1usmus’s ClockTuner Performance Boosting Utility For AMD Ryzen 3000 CPUs Now Available

1usmus's highly anticipated ClockTuner Utility for AMD Ryzen 3000 CPUs is now available for download. The new tool not only aims to help deliver increased performance for Zen 2 Ryzen owners but also improves efficiency by reducing the power draw of Zen 2 based processors.

Unveiled back in August by 1usmus, the ClockTuner Utility for AMD Ryzen CPUs is specifically has been designed to increase the performance of Zen 2 based processors that include Ryzen 3000 & 3rd Gen Ryzen Threadripper CPUs without increasing the power consumption. The utility can be downloaded at the following link:

ClockTuner For Ryzen 1.0 (Google Drive Link)

ClockTuner For Ryzen v1.0 (Guru3D Direct Link)

Windows 10 x64 1909-2004 build;

AMD Ryzen processor with Zen 2 architecture (Renoir is temporarily not supported);

BIOS with AGESA Combo AM4 1.0.0.4 (and newer);

.NET Framework 4.6 (and newer);

CPU Voltage - Auto (BIOS);

CPU Multiplayer - Auto (BIOS);

SVM (Virtualization) – disabled (BIOS, optional);

Spread Spectrum – disabled (BIOS, optional);

Ryzen Master 2.3 (uses the driver for monitoring);

Stable RAM overclocking or stable XMP.

The next set of requirements are also mandatory and apply to UEFI (BIOS) settings. Since the success of CTR depends heavily on the capabilities of the motherboard VRM (highly recommended to read this chapter - link), we need to make a kind of foundation in the UEFI (BIOS) to secure the process of tuning the system from BSOD.

The most important setting is LLC (Load Line Calibration), my recommendations are as follows:

ASUS - LLC 3 or LLC 4;

MSI - LLC 3;

Gigabyte - in most cases Turbo, but it can also be Auto;

ASRock is Auto or LLC 2; Importantly, CTR is mediocre compatible with ASRock motherboards, as all LLC modes show abnormally high Vdroop;

Biostar - Level 4+.

It is recommended to use additional settings for ASUS motherboard owners:

Phase mode - Standard;

Current capability mode - 100%;

Download the CTR archive (download) and unpack it in a convenient place for you.

Download and install Ryzen Master 2.3 (download)

Download Cinebench R20 (download) archive and extract the archive contents to the "CB20" folder (this folder is located in the CTR folder).

Run Cinebench R20, accept the license agreement, close Cinebench R20.

How the tool achieves this is quite complicated but 1usmus's CTR is fully automated so users don't have to worry about anything. It is explained that the utility will increase the overall performance of AMD's Zen 2 processors, specifically those that feature a chiplet based design, by undervolting each of the individual CCX modules. By performing an undervolt on each CCX, Zen 2 processors are shown to not only run faster but also cooler. This also drops the overall power consumption while the CPU can retain an active-state for all the energy-saving technologies.

Another key feature of CTR is Smart Overclocking which evaluates the quality of each CCX & adjusts the frequencies individually. A special preset of Prime95, also developed by 1usmus, is embedded within the utility which evaluates the quality of each CCX. An algorithm has been designed which fine-tunes the frequency for a balanced operation for all CCX's without shifting the load on the CPU nodes (modules).

Prime95 isn't the only evaluation software embedded within CTR. 1usmus has also featured a plug-in test package of Cinebench R20 which not only evaluates the overall performance of the tuned CPU but also shows the CPU voltage and power consumption as a part of the efficiency tests that have been achieved while running the built-in Cinebench R20 benchmark.

1usmus's has stated that CTR will be free for everyone to use and offers better performance than most overclocking utilities or automated boosting techniques that motherboard vendors offer that only deliver a small increment in performance while increasing TBP by 50% and sometimes even beyond that.

As for the results achieved with CTR, 1usmus has provided results from two Zen 2 system. One is configured with the Ryzen 9 3900X (ASUS Rog Crosshair VII Hero) and the other is running the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X (ASUS ROG Zenith II Extreme). Both systems were compared at default & tuned (CTR) settings.

Compared to the default AMD Ryzen 9 3900X CPU, the tuned variant delivers a 7% increase in performance while reducing the total CPU power draw by 12.8 Watts. The CPU runs at a higher frequency while maintaining a lower voltage of 1.225V versus the default 1.312V.

The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X system saw a performance uplift of 5.2% and the total power draw dropped by 12 Watts. The CPU was also running at a lower voltage of 1.25V while maintaining stable clocks versus the default chip that was configured at 1.296V.

As for compatibility, the CTR software for AMD Ryzen CPUs is supported by all AM4 motherboards. Even if your motherboard doesn't support CCX configuration for CCX, it would still work since the low-level SMU access is able to bypass any limitations imposed by CPU or motherboard vendors. It is also specifically stated that CTR doesn't contain any unsafe code that may be perceived by anti-virus software as dangerous for the system. This was one of the major issues with the AMD DRAM calculator for Ryzen CPUs but has been fixed with CTR.