crossfire low fps

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jktmstokes1

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Sep 24, 2013
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Getting low frames and 2nd gpu usage with crossfired 290s. I think the main culprit is the 750hx power supply though I thought this would just shut the system down rather than only result in low fps if the power isn't enough??? Was I off with this belief?

I am trying all kinds of different drivers but to no avail.
 
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clutchc
Have you checked your system for registry errors, junk files, and other resource wasting crap that could be slowing down your system? Give CCleaner a run and do the Clean and Registry portions both. https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Check to see if you have a lot of stuff running with Windows when it starts. Check your tray for stuff you can disable. And check your System Config/Startup tab for how many boxes are checked. Everything running in the background steals clock cycles.
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jktmstokes1

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yes I know. Just wondering about that one question.

i5 3570k (stock clocks)
gigabyte z77x-ud3h mobo
8 gb ram 1866 mhz G Skill
2 sapphire tri-x 290s (stock clocks)
750 watt corsair HX series

gaming at 1440p resolution



My 2nd card wasn't getting good usage and was fluctuating with my top card. I took it out and now I'm back to where I was getting the frames you'd expect with one 290 in. I figured it was the Power supply since I was iffy about that to start off with but I figured I'd give it a shot. Running crysis 3 it didn't shut down but crysis was getting roughly 30 frames and thief was getting 30 frames.
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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Have you checked your system for registry errors, junk files, and other resource wasting crap that could be slowing down your system? Give CCleaner a run and do the Clean and Registry portions both. https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Check to see if you have a lot of stuff running with Windows when it starts. Check your tray for stuff you can disable. And check your System Config/Startup tab for how many boxes are checked. Everything running in the background steals clock cycles.
 
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jktmstokes1

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Grandmaster... frames are fine with only one card, I don't think it is that... I don't have much in the background...

I got one card then this one a month later. I did a driver sweep (from guru3d website) and fresh installed drivers once my 2nd card was put in. I tried the latest beta driver and the latest full driver, but still am not getting good performance.
 
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pfunkmd

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If you have not all ready done it try a reformat. I had some scaling issues with a pair of 6870s when I added the second card and a fresh install fixed the problem. Of course at the time I did not know about driver sweeper so it could have been because I did not uninstall the drivers properly either way worth a try.
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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The more I think about it, the more you may be on to something with the PSU. Each R9-290 has a TDP of 300W. That's 600W that needs to be continuously available at the +12V rail for just the cards alone. And at 50 amps capacity. Maybe more at occasional peaks.

If this is your PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010
...it has a 62A +12V rail rated at 744W. A small voltage drop at the +12V rail could be lowering performance of the dual cards when stressed, considering the 80% efficiency of the PSU.
 
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jktmstokes1

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Yes! That is my PSU. I thought it was weird that it wasn't powering down... In games like Bioshock I am getting 140 fps at 1440p all settings up with jumps into the 180 range, but with a more demanding game like crysis I start off in the 70-80s then drop into the 30s/40s and see GPU usage start to fluctuate heavily... Have you heard of a PSU not powering down but just giving less power to the cards?

Honestly with going through all of this the past few days I was thinking of jumping to NVIDIA because I thought it was driver issues but no one else seems to be having those issues... so it could just be the psu?
 
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jktmstokes1

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Also, if you can answer the previous question I have another :)

I will obviously need to upgrade my psu... I may get a 3rd gpu eventually so I want the PSU to be future proof in that sense.. what would you recommend? Every site has awesome and bad reviews for each PSU and some fry parts or blow circuits at higher watts so I am not sure... I would like bang for my buck, obviously the corsair 1200axi is great but it costs 400$, any other reliable brands?

I've been looking at these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153145

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194105

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153155 (1375 or 1475 watt version)
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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While all three of those PSUs have the specs to do the job with 3 monster cards, I'm not personally familiar with Enermax units, although most are highly rated. And I have had issues with the midrange Thermaltakes. But their 'Toughpower' line is one of the better ones. Any of those should be fine in my estimation if cost is to be kept at a reasonable level. I always liked the XFX PSUs (in fact I have one) and of course Corsairs. Here is a (somewhat) recent tiered list of power supplies by brand: http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

But I'm not sure your Z77 chipset MB is designed for 3-way SLI/CF. The board does have 3 PCIe x16 slots, but one is only x4 bandwidth, and then only with the loss of the PCIe x1 slots. And the specs only list the board as having "2-way SLI™ and 2-way CrossFireX™ multi-GPU support". Plus the Z77 chipset has its limitations: http://img.hexus.net/v2/motherboards/intel/Z77/Gigabyte/Z77D3H/Z77B.jpg

 
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jktmstokes1

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First off, thanks for the psu recommendation, I know of xfx as well. Thanks for the link I'll definitely be looking that over.

I know my mobo doesn't support more than 2, and I am not going for more than 2 for a while. When I do, I will get an Asus board with 4 slots. I had one thermaltake before, a cheap 600w that still runs and handled everything I threw at it just fine, but again, when you sink this much into a psu you want it be great!

What is your opinion about my psu now though? Could that be causing crossfire to under-perform but not shut my system down?
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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It's a possibility. If it only seems to underperform when it is playing high end, graphically demanding games at max settings. Normally, I wouldn't expect a good quality 750W PSU to have an issue. But those are high wattage cards that demand a lot of power when running all out. If the +12V drops a bit, it won't be getting full power. How that exactly affects the graphic processors' ability to perform, I'm not sure. But the result may be that it/they 'slow down'.
 
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jktmstokes1

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Well I think I was wrong altogether my friend but I do appreciate your help. I went and looked more closely at reviews of 290s crossfired, like in Crysis and saw that even in crossfire, at 1440 they only enable fxaa rather than mxaa x4. Supposedly that is the card killer. I was getting consistent 60 fps in crysis sometimes going into the 70-80 range. So all seems well.

I am impressed with these Corsair PSUs. Maybe that is why the 1200axi costs a premium. But now atleast I know I don't need to shell out for psu to run crossfire, so I can plan ahead for the PSU I will need and put money aside so I don't skimp out with a rosewill or thermaltake branded one.
 
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