Device Experiencing Odd and Unpredictable Performance Issues
Device Experiencing Odd and Unpredictable Performance Issues
Hey there, during the holidays I put together a computer for my girlfriend. The setup includes: a Ryzen 3200G with two 8GB RAM modules at 3000MHz, a Radeon 6600 graphics card, a BIOSTAR B450MH motherboard, a 500W power supply, and a 960GB Kingston SATA SSD running Windows 11 Pro. It’s a more affordable build, but it should handle the tasks well since her monitor is only 720p and would likely need upgrading to 1080p if she wanted that. Most of the time it works just fine.
The main problem we faced was during the first two weeks of use. Everything ran smoothly at first—she played Marvel Rivals at high settings (80-90 FPS), finished Dredge, and started The Witcher 3, which ran smoothly at around 60 FPS in ultra. But starting last week things got unstable. Rivals slowed down to about 5 FPS and wouldn’t recover. The Witcher also froze at roughly 1 FPS. It wasn’t consistent; sometimes the PC would restart and work again, other times it wouldn’t.
We tried several fixes: updated the graphics drivers, updated the BIOS (which was tricky but manageable), reinstalled Rivals (though that didn’t seem to solve the issue), and checked CPU usage—about 80% on both CPU and GPU with The Witcher. The PSU felt okay at around 60°C, but I wasn’t sure about the CPU. I didn’t test the CPU directly since The Witcher was so slow.
The PSU is dual-voltage, which is fine, but I bought it from a friend without picking a premium model. My home uses 120V while hers is 220V, and the switch lets me adjust voltage manually. I’m not sure if that’s affecting things. I also tried running the PC without the GPU to see if APU drivers were causing trouble, but she didn’t mention that.
She’s starting to lose confidence in my build, so I’m a bit worried. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Ensure the monitor is connected to the GPU, not the motherboard. Have you checked for updates on the SSD firmware? The 3200G can limit performance with the RX 6600 even at 1080p, and using a lower resolution makes it worse. Consider switching to a 1080p display or an R5 5600 or R7 5700X3D without upgrading your monitor.
Thanks for the response. No need to change anything else. The situation was tough, especially with everything going wrong around us. My friend got me some used parts at a low price, which helped a bit. It's not ideal for the CPU, but we had no other choice back then. The flood destroyed my home and computer, so I understand why things were so stressful. Upgrading the monitor is on the list, though I wasn't sure lower resolution would be the issue. I'll try it out after testing, and I appreciate any suggestions you have.
Amd chipset drivers from AMD site. Battery replacement needed for the CMOS cell, possibly drained on a used B450 board. Resetting the BIOS would remove XMP support, affecting performance if RAM isn't set to 2133 MHz or higher. The 6600 offers virtual super resolution, letting you achieve 1080p quality even on a 720p display.