Overclocker boosts unreleased non-PRO Ryzen Threadripper 5990X to 4.825 GHz
An unreleased Ryzen Threadripper non-PRO CPU has been obtained by SkatterBencher who put a lot of effort into making it the fastest Threadripper ever.
SkatterBencher, an extreme overclocker and YouTuber, has both the extensive knowledge on processor overclocking and (clearly) lots of time. His videos are very detailed and provide a great insight into all quirks and switches in AMD overclocking tools and BIOS settings. His latest series of videos focus on Ryzen Threadripper 5990X (not WX), which is a never-released non-PRO variant of the 64-core Zen3 CPU codenamed “Chagall”.
The difference between this sample and 5990WX which is now shipping in retail, is that his sample actually works with AMD TRX40 motherboards, and those have plenty of features for overclocking. This is exactly why he is using ASUS ROG Zenith II Extreme in his video.
The sample used carries an OPN code of ‘100-000000443-40_Y’ and it has had appeared before alongside AMD reference platform ‘Sharkstooth-CGL’. To achieve much higher frequency no exotic cooling solutions were needed, on a contrary, a consumer great liquid cooling was sufficient, he notes.
SkatterBencher explains all possible strategies in achieving higher clocks with Threadripper CPUs. This includes AMD Precision Boost Overdrive, Curve Optimizer and manual overclocking. Each strategy has its benefits but also downsides.
In the end, he manages to overclock his TR 5990X sample to 4.82 GHz at 1.45V. Naturally this is just a speed of one of the eight CCDs, yet it’s quite an achievement with such a big and power hungry processor. And speaking of power, during record breaking Cinebnech R23 attempt, the sample reached a maximum of 691W of package power.
Ryzen Threadripper 5990X Cinebench R23 OC score, Source: SkatterBencher
The sample had an average clock of 4.4 GHz on all cores, which is slightly lower than the official boost frequency for TR 5990WX (4.5 GHz), but that’s not for all cores. Overall, this score means it achieved 58% higher score vs stock.
The good news that workstation Ryzen TR 5990WX will not be locked for overclocking. On the contrary, AMD will allow board partners to enable CPU and memory overclocking on WRX80 motherboards. Unfortunately there is no word on TRX40 support for the new Zen3 Threadripper series, so such extreme overclocking attempt can only be achieved with unreleased (and almost impossible to obtain) engineering samples.
After publishing this story, an AMD representative contacted us via email, pointing out that the 5000 WX-series is actually unlocked for overclocking, contrary to the statements below. The company also provided a link to public documents about Threadripper 5000 WX that states, in part,
“Select WRX80 motherboards from our ODM partners will support both memory and CPU overclocking for users looking to push the limits of their workstation even further.”
— Tom’s Hardware/AMD