Overclocking The AMD Ryzen APUs: Guide and Results
by Ian Cutress & Gavin Bonshor on April 16, 2018 2:30 PM ESTHow to Overclock With ASRock UEFI BIOS
The ASRock BIOS design and layout is consistent throughout the AM4 motherboard range. Everything was present on our motherboard, except the ability to change the settings of the integrated graphics. The only options for overclocking the graphics were in the way of SoC voltage, and even then, it could only be set as an offset value, not a true value. This is a little disappointing given that the ASRock X370 Gaming-ITX/ac hasn’t got any hard issues within the BIOS for the graphics, but on the plus side, everything else is done well.
Upon entering the BIOS, the initial menu screen offers information about the board including the installed components including the processor. It is not an easy mode, and the information is very limited. Everything needed for overclocking is in the OC Tweaker menu.
In the OC Tweaker menu, changing the 'CPU Frequency and Voltage Change' from auto to manual opens up the frequency and voltage options. At the top is the frequency, while down the bottom is the voltage. Starting with frequency, rather than offer a CPU ratio, ASRock just offers a plain frequency, and clearly does the multiplier manually.
When it comes to applying the XMP profile, unlike the MSI board in our data testing in this article, the ASRock board only opens up a single XMP profile, the standard DDR4-3600 CL16 that the sticks are rated for. Enabling XMP and then changing the memory frequency to the setting that’s required is easy enough, as the value goes up in increments and can be adjusted using the + or – keys on a numpad. Alternatively, if the user presses enter a long list via a drop-down menu appears.
Further down the same page, options are present for changing the offset values to the SoC voltage or VDDCR. Just below these is the DRAM voltage, which when we enabled XMP automatically set the value to 1.4 volts, rather than 1.35 for which our kit is rated, which was a little odd.
Pressing F10 and selecting yes saves the settings and reboots the system. Unfortunately the options changed to not appear as in some other vendors Save and Exit popups.
Note – To overclock the integrated graphics on this board, users will need to install the AMD Ryzen Master overclocking utility within Windows. We go into Ryzen Master on the next page.
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JoeyJoJo123 - Monday, April 16, 2018 - link
You pay more for the MiniITX formfactor, in both case cost, SFX PSU cost, and motherboard feature compaction costs. Check out PcPartPicker to organize a parts list. I'd recommend just sticking with whichever X370 or X470 board is cheapest and well rated, and choosing a cheap (~$60 or less) but well rated case to go along with that. 80+ Bronze ~400W PSUs from a reputable manufacturer are cheap.With the savings you can splurge a bit on faster/more memory or a FreeSync enabled or high refresh rate display, or nicer peripherals, all of which at the end of the day provide a more meaningful impact on a day-to-day basis than just having a "tiny" PC.
Alexvrb - Wednesday, April 18, 2018 - link
There are tons of mITX cube cases that are affordable and use standard PSUs. You also get WiFi included, and if you choose your board carefully you get GOOD WiFi included.Alexvrb - Monday, April 16, 2018 - link
I just built a system using the board you just linked, for my dad. Using the 2200G too. It's a peppy little system. The board has been solid (I bought it in March and it was already 2000-ready, but flash it anyway as the newer BIOS has fixes and better RAM support). BIOS seems decent. It also has pretty good Intel WiFi preinstalled, and a decent antenna. Installed the latest driver straight from Intel. A lot of ITX boards use CRAP wifi that is unreliable with poor drivers. This saved me from having to swap wifi chips.I also got a good deal on a 2 x 8GB kit. Team T-Force Dark 3000 kit, CL16.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N...
It's overkill since he doesn't game but I got it on sale and faster RAM is never a bad thing. All I did was kick on the XMP profile and it works flawlessly. Even faster RAM shouldn't be a problem either for Raven Ridge but once you get above a certain point you have to start thinking about what memory dies and configuration you're looking at. If you're planning on running integrated for a bit you could overclock the IGP and get somewhat faster RAM.
Lolimaster - Tuesday, April 17, 2018 - link
I would get a new X470, the memory managament seems to be better.Asus X470-Pro
Lolimaster - Tuesday, April 17, 2018 - link
For PSU Seasonic S12-II 520w Bronze, a champ of efficiency at low loads (80%+ at 10% load were even platinum PSU's fail hard).Alexvrb - Wednesday, April 18, 2018 - link
He's obviously building a budget rig. Until B450 mITX boards show up, you're in a different league entirely in terms of price.mr_tawan - Tuesday, April 17, 2018 - link
I am looking at this mainboard as well. I'm aiming for SkyReach 4 mini for case and HDPlex 160W, which are quite expensive but it's quite attractive (at least for me). I'd put the Ryzen 3 2200g and a pair of DDR4 (not decided yet) and call it a stelth rig :).That said, I am actually thinking about getting a laptop instead, but laptop is not as stelth-ey as a small pc form factor IMHO :).
mr_tawan - Tuesday, April 17, 2018 - link
oh and a stick of M.2 Samsung 860EVO for storage. 120GB maybe ...Amandtec - Tuesday, April 17, 2018 - link
The integrated video scales almost linearly with memory speed so try to buy faster memory and get 2x4gb rather than 1x8gb. Also, one video showed a $20 fan vastly outperforming the standard one for overclocking. So for about an extra 10% cost or $40 you can get up to 30% performance improvement.Lolimaster - Tuesday, April 17, 2018 - link
You can reuse the heatsink on basically any other build or future APU.CM Hyper 212X is the champ. Also silent operation, totally worth it.