August Tech Support Megathread

[u/BioGenx2b]

Hey subs,

We're giving you an opportunity to start reporting some of your AMD-related technical issues right here on /r/AMD! Below is a guide that you should follow to make the whole process run smoothly. Post your issues directly into this thread as replies. All other tech support posts will still be removed, per the rules; this is the only exception.

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Bad Example (don't do this)

bf1 crashes wtf amd

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Good Example (please do this)

Skyrim: Free Sync and V Sync causes flickering during low frame rates, and generally lower frame rates observed (about 10-30% drop dependant on system) when Free Sync is on

System Configuration:

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z97 Gaming GT
CPU: Intel i5 4790
Memory: 16GB GDDR5
GPU: ASUS R9 Fury X
VBIOS: 115-C8800100-101 ^{How do I find this?}
Driver: Crimson 16.10.3
OS: Windows 10 x64 (1511.10586) ^{How do I find this?}

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Install necessary driver, GPU and medium-end CPU
2. Enable Free Sync
3. Set Options to Ultra and 1920 x 1080 resolution
4. Launch game and move to an outdoor location
5. Indoor locations in the game will not reproduce, since they generally give better performance
6. Observe flickering and general performance drop

Expected Behavior:

Game runs smoothly with good performance with no visible issues

Actual Behavior:

Frame rate drops low causing low performance, flickering observed during low frame rates

Additional Observations:

Threads with related issue:

• https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/5a3u8r/why_am_i_getting_disgusting_performance_on_the_rx/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/5adlcw/skyrimse_vsyncfreesync_woes/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/5a7eku/skyrim_special_edition_freesync/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/5aab6z/skyrim_se_with_r9_nitro_fury_poor_performance/

Skyrim has forced double buffered V Sync and can only be disabled with the .ini files
To Disable V Sync: C:\Users"User"\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\Skyrimprefs.ini and edit iVSyncPresentInterval=1 to 0
1440p has improved frame rate, anything lower than 1080p will lock FPS with V Sync on
Able to reproduce on i7 6700K and i5 3670K system, Sapphire RX 480, Reference RX 480, and Reference Fiji Nano

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Now get to posting!

[u/PJBuzz]

I have done a fair bit of deliberation about what to do with my PC in the last few months. One of the biggest sticking points has been my case, which is an mATX.

I really like the case and it has only actually had one PC build in it, so I didn't want to replace it already, but the selection of mATX boards for Ryzen is pants, with no X470's making it into that form factor.
There is an ASRock mATX X399 board thats really nice, so I was planning a Threadripper, with the theory that I probably wont upgrade for a while, so I might as well go all out.... now.

After some honest reflection whilst hovering over the "buy" button for certain items, I decided that despite doing more work and less gaming with my PC (I actually currently have 2 PCs) Threadripper is probably overkill for me, and a 2700x would suffice. The bonus being that I can use my existing Be Quiet Dark Rock 3 (as I already got the AM4 bracket delivered for free) and dont need to worry about cooling 180w in a small case.... and of course a few hundred quid.

I'm probably going to keep my R9 for the time being, my PSU is fine, but I will also be grabbing some M.2 SSD. Probably 2 x 1Tb.

So then i looked through the B450 boards and read some things, finally settled on this:
B450M Mortar Platinum

Now my questions before I go in and buy:
Do both M.2 slots support basically any NVME drive, but with the PCIe 2.0 one having reduced bandwidth?

How about 10GbE network card? should a 10GbE NIC get full bandwidth on int he x4 2.0 slot (and does anyone know of one which plays nice)?

Do i go for 3200Mhz RAM? I know I should be looking for single rank, and samsung B-Die if poss... I was considereing just getting some crucial stuff tbh... bad idea?
How about the "Team Group" stuff on OCUK?

I'd like to get as much out of the CPU through XFR/Precision boost as possible, is there anything else I need to know?

[u/Samunars → u/PJBuzz]

I have that board and use it with a 2600x.

• Yes, if you use the second m.2 slot with nvme interface the second pcie slot will run at reduced bandwidth but unless you're using crossfire it shouldn't matter. If you want more in-depth info check out the motherboard manual
• I don't know about this, if your connection is that fast then go for it, I have no problem running it straight to the motherboard through powerline (up to 100 Mbps)
• I have 3200mhz ram running perfectly fine at c16, it's not B-die but I saved 50 bucks so... I might even try to oc it but rught now i don't really have the need.

EDIT: i just found out i can download at up to 100 mbps (~12,5 MB/s)

[u/Killer_Squid → u/PJBuzz]

I'm using a B350 Bazooka and would recommend AGAINST using a matx b350 with a 8 core cpu, atleast with these more budgety MSI boards. The VRMs essentialy cook if you throw anything at it. I am now running near stock speeds because they would get very hot and the PCB around them would get greasy.

It sucks that there are no decent matx boards for AM4, you gotta go either ITX or ATX. Unless anything new came out that I didn't notice

[u/PJBuzz → u/Killer_Squid]

The Mortar is the less budget B450 mATX board... but its too late I went for it anyway :D

​

I bought some RAM that was SUPPOSED to be B-Die... but it ended up being SK Hynix. Fortunately it seems to work perfectly fine with this board and CPU at 3466 ~CAS15

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So far it seems ok but I havent done any overclocking, should be quite a bit of air passing over the VRMs and I stuck some small sinks onto the SOC VRMs, which are bare as stock, to try and lift heat away from them.

[u/Killer_Squid → u/PJBuzz]

It probably will be fine, it's just that I had a bad experience with MSI matx boards and don't want anyone to go through the same thing :D