since I am a value/performance nut job that's heaven for me.

Good luck.