Help with frustrating problems with vega 64 please?

I am having problems after problems with my vega 64s and I have already spent days trying to fix it. the first gpu is a msi branded V64 (v64-1) and the 2nd is a xfx vega 64 (v64-2)

(PC Specs)
msi z370 gaming pro
ryzen 7 cpu
32GB gskill ddr4 ram
amd aug23 blockchain drivers

V64-1 has been working a little strange at first.

I started with Vega_64_Reg_GPU_0000-1100HBM but after a while it refused to work and hashed at 500mhz or 22mhs no matter what I did. reinstalled drivers, etc. eventually tried another reg file from overclock.net (MorePowerVega64_142_Modded) which worked nicely. 44mhs at decent power draw.

(miner PC setup)
asus mining expert
intel g4400

4gb kingston ram
xfx vega 64
msi vega 64

I bought another vega 64 (v64-2) and installed both on the asus mining expert board and that's when all the problems started.
Used the exact same registry mod file, overdriveNtool settings (in fact i copied the file over so I had the exact same settings). for some strange reason, the acoustic limit default is at 15mhz for the new setup instead of 2400mhz.

performed the exact same steps as per the guide but one card hashed at 44mhs, the other at 22mhs. applied the registry mods again and same thing happened. then a riser gave problems. replaced it and both cards hashed at 22mhs. it turns out the memory was running at 500mhz.

I couldn't apply the same overdriventool settings to the same v64-1 graphics card that was using the same settings on the ryzen 7 PC, 1 of the P states for CPU jumped back to some random number.

reinstalled the V64-1 back to the ryzen 7 pc and it worked fine. so it's not the card's fault.

I reinstalled windows, redid the exact same setup. but during the step where I had to reset settings in wattman and the p states would drop. that part didn't happen, as if the altered P states were already changed before I had to reset it.

The registry showed some very interesting results, normally. 0000 refers to the integrated graphics, 0001 and beyond is for any additional cards. But this time round. 0000 and 0002 are the 2 vegas and 0001 is the int gpu. so i modified the target folders in the reg file.

This is where I found another strange part. Somehow, somewhere during all the copying from PC to memory stick and back to the miner PC, the registry files contained an additional line about donations to a certain ether wallet.

I decided to try Vega_64_Reg_GPU_0000-1100HBM which had worked for 1 of the cards then mysteriously not work. both cards started hashing at 44mhs but produced twice as much heat and noise. the moment I used the morepowervega mod, it hashed at 22mhs again.