AMD Ryzen 9 7950X P-State/CPUFreq Frequency Scaling Performance On Linux

[arQon]

I'm skeptical that's still true

* points at the part that says "... are trying very hard to *change* this".

It's certainly still not false, but I agree it's become more situational over the past couple of years, and is likely to continue that trend for at least a few more. This article though, as mentioned, shows that things still aren't there yet even on the same chip, let alone cross-family or cross-generational.

I'm more than happy to dig into the specifics on a case-by-case basis (or at least, I would be if I had free time), but the goal here was just to explain to OP why his naive guess at the "obvious" outcome isn't actually right.

I'll just point out that the TPU link also still says "Since a faster processor will complete a given workload quicker, the total amount of energy used might end up less than on a low-powered processor, which might draw less power, but will take longer to finish the test."

> Based on the sloppy experiment design & analysis I've seen in some LTT videos, I give them zero heed.

You might want to reconsider that.
AFAP is very different: it's basic (to us) concepts and specifics explained in a way that normal people can understand. They predate the whole ZOMG YouTube ADHD era, and every one of them I've seen (which AFAIK is "all of them") is both accurate and approachable. They're my go-to for things I don't want to have to spend half an hour of my own time explaining to people who are curious about something but don't need the obsessive levels of detail or jargon that "technical" explanations entail.

[Jabberwocky]

No need for eco mode, just put the passive cooler on and it will automatically throttle to the coolers capabilities.

The "eco mode" could be to force a specific perf/W scenario. Simply putting a cooler on it would be like pissing into the wind.

The question is: What is the efficiency curve is for Ryzen 7000 series. In the past it was seldom that an entire range is tuned for more performance and places less value on perf/W. Vega was an exception where most cards needed undervolting to improve perf/W. In most cases it's down to the individual chip and the workload. With such a dynamic environment and dynamic defaults that Ryzen 7000 created it's going to be very tough for people to get clarity on the matter.... then you add the temperature difference (which is not relevant to perf/W) into the mix and you have super confused consumers.

I need to stock up on popcorn.

[Anux]

The "eco mode" could be to force a specific perf/W scenario. Simply putting a cooler on it would be like pissing into the wind.

Just have a look at atomsymbols link, it shows how the CPU automatically adapts to the coolers capabilitys. If you have a good cooler and still want to save power than yes eco mode or cTDP is your friend, there are also a buckload of benchmarks out there showing the impact of it.

[Jabberwocky]

Just have a look at atomsymbols link, it shows how the CPU automatically adapts to the coolers capabilitys. If you have a good cooler and still want to save power than yes eco mode or cTDP is your friend, there are also a buckload of benchmarks out there showing the impact of it.

I have looked at the link and that's why I need to stock up on popcorn.

I'm simply pointing out that this change in behavior has pros and cons. For the average person it's probably mostly pros because it takes a lot of responsibilities away from the user, in the long run (after software has adapted to this change) it will make things easier. For people like me that have a big cooler (big coolers are more efficient and makes less noise if you get the right one) on a fast CPU and want to manually restrict control power draw under certain conditions, well then it becomes challenging. Being able to predict your workload and knowing at what voltage/frequency your processor is most efficient are the most important variables IMO.

My Niche

During the day I use my system for productivity. In the evening I play games on the same system. I run heavy workloads through the night when I go to bed. At night I run my system in "eco mode" where I set the most efficient frequency. During the day I like my system being quiet so I optimize for lowest TDP. During the evening I go all out to the max.

Now I don't own a Ryzen 7000 series CPU so I have not done any testing myself. It is my understanding AMD has basically set all out the the max by default. This is not very efficient for people doing CPU rendering for example, by default the system will make a ton of noise too. Finally just to throw the final spanner in the works, variable ambient temperatures really mess with these optimizations. I live in Africa without AC, my winter and summer configurations are very different. I have spent many hours tweaking different sets of fans in my fancontrol config.

Looking Forward

I wonder if we will set CPU scaling based on application in the future, or is it already a thing? For example your games/webrowser is allowed to boost to the max of performance mode, your rendering runs at eco (most effective perf/W) and your package manager or compiler/dev-server/db runs at low TDP for minimal noise (ssh-remote compiling if needed). It will make my life easier a lot easier if that could be done.

I want my browser to be able to load pages as fast as possible because it's usually a short duration and will make me more productive than having to wait. The duration of loading web pages are usually so short that it won't require my fans to spin faster. Efficiency doesn't matter that much for those spikes yet for big workloads it needs to be as efficient as possible and gaming should just be relatively efficient. If that makes sense.

[Anux]

Now I don't own a Ryzen 7000 series CPU so I have not done any testing myself. It is my understanding AMD has basically set all out the the max by default. This is not very efficient for people doing CPU rendering for example, by default the system will make a ton of noise too.

Now you could just set the Fan speed to your preferred noise level and be done. And since gaming is hardly affected by going down 1 step in TDP, you could also set it in BIOS once and forget it.
I also don't like the current trend of rising power consumption and am totally fine with my old 65 W CPU. Although I might get a 8 core 7000X3D if prices are better in the far future and just limit it to silent noise levels.

I want my browser to be able to load pages as fast as possible because it's usually a short duration and will make me more productive than having to wait.

With any current AM5 CPU browsing is not limited by you CPU and even having the lowest possible cTDP wouldn't make a noticeable difference. You should get µblock origins and experiment with a script blocker, that's were the web speed is most affected. Maybe try another ISP.