• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The frustrating side of PC gaming and I want to be done with it.

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
Hey guys, thanks for all the responses. It's nice to see that GAF can be helpful and friendly. I will update this page as anything happens. Right now I received a mostly unhelpful response from ASUS, but I did change a few things. Here is the response:

"I understand that your SSD will not be recognized in M.2_1 slot. I know the importance of having it fixed and allow me to apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. Let me do my best to assist you.

I appreciate the details that you have sent out and your time and effort for troubleshooting the issue. Please troubleshoot step by steps:

  1. Drive are not enable in BIOS (ATA/SATA /SSD /M.2 drive)
    1. Go to BIOS -> Advanced -> PCH Storage or SATA configuration (or any SATA option in BIOS) -> Enable drive
    2. BIOS -> Boot -> CSM -> Disable/ Secure boot: OS Type: WIndows UEFI Mode (M.2 only)
    3. Clear CMOS if step 1 and step 2 doesn't work
  2. SATA drive not installed properly in OS
    1. For older Windows XP/2000 or older, please install driver for the drive to work
    2. For RAID, please install RAID driver from motherboard downloads for Windows 10
    3. For NVME PCIE/M.2 driver, please go to manufacturer and download NVME driver for best performance
  3. Faulty or unplug data cable; if NVME M.2 drive, skip step.
    1. Please plug the SATA cable to the drive
    2. If plugged, please unplug and plug the drive
    3. If still not work, swap SATA cable if it is faulty cable
  4. Drive is not spinning up or working
    1. For M.2, unplug and plug the M.2 drive
    2. For drive,
      1. power off the system
      2. Unplug the SATA cable of the drive
        1. Turn on the computer ,and see if the drive is slight vibration/ spinning by touching side of the drive.
        2. if there is clicking sound ,please RMA the drive
  5. Drive is faulty
    1. Check ATA/SATA /SSD /M.2 drive on another computer and if it does not detect, it is faulty drive
    2. Replace the ATA/SATA /SSD /M.2 drive
If I may be of any further assistance, please, let me know. Thank you for choosing ASUS.

Please make note of your case number for future reference: N200796206

Regards,

Mr. Asus tech support guy"

To reiterate at this is where I am right now
For the rest of the day, unless Sabrent or Asus get back with me with some solutions, I am going to keep my M2_1: Samsung 250GB (OS drive) / M2_2: Sabrent 512GB-PCI4.0 setup going and I will see how this works. If this works and doesn't have issues, then it will mostly prove that the 2TB was the culprit.

The Sabrent 512GB not working in slot 1 is an annoying issue, but one that I dont have to solve at this moment.

Right now, my OS is running on version 1903. I am hesitant to run it on 2004.
The bold issue is what I am trying to find a solution for and why I emailed ASUS. I am trying to workout an RMA with Sabrent so I can get 2TB SSD replaced.


aKik2oe.jpg
 
Last edited:

Golgo 13

The Man With The Golden Dong
PC gaming is indeed a royal pain in the ass, and I openly scoff at anyone who says otherwise. However, when it works like it's supposed to -- it's the best version of gaming, in my opinion. It's like flying first class. Everything is "just better".

Anyway, just as a recent rundown of "pain in my fucking ass" PC activity -- Some of my games recently began to run at around %50 FPS (low GPU usage out of nowhere, I've done exhaustive research why this occurs and it's nothing I did) -- most of these games are Cryengine titles. After extensive investigation and research I've come to the conclusion that it's a result of the recent Windows Update. So now a few games I'm interested in playing are stuttery, miserable messes.

Just installed Batman Arkham Aslyum, an ancient game that should run flawlessly on a modern gaming PC -- game is capped at 62FPS, I have the hardware to run it at 250FPS so I go in and start editing .INI files. Eventually I get the game to run at uncapped frames but now there's MASSIVE stuttering -- drops down to 20 FPS sometimes out of nowhere. Seriously, I'd rather play this shit on a PS3. So I do MORE research (lol). Editing more INI files. Somewhat better results. Now I've spent 20 minutes playing the game and 60 minutes troubleshooting.

Welcome to PC gaming!
 

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
So I just ordered a new PCI Express 4.0 NVME. I will test it in the first slot and if I get the booting issues, it likely means that the mobo is the ultimate culprit.

Fuck this crap. Seriously. Even my Intel based laptop is being a bitch.
Leonidas Leonidas is loving this.
 

DryvBy

Member
I know this won't be popular but don't waste your money in AMD. I knew when I saw the thread it would be an AMD processor. They're great for consoles and an annoyance for PC. It's the difference between Dr Pepper and Dr. Thunder.
 

Regiruler

Member
You may have a bad cable or SSD

The only time im frustrated you see a windows update. How great was that last one where it planted EDGE as your browser and you CANT uninstall it without going into powershell. MS is a fcking waste.
If the only thing that has ever happened to you is having to change your default browser back to chrome every 3 months consider yourself obscenely lucky.
 
