or gaming I cannot tell you. What I
can tell you though is that it’s fairly
potent at a number of synthetic
benchmarks. Where AMD’s Ryzen
was strong before, it remains so
with this platform. Many of the
tweaks you may have used for
competitive overclocking results
still apply and largely still work as
well. Just be mindful, though, of
the differences as those can throw
you off.
One fantastic thing about the
platform is that there is no cold
bug. Be that due to the inherent
properties of the CPU, the Zenith
board or a combination, it is
greatly appreciated as it makes
overclocking on LN2 as simple as
using dry ice.
CAVEATS
Given the size of the CPU and how
much power it draws in addition to
the heat it puts out, you’ll be glad
that you can run the benchmarks
“full pot” as we say. More than
16 The OverClocker Issue 42 | 2017
that though, it is imperative to note
that any of the LN2 containers that
are out there for retail right now
will not be adequate for this CPU
and perhaps for the matching CPU
from INTEL. This particular LN2
container used for these results
came from http://der8auer.com
whose retail equivalent should be
available soon. There’s another
container as well from http://
kingpincooling.com which should
be able to handle such CPUs. I have
only seen an unreleased version of
this container and have no clue as to
when it will be available, but keep a
look out for both on the respective
sites and Facebook pages.
In terms of power, do note that
you’re going to need a good PSU
and perhaps even more than one
(more on that later). Initially we had
been using a combination of PSUs
which included a particular 1200
Platinum unit from a reputable
manufacturer that makes PSUs for
a number of other vendors. It wasn’t
good enough though, as the 1950X
draws a significant amount of power
under LN2. Don’t quote me on this
figure, but it could be in excess of
800W or more just for the CPU. So if
you do intend on taking this CPU to
the edge, be mindful of this and be
prepared with a reliable and capable
PSU. Once again, this will likely hold
true for the INTEL 16 and 18 core
parts as well, so you may as well
get ready with the best and most
capable PSU you can right now.
Another thing which became
very apparent during this extreme
overclocking exercise, was just how
sensitive the platform is to memory
frequency and, of course, the fabric
frequency. Although this may not be
relevant under regular air cooling,
it is for extreme overclocking. While
this frequency has a respectable
performance impact on the system,
the down side is that the higher
the memory frequency, the lower
the overall CPU frequency. This
one suspects is IMC related, but