AMD’s Ryzen 7000X3D Install Guide Pinpoints Performance Pitfalls
AMD has discreetly shared a quickstart guide that we have outlined. Setting method A PC system powered by one of the stunning new Ryzen 9 7950X3D or 7900X3D processors. This guide is good for you and good for AMD, as it can help reduce community frustration with sub-optimal installation and setup procedures. It’s not hard to follow AMD’s guide, but following the letters can be time-consuming, especially if you do the recommended fresh install of Windows 10 or 11.
First, we recommend an updated version of Windows 10 or 11. Specifically, AMD recommends a fresh install of at least “Windows 11 Version 21H2 Build 22000.1455 or Windows 10 Version 1903 Build 19044.2546”. You can also choose the latest release if you don’t mind doing this drastic redo option. AMD points out that newer OS installations may have Windows Virtualization Based Security (VBS) enabled, which means L3 cache reports are inaccurate There is a possibility. Microsoft previously gave a green flag to gamers looking to speed up Windows by disabling VBS (and HVCI).
Another important preparation step for new AMD Ryzen 7000X3D users is to update your motherboard’s BIOS to the latest version to ensure proper support. Users should research motherboard compatibility and readiness before purchasing these CPUs. Luckily, many modern motherboards (especially expensive Ryzen 7000 capable boards) allow you to update the BIOS without a CPU installed, so this step often leads to BIOS/CPU compatibility issues. You can complete it without worrying about problems.
AMD has prepared Ryzen chipset drivers to ensure that the latest generation of 3D V-Cache enhanced processors work optimally with your system. Look for AMD Chipset Driver 5.02.16.347 (or later) for optimal performance and stability. Please note that “X3D / Ryzen 9 gaming performance optimizations will not be enabled when using older versions of this driver”. Some users have already found that when switching AMD Ryzen 7000X3D CPUs, they need to reinstall the chipset drivers to get the optimizations working again. Of course, after the driver installation is complete, the system must be rebooted.
The first boot after assembling a new platform can take 2-3 minutes even on modern high speed systems. Please be patient as new systems perform memory training and other tasks in the background on first boot.
AMD also provides guidance for Windows accessory software to optimize Windows gaming performance. Users must enable Windows Game Mode and install and update the Xbox Game Bar app (version 5.823.1271.0 or later). Some of you may have disabled or removed these apps before, but you should follow AMD’s wise advice. That’s because these Microsoft apps work with AMD’s new thread-targeting technology to run game processes on the fastest cores and park the slowest cores when they’re not needed. Our own initial testing of this adaptive technique found no problems.
AMD’s guide is based on testing on AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D and Ryzen 9 7950X3D PCs with AM5 reference motherboard, 32GB DDR5-6000 RAM, Artic Liquid Freezer II cooler, and Windows 11. was turned on and VBS was turned off. A long list of the latest games were tested.