My PC sometimes gets a black screen while the GPU fans ramp up to maximum, although game audio continues playing. It happened most often after changing settings in demanding GPU-heavy games. Disabling XMP made the problem mostly stop, so I checked the BIOS and noticed that two RAM sticks that look identical are running with different timings. Could the mismatched timings be causing the crashes, or is the RX 580 more likely at fault? Lowering the GPU power limit and clock speed also seems to prevent the issue. I'm also using a Ryzen 3 3200G with an RX 580 and wonder whether the CPU is limiting performance in lightweight games, since it stays around 3650 MHz and roughly 70% utilization. Is there any way to improve CPU utilization without overclocking on a Gigabyte A520M K V2?
2 Answers
Different memory timings can definitely make XMP unstable, especially if the modules are not from the same matched kit. Try disabling XMP first, or manually set both sticks to the timings and voltage listed for the slower module. Then run a memory test. If the crashes continue even with stable RAM settings, investigate the RX 580, its drivers, temperatures, power supply, and cables as well—black screens with maximum GPU fans can also indicate a graphics-card or power problem.
CPU utilization is not something you generally need to increase manually. In League of Legends and other light games, the GPU may be the limiting factor at your chosen settings, or the game may simply not use all CPU cores. A Ryzen 3 3200G running around 3.65 GHz is normal behavior under load. Since the A520M K V2 does not support traditional CPU overclocking, focus on stable BIOS settings, temperatures, chipset drivers, and enabling the memory profile only if it proves stable. Lowering resolution or graphics settings can sometimes shift more work toward the CPU, but it will not necessarily improve performance.
That makes sense. I’ll try using the slower stick’s XMP timings manually and test the memory before assuming the GPU is failing.