The Ryzen Tech event in San Francisco last week shows details on the overclocking potential of the AMD Ryzen processors. The processors have the added feature of the Extended Frequency Range (XFR) technology which offers the best cooling solution to allow the CPUs to overclock way beyond its boost clock limits. The live demonstration showcased the Ryzen 7 1800X with a high-end cooler achieving the maximum XFR boost of +100MHz or up to 4.1GHz. Though enthusiasts may consider the feat underwhelming, it is still an impressive performance for a 95W, 16 threaded CPU, which is 50W less than Intel's.
A portion of the AMD Ryzen Tech Day was captured by a Youtuber but still under NDA strict guidance. The video shows the XFR and overclocking features of the processors starting at 16:10. This is also the first video of the Ryzen Master overclocking utility in use at 19:05. The highlight of the video is on revealing the overclocking potential of the AMD processors using XFR.
The much-talked about XFR feature is believed to be AMD's competitive advantage as it enables better overall clock speeds with a better cooling solution. It is a fully automated procedure similar to the GPU boost technology witnessed on modern graphics cards. This feature was seen at its best when professional overclockers reach new world overclocking record for the Ryzen 7 1800x. The chip was pushed to 5.2GHz with liquid nitrogen cooler offering a -200C temperature, Digital Trends reported.
AMD's live demo of the Ryzen 7 1800X reveals the XFR pushing the chip to 4.1GHz in all its eight cores. This was replicated using a single-thread test and boosted way beyond its boundaries to 4.1GHz. Experts expected a +100 to +200MHz increments using XFR to push overall clock speeds for the "X" series processors. The automated overclocking frequencies can also be applied through Boost Overclocking utility on AM4 Motherboards, wccftech reported. The video also shows the Ryzen Master overclocking tool in action for the first time but appeared to have crashed when tested using the Cinebench R15.
The 4.1GHz overclocking performance may seem unimpressive to some enthusiasts, but this could still be pushed higher when the process node matures. The AMD Ryzen 7 1800X is able to overclock beyond its limits without consuming much power since this has lesser TDPs as compared to Intel's Core series. This fact alone puts AMD ahead as the CPU performs more efficiently without the need for higher TDPs.
Armed with the XFR feature and competitive pricing, AMD is set to alter the CPU market putting PC owners at a clear advantage with more and better choices and cheaper prices. The AMD Ryzen 7 processors are formally launching on March 2. This will be followed by mainstream CPUs in the second quarter of the year. Meanwhile, the budget chips are expected to arrive by the second half of the year. Incidentally, as launch draws near, Intel drops its prices as a response to the growing threat of AMD.
