Radeon 7770 Crossfire worse performance?

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mcross162

mcross162

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Mar 16, 2013
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Hey guys, I've been running a Radeon 7770 for awhile now and it performs decently, but I decided I'd try out crossfiring these to get optimal performance, but unfortunately, it appears to have done that opposite..

I've done some testing and it appears that my system actually runs a higher FPS with my single 7770 than when I Crossfire the 2.. About 20-30 FPS too, so it's not slight.

My two cards I have crossfired:
-XFX - Ultra Overclock Edition Radeon HD 7770 1GB DDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Graphics Card

-XFX CORE Edition FX-777A-ZNF4 Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16

They are the exact same card, one is just overclocked +95MHz. I just barely purchased the Overclocked edition to Crossfire, I've been using the Core Edition with better performance.

I thought it might because of the different core clock speeds, but I've been reading and supposedly it's supposed to clock down to match the other by itself. Also, they're running on a x16 PCI-E 2.0 and a x4 PCI-E 2.0. I thought that might also be bottlenecking, but I've read quite a few places that it doesn't affect performance that much.

Anways, if you guys know anything I'm doing wrong or anything at all, it would be greatly appreciated. :)

My other system specs:

AMD FX-8350 @ 4.0GHz
G. Sniper 8 GB 1866MHz RAM
Biostar TA990FXE Mobo
850 Watt PSU


Thanks in advance. :)
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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Aug 27, 2011
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What games are you testing FPS with?

1. Its NEVER a good idea to Xfire lower end cards as many games are not optimized or do not even support xfire.

2. You are using a x4 port which is a bit of a bandwidth issue. You can verify this by trying to run one HD7770 in the x4 slot. If the port was x8 you would be fine.

3. As a rule of thumb ALWAYS get the single best card you can afford(even if it means selling the old one). This avoids a million issues.

Now for a solution. Try and get the latest drivers and updates for the games you play. Research if they support Xfire and what fixes you can use for each(AMD caps or third party fixes).

If that fails, sell both cards and get one single more powerful card. I find Xfire on anything lower than a 7870 is not worth the added effort.
 
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maestro0428

maestro0428

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Apr 3, 2009
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First, you need to match clock speeds of the cards. Don't trust it to do it automatically. Use GPUz to check that specs are matching. No, you are right, the 16x/4x will not bottle neck those cards. Be sure you have the latest drivers too, straight from AMDs website. Some games just don't work well with multi card set ups. I always recommend the fastest single gpu you can get and you have found out one of the reasons why. They just don't work like they are supposed too ALL of the time. I have used both Crossfire and SLI from previous generations and yes, they have gotten better, but they still leave a bad taste in my mouth. My advice- don't give up just yet, but don't hang around too long either, you can still get good money for your cards to trade up to a faster single card.
 
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mcross162

mcross162

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Mar 16, 2013
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Yeah I am considering taking back this card, selling my other one and going for a 7950 single card instead. Any suggestions for a single card? I don't want to get it and realize I should've gotten a different one for the same reasons haha. :)

And thanks for everyone's responses. :) I'm going to try a couple more things before I give up on these.
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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I think an HD7950 is more than you will get for the two HD7770s, but if you can afford one, why not?? :D
Anyway if not the HD7870XT/LE will be a great option two, its based on the same hardware as the HD7950 but is MUCH cheaper and not that much slower. Will also OC well and get close to the HD7950. Then again the HD7950 will OC and get close to the HD7970.

Depends on what you can afford. Just get a reliable one like Sapphire, MSI or HIS.
 
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mcross162

mcross162

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Mar 16, 2013
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Yeah I'll be a little short from just selling them, but I figure I've invested this much into my computer already, what's another $150. ;P Would you say a 7970 is worth the price? Or would it be smarter to go with a 7950 and just OC it?
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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Aug 27, 2011
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Personally I wish I had gotten an HD7970. But its a lot more and the gains are not THAT visible at the moment. But it may be in time. That is something only you can decide. The HD7970 really is an epic card if you can afford it and you plan to game on larger than 1920*1080 monitor or more than one monitor then its very worth it.
 
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maestro0428

maestro0428

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As for a faster single card, if you stay with AMD, go with Sapphire, they are the largest manufacturer of AMD cards. I have used many of them with great success. MSI is good too in my experience. If you can swing, go with the 7970, even at its price, its a better value than a 680 GTX. I think you would be fine with a 7950 too, but like I said earlier, get the best you can afford.
 
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