Last edited:

tmlDan

Member
I know this won't be popular but don't waste your money in AMD. I knew when I saw the thread it would be an AMD processor. They're great for consoles and an annoyance for PC. It's the difference between Dr Pepper and Dr. Thunder.


That's what i've also noticed when building my gaming PC's over the years, never go for lesser/cheaper brands. I know it comes at a premium, but if you want it to work for a long time with a lesser chance of it being faulty after a year or two go for better brands.

But i agree, wish i could help but i've never had that issue and when i do have problems i just bring it in. my local guy charges $50 to check it out - it's better than slaving away getting frustrated that its not working. Looks like you're already spending money buying new parts too.
 

Golgo 13

The Man With The Golden Dong
I know this won't be popular but don't waste your money in AMD. I knew when I saw the thread it would be an AMD processor. They're great for consoles and an annoyance for PC. It's the difference between Dr Pepper and Dr. Thunder.
I had a ton of issues with an AMD build myself — endless blue screens of death, driver issues out the ass, unexplained crashes. Just a fucking nightmare. Switched back to Intel CPU/GPU and have had almost no issues since (except those inherent to PC gaming, as explained above). But yeah, far greater stability overall. Worth the extra money.
 
I don't know about the AMD side but some motherboards hate all rams slots filled, caused me loads of random stability issues.
That was also using Corsair Ram, all been good since moving over to 2 X 16gig patriot.

For ref I run 9900k, Asus maximus formula x 2080ti, Samsung nvme and crucial ssds.
 

TheSHEEEP

Gold Member
Do you have to trade some performance for that though? I'd love to try out Linux gaming but wary that my 1070 would struggle even more.
For Proton? Of course. It isn't emulation, but a translation layer - which means much better performance than emulation.
But it still isn't free.
On average, I'd say you lose 10-20% performance.
But, honestly, who cares? If all you need is 60 fps, it really doesn't matter if your rig could produce 200 or 170...

There are of course cases where Proton isn't quite there, yet (best to check https://www.protondb.com/ beforehand), where things are slower than that.
And then there are cases where Proton is even faster than Windows.

You also have to be aware that Linux is generally much less of a resource hog than Windows, so especially if you pick a distribution that is not greedy (e.g. Linux Mint with Cinnamon, really good starter for Linux freshlings), you are already ahead of Windows performance-wise.

For native games, there is no difference - except if the devs produced a shoddy Linux version, but that is thankfully very rare and even if that happens you can still use Proton.

Another thing to keep in mind is that many multiplayer titles won't work with Proton, especially those utilizing EAC, BattleEye, etc.
This might actually be a dealbreaker to some, but I don't personally care about multiplayer (only co-op with my GF every now and then and most co-op games work fine).

How does your 1070 struggle, though? I have a 1070 as well and can play everything I'm trying to play just fine.
Including, for example, Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus right now on highest details (via Proton).
 
Last edited:

GHG

Gold Member
I don't know about the AMD side but some motherboards hate all rams slots filled, caused me loads of random stability issues.
That was also using Corsair Ram, all been good since moving over to 2 X 16gig patriot.

For ref I run 9900k, Asus maximus formula x 2080ti, Samsung nvme and crucial ssds.

Yep I've always said get 2 sticks instead of 4 no matter how much ram you want. Dual rank sticks (individual sticks with 16gb or more) also perform better with ryzen.

Well god fucking dammit. Got another blue screen from that fucking Ndu.sys.

I hate my life.

Well shit... Was that with the 3.0 nvme as your boot drive in slot 1?
 

Kenpachii

Member
I know this won't be popular but don't waste your money in AMD. I knew when I saw the thread it would be an AMD processor. They're great for consoles and an annoyance for PC. It's the difference between Dr Pepper and Dr. Thunder.

Sad but true.
 

KiNeMz

Banned
I would lock the m2 drives down in bios Disable the auto detect.

Do the blue screens ever happen on startup? Or only once running?
 
  • Like
Reactions: GHG

T-Cake

Member
How does your 1070 struggle, though? I have a 1070 as well and can play everything I'm trying to play just fine.
Including, for example, Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus right now on highest details (via Proton).

4K ho here. I try to run everything at 4K on high settings before dropping down to 1440/1080.
 

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
I would lock the m2 drives down in bios Disable the auto detect.

Do the blue screens ever happen on startup? Or only once running?
Only when running and only when surfing the web. NDU.sys is always the culprit and unfortunately there isn’t really much info other than very generic which suggests it’s probably my specific hardware. As of now, all Sabrent drives are out of my system and I’ll see how this goes. Maybe Sabrent and my Strix aren’t compatible.
 

