https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/c ... before_we/
Addressing some concerns/questions before we launch, and some observations.
Discussion
Hey /r/Amd, I wanted to address some questions before they start to pop up with tonight's launch and share some observations.

To those unaware, we previously binned 1st and 2nd gen Ryzen, and 1st gen Threadripper in the past (siliconlottery.info). As we all know, the overclocking headroom on these CPUs is pretty small. We stopped carrying these CPUs a few months after their launch, because demand for them dried up. We're not necessarily expecting anything different this time around.



Q1: Why are you binning these CPUs if they have such little overclocking headroom?

A1: With each launch (and this one in particular), we've had a larger and larger demand to carry these CPUs. As long as we can break even on the labor, I don't mind carrying them a short while and gathering some overclocking statistics to add onto our chart. There has always been more than enough demand on our end, so we will address it.

Q2: Why would anyone pay extra money for an additional 50MHz? It's not worth it!

A2: Nothing about our business has ever been value-oriented. We provide premium services and products for those who are interested. A typical comparison is a luxury sports car vs economic vehicle. There is little value in purchasing a $200,000 vehicle when a $5,000 vehicle could get the same job done, but there is still demand for them.

Q3: I am running a stable 5.5GHz overclock on my CPU, but the highest bin you offer is 5.0GHz! Did I win the silicon lottery tremendously?

A3: Maybe, but most of the time no. We aim for our CPUs to be just as stable as stock operation, which means we test with things such as Prime95 small ffts. Using lighter stress tests will net a higher frequency, which is perfectly fine to do if you want. A lot of our customers run higher overclocks than what we validate with, and we particularly expect this with 3rd gen Ryzen.



There is absolutely a difference in silicon quality between the 3700X and 3800X, to get that out of the way. On average, the 3800X will hit about 100MHz or more higher all core. I know a lot of people have been wanting some kind of confirmation on this. We won't have statistics up right at launch as our sample size is still a bit small (a bit of trouble getting these CPUs right now), but they should be posted within a couple weeks.



Overclocking on these CPUs in general is definitely not warranted, as the stock boost algorithm is great- even better than 1st and 2nd gen Ryzen. Full AVX2 support on these CPUs has put us in a pinch in regards to validating overclocks on these CPUs, as they run much warmer under AVX2 stress tests than previous generations.



At stock settings these CPUs will run an all core frequency 100-200MHz lower when running Prime95 small ffts compared to lighter stress tests, which is something we can't replicate as there is no AVX offset available on the platform. This in turn can cause some of the lower binned CPUs to have a lower all core frequency than the stock algorithm will provide in other workloads, not to mention workloads not using all available cores.



We've also had questions over the past few days on per CCX overclocking, but it's not something we would do unless there becomes a way to enter these settings at the BIOS level.



With all of this in mind, there are a few notes on buying the higher binned CPUs. Silicon quality is silicon quality. For the most part, higher binned CPUs will run stock at lower voltages and have a bit more headroom when PBO is applied. From some quick testing, the higher binned CPUs also have more headroom at the individual CCX level. We're also going to have lower binned parts below MSRP, which would be good buys to run at stock.



AMD has done a fantastic job here overall, and we're very aware this is the start to the end of our company in general. As both AMD and Intel optimize their binning process more and more, overclocking will not be possible as CPUs will boost themselves on their own to the highest clocks possible.