290x crossfire bad performance at 1080p

joocey · Jul 26, 2014

Hello I've been playing around with my rig and decided to go AMD. Ran into a lot of issues in the start but finally been able to get some games running and overall... I'm unimpressed?
I was modding Skyrim and my fps outside is around 24 average and drops to as low as 18 in some instances (I have K ENB but still.. something must be wrong).
Even without the enb my skyrim runs at a max of 44 frames on ultra.
Also did testing and it is the same fps as a single card even though my 2nd card is hitting high temps and gpu usage.

For the other game I play which is the Witcher 2 I can run about 90 average without ubersampling but once I put it on I get 40s and drops to low 30s. I thought my rig could handle such games due to benchmarks so am I doing something wrong?

Tested with 14.7 drivers, 14.4, 13.12, etc.

System Specs:
i5-4670k - 4.0GHz
8 gbs of ram
2 x 290x Sapphire Reference Cooler
Dark power Pro 1000w PSU
Asus Hero VI mobo
Windows 8.1

Crossfire is enabled in AMD CCC
Both cards are functioning well singularily

Stats:
gpu clock : 1000MHZz --> 1065MHz oc'd
gpu voltage : 1.135V --> 1.195V oc'd
memory clock : 1250MHz --> 1355MHz oc'd
%usage : 100%
temp : 94 on full load --> 86 oc'd
fan speed : 40% --> 60% oc'd

PSU 12v,5, 3.4v:
3v = 3.344
5v = 5v
12v = 12.192

TechyInAZ · Jul 26, 2014

what are your temps? The amd stock coolers are terrible for r9 290X and it might be throttling back due to 90C temps.

and do you have the latest drivers?

joocey · Jul 26, 2014

TechyInAZ :

Yes sorry I edited to add more info!
I used msi afterburner to set my fans to 60% when playing games and the temps sit at 85 degrees load.

EDIT:
I did not spend time playing the game due to the fps being so low so the time the gpus were under load would probably be less than 30 minutes.

TechyInAZ · Jul 26, 2014

that is so weird, is the crossfireX bridge in place and enabled? and 85 is actually better than I thought.

Also, do you have the latest BIOS?

joocey · Jul 26, 2014

TechyInAZ :

I believe the 290x don't need a crossfire bridge as it uses the PCI slots?
I believe so but I will double check.
Really want to get this sorted out... Here I thought 2 290xes would be overkill... Yet I am not getting that much better frames then when I had a single 580 ti..

EDIT:
Bios is latest version. Drivers are latest version.
Only ENB on in Skyrim and its still low 20s

TechyInAZ · Jul 26, 2014

2 r9 290Xes at 1080P is Really overkill.

And are you positive that you don't need a crossfire bridge? I've heard you can but I don't think that means you should.

BTW... Thx for editing instead of posting a new comment, it makes reading a lot easier.

Suztera · Jul 26, 2014

Yes, R9 290X and R9 290 doens't require a crossfire bridge at all.
Are you sure you enabled Crossfire in AMD CCC?
Try running Valley or Heaven and measure the result for one R9 290X and crossfire R9 290X and see if there is any difference.

TechyInAZ · Jul 26, 2014

Suztera :

Really? How did AMD figure that out?

Suztera · Jul 26, 2014

TechyInAZ :

They use XDMA which communicate via the PCIE.
More info on this here:

http://community.amd.com/community/amd-blogs/amd-gaming/blog/2014/01/03/modernizing-multi-gpu-gaming-with-xdma

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7457/the-radeon-r9-290x-review/4

TechyInAZ · Jul 26, 2014

Suztera :

Wow, that's really cool, I always wondered when all the bandwidth of PCI gen 3 would be used by graphics cards, I just didn't know it would be through crossfireX.

It makes since after reading those posts, since bridges only have a small amount of bandwith.

Thx for the info. I wonder when Nvidia will follow AMD with SLI.

joocey · Jul 26, 2014

... I checked online too and it seems like no one else is having these problems?

Suztera · Jul 26, 2014

What 1000w power supply do you have?

TechyInAZ · Jul 26, 2014

joocey :

That is really weird, what if you try putting the 2nd card in the 1st pci slot and do the same thing with the 1st vid card?

joocey · Jul 26, 2014

Suztera :

Be Quiet Dark Power pro 1000w

joocey · Jul 26, 2014

TechyInAZ :

joocey :

That is really weird, what if you try putting the 2nd card in the 1st pci slot and do the same thing with the 1st vid card?

I've tested both cards individually and they are exactly the same.

Suztera · Jul 26, 2014

Did you enable crossfire in AMD Catalyst Control Center?

joocey · Jul 26, 2014

Suztera :

Yes.
In my original post this is evidence in Skyrim

joocey · Jul 26, 2014

No ideas as to what the problem is?.. I was going to watercool these cards but if they can't even perform well whats the point.

i7Baby · Jul 26, 2014

The reference coolers are crap. See http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/r9-290-accelero-xtreme-290,3671.html

and see http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-and-290x,3728.html

They will hold you back considerably.

Re: PSU - What 12v, 5v and 3.3v readings are you getting in UEFI?

joocey · Jul 26, 2014

i7Baby :

Yeah I know I was planning on watercooling the cards but the performance is just terrible...
Also how would I check that the readings?

i7Baby · Jul 26, 2014

Use the UEFI that came with your motherboard.

joocey · Jul 26, 2014

i7Baby :

Oh bios my bad.
I will check in a little and edit this post.
3v = 3.344
5v = 5v
12v = 12.192

i7Baby · Jul 26, 2014

OK - they're OK. So your power supply should be working OK. The power supply is v good quality - tier 1 of http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

You've got both cards locked into their red pcie slots?

And a power supply 6 pin and 8 pin connector connected to each?

They don't use a crossfire bridge on these?

Do they both show up in CCC? Without error per diagnostics?

They both show up in Control Panel, Device Manger? As working properly? With latest drivers?

joocey · Jul 26, 2014

i7Baby :

Wow. That's awesome I didn't know it was tier 1!
My replies are in the quote.

i7Baby · Jul 27, 2014

For each card, can you supply -
gpu clock
gpu voltage
memory clock
%usage
temp
fan speed

290x crossfire bad performance at 1080p

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