Ryzen R7 2700X Beginner Overclocking Guide: an 8-core bargain in the fast lane

Currently there is a very large selection of processors, be it from the blue Intel or the red AMD bearing. But what do you actually need for everyday work, gambleors or a few pictures or pictures? To edit videos from the holiday? Does it have to be the Intel Core i9-9900k or the Ryzen 9 3900X from AMD? Do I need a Ryzen of the 3. Generation? Maybe a cheap Athlon or rather an Intel from the HEDT range from the 9th century is enough. Generation or a thread ripper from AMD?  The prices of the processors could not be more different, as could the services they have to offer. In addition, you need a motherboard for the various CPUs and here the prices also vary very strongly. From cheap to cheap to extremely expensive!

But what CPU should I buy now for daily work with office applications, the gamble and for editing smaller holiday projects in the field of image and video editing? If you look at the current prices, a Core i9-9900K still costs a proud 530€, the Ryzen 3700X is currently at approx. 290€. If you really want to have the latest and best motherboard, then here come another 200 to approx. 750€ to it. However, if you buy an A320 motherboard in conjunction with an AMD Athlon processor, the total amount is a maximum of 130€. However, such a system is only suitable for surfing the net, the usual office applications and for playing solitaire.

The Ryzen R5Ryzen 5 2600 or the R7 2700 with or without X currently provide a good basis for the next few years. These processors of the 2nd Ryzen generation – also known as Zen+ – are current price/performance processors that allow you to work both and properly. Work is not only Office, but also: streaming, image & video editing. Thanks to SMT, there are either 6 cores with 12 threads or 8 cores and 16 threads.

If the current street prices of these processors are taken, then you will notice that here, for example, one with the Ryzen 7 2700X in combination with an MSI B450 Tomahawk Max in total approx. 285€ paid. So about the price you have to look at for a Ryzen 3700x – without a motherboard. If we add the price of the 3700x, the currently due 105€ for the MSI B450 Tomahawk, we are already at 395€in total, which is an additional price of approx. 38%. Now the Grätschen question is, how much extra power do I get for it? In single-core it is a maximum of 15% and in the multicore approx. 20%. At the latest here, the Kevin-Klaus and his Mandy-Chantal should notice that there is a difference between 38% more money and only 20% more performance! Okay, before I start to put the majority of readers on torture, move on in times.

This first – of a total of two – reviews about the Ryzen of the 2nd. Generation, should serve especially for beginners of overclocking in order to obtain a practical guide to overclocking. In the first step, I’ll briefly present the system you’re using, I’ll explain to you what programs you need to check your temperatures, the voltages and, of course, the stability of your system. Then I explain step by step how I overclocked the Ryzen 7 2700X on 4.2 GHz on all 8 cores. Every now and then I will also have some special features, such as the core voltage in conjunction with load-line calibration (LLC).

The test system

Processor: Ryzen 7 2700X + Water Cooling Cooler Master Masterliquid ML240L

Mainboard: MSI X470 Gaming Pro Carbon

Ram: 16GB (2x8GB) GSkill Ripjaws 3200MHz CL16

System SSD: 500 GB Samsung 970 EVO Plus

Other SSDs: 1TB Crucial P1 and a 500GB Samsung EVO 860

Graphics card: Sapphire RX 5700 XT Nitro+ Special Edition (vertical built-in)

Case: Corsair Carbide 275R (4x Sharkoon Pacelight RGB fan)

Power supply: Enermax Revolution DF 750 W

At the time of the review, the system costs approx. €1,620 and is certainly not a low-budget box. If you reduce the whole thing a bit in price and combine e.g. the Ryzen 7 2700X with an MSI B450 Tomahawk, 16 GB GSkill Ripjaws 3200 MHz, a 500 GB Crucial P1, the Cooler Master ML240, the Be Quiet Pure Base 500 with viewing window, a Xilence Performance 650 Watt non modular and a PowerColor RX 5700 Red Dragon, then it goes even under 1000 Euros. And that’s a bit of fun.

The quite comparable system currently costs approx. 980€ (daily prices fluctuate, of course) and it offers a solid base, which can be upgraded to the Ryzen 3000 models, thanks to the AM4 socket and the very good MSI B450 Tomahawk boards, if the prices fall or if you have to do it in the next few years? Time will tell! So, and before all Nvidia Fanboys go to any forum of their choice and joke about using an AMD only system, yes – you can alternatively install a GTX 1660 Super or the RTX 2060 with or without Super. This would increase the price by approx. • 100€ differ.

Ultimately, with the system in 1080p or even 1440p you have a very gaming machine that can do much more. 3.2.1. and immediately the Schlaubergers come from the AMD camp and will tell me that a Ryzen R5 3600 fits into budget here. This would make gaming performance in 1080p at low-settings even better, thanks to the 15% faster single-core performance… mimimi I have a pointed knee! Yes, i think almost everyone knows that by now, thanks to the 1000 and first gaming benchmarks!

The fact is that the difference between the two CPUs in 1080p doesn’t matter much in Max settings and if we go to 1440p, then the performance of the CPU won’t matter at all, because we’ll be in the GPU limit. Further explanations are unnecessary at this point, since the opinions are purely subjective and the measurable differences in FPS are so marginal that it ultimately depends on the further applications. The aim of the review is to demonstrate a strong all-round platform including the overclocking of the Ryzen 7 2700X. Almost a basis in which the topic of streaming, image and video editing is also considered. The Ryzen 7 2700X can certainly score points thanks to its 8 cores and 16 threads!