Tinkerer and avid Ryzen developer 1usmus recently revealed an upcoming tool called ClockTuner in collaboration with Linus Tech Tips. ClockTuner uses an automated process to overclock and undervolt Zen 2 Ryzen 3000 series processors with one click.
The implications are remarkable. While Ryzen 3000 processors tend to run close to their limits out of the box (unless you invest significantly towards custom cooling and a better chipset), there’s always room for some extra performance overhead. By taking manual tweaking out of the equation, ClockTuner effectively means that less tech-savvy Ryzen 3000 users have a way to extract more performance out of their processors.
The timing of ClockTuner’s release is interesting, too. The tool is set to release next month, which would be relatively close to the launch window for Intel’s Rocket Lake S desktop parts. While Intel is focusing on performance gains this generation, it’s hard to see just how much more it can eke out of its 14nm process. This means that Ryzen 3000 processors, empowered by ClockTuner, could potentially give Rocket Lake S, and existing Comet Lake S parts a run for their money.
Regardless of the performance comparisons, we’re excited to see ClockTuner in action. If the tool does indeed deliver stable performance, with higher clocks and potentially lower power consumption thanks to undervolting, it’s a win for all Ryzen users.
We’re particularly interested in trying out ClockTuner’s CCX overclocking capabilities. AMD ships most Ryzen 3000 chips with differently-binned CCXs to ensure that at least some cores hit the max single-core turbo or thereabouts. The binning effect is even more pronounced on parts like the Ryzen 3900X we have in our system. Automated per-CCX overclocking could mean massive single-threaded gains without compromising on the Ryzen 9 3900X’s multithreaded capabilities. We’ll test out ClockTuner and let you know it performs as soon as we get our hands on it.
