Bios updates that increase Ryzen 3000 boost speed will be out in three weeks
AMD has completed the Agesa 1003abba firmware and is distributing it to motherboard makers. Those manufacturers can then release bios updates. According to AMD, the firmware fixes a bug that caused the boost speed to be 25 to 50MHz too low.
AMD expects motherboard manufacturers to release their first bios updates in two or three weeks. Next, owners of Ryzen 3000 processors should be able to achieve the maximum specified boost speed in applications that use a single core for a short time. AMD notes that the maximum boost frequency in Cinebench may not be reached because that benchmark runs for a longer period of time. The processor manufacturer states that PCMark 10 offers a good workload to observe the maximum boost speed.
AMD also emphasizes that its Ryzen 3000 CPUs perform real-time analysis of all kinds of aspects, such as CPU temperature, motherboard voltage, power delivered, core load and workload intensity. Based on this, the clock speed is dynamically adjusted. According to AMD, every Ryzen 3000 series is tested to achieve the specified base and boost frequencies.
In a Community Update, AMD provides more details about the upcoming update. In it, the company writes that the speed gain from 25 to 50MHz is based on its own tests with workloads such as PCMark 10 and the Kraken JavaScript benchmark. The actual improvement may be higher or lower, depending on the workload, system configuration and cooling used, AMD clarifies.
AMD is also addressing speculation about the reliability of the Ryzen 3000 processors. It was alleged that AMD reduced the speed after the initial release with a firmware update to extend the lifespan. AMD denies that and says the new Agesa update will not affect the longevity of the processors either.
AMD is also announcing a new Monitoring SDK. That is a collection of development tools to create software for monitoring Ryzen processors. It contains more than thirty api calls, with which detailed information about things such as temperature and voltage can be requested. The SDK will be available to download from developer.amd.com beginning September 30.
AMD will also use the capabilities made available through the Monitoring SDK for its own Ryzen Master software. A new version has been released that uses the Average Core Voltage API from the new SDK.
Last week AMD already promised that there would be bios updates to improve the boost frequency of Ryzen 3000 processors. That was in response to media reports that the CPUs are not reaching their maximum boost speed. AMD acknowledged this and said it was partly due to a bug in the firmware.