TheOverclocker Issue 42 | Page 16

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