The Problem:
I've been having numerous issues with AMD drivers ever since I switched to Team Red: constant game crashes, occasional yet still annoying stutters while watching YouTube, and high idle power consumption.
I've tested at least 14 different drivers since mid-July, including those from 2022 that come with a fresh Windows installation, pro drivers, regular drivers, and even the ones from the Windows Insider program. While some performed better than others (specifically, any driver pre-22.12.1), none have worked well for most/all of the games I'm currently playing—or trying to play. Most games crash far too often, and I don’t even feel like playing anything anymore as a result.
My Computer Specs:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen™ 7 7700
- GPU: XFX SPEEDSTER QICK 319 AMD Radeon™ RX 6700 XT
- RAM: JUHOR DDR5 RGB Memory 16GB 6800MHz x 2 (32GB)
- MOBO: CVN B650M GAMING FROZEN V14
- PSU: MasterWatt 750
- CASE: TD300 Mesh
- Storage:
- 980 PRO PCIe® NVMe® SSD 2TB (Windows installation)
- FanXiang S770 PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 2TB (Arch installation)
- Monitors:
- MSI Optix G27CQ4
- Arzopa Z1FC Portable Monitor
Things I Tried but Didn't Help:
- Reinstalling the entire operating system:
- Windows 11 Version 23H2 (OS Build 22631.3880)
- Windows 10 Version 22H2 (OS Build 19045.4651)
- Moving the graphics card into an entirely different system (Intel-based).
- Disabling any OC-related settings both in Windows and UEFI (PBO, EXPO, even Resizable Bar).
- Undervolting, underclocking, and lowering the power limit of the GPU.
- Decreasing the monitor's refresh rate to 60Hz from 165-144Hz, switching between HDMI and DP cables, and unplugging my second monitor.
- A full wipe and reinstall of my entire game drive.
- Playing with Windows power plans and removing all overlays (AMD, Steam, Game-bar).
- Switching between the graphics card's BIOS options.
- Updating Windows, BIOS, Chipset drivers, and everything else (using SDIO).
- Ensuring all my components were operating within acceptable temperature limits.
- Disabling Multi-Plane Overlay (MPO).
- Disabling ULPS through MSI Afterburner.
- Praying to a random assortment of gods also didn't help.
Additional Information:
Some games just don’t crash on some drivers, for example league never crashed on any driver pre 23.12.1 however it crashes almost every round on any of the newer ones, Also, I don't remember crashing once while running some games on Arch/Hyprland, despite them crashing a lot on Windows (however I didn’t really get to test this much).
I'm grateful for any suggestions or advice that might help me resolve these persistent crashes.
