Hi guys. I've seen some high quality posts on this site which helped with many questions I had about selecting hardware for my build. So I figured I'd post here instead of the other sites. Here's my build :
i7-4770k overclocked recently per the guide on here to about 4.4gHz at 1.27V
CM Hyper Evo212 Black Edition cooler
ASUS Z87-A Motherboard
2 x 8gb Corsair Vengeance LP 1600mhz RAM
SAPPHIRE Pulse RX5600XT GPU
Samsung 970 PRO EVO nVME boot drive
Seagate Constellation 1TB storage drive
Corsair TX750W Power Supply
This all started when I wanted to upgrade my PC to play Half-Life: Alyx. Haven't upgraded my PC since originally building it around 2013. I started with the nVME drive. I am actually running this drive using a PCIe to NVME adapter on my 2nd PCI-E x16 slot with great performance of nearly 3GBPS transfer speeds. I still had my original Radeon HD7850 when I performed that upgrade. I noticed no performance issues with my regular games around that time (Half life 2, black mesa source, cs:go, etc.) running from the disk drive, HOWEVER; when I purchased a USED MSI Gaming X RX580 card, my system began to have absolutely terrible performance. This was around March 2020 so I attributed it to drivers. I spent days rolling back, doing clean installs with DDU, everything I could try when the PC wasn't being used. Cleaned out dust ( as I usually do every month ). Disabled overclocks. Checked ALL thermals, and all checked out great (everything in system running under 60C under load). Installed games onto the nVME. Deleted all configuration files for all games. Replaced CMOS battery for giggles. I would still get FPS drops down to about 80FPS and in some maps my computer would actually crash to a black screen requiring a hard restart. I was at my wit's end so I returned it and ended up getting a brand new Sapphire RX 5600 XT. The same issues persisted. I am wondering if my power supply is degraded, as when I do OCCT's PSU test I can hear the fan bearing is quite loud. I'm wondering if the load of the newer cards as opposed to the HD7850 (180w vs 150w) is enough to make a difference have degraded performance? But I don't see my 5600XT Downclocking at all ( seeing about 1700mhz under load) and all of my sensors on BIOS show very good voltages all within tolerance of the 12v, 3.3v, 5v ratings.
I have a brand new 650W power supply on order right now, but I want to prepare for the worst just in case that doesn't fix my issue. All insight is welcome as I have spent a considerable amount of time on this issue. Looking forward to seeing some ideas float around. Thanks guys.