Re: [gentoo-user] Graphics Card Advice

[Dale]

Michael wrote:
> On Wednesday, 29 April 2020 23:48:28 BST jdm wrote:
>> On Thu, 30 Apr 2020 10:17:37 +0200
>>
>> tuxic@××××××.de wrote:
>>> On 04/29 06:05, jdm wrote:
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> I have just bought a RX 5600 XT and after a few issues with screen
>>>> freezing after kernel starts loading, resolved by compiling EFIFB
>>>> (no previous FB compiled in) the card has been working fine for 2
>>>> days booting normally. The machine then started not to boot, not
>>>> even to get to BIOS (so you couldn't even press DEL to get to BIOS
>>>> screen). I took the card out and replaced with old card and PC
>>>> started fine. I tried this 4 times and still with new card PC would
>>>> not even POST. I don't have a little speaker to here if there are
>>>> any beeps.
>>>>
>>>> I am returning the card as it feels like that is the problem but
>>>> have a nagging suspicion this could be some other problem like
>>>> power supply. I have 700W coolermaster PSU which should be ample
>>>> (according to websites) but is 9 years (amazingly they had the
>>>> foresight to provide 8 and 6 pin cables which were both plugged in).
>>>>
>>>> My next issue is do I get another 5600 XT (different brand) or are
>>>> nvidia equivalent better? I have always been an AMD fan. Could I
>>>> end up in the same boat.
>>>>
>>>> PC spec - ASUS 470 Pro MB with 2700 Ryzen.
>>>>
>>>> Any advice would be much appreciated?
>>>>
>>>> John
>>> Hi John,
>>>
>>> what graphicscard you want depends heavily on what you want to
>>> do with your PC...
>>> What are the tasks, which put a heavy load on your PC/graphicscard and
>>> which you are do regularily?
>>> Do you do a lot of rendering (Blender for example) or video
>>> (re-)encoding? Do you AI related things (tesorflow for example)?
>>> Or is gaming you main application?
>>>
>>> Furthermore: You CPU must fit your graphicscard performancewise.
>>> It makes no sense to choose "a performance beast" and to combine
>>> it with a "entry level being".
>>> The fastest graphicscard can onlu as fast, as data are coming from
>>> the CPU and vice versa.
>>>
>>> On the internet you find a combination of the Ryzen 5 3600 with
>>> one of the nvidia RTX 20[678] SUPER cards. The RTX 2060 SUPER
>>> comes with 8GByte of video ram instead of 6 GBYte of the RTX 2060.
>>>
>>> "Linus Tech Tipps" and "Tom's Hardware" are probablu to look for.
>>>
>>> HTH!
>>>
>>> Cheers!
>>> Meino
>> Thanks for advice.
>>
>> I like playing games and noticed with current card that FPS is low on a
>> lot of games.
>> I have tried to get a balance between not paying too much and specs of
>> monitor (2560x1440 @60 fps). According to GPU check I should get max of
>> 80 fps @ 1440. So thought I would have some left in the bank with 5600
>> XT.
>>
>> I'll check CPU to GPU rate.
>>
>> There's too much choice and now a little worried that next card might
>> not work again.
>>
>> John
> PSUs do not last forever and if you experience power surges, lightning, etc.
> they could last even less.  More often than not some early degradation causes
> random crashes, when under load, rather than complete blackout.  It is not
> easy to test a PSU without an oscilloscope, but you could look at the MoBo
> voltages with a multimeter to see if they're broadly within limits and don't
> drop off too much when a load in placed them.
>
> Personally I don't bother measuring voltages.  If you take the PSU out of the
> case and visually inspect its capacitors you may find some have domed tops, an
> indication they have overheated and are on their way out.  A few pennies would
> buy you a bag of replacements which you can solder in to restore the PSU to
> its original performance.  It used to be Panasonic capacitors were better made
> and had higher ratings, but I don't know what brands can claim better quality
> of manufacture these days.  Burned resistors are an indication of catastrophic
> surges, although I have replaced resistors and capacitors on a cheap PSU which
> burnt out when sheet lightning hit our area one year and worked fine for years
> after that.
>
> Of course, if the problem is with the video card, the PSU won't fix your
> problem.


Just in case the OP, or someone else that wants to go down this road,
wants to repair this.  This is the list I go by.  Link first, then list
of top tier in case one wants to skip reading the whole thing.


https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supplies-101,4193-5.html


All Japanese caps are considered of high quality, and we like to see the
following cap brands:

  * Rubycon
  * United Chemi-Con (or Nippon Chemi-Con)
  * Nichicon
  * Sanyo/Suncon
  * Panasonic
  * Hitachi
  * FPCAP or Functional Polymer Capacitor (ex-Fujitsu caps segment,
    which was bought by Nichicon)
  * ELNA

Besides Japanese manufacturers there are also several US and European
vendors that make high-quality capacitors. Probably we won't meet any of
the below cap brands inside a consumer grade PSU, at least their
electrolytic offerings, but we decided that it still worth mentioning them.

  * Cornell Dubilier (USA)
  * Illinois Capacitor (Currently owned my Cornell Dubilier)
  * Kemet Corporation (USA)
  * Vishay (USA)
  * EPCOS (TDK company, Germany)
  * Würth Elektronik (Germany)


As a person who has built circuits and such, for long term use I try to
stick with Rubycon, Nichicon or Panasonic if I have to.  Sometimes if it
is a short term project, I'll use 2nd tier.  I've had several 2nd tier
caps fail.  Besides stinking up a room, they can lead to the failure of
other components.  I replaced two 2nd tier caps in a power inverter not
long ago.  Luckily it was on the power input and I had the switch turned
off.  They blew their smoke as soon as I touched the wire to the
battery. No damage, just smelly. 

Good luck to those who tinker.  :-D

Dale

:-)  :-)