TheContact

Member
Only when running and only when surfing the web. NDU.sys is always the culprit and unfortunately there isn’t really much info other than very generic which suggests it’s probably my specific hardware. As of now, all Sabrent drives are out of my system and I’ll see how this goes. Maybe Sabrent and my Strix aren’t compatible.

Can you run dxdiag and dump the txt file online or paste it here? There's usually good troubleshooting info there
tbh sounds like a driver issue. Did you update everything including the bios?
 
Last edited:

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
I may go ahead and replace my 4 x 8GB Corsair 3200 sticks and switch them with 2 x 16GB sticks that are rated for 3600. Any suggestions for the best sticks? I have little interested in RGB these days.
 
When I was having my trouble I swapped my RAM with my brother's just to eliminate it as an issue. Mine worked fine on his PC and I still got hard freezes using his. Do you know anyone you could do something similar with? Beats buying new RAM only for the shit to keep happening.
 
Last edited:

Patterson

Member
I may go ahead and replace my 4 x 8GB Corsair 3200 sticks and switch them with 2 x 16GB sticks that are rated for 3600. Any suggestions for the best sticks? I have little interested in RGB these days.
I’m not sure if this is your mobo, but as long as you pick from their qualified vendor list, you should be good to go.
 

Durask

Member
Just installed Batman Arkham Aslyum, an ancient game that should run flawlessly on a modern gaming PC -- game is capped at 62FPS, I have the hardware to run it at 250FPS so I go in and start editing .INI files. Eventually I get the game to run at uncapped frames but now there's MASSIVE stuttering -- drops down to 20 FPS sometimes out of nowhere. Seriously, I'd rather play this shit on a PS3. So I do MORE research (lol). Editing more INI files. Somewhat better results. Now I've spent 20 minutes playing the game and 60 minutes troubleshooting.

Welcome to PC gaming!

Isn't this game known for bad code?
 

Rikoi

Member
I know this won't be popular but don't waste your money in AMD. I knew when I saw the thread it would be an AMD processor. They're great for consoles and an annoyance for PC. It's the difference between Dr Pepper and Dr. Thunder.
Sadly I have to agree with this.
I know ryzen is supposed to be different and better now, but I have had huge issues when I tried an AMD build, while Intel ones were way more stable.
 

Durask

Member
Personally have not had any major problems for over 10 years now, pretty much since the days of Windows 7, maybe I am just lucky.

However, my view of PC gaming is that - unless you are a Mac guy, you need a PC. Even if you are a mac guy you can get a mac with a decent video card and do dual boot.

If you are building a PC or buying a PC, you want a stable one regardless whether you game on it or not.
If you use a laptop, you can buy a gaming laptop - a gaming laptop is not inherently less problematic than a non-gaming laptop.

So, gaming is essentially a bonus on top of what you already have to do with your PC.
 

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
Browsing the Microcenter website and clicking on the photos to products seems to be one way to get my computer to behave in a way that leads to major browser lag. I'll have to experiment and see if I can get this to cause a bluescreen.
 

longdi

Banned
I may go ahead and replace my 4 x 8GB Corsair 3200 sticks and switch them with 2 x 16GB sticks that are rated for 3600. Any suggestions for the best sticks? I have little interested in RGB these days.

crucial ballistix! Its micron e-die works great for ryzen.
this is 3200 hitting 3733 1.36v ezpz
yxyWWCn.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: GHG

Kenpachii

Member
I may go ahead and replace my 4 x 8GB Corsair 3200 sticks and switch them with 2 x 16GB sticks that are rated for 3600. Any suggestions for the best sticks? I have little interested in RGB these days.

Go to your motherboard website and see what memory it supports and buy a set of memory that is tested on your board. Don't buy random memory and end up in the same shithole u are in now. The only people that do this are people that did there research and can deal with tinkering. That's the whole AMD slick anyway. U don't like it then buy stable brands that give you the least issues and yes they are more expensive for less for a reason. This is why people buy intel/nvidia just to get rid of hassle they don't wanna deal with for example and spend more.

The same goes for your 2tb ssd, I never even heard of the brand to start with, why not just buy samsung ssd's? because the size is less? yea i wonder why.
 
Last edited:

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
PSU can also cause BSOD - though that tends to be obvious as its when the PC is drawing the most power (e.g. running a modern game at high settings).
ANything is possible, but for the reasons you mention, I'd say it's bloody unlikely. PSU issues would likely manifest themselves at high load such as gaming. I did a complete run of Metro Exodus just over a month ago and am currently doing a run of Metro Last Light Redux. Not once has a bluescreen ever occured due to gaming. I have had some game crashes though, but those games are known to crash quite a bit, so I never thought anything of it.
 

TheSHEEEP

Gold Member
4K ho here. I try to run everything at 4K on high settings before dropping down to 1440/1080.
Well, that's just not something the 1070 is really good for, honestly.
If you want 4K, you want something beefier to get reliable results on newer games.
 
Top Bottom