What you need to know
- A BIOS update is on the way for 3rd Gen Ryzen chips.
- The update addresses the boost bug that prevents certain chips from hitting advertised boost speeds.
- The update will be available in around three weeks, according to AMD.
A BIOS update is on the way that addresses the Ryzen boost bug that prevented certain chips from hitting advertised boost speeds (via PC World). The update promises increased boost clock speeds around 25MHz to 50MHz under certain workloads. The update will roll out in around three weeks as it has to go through motherboard manufacturers first.
AMD's 3rd Gen Ryzen chips weren't hitting their advertised boost speeds, and AMD has worked on several ways to fix the issue and optimize performance. AMD addressed the bug and the upcoming fix in a blog post.
Starting with our commitment to provide you an update on processor boost, our analysis indicates that the processor boost algorithm was affected by an issue that could cause target frequencies to be lower than expected. This has been resolved.
Additionally, AMD discussed a "calmer idle" mode in the blog post. This allows systems to boost performance more intelligently "The changes primarily arrive in the form of an "activity filter" that empowers the CPU boost algorithm itself to disregard intermittent OS and application background noise." In other words, the system doesn't boost performance when it doesn't need to.
To help users monitor their system performance, AMD will release the AMD Monitor SDK that allows anyone to build a public monitoring utility. There are over 30 API calls on the way, including current operating temperature, peak core(s) voltage, peak speed, and effective frequency. The SDK will be available on September 30.
Fantastic value
AMD's Ryzen 5 3600X builds on the already excellent Ryzen 5 2600X, unlocking even more performance at the same reasonable price. Installing this six-core monster into your desktop will allow for some serious levels of productivity.
