CoreFreq vs RyzenAdj

CoreFreq is free Linux CPU-monitoring software with BIOS-like controls for 64-bit processors. It reads frequencies, ratios, performance counters, instructions per cycle, C-states, temperature, and documented core-voltage readings. The interface shows processor features, brand and architecture strings, plus a topology map including caches. Its driver exposes controls for Turbo Boost, power management, thermal limits, prefetchers, and hardware-controlled performance states. A daemon and command-line client provide monitoring views and JSON-encoded system information. Listed architectures include Intel and AMD families, Arm A64, RISC-V RV64, and PowerPC64 LE. Requirements include Linux kernel 3.3 or newer and GNU C Library. Installation can use source builds or packages for several distributions. The project is GPL-2.0 licensed and uses shared memory between its kernel module and user-space component. Some virtual machines may hide required registers. Driver signing is required when kernel signature verification is enabled. The interface renders best in ASCII or VT100 terminals.

RyzenAdj is a free command-line tool for adjusting power-management settings on Ryzen mobile processors. It runs on Windows and Linux and uses the same command-line interface on Windows and Unix-like systems. The tool exposes sustained, fast, and slow power limits in milliwatts, a Tctl temperature limit in degrees Celsius, and minimum and maximum clock controls for SoC, FCLK, VCN, LCLK, and GFX. The `--info` option displays information and key power metrics after adjustment; `--dump-table` shows the full power-metric table before and after. Shell scripts or Windows batch files can automate its use. It requires Administrator privileges on Windows or root access on Linux. Settings may need to be reapplied because device power-management features can overwrite them. Linux users must build from source, and Linux operation requires elevated access to the northbridge configuration space through libpci and `/dev/mem` or the ryzen_smu kernel module. Support and limitations vary across Ryzen families. The project is distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License version 3.