Is a brief 96°C spike during game loading normal for a Ryzen 7 9800X3D?
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MellowPine47
My Ryzen 7 9800X3D is cooled by a be quiet! Pure Rock 3 Pro. During normal gameplay, temperatures stay around 60–70°C, but when Squad loads a new map—possibly while compiling shaders—the CPU usage spikes and the temperature briefly reaches about 96°C for roughly five seconds. It does not happen during regular gameplay. Is this expected behavior for the processor, or does it suggest that the cooler or thermal paste is not handling sudden workloads properly? I'm also considering using a negative Curve Optimizer offset through PBO to reduce temperatures and possibly improve boost behavior. Can I simply apply an all-core negative offset and leave the other PBO settings at their defaults, assuming I test stability afterward?
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That kind of short spike during shader compilation or loading is generally normal. Ryzen processors boost aggressively during brief heavy workloads and may quickly approach their configured thermal limit. Since your temperatures remain around 60–70°C while actually playing, the cooler is probably doing its job. You can set a lower thermal limit such as 85–90°C if you prefer, though that may slightly reduce performance.
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For Curve Optimizer, leaving the other PBO options at their defaults and starting with a modest all-core negative offset is a reasonable approach. Try something conservative, such as -10, then test with OCCT and your normal games. If it is stable, you can experiment with a stronger value, but every chip is different and an offset that passes one test can still fail in another workload. A negative offset may reduce temperatures and give the processor more boost headroom, but it is not guaranteed to be stable at more aggressive settings.
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Several people see similar behavior with larger air coolers, including temperatures in the low 90s during shader compilation. The 9800X3D is designed to manage its temperature automatically, so a brief reading near the thermal ceiling is not automatically dangerous. It is still worth checking that the cooler is mounted evenly, the fan is oriented correctly, and the thermal paste application is reasonable.
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CobaltLynx22: So I can just change Curve Optimizer to a negative all-core value and leave the rest of the PBO settings alone?