CPU Test - Dramatically Inconsistent Results Ryzen 9 5950X MSI Motherboard

[Shankboy]

I am testing a Ryzen 9 5950X. I have consistently (for about 12 months) achieved CPU scores in the 40,000+ range. I have just begun getting very different scores. Upon examination the CPU drop-off is 100% due to the Extended Instructions (SSE) portion of the test. When i get a good overall score the Extended instruction portion of the test is around 34,000, when the results are lower, the Extended Instruction test is around 2,900. I have been careful - run the test on a freshly booted machine, running nothing else, on some tests running task manager so i can see CPU load before test initiated. I have updated the bios and also moved to Win11. Went back and created a Win10 disk and getting the same results. While the change is really annoying, what i can't understand is why the results would fluctuate so WILDLY under virtually identical conditions. Hard to believe that would be caused by bios or Win10-Win 11 move.

Hoping someone knows what the heck is going on and can help me with some crazy setting somewhere.

Thanks in advance.

[David (PassMark)]

Would this be an ASUS motherboard with ASUS drivers / software installed on it?

Could also be temperature related as the SSE instructions tend to heat up the CPU more than any others.

[Shankboy]

It is an MSI MPG X570 Gaming Plus motherboard with the latest MSI driver. Using AMD Ryzen Master to monitor temperature, but not while the test is running. CPU is running at close to 30 degrees C when idle and only to high 40s/low 50s when stressed. Is there any way this could be a CPU problem?

Thanks for the reply. Is there someone i can call?

[Tim (PassMark)]

It's possible MSI is doing something similar, are you using any of the MSI tuning software (MSI afterburner has caused problems for years)?

[Tim (PassMark)]

Just an update after the conversation was moved to email;

It looks like all the sub tests for the SSE result are down (about 92% each), and all the test threads are affected (not just a few that is dragging the result down).

We've managed to identify some similar behaviour from our database results, of 5000 Ryzen 5950X results there was 42 with a low CPU score and of those 30 had low SSE results.

Of those 30 nearly all of them were using MSI motherboards (X570 GAMING / X570-A Pro / MS-7C37), so I would say there is a very good chance there is some driver or software specific to these boards that is causing the problem rather than a Windows or AMD specific issue eg (Afterburner / Rivatuner / other MSI management utilities as these have been know to cause all sorts of issues over the years).

Narrowing it down could be tricky, if it's happening on a totally clean win10/11 install it might even be BIOS related or one of the utilities messing with the performance timers (such as https://forums.passmark.com/performa...2994#post52994).