Crossfire - no performance increase

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
N

neon4

Honorable
Nov 23, 2013
83
0
10,630
Hello, I have a problem with my crossfire, I have recently bought another Radeon HD6870 for my other one to make it crossfire for obvious reasons of getting better performance, but things have turned out to be quite the opposite.
I have gone through countless of threads and read a lot of articles, watched tutorials but nothing solved my problem, which is that I'm not getting any performance increase out of my crossfire eventhough everything seems to be working. I post here some graphics test results, my specss and other info regarding this issue.

Specs:
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme3 - AMD 990FX
RAM: A-DATA XPG Gaming Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600
PSU: Fortron AURUM 600W
GPU1: Sapphire HD 6870 (21179-00-40R) 1GB, PCI-E
GPU2: GIGABYTE HD 6870 Ultra Durable OC 1GB
- both running on 915Mhz
CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition
HDD: WD Caviar Black - 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
Screen: ASUS VK248H - LED 24"

CCC Driver version: 13.25.18-131122a-165306E-ATI
Catalyst version: 13.11
2D driver version: 8.01.01.1360
Direct3D version: 9.14.10.01001
OpenGL version: 6.14.10.12614
Catalyst control center programme version: 2013.1122.1036.18947

System: Windows 7 Ultime x64

3DMark Fire Strike Tests:
CrossfireTest_zpscbf4d553.jpg


GPU-Z:
GPU-ZCrossfire_zps67243003.jpg


I tested many games and overall I get the same FPS in single GPU mode as well as in crossfire mode

For the sake of possible questions:
Crossfire is enabled in CCC, motherboard is crossfire compatible, cards are connected by the crossfire bridge, crossfire is recognized in windows, tests and games were performed only in full screen

Please help.
 
Solution
Quaddro
it's time to overclock your processor..yes, this is a processor bottleneck..

well, 1090T actually is a good processor..run it at least 3.8Ghz, or 4ghz, or hit the brick wall of phenom architecture at 4.2Ghz..

your performance will increase significantly..
Sort by date Sort by votes
T

techneutral

Honorable
Nov 11, 2013
139
0
10,710
1. Your power supply is maybe not enough.
2. Your CPU is probably bottlenecking your GPU performance.
3. Check that VSync is off, on both drivers and on games.
Oh, and try to monitor your GPU usage while playing games. They should be at 100%. If they're not, your CPU is probably bottlenecking your GPUs.
Hope this helped :D
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
sincreator

sincreator

Splendid
May 27, 2009
2,479
0
22,110
100% CPU bottleneck. That is why I plan to switch from my 1090t @ 4.0ghz to a newer Intel chip. I plan to crossfire my 7950, and I have researched this quite a bit. Actually my chip at 4ghz will even bottleneck 1 of my cards in certain games, let alone 2.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

neon4

Honorable
Nov 23, 2013
83
0
10,630
First of all, thanks everyone for quick answers :)
@ techneutral
1.) I thought my PSU would not be enough, but then again, why is it so that both cards are working together, if my PSU wasn't enough, one of my cards would not load up, I think.
4.) I tested GPU usage in AC4, monitored by MSI Afterburner, both cards working well simultaneously on minimum 40% and maximum 70% durring the test

@boju
worth giving a try, though I had quite a few problems with drivers (ccc didn't want to open etc) so before I get to that I want to look through other possibilities, but thanks for the tip

@sincreator
I don't really know what better CPU I could get at the time when 6870 was brand new, maybe one of those super pricey intels or then the buldozzer AMDs which sucked compared to phenoms
there are people with worknig crossfire with worse CPUs than mine
but again, you might have better knowledge of the problem, that's why iam asking for help :)
is there any other way of fixing the possible bottleneck than buying a new CPU? i have AM3+ socket on my motherboard and im not going for the new AMDs, getting an intel socket would mean going for a new motherboard too :(
im not really skilled in overclocking
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Quaddro

Quaddro

Distinguished
Sep 1, 2010
2,074
2
20,965
it's time to overclock your processor..yes, this is a processor bottleneck..

well, 1090T actually is a good processor..run it at least 3.8Ghz, or 4ghz, or hit the brick wall of phenom architecture at 4.2Ghz..

your performance will increase significantly..
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
N

neon4

Honorable
Nov 23, 2013
83
0
10,630
@ Quaddro
ok another response talking about bottlenecking, it is set then, im having a hard time believing this, i thought my CPU would handle dual 6870s :/
well, i'll get working on it, bad thing is i have the manufacturer cooler fan from AMD, time to get a new fan as well
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Quaddro

Quaddro

Distinguished
Sep 1, 2010
2,074
2
20,965


yup..
like usual, coolermaster 212+ is best for your buck..

if you not really tight on budget..
pick a best air cooling, phanteks ph-tc14pe..
or maybe one of best liquid cooling available in the market, corsair h110..
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

neon4

Honorable
Nov 23, 2013
83
0
10,630


well, in my situation i think i'll be going for the coolermaster 212+
another question please, would my 600W PSU be sufficient for my whole rig with overclocked CPU?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Quaddro

Quaddro

Distinguished
Sep 1, 2010
2,074
2
20,965


let's see..
a system with i7 930 overclocked 3.33Ghz, Asus Rampage II Extreme, memory, and ssd will consume 412 watt in gaming and 482 watt while stressed with furmark..

gaming
33245.png


furmark
33246.png


and you have a fsp gold 600w PSU.

that's mean..you have more than 100w headroom for other parts..and don't forget, aurum class PSU can overloaded well too..

so, yes, your psu is good for your system.. :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
sincreator

sincreator

Splendid
May 27, 2009
2,479
0
22,110
Just wanted to point out that once you overclock a 1090t the power usage skyrockets. I believe just the cpu alone at 4.0ghz consumes close to 200w(if not more). I think 600w would be pushing it a little bit... Personally I would recommend 650-750w just to be safe if you plan to overclock the CPU+GPUs.

Quoted from the Guru3D review of the 1090t on the overclock page: One word of advice, AMD processors start to really consume a lot of power once you overclock them. At 4100 MHz (all 6 cores stressed) we consumed 273 Watt, that's an additional 86 watt for an extra 900 MHz. Here is the link to that review: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/phenom_ii_x6_1055t_1090t_review,6.html

Here is another example. Single GPU + 1090t overclocked power consumption. 440w. Add another card for crossfire and you are real close to 600w. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Phenom_II_X6_1090T/12.html

PS: The Techpowerup page went to garbage and was not able to see what card they were using for the test. If the card was a dual gpu card, then disregard my last statement. lol.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

AMcG

Honorable
Dec 7, 2013
1
0
10,510
I just heard about these crossfire problems as I am considering an upgrade. I was using an HD 6990 which I thought would not have the problem being a single card and series 6. But I just swapped it for an HD 6970 temporarily and the performance increased. The improvement is noticeable in windows and in games everything runs smoother and faster. I am using a resolution of 4096 by 1600 and the 13.11 drivers. I don't know if this is the same problem or a new one that only effects series 6 cards but I am now put off upgrading to another AMD card and I am looking at Nvidia. It does sound to me that my system was only successfully using 1 core of the HD 6990 and that you may have the same problem. Obviously I suspect the crossfire driver. Sorry but I don't know of a solution other than moving to a single card.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom