Red Rig Showcase

[colesdav]

Description

New 'budget build" Ryzen based gaming PC.
A newer, simpler, cheaper version of Maximus 
I will update more information later.

Specifications

CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor
Cooler	Initially used the Wraith Stealth Cooler that was supplied with the CPU. I have a Wraith Prism RGB LED from Ryzen 2700X purchase. I fitted the Wraith Prism RGB LED and if gives 9.77% performance improvement in Cinebench R20.
Motherboard	MSI B450 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
GPU 1	Palit RTX 2080 OC
GPU 2	Might add in a secondary AMD GPU later. That would need a PSU upgrade though. Decided to look for a secondary Nvidia GPU to drive an additional monitor.
Disc Drive 1	Team L5 LITE 3D 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Disc Drive 2	Seagate FireCuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive - additional storage for "Main Drive".
Disc Drive 3	Seagate 5TB USB drive to store games.
PSU	Corsair CX 750M  750W 80+ Bronze Certified Modular ATX Power Supply. Corsair RM 750X Gold.
Case	Kolink Horizon RGB
Monitor	Primary Monitor = BenQ 32 inch EW3270U 4K HDR monitor. Secondary Monitor = Acer 1080p 60Hz monitor.

[colesdav]

Processor information and reviews explaining why the 3600 was chosen:

AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Review: Best All-Round Value CPU - TechSpot 
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU Review & Benchmarks: Strong Recommendation - YouTube 

AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Review vs. R5 3600: $50 for a Letter - YouTube 

[colesdav]

The details for the PC case are here: Kolink Horizon RGB Midi-Tower, Tempered … | CASEKING.de 

[colesdav]

I thought this PC Build was going to be easy but no.
I have been getting regular PC Reboots when running Graphic Intensive games on this PC Bulid, such as Far Cry 5.
I am using the latest BIOS from MSI to "address" these issues.
I have tried as many solutions as possible with the above configuration which is all in spec.

I will be doing obvious things like swapping out the PSU for a ridiculously powerful one like an AX1600i and swapping the RTX2080 OC for another one and also trying AMD GPU.

It is not just me various people have similar problems in various locations:

https://www.reddit.com/r/MSI_Gaming/comments/cg80p3/my_experience_with_b450_tomahawk_and_ryzen_3600/ 
B450 Tomahawk not posting with Ryzen 3600

msi b450 tomahawk amd 3000 no longer posting | Overclockers UK Forums 

It looks like I will either have to find a new X-570 motherboard that actually works correctly with this CPU or just send it all back and do an Intel build instead.

So much for AM4 compatibility.

[colesdav]

Replaced

Corsair CX 750M  750W 80+ Bronze Certified Modular ATX Power Supply.

with a
Corsair RM 750X Gold.

Testing continues.

[colesdav]

Sorry for the late update. I have been very busy testing and benchmarking.
Replacing the power supply and to Corsair RM 750X Gold fixed the stability problems and the machine has been extensively tested.

It passes many Memtest 86 MemTest86 - Official Site of the x86 Memory Testing Tool pre-windows launch.

It consistently passes Karhu Ram Test (RAM Test - Karhu Software ) runs in Windows 10  whist gaming / benchmarking demonstrating rock solid stability and performance.

Not one single problem / crash in almost 8 weeks of extensive testing and benchmarking on on numerous AAA games.

Now that I have completed testing for 8 weeks I have decided to replace the Wraith Stealth Cooler that was supplied with the CPU. 

I have been considering using an AIO cooler from Corsair but I decided to test and compare performance I get if I simply replace the existing cooler with an AMD AM4 Wraith Prism Cooler.
Unfortunately that cooler requires a pair of CPU mounting brackets. I have ordered some.

I will be testing how the latest version of Ryzen Master performs on this machine in response to this:
Ryzen voltage 

I will also start to look at overclocking the machine and compare it to the performance of the following build: 
Maximus which has been producing some really good 3D Mark scores with AMD GPUs.

I will add some decent screenshots of the build over the next few days.

[colesdav]

I will fit an AMD Wraith Prism RGB cooler to the build soon.

[colesdav]

Some  test results on Libertas before I fit the Wraith RGB Prism Cooler:

Cinebench results:

[colesdav]

MSI Command Center settings - note the PC was not manually overclocked at all to achieve the above Cinebench Settings and the DRAM is only running at 2666MHz.

[colesdav]

Here are the Ryzen Master Settings:

[colesdav]

A quick look at the case and motherboard:

[colesdav]

I have fitted the Wraith Prism RGB Cooler on Libertas

Just fitting this cooler has significantly improved Cinebench result by 9.77%.

Cinebench results:

[colesdav]

Here is a picture with the Wraith Prism RGB Cooler fitted: 

[colesdav]

Overclocking the CPU using Ryzen Master to run at 4.175GHz:

[colesdav]

I run MemTest86 checks on all PCs I run every 1-2 weeks.

I thought I should post the results from Libertas running the Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory.

It shows rock solid stability in Memtest 86 (preboot into windows 10) every time I run it.

The machine consistently passes Karhu RamTest from within Windows 10 whilst running the Palit RTX2080 OC GPU as well.

This indicates the memory controller on Ryzen 5 3600 is doing a great job, along with the MSI B450 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard.

Results to follow.

.

[colesdav]

[colesdav]

Next test - I replace the Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory with 64GB (4x16GB) Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3200 DDR4 which gave me lots of trouble (Asus ROG Crosshair Hero VII, Ryzen 2700x, Corsair Vengeance RGB (Pro) 3200 4x16GB Memtest86 failures... ) from (https://community.amd.com/message/2895896 ) and see what happens in Memtest 86 on this PC.

[colesdav]

Here is a picture of the 64GB (4x16GB) Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3200 DDR4 Ram running MemTest86 at 3200MHz.

If this passes I will be impressed.

[danielderi145]

PC looks great! but wouldn't it have been better to have bought the B450 tomahawk MAX? to my understanding

it comes with support for the 3rd gen ryzen out of the box, did you apply XMP on your profile?

[colesdav]

Yes I have applied 3200MHz XMP profile to the 64GB RAM in the MSI Tomahawk BIOS.
It was that simple.

No Ryzen Ram Calculator or RAM Timing tweaking or multiple BIOS trials or ASUS or Corsair Customer support calls or large amounts of wasted time like on Maximus build.

I just plugged in the 4 16GB sticks and it booted up fine and I ran MemTest86.

This is what should have happened on the Maximus Ryzen 2700X build.

It should just work properly when the RAM is plugged into the motherboard.

I am thinking of selling the Ryzen 2700X on Maximus and replacing it with a Ryzen 3000 series CPU now.
I will have to prove that it is the CPU that makes the difference and it is not the ASUS motherboard that is the problem though.
I think that Ryzen 1000 and 2000 series CPU do have poor Memory Controller performance versus Ryzen 3000.

[colesdav]

OK I looked at the board - it looks good: B450 TOMAHAWK MAX | Motherboard | MSI Global 
The specs seem very similar.
I think it is ~ same as the B450 Tomahawk but has a few additional features and comes pre-loaded with Ryzen 3000 compatible BIOS.
I note it has spec support for higher DDR4 memory frequencies.
It looks like a good motherboard and if it is anything like the B450 Tomahawk and the price is ~ same I would consider it.

If I were you I would look for product reviews of the board first though.

Thanks.

[colesdav]

Thank you.

This PC is supposed to be a budget build versus Maximus  and I purchased the cheapest motherboard and CPU and cooler and RAM bundle I could find at the time.  Same with the case. The GPU - a Palit RTX2080 OC is an exception. I purchased another because I was so impressed with the one on Maximus. I have had no Driver issues in over a year now. I did get it for a good price + 2 free games I wanted.

I am testing the 64GB (4x16GB) Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3200 DDR4 in Memtest86 at 3200 MHz.

Looking good so far:


I will let you know if it passes 4/4 loops.

I am impressed that this seems to be passing O.K. versus the amount of time and effort it took to get 64GB of this memory to pass at 3200MHz on the Maximus build with that expensive Ryzen 7 2700X and Asus ROG Crosshair Hero VII WIFI motherboard.

Thanks again.

[colesdav]

UPDATE

The MemTest86 results on Libertas with 64GB (4x16GB) Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3200 DDR4 in Memtest86 at 3200 MHz are OK. I stopped testing any further for now.

I swapped the RAM between Libertas and Maximus again back to the original state.

I will swap the RAM between machines again in ~ 2 weeks and do more extensive MemTest86 and Karhu Ram Test in Windows on both machines. 

REASON

I need both machines running for the next two weeks starting today.

The Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory would only run at 2333MHz rather than the spec 3200MHz for the motherboard and RAM  when fitted in the Maximus build.

Note the BIOS settings and RAM timings on Maximus were those I use on that machine to allow the Ryzen 2700X to run at 4.3GHz and the 64GB Corsair Vengeance Pro memory to run at 3200 MHz with the ASUS 2901 BIOS.

Maximus PC would not even boot if I increased the RAM Speed in BIOS any higher than 2133MHz.

I would need to use the Ryzen Ram Calculator again for the Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 and probably get into another round of multiple Ram Timing Tweaks and MEMTEST86 runs. I do not have time to do that at the moment. It can take a very long time to tweak and verify the RAM Timings are ok for a particular BIOS.

I just decided to upgrade the BIOS on Maximus to the following ASUS BIOS:

"Version 3004 2019/12/2714.82 MBytes

ROG CROSSHAIR VII HERO(WI-FI) BIOS 3004
1. Update AM4 combo PI 1.0.0.4 patch B
2. Fixed a compatibility issue with M.2s when using Ryzen 3000 CPUs.
Before running the USB BIOS Flashback tool, please rename the BIOS file (*.CAP) using BIOSRenamer."

I have also decided that it is time to run backups and do a completely fresh reinstallation of Windows 10 Pro on Maximus.