For those who’re fortunate sufficient to have the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, you will have seen that the usually speedy chip seems to be working at close to record-breaking increase speeds. Sadly, you are not really getting that a lot efficiency out of the chip.
The Ryzen 9 7950X is likely one of the best processors round with a lift clock pace of 5.7GHz, which is already blindingly quick. In accordance with our buddies at Tom’s Hardware (opens in new tab), some customers have discovered nevertheless that when their PC working the chip wakes from sleep, the processor’s clock pace shoots as much as 6.28GHz, which might be completely unbelievable if it have been actual.
Sadly, these near-record-breaking clock speeds are too good to be true. It appears just like the AMD chip has been hit with the RTC (Actual Time Clock) reporting bug, which makes the chip appear like it is working considerably quicker than it really is.
Happily, not like numerous Windows 11 bugs or major security issues with AMD chips, the RTC bug is not going to interrupt something or have an effect on efficiency in any means so far as anybody can inform, which can be why it is a lingering concern that by no means fairly manages to get ironed out whether or not it is with the best Intel processors or AMD’s.
So about these benchmarks…
One factor about RTC bugs is that benchmarking instruments depend on RTC for a way they’re scoring a given part like a processor or a graphics card. There’s nothing improper with that in any respect, it is why RTC reporting exists. The issue although is that an RTC bug can throw off benchmark scores in instruments like CineBench that customers and reviewers alike use to check out a system.
Benchmarking is particularly essential in case you build your own PC, since benchmarking is a crucial method to inform that your system has been assembled and built-in correctly. This most up-to-date RTC reporting bug reveals why it is also so essential to not depend on a single check to find out how nicely a system performs.
Once I do benchmarks on any part, I be certain to make use of a wide range of instruments and utilization eventualities to measure how nicely it performs, particularly as a result of there is perhaps a difficulty with any given check. Whereas each artificial processor benchmark will issue within the clock pace given by RTC, a gaming benchmark does not issue that in in any respect, so if a processor is incorrectly reporting a 6.28GHz increase clock, you’d anticipate this to translate into demonstrably increased FPS whereas gaming at low settings and 1080p decision when utilizing a robust graphics card.
If these numbers do not match that expectation, then you have got sturdy proof that one thing is perhaps improper someplace in how you set every part collectively. In brief, all the time use a range of assessments when benchmarking a system. That means, you by no means have to fret about an RTC bug conserving you from optimizing your construct.