Question about AMD upgrade/crash/power utility/Starfield
Question about AMD upgrade/crash/power utility/Starfield
Hi again Corduroy,
I haven't yet tried my system with the new Corsair PSU, so I'll probably update on that this weekend.
My motivation isn't just about upgrading—it's because of what Helper800 mentioned. Over the past three years, I've lived in an area with outdated wiring from 1978 and frequent power interruptions. Even on good days, my PSU is likely nearing its end. Luckily, I now reside in a more modern apartment.
Are you talking about the RAM kit? I have four XLR8 16GB sticks totaling 64GB. That should be sufficient. I also have BIOS settings to profile one, while profile two feels too heavy for optimization—I think it's due to insufficient power regulation from the weak PSU.
As for the monitor, I really need a replacement because the current 27" Sanyo flat screen is subpar, and my other monitor is a new curved Sceptre (24"). The resolution is set to 1080 fullscreen, though some suggest windowed might be better. Eventually, I plan to swap it for a 27" curved Sceptre model.
I'm puzzled by the GPU benchmark results (Unigine's "Superposition" test). With my older build (1600 Ryzen and an 8GB Radeon Red Dragon GPU), I managed to run the test in 4K, though it was slow. The only issue was a desktop crash, not a full system failure. When using upgraded hardware, it crashes to a black reboot at high resolution.
I suspect this is linked to the PSU, insufficient cooling, or mainboard capacity problems—similar issues pop up when playing Starfield with higher graphics settings (just 1-2 on Ultra, like shadows and grass). The other confusing part was after installing the new CPU and GPU, I could play for 4-5 hours straight with half the graphics enabled on Ultra, until it crashed again. I had to lower the in-game graphics to 90% on high and then back to 2 on Ultra before it would stop working.
Regarding your LED mainboard question, I use MysticLight, which syncs with other LEDs (main board, RAM, and even GPU holder LEDs). All my case fans also include LED indicators.
Upgrade Update
Not only upgraded the PSU from the Game Max RGB 850 to the Corsair RM850X, but took the opportunity to clean up the tentacle wiring mess I'd made in the primary chamber over the last 3 years.
Now have all that wiring in the HDD bays, and able to fit all 3 of my new fans on top of the HDD bay / PSU chamber.
CPU idle is around 35-40C, and GPU idle is 25C.
I then tested using the Unigine Superposition benchmark.
Not only did my computer not crash
at all
, but performed flawlessly with all 1080p tests (medium, high, and extreme), handled the 4k optimized test with only a few distortions, and even handled the 8k optimized test (albeit with some minor distortions, like a 1cm horizontal line across the screen that was a little out of sync, as well as a few rough edges here and there, but only during the most intense scenes).
I monitored both Core Temp and Afterburner for changes; CPU only went up to 75C at most intense, and quickly cooled back down to mid-50s. GPU only hit 35C at peak. GPU MHz did very briefly max to purple/full in the beginning of the test, but otherwise only used 50% of MHz scale on average on intense scenes.
I then tested Starfield, with all graphics settings maxed out. No crashes what-so-ever!
I then exited and adjusted settings in the Radeon Adrenalin app (nothing with crazy OC, just turning on the Super Resolution, Anti-Lag, and Radeon Boost).
Didn't get to test since the Adrenalin software had an update. Figured it best I reboot for that upgrade, which gave me a chance to enter BIOS and turn on the Game Boost and switch to RAM profile 2.
After that, I played Starfield for roughly 2.5 hours with flawless performance!
No crashes at all. Just froze for about 10 seconds at one point, but then worked just fine. I have yet to test the game in what everyone calls its "benchmark area", Neon.
With all that said, just want to say thank you all so much again for your feedback!
The PSU truly was holding me back and made all the difference. Don't think I'll be doing any more upgrades in the near-future (except swapping out my Sanyo 27" TV for a 27" curved Sceptre monitor), but I'm glad to know I can always come back here to troubleshoot when I hit a wall.
If any of you do have any follow-up tweak suggestions (like in Adrenalin center or BIOS for safe OC settings), I'm open. Thanks again!