Need help building a gaming PC!

[Mr. Detective]

OK. That was the last straw. Safe mode, DDU, all that TDR tricks didn't work. Just had another restart. Funny thing is that even though I disabled automatic restart so I can see the BSoD screen, it restarted anyway. Lol. I'll have to send an RMA request to Amazon. Hope they will accept. I threw the box away already...

Lucky for you, lol. Learn from my experience. Don't get an AMD GPU.

Now, I'm probably gonna get the 2060. Question is, which one? This is the most affordable one
EVGA 2060 KO
Edit: Wait a minute... It doesn't have a backplate...? WTF? Or is that the old version...?

I'm gonna check reviews to see if this one is worth buying. I mean, low price is tempting, but I don't wanna deal with any headaches that come later on. If you know anything about it, please let me know as well.

 

[JamesRyan]

The AMD GPUs are not actually bad, just this 5000 series and the recent drivers, lol. I will wait for their next-gen ones to see if things are gonna be different. But I admit that AMD is behind NVIDIA in this GPU war. The 2060 KO has a backplate. This thing means to compete with the RX 5600XT. It may not have a good cooler system as the gaming X one, but its price is attractive, so I think it is not a bad option. You do not need to worry much about the RTX 2000 and GTX 1600 series. As far as I know, they are all good, unless the problem comes from other components. If you need a review for this 2060 KO, you may find it HERE.

 

[Mr. Detective]

Yeah, I've been reading and watching reviews and benchmarks. I'm still deciding between either 1660 Super or 2060. It might not mean much, but man, those MSI ones sure look attractive, especially with those RGB and fan design, lol. Too bad the price is over the top. If I don't care much for ray-tracing, and sticks with my 1080p monitor, maybe I'll go with the 1660 Super and upgrade GPU + monitor later. Maybe in about 5 years or so, I'll jump to 4k. Hope the technology will be more affordable and more mainstream. But now, I have a 3600 CPU. Wonder if that thing will last long? XD But for now, I think I'll wait a for a bit longer, for some sort of sale.
One thing I'm concerned about is when I RMA this card, I'm gonna have to connect HDMI from my motherboard. For some reason, there's no signal when I plug the HDMI cable into my motherboard's port. Do I have to remove the GPU for it to work...?

Also, this confirms Radeon is the culprit. New bugs:

Finally got the BSoD.

Was playing CS, another guy got disconnected. "Lol he got disconnected" immediately after I typed that, the game crashed. Tried to launch it again and got BSoD. I think a certain holy man is watching me...

 

[JamesRyan]

Once you RMA your graphics card, you will have to wait for your new one. Ryzen 5 3600 does not have an integrated GPU. Only the Ryzen CPUs with G suffix (like Ryzen 5 3400G) has it. You don't need to care much about the ray tracing. The RTX 2060 is still suffering when running this feature. It has potential, but at this moment, it is too soon. The RTX 2060 has the performance of GTX 1080, while GTX 1660S only has the performance of GTX 1070.

And for now, 6-core CPU is a sweet spot for gaming, but I think in the next 5 years, CPUs with 8 cores will replace because PS5 is currently using an 8-core CPU. You can still upgrade to a Ryzen 7 4700X in the future with your current motherboard, so just do not worry much about this. However, gaming on 4K requires a very powerful GPU. Even the RTX 2080Ti cannot be stable at 60FPS with the highest settings on some current games (like Red Dead Redemption 2).

 

[Mr. Detective]

Once you RMA your graphics card, you will have to wait for your new one. Ryzen 5 3600 does not have an integrated GPU. Only the Ryzen CPUs with G suffix (like Ryzen 5 3400G) has it. You don't need to care much about the ray tracing. The RTX 2060 is still suffering when running this feature. It has potential, but at this moment, it is too soon. The RTX 2060 has the performance of GTX 1080, while GTX 1660S only has the performance of GTX 1070.

And for now, 6-core CPU is a sweet spot for gaming, but I think in the next 5 years, CPUs with 8 cores will replace because PS5 is currently using an 8-core CPU. You can still upgrade to a Ryzen 7 4700X in the future with your current motherboard, so just do not worry much about this. However, gaming on 4K requires a very powerful GPU. Even the RTX 2080Ti cannot be stable at 60FPS with the highest settings on some current games (like Red Dead Redemption 2).

