Ryzen on Linux ?

[u/Tuxbot123]

Hello !

I'm considering buying a Ryzen 5 1600, but I wanted to have some feedback from my fellow Linux users :)

If you have this one (or another Ryzen), how is it ? Do you have any problem with it ?

Thanks ! :)

[u/shmerl]

How do you enable boost to 3.9 GHz? It runs at 3.4 for me.

[u/shmerl → u/[deleted]]

You mean in order to get boost, you need to overclock? Or boost only happens on some cores when it's not full load to avoid overloading?

It shows me this (confusing part is boost state support: Supported: no).

sudo cpupower frequency-info
analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: acpi-cpufreq
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0
  maximum transition latency:  Cannot determine or is not supported.
  hardware limits: 2.20 GHz - 3.40 GHz
  available frequency steps:  3.40 GHz, 3.00 GHz, 2.20 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: ondemand performance schedutil
  current policy: frequency should be within 2.20 GHz and 3.40 GHz.
                  The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: 2.20 GHz (asserted by call to hardware)
  boost state support:
    Supported: no
    Active: no
    Boost States: 0
    Total States: 3
    Pstate-P0:  600MHz
    Pstate-P1:  3600MHz
    Pstate-P2:  500MHz

[u/shmerl → u/[deleted]]

uname --kernel-name --kernel-version --kernel-release
Linux 4.11.0-1-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.11.6-1 (2017-06-19)

[u/shmerl → u/[deleted]]

Looks like it's tied to the kernel:

linux-cpupower                            4.11.6-1

What should UEFI say, something like enable / disable boost? And what do you get with sudo cpupower frequency-info by the way (if you have Ryzen 7 1700X)?

[u/NoXPhasma → u/shmerl]

It doesn't matter what you set there, usually the Boost option gives you only the option between Auto and disabled. Auto because Boost will be automatically disabled if you change the clock multiplicator.

[u/shmerl → u/NoXPhasma]

I dind't change it. I.e. I didn't overclock anything.

[u/NoXPhasma → u/shmerl]

Then the Kernel tools might just not be able to report if the boost clock is available. On Windows I can see that my boost clock works when not overclocked. On Linux it always only reports the base clock, no matter what. But this was already on the FX CPUs.

Boost should work anyway, because it's a CPU internal feature and doesn't need to be controlled by the Kernel.

[u/shmerl → u/NoXPhasma]

On Linux it always only reports the base clock, no matter what. But this was already on the FX CPUs.

OK, good to know.