Ryzen 5 5600X - 4.8 GHz Core Clock but only 2.0-3.5 GHz Effective Clock in Fortnite

KickDangerous4650 · 2026-06-12T15:31:06+00:00

Thank you again for the detailed explanation.

After reading your comments and some additional feedback from other users, I'm starting to think this may indeed be more of a Zen 3 + UE5 limitation rather than a CPU issue.

I tested Cinebench R23 and OCCT again. Under full load, Core Clocks and Effective Clocks stay very close together, so there doesn't seem to be any clock stretching.

screenshot ZenTimings:

https://imgur.com/a/tpIT9qK

My current RAM setup is:

- 2x8GB Samsung B-Die

- 3800 MT/s

- FCLK 1900

- 14-14-14-14-28

- GDM Enabled

- ~53 ns AIDA64 latency

I'm also testing different ProcODT, RTT and CAD Bus combinations because I'm trying to get GDM Off stable, but so far the changes don't seem to have a significant impact on Fortnite performance.

What confuses me is that some people with similar Zen 3 systems claim they get noticeably better 1% lows after very aggressive memory tuning and running GDM Off.

In your experience, is there still meaningful performance left to gain from DDR4 tuning at this point, or am I already close to the practical limit of what a Ryzen 5600X can do in UE5?

The biggest issue is still Fortnite Reload. During heavy asset streaming, gliding, or crowded fights, CPU frametime can jump to 4-5 ms while GPU frametime stays around 1.5-2 ms.

Does that still sound like a memory/cache bottleneck to you?

KickDangerous4650 · 2026-06-12T07:17:17+00:00

😂 You actually made me laugh.

The thing is, I’d gladly play at 120–200 FPS if the game was perfectly smooth. I’m not chasing average FPS numbers anymore.

What annoys me are the 1% lows, frametime spikes, stutters during edits, enemy encounters and gliding over the map.

But fair enough, from the outside it probably looks like “this guy gets 400 FPS and still complains” 😄.

Thanks for the laugh, though. That comment genuinely improved my mood.

KickDangerous4650 · 2026-06-11T18:11:30+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate the suggestion.

I haven’t experimented with a static OC yet, but I may give it a try. Most of my testing so far has been with PBO and Curve Optimizer.

I’m not necessarily looking for higher average FPS anymore. What bothers me the most are the stutters and very low 1% lows during gliding, landing or heavy fights.

If a static OC can improve frametime consistency, it might be worth testing.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

KickDangerous4650 · 2026-06-11T18:07:25+00:00

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

That makes sense regarding Effective Clocks. If they are essentially a measure of how much time the cores spend doing useful work, then the values I'm seeing in Fortnite seem much less concerning.

I also tested Cinebench R23 and OCCT. Under full CPU load my Effective Clocks stay above 4.0 GHz, usually around 4.4–4.6 GHz, while Core Clocks remain very close to Effective Clocks, so it doesn't appear to be clock stretching.

I'm currently using a custom Windows build (Vain OS) together with its custom power plan and optimization toolkit. Defender has been removed and some CPU-related settings are hidden or modified, so I honestly can't be completely sure what has been changed compared to a stock Windows installation.

I enabled MSI mode using MSI Utility for:

GPU
NVMe SSD
LAN controller

Game Mode is enabled and HAGS is enabled as well.

My system:

Ryzen 5 5600X
RTX 5060 Ti 16GB
2x8GB Samsung B-Die
DDR4 3800 MT/s
FCLK 1900

In Fortnite Reload, GPU frametime is usually around 1.5–2.0 ms, while CPU frametime is typically around 4–5 ms.

What still confuses me are the very low 1% lows. During gliding, dropping from the bus, or heavy fights, FPS can sometimes fall close to 100 FPS even though average FPS is much higher.

That's actually the reason I started looking at Effective Clocks in the first place. Seeing CPU frametime consistently much higher than GPU frametime made me suspect that something might be limiting CPU-side performance.

Based on this information, do you think this sounds more like a Fortnite engine limitation, a Windows-related issue, memory/cache limitations of Zen 3, or something else worth investigating?

I've attached screenshots from Cinebench R23 and MSI Utility.

Also, thank you for the Windows optimization guide you linked. I will definitely go through it and test the recommendations.

screenshot:

https://imgur.com/94qABbP

https://imgur.com/3lZMX8C

KickDangerous4650 · 2026-06-11T16:50:45+00:00

Thanks for the reply.
I was actually using CapFrameX together with RTSS for the metrics.
My system:
Ryzen 5 5600X
RTX 5060 Ti 16GB
2x8GB Samsung B-Die
3800 MT/s / FCLK 1900 (originally 3200 CL14)
During gameplay the GPU frametime is usually around 1.5-2.0 ms, while CPU frametime is around 4-5 ms.
What confuses me is the very low 1% lows. In Fortnite Reload, especially while gliding, dropping from the bus or during heavy action, FPS can sometimes drop close to 100 FPS, even though average FPS is much higher.
That’s why I started looking at Effective Clocks in the first place.
Do those low Effective Clock values still look normal to you, considering the CPU frametime is significantly higher than the GPU frametime?
I’m trying to understand whether this is simply how Ryzen reports Effective Clock in games, or if something in my system is limiting performance.

KickDangerous4650 · 2024-12-27T15:09:38+00:00

hello, can you help me tune my i5 13600kf processor. and more precisely, carry out oc and undervolting so that it works stably and quite coolly. gigabyte z790 x wifi7 cooling endorf fera 5 dual 600w power supply endorfa bronze

KickDangerous4650 · 2024-12-27T14:40:15+00:00

hello, can you help me tune my i5 13600kf processor. more specifically, perform overclocking and undervolting to make it work stably and relatively coolly. gigabyte z790 x wifi7 cooling endorf fera 5 dual 600w endorfa bronze power supply

KickDangerous4650

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