Wait. I know I'm not gonna be to do any gaming without a proper GPU, but what about anything else? I'm still gonna be able to use my PC for normal tasks, right? Lol. But again, I don't know why my audio doesn't work if I plug the HDMI into the motherboard instead. What gives?

I actually would prefer if I don't have to upgrade to a new CPU soon. Benchmarks show the 2060 to be on average 10-20 fps faster, and at least $40 more expensive. It's possible I'll get a 1660 Super instead and skip the 2000 cards. No RTX and DLSS 2 for now. But having an extra 20 fps or so can be pretty useful in some games, like BF or FF. I don't play demanding AAA titles like RDD2, but god helps me if I ever feel like playing something on that caliber. Doom and FF (and maybe BF) are probably the most demanding games I'll play. Other games like Tekken, Yakuza, DBZ, probably won't be too hard, I think. Truth is, I wanted something more powerful than the PS5, hence the 3600+5600+1440p combo. But now the only thing I'm keeping is the 3600. Guess I'll stay with 1080p for another 4-5 years, lol. You're planning to upgrade soon?

 

[JamesRyan]

Unfortunately, you can do nothing without a GPU. The video connectors on the motherboard only work with G suffix CPUs. If you do not play AAA games much or do not require the games to run at the highest settings with 60+ FPS, then the 1660S can handle well. Skipping RTX 2000 series is not a bad choice, because the RTX 3000 series will be launched later this year. For now, with your current system, I think you should stay with 1080p for a couple of years. I am also using R5 3600 and GTX 1070 to run games on 1080p. I still have not thought about 4K, but I did think of 1440p. I am currently waiting for the new CPUs and GPUs from both AMD and NVIDIA. Rumors say that they will have much better performance at a reasonable price. If it is true, I will upgrade my GPU to handle 1440p next year.

 

[Mr. Detective]

Unfortunately, you can do nothing without a GPU. The video connectors on the motherboard only work with G suffix CPUs.

I'm... starting to think that I might have the choice with AMD... I don't think Intel CPUs are like that, no? Nevertheless, seems like I can't wait for a sale now, lol.

 

[JamesRyan]

I'm... starting to think that I might have the choice with AMD... I don't think Intel CPUs are like that, no? Nevertheless, seems like I can't wait for a sale now, lol.

Intel also has CPUs with F suffix (like i5 9400F), which are the same. This new trend providing us good CPUs with reasonable price, because they know most of us are using discrete GPUs for gaming. Going with AMD at this time is a good choice with the following reasons:

- The AM4 sockets will support at least one more generation (Ryzen 4000), so you still can upgrade in the future without changing your motherboard, while Intel keeps changing sockets every one or two generations, forcing you to upgrade both.

- 7nm process from TSMC allows the Ryzen CPUs to have great performance while draining less energy and producing less heat. Intel has still been stuck at their 14nm for half of a decade (since core i 6000), and they keep adding more cores into their CPUs to compete with AMD, which of course causes them to be power-hunger and producing more heat.

- Intel may still beat AMD in single-core gaming (though the gap is too small to mention since ryzen 3000), but in both gaming and multi-tasking, AMD CPUs dominate. I assume that you are not just play games, right?

Just do not worry about your choice. You will not regret for what you have chosen.

 

[Mr. Detective]

I meant "made the wrong choice", lol. Damn, my head. I'm getting old now.

 

[JamesRyan]

I meant "made the wrong choice", lol. Damn, my head. I'm getting old now.

The CPU is not, but the GPU... Well... I did not even think it was so bad like that, or maybe you are just a bit unlucky to receive a faulty GPU, so let's just stick with NVIDIA for a while.

 

[Mr. Detective]

So after almost 2 months using the 1660 Super with no problem, today, I got my first shut down. Was playing and the monitor shut off all of a sudden, but the lights of the PC were still on, RGB and all. It wouldn't restart by itself, so I had to hit the power button manually. Everything seems normal again, but in the notification, it says "CS GO has been blocked from accessing graphics hardware", just like the above picture with the Radeon. Nothing was abnormal before that, either. Uhm... is this just one of those mysterious random shut downs? I've had games crashing before, but nothing like a complete shut down like this time.

