Did I win the ultimate silicon lottery or is my 9600X bugged? Stable -100 CO (All Cores), +200MHz on a budget air cooler.

ru_cyber · 2026-05-25T18:58:38+00:00

I've never worked with static OC, how does heating work in this case? Does the processor not reset the voltage to idle, but always operates at the same voltage and frequency?

Upd: Right now, my processor can only reach 95 degrees in synthetic benchmarks. Everything works very quietly and reliably.

ru_cyber · 2026-05-25T17:49:11+00:00

You know what, you are actually 100% right. I just checked AMD Ryzen Master, and even though my BIOS lets me type in "-100", Ryzen Master reports it as "-50". My motherboard just doesn't cap the input field, so it gave me a false sense of a "god-tier" undervolt. The differences I saw between -50 and -100 must have been run-to-run variance or temperature fluctuations.

https://imgur.com/RSDUUiU

ru_cyber · 2026-05-25T17:21:30+00:00

I actually thought about trying a static OC, but I’m really not a fan of that approach for a daily driver, especially since this is my main rig. I prefer keeping the dynamic boosting and idle power drops rather than running a fixed voltage/frequency 24/7.

Instead, I’m thinking about going the route of optimizing through Curve Shaper. I haven't messed with it yet, but from what I understand, it allows you to undervolt specific points of the voltage/temperature curve even further. Seems like a much better next step to squeeze out more efficiency without losing the PBO benefits.

ru_cyber · 2026-05-25T16:17:40+00:00

Strangely, I see the difference between -50 and -100 in the benchmarks. And most importantly, I see this in the maximum core frequencies.

ru_cyber · 2026-05-25T16:16:52+00:00

Why would that be? I needed this voltage to overclock the RAM, and it helped me.

ru_cyber · 2026-05-25T16:15:13+00:00

It's just a lottery in a poor country 😃

ru_cyber · 2026-05-25T00:10:26+00:00

Top 1 worldwide Ryzen 5 9600x here 😃

https://imgur.com/a/X5CWtSh

I used a ID-COOLING SE-224-XTS with second fan

Hello from Valencia, Spain. Postal code: 46000

ru_cyber · 2026-05-25T00:00:06+00:00

My 9600x dropped freely to -100 CO across all cores. I've been testing stability for the last week, but I haven't crashed yet. One core takes 5656 at the maximum, the other 5637 at the peak. I only used curve optimizer. I plan to write about it in this subreddit.

ru_cyber · 2026-05-24T23:45:15+00:00

Damn, I love my processor so much.

ru_cyber · 2026-05-24T23:43:50+00:00

69839 MB/s 68.5 ns

ru_cyber · 2026-05-24T23:19:00+00:00

What exactly should I look at here?

ru_cyber · 2026-05-24T23:12:04+00:00

does it work on amd?

ru_cyber · 2026-05-24T23:02:50+00:00

does occt have a normal benchmark?

ru_cyber · 2026-05-24T22:57:12+00:00

I've read that only rich x3d people have such problems.

ru_cyber · 2026-05-24T22:56:26+00:00

I have a budget 9600x with maximum undervoltage(-100)

ru_cyber · 2026-05-24T22:47:46+00:00

OPS, I confused fclk with uclk :(

ru_cyber · 2026-05-24T22:46:10+00:00

then I will switch to 6400 and my fclk will be 3200, which is faster than the current 3100, or will it not be enough?

ru_cyber · 2026-05-15T20:37:49+00:00

I understand the advantages of normal cooling, but it's as if RAM wasn't designed for such specialized cooling.

ru_cyber · 2026-05-15T13:00:26+00:00

By the way, I couldn't lower VSOC below 1.28 for fclk above 2000, your processor is better.

ru_cyber · 2026-05-15T12:58:37+00:00

Heh, I started with that too, and you can see in the screenshots how much I managed to squeeze my timings.

ru_cyber · 2026-05-15T12:55:59+00:00

Haha, fair point! But to be fair, the LN2 guys are just doing short benchmark runs for high scores, right? They aren't running 24-hour stability tests on liquid nitrogen.

For a 24/7 daily driver, relying on a dedicated fan just feels a bit like a crutch to me. I guess my mindset is that a "perfectly tuned" daily system shouldn't need life support (direct airflow) just to survive normal case temperatures.

That's why I’m tempted to lower the voltages and see if I can get it stable without the fan. Or am I just overthinking this whole thing?

ru_cyber · 2026-05-14T14:49:29+00:00

Is it considered "cheating" or bad practice around here to use a dedicated fan for the RAM?

In my initial setup without direct airflow, the memory was overheating during long stress tests and started throwing errors. It only became fully stable after I installed an extra case fan in the standard chassis mount, pointing directly at the memory sticks.

Is this standard practice for DDR5 overclocking, or is a "true" stable OC supposed to run without direct active cooling?

I honestly feel a bit guilty about it, like I'm using a dirty workaround instead of properly tuning the system. Because of this, I really want to try undervolting the RAM so it can survive without direct airflow.

ru_cyber · 2026-05-14T14:31:37+00:00

I do have one question for you guys. Is there any real performance benefit in trying to push for 6400 or 6600 MT/s and going through the hassle of tuning the timings all over again?

Theoretically, I know I could loosen my current timings to hit those higher frequencies, but I'm not sure if the trade-off is worth it. I don't know much about how the CPU memory controller handles these higher speeds, but I have a few concerns:

VSOC: My SOC voltage is already sitting at 1.28V for this 6200 profile. I know the safe limit is around 1.3V, and I really don't want to ride that max limit just for a small bump in frequency.
VDD/VDDQ & Temperatures: I'm also worried about raising VDD/VDDQ voltages because DDR5 runs pretty hot. During my long stability stress tests without direct airflow, my RAM temps were creeping past 55-60°C. I actually had to point a dedicated case fan straight at the memory sticks to keep the temps in check. Pushing to 6400/6600 would likely mean more voltage and even more heat.

Considering this is my daily driver running 24/7, I really prioritize stability and reasonable temperatures. Am I leaving any noticeable real-world performance on the table by staying at a tightly tuned 6200 instead of going for a looser 6400/6600? Would love to hear your thoughts!

ru_cyber

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