The Switch to AMD

[LoverBoyBailey]

Background

I have been into building PCs for 10 years now,  and in that time I have only ever had one system with an AMD cpu in it, an FX 8350,  and that cpu wasn’t the best to say the least. I paired it with the GTX 680 from EVGA , oh how we miss you EVGA GPUs.  Fast forward a few years and my experience was so bad, I remember there being a bug in the original Mass Effect that was AMD specific and killed a 25 hour playthrough of mine. My next 3 builds all were Intel and Nvidia based. This is mostly due to my biases and lack of competitive options from AMD. Today the pricing from nVidia and the lack of real innovation from Intel has made AMD look more appealing than ever before. Which is why a few months ago I decided to take the plunge and upgrade my PC to an all AMD platform. This is how my experience has been so far.

 

The Issues

CPU

I have a list of the full system specs at the bottom of this post, but I decided to go with the  Ryzen 7 7800x3D for my CPU and the  RX 7900 xt for my GPU.  In the first few days after completing a build I will go through several stress tests allowing me to get a feel for where the build performs and if there are any issues, crashes, thermal throttling, etc. Oh and were there problems. The first issue I came across was random blue screens when doing seemingly innocuous tasks like browse the web or transferring files. I assumed this was due to lingering intel drivers in my OS install. I know I should have done a fresh install, but I was lazy. After several hours of registry edits and uninstalling drivers it was still crashing, I gave in and made a fresh install of Windows 11. This solved all the issues I was having right? Well, no it didn’t. It did however lead me to diagnosing the problem. I looked around online and found that many users were having similar issues to mine. I followed what I found online, went into the bios, disabled the EXPO RAM profile, and reran my tests. After passing those tests, I used the pc normally for about 2 weeks with no issues. I wasn't satisfied with the solution. I, for lack of a better word, am obsessive when it comes to my PC and the lack of ability to use EXPO didn't sit right with me. So I looked further into the EXPO issues surrounding the new x3D cpus. I guess that's why they call it the bleeding edge. I found through my hours of scrolling forums for fixes that my motherboard, a Gigabyte B650 AORUS ELITE AX, was what seemed to be the main culprit. So I updated my bios, re-enabled EXPO, and ran my tests again. Stability and I was suffering far fewer crashes. After this I just said to hell with it and turned off expo and moved on. Cut to a month or so later and gigabyte had released a new bios that was said to improve EXPO performance. So I updated the BIOS and re-enabled EXPO again and ran my tests. Stability was rock solid and I havent had any issues with blue screens. So now that the issue was fixed everything would be all good and I wouldn't have to open the PC case again right? Nope! 

 

GPU

My other main issue with switching has been the alarming difference between the temp of the GPU core and the hotspot. The hotspot was regularly 35-40c hotter than the core temp. A delta between the two is normal, but a delta of this size meant something was up. So my first thought was maybe there was a bad mount of the GPU cooler.I took the gpu and replaced the thermal paste. When I ran my test again, the temp delta had dropped to about 20c. I was happy with the results and moved on. However another couple months down the road I noticed the fans on my gpu had gotten significantly louder. I checked the temps, and wouldn’t you know it , the delta had risen again back to almost 40c, with the Hotspot hitting 110c. I was very concerned at this point that I had a defective card or cooler. I was in no position to wait for an RMA. 

While researching the issue I found that many users were also having this issue. Diggin’ further into internet forums and reddit post, the problem seemed to be an issue of the gpu “pumping-out” the TIM. TIM pump-out is when changes in heat cause microscopic warping of the GPU die and substrate which cause the thermal paste to move outward and leave very little contact with the center of the GPU.  So, based on a suggestion I had seen on several of the post and forum threads I replaced the TIM with a PTM7950 thermal pad.  This was a phase change material, meaning as the pad heats up it becomes a liquid. As you heat cycle the material it will push out and fill any air gaps allowing for better contact between the heatsink and GPU core. So far this solution has seemed to quell the extreme delta that was appearing. At the time of writing this the fix has only been in place a few days but the results have spoken for themselves. After looping the Unigine Superposition benchmark for a couple hours, the GPU core never hit more than 70c and the hotspot 81c. This is an improvement of 72%. We will see how the temps behave in the long term, but for now I am happy with the solution. 

 

Final Thoughts

Most of this post has been me complaining about the issues I’ve had switching to AMD. I know most people hate troubleshooting problems and a product should “just work”. You know what though, I’ve gotten a lot of enjoyment out of solving these issues. Just like a detective investigating a case, or putting together a jigsaw puzzle the more things you uncover and answers you find bring with it that sweet, sweet dopamine rush. This build has re-ignited my love for this hobby and reminded me why I got into building PCs in the first place. It’s all about the process, not the final product. While this journey has had many issues, AMDs performance has been nothing but great. The issues I’ve had with EXPO have all but disappeared. As for the GPU, I say do you research, look up reviews, or just be prepared to learn to take a gpu apart in your sleep as you will be replacing the thermal paste often. As far as my feeling about AMD, they are a real option, and will be on my radar for future builds and upgrades. The GPU and CPU market have never had more competition and I am excited to see what innovations this competition produces.

 

My name is LB and thanks for reading. 

 

Full PC Specs - https://pcpartpicker.com/list/8jxfFs

[Doobeedoo]

You didn't do a proper clean Windows install. This ca cause a ton of issues especially with very new platforms. Reinstall clean Windows, install latest bios and chipset drivers and GPU drivers, update Windows. Then reboot set EXPO, ReBAR. This would all be quicker vs solving it above way.

I have quite similar build and did so and all worked great.

[agatong439]

Backup and do a fresh install if you are going from intel to amd or amd to intel and same with nvidia and amd video cards.

 

Just do a fresh install it will save and fix a bunch of your issues right off the bat. 

[LoverBoyBailey]

2 hours ago, Doobeedoo said:

You didn't do a proper clean Windows install. This ca cause a ton of issues especially with very new platforms. Reinstall clean Windows, install latest bios and chipset drivers and GPU drivers, update Windows. Then reboot set EXPO, ReBAR. This would all be quicker vs solving it above way.

I have quite similar build and did so and all worked great.

Yes, I knew this from the beginning, I was trying not to have to reinstall as I had several heavily curated modlist that took me longer to remake than me trying to fudge around and recycle the OS install. I do not hold that aspect against AMD.

[Kazlehoff]

TBH last month i went from an i5-8600k to an R7-5800x3d.

dirty upgrade, no reinstall.

 

i've had not. one. issue.

 

but i also diddn't get an gigabyte motherboard, because i've never liked them (though, i also wouldnt get my preferred brand, asus, for the new generation of x3d chips either...)