I'm kinda worried what else might be wrong... O.O

On further research again, this seems like it's random and can happen on any computer, any GPU. Hm... Guess it's just bad luck?

 

[JamesRyan]

For the first time, you don't need to worry too much. Keep using it to see if there are any random crashes again. If it happens too much, then you will have to analyze and find the cause. Random shutdown like that may be caused by the graphics card itself, or the PSU. For electronic components, it is just a matter of luck so we can only cross our fingers when buying them.

 

[Mr. Detective]

Got another shutdown, but this time, not while gaming. I was just using Photoshop and Chrome, then all of a sudden the monitor shut off, the fans became really loud, and nothing showed up even after I tried turning on the screen, so I had to press the power button to reset it. I had the RGB lights off so I don't know if they were affected. Notification bar showed nothing relevant. No "blocked from accessing" message like last time, either. Well, the only strange thing was that I had to reset the setting for my Classic Shell because the icons suddenly became smaller, that's all.

I installed WhoCrashed again. Analyzed but nothing new came up, only old results from July. Can't be heat issues, either... I wasn't running anything intensive. Dragon Center shows CPU Core Temp fluctuates from around 45-55C, CPU Socket Temp at constant 35C.

What the hell...? Is the PSU acting up now? Or something else? Sheesh... So much headaches with these things...

 

[JamesRyan]

Got another shutdown, but this time, not while gaming. I was just using Photoshop and Chrome, then all of a sudden the monitor shut off, the fans became really loud, and nothing showed up even after I tried turning on the screen, so I had to press the power button to reset it. I had the RGB lights off so I don't know if they were affected. Notification bar showed nothing relevant. No "blocked from accessing" message like last time, either. Well, the only strange thing was that I had to reset the setting for my Classic Shell because the icons suddenly became smaller, that's all.

I installed WhoCrashed again. Analyzed but nothing new came up, only old results from July. Can't be heat issues, either... I wasn't running anything intensive. Dragon Center shows CPU Core Temp fluctuates from around 45-55C, CPU Socket Temp at constant 35C.

What the hell...? Is the PSU acting up now? Or something else? Sheesh... So much headaches with these things...

Maybe the PSU is trying something. If you can borrow PSU from someone for a couple of days, try it. If it is not from the PSU, I think I know about the loud fan problem from my friend before. Not sure if it is the same with you, but the fans from his graphics card spun at maximum speed, and the screen was all suddenly black. He made an RMA for the card, and the new one is now working without this problem. I do not want to say, but you may not be fortunate with this PC-building things.

 

[Mr. Detective]

No, I can't borrow a PSU from anyone. No one I know builds PC. Strange if the GPU was the problem because nothing was running using the GPU. But you might be onto something. I can't use Mystic Light to change the RGB mode on the GPU anymore. I'm gonna take it out and put it back in again to see what's the problem.

Update: Nope. Still can't change the color. Gonna reinstall DC now.
Update 2: OK. It's all good now. I just updated ML and somehow it's all good again. One strange thing is that before, if I use the rainbow setting on All Sync, the GPU RGB would be flashing on and off and I'd have to the GPU setting to set it to rainbow to make it not flash. Thought it was a strange feature. I don't have to do that anymore.

Well... Now just pray that nothing else happens. T_T

 

[JamesRyan]

No, I can't borrow a PSU from anyone. No one I know builds PC. Strange if the GPU was the problem because nothing was running using the GPU. But you might be onto something. I can't use Mystic Light to change the RGB mode on the GPU anymore. I'm gonna take it out and put it back in again to see what's the problem.

Update: Nope. Still can't change the color. Gonna reinstall DC now.
Update 2: OK. It's all good now. I just updated ML and somehow it's all good again. One strange thing is that before, if I use the rainbow setting on All Sync, the GPU RGB would be flashing on and off and I'd have to the GPU setting to set it to rainbow to make it not flash. Thought it was a strange feature. I don't have to do that anymore.

Well... Now just pray that nothing else happens. T_T

Most of the RGB software from the manufacturers is garbage. I am using Asus Aura Sync, but always have to use a specific old version to make things work. Otherwise, updating to the latest one will mess the whole software up, even unable to start it. They did a great job for the RGB LEDs, but I don't know why their RGB software is so bad.

 

[Archlvt]

Nevermind, didn't realize how old original topic was. Can't delete post?