AMD’s graphics driver has been observed tampering with certain CPU settings according to recent reports, in what can only be described as very strange.
This comes from Igor’s Lab (via Tom’s Hardware), where the German tech site noted that the apparent problem was highlighted by the reader, and Igor was later able to reproduce the problem in one case (with AMD hardware owners detailing their additional findings on Reddit).
To sum up current speculation on this — and remember, this is still just a guess, so let’s be careful about what we can conclude here — the theory is that integrating AMD’s Ryzen Master tool into the Adrenalin graphics driver version 22.3.1 (or later) is causing the problem, as Ryzen CPU is undergoing changes to enhance settings unknown to the user.
As we said at the beginning, this is definitely an odd case, although it only happens to those who have installed a Radeon driver who also have an AMD Ryzen CPU (Ryzen Master is an overclocking unit designed to allow processor performance to be optimized in a user-friendly way, in in case you weren’t aware of it).
What is supposed to happen is that when the new Adrenalin graphics driver is installed on the system, when a GPU profile is applied, the program can apparently change the PBO (resolution, or overclock) setting in the BIOS, returning it to default (if it had user has already changed it).
Or so the endoscopy goes, anyway, and obviously this can be a problem in some situations and, as Igor points out, can cause a computer to crash. As mentioned earlier, another issue is that the user is not told which changes are being applied, so they may end up confused as to why they are suddenly having a problem with their system.
Analysis: Multiple solutions floated
This is an unfortunate situation, of course, and we hope that AMD will now investigate these reports, and Team Red will later be able to take appropriate action.
In the meantime, there are several ways you can solve the problem. The first and most obvious is to simply go back to the BIOS after installing the new graphics driver, and reconfigure the old settings (or for those running the defaults anyway, just disable the PBO).
Another suggestion in the Reddit thread above is to not load the old profiles, but to create a new graphics card tuning profile instead. Electrical-Bobcat435 advises: “It’s a small headache, reproduce clocks and fan curves, but once you do it the BIOS PBO settings won’t restart/change. It’s silly for AMD to do this but there is a solution.”
Finally, as Igor’s Lab and again someone else on Reddit suggest, there is a Radeon Software Slimmer tool that can be used to remove Ryzen Master from your Adrenalin driver, thus preventing the tool from interfering with the CPU. However, this is a third-party software, so you install it entirely at your own risk.