Z170A Gaming M3 only runs one sapphire 7950 HD Boost?

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cckruse

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Oct 19, 2016
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Specs:
MSI Z170A Gaming M3 mother board
Zalman 1000 Watts High Efficiency Switching Power Supply
i5 6600k - cpu (overclocked to 4.5 currently)
G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8gb x 2 - ram
Sapphire Radeon Hd 7950 Boost 3GB DDR5 x 2

I looked on the MSI website and it says that the compatibility for the M3 mother board is only one sapphire 7950...I didn't realize that there could potentially be issues with running crossfire. Is there any way around this to get my set up to run both graphics cards in crossfire? Inside of CCC there is no option for crossfire, in BIOS there is nothing I can change that helps with the PCI bus speed, everything is hooked up and both cards work. Currently both are recognized but in CCC my second card is (disabled), first card is listed as (primary). I am assuming I now just have a second card that I can set on the shelf and look at since my motherboard has compatibility issues, but I thought I would see if anyone here knows something I don't. Thanks!
 
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Well guys as dumb as this sounds if you seat the bridge all the way down it does not work properly....So if you pull up upward 1-2mm it works great....my crossfire works now. Thanks for all the help and suggestions.
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FnaticMeister

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It sounds like a motherboard issue, I didn't know that those two cards weren't compatible with crossfire. It should work, but in other ways, crossfire is useless because most games don't optimize crossfire. You could have 2 displays running on each card, and that'll be your best bet. Good luck! Also check if your motherboard is fully connected.
 
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cckruse

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I guess I just assumed that when a motherboard was crossfire capable it would run any amd GPUs....of course nothing is that easy. If I hook my other displays to my other graphics card will they display the same stuff? I have never messed with that. Right now all 3 displays are hooked to my main card and it is hooked to the secondary with a crossfire bridge.
 
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FnaticMeister

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You don't have to have all 3 displays on the same card, unless you're getting the same image stretched onto them. As my knowledge extends, the crossfire should be fine. Look at your motherboard specifications and look at the crossfire/SLI capabilities, and if it still doesn't work, go into device manager and/or your BIOS and try to fit the other card as either a secondary or a whole other card.
 
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cckruse

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Oct 19, 2016
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Yeah it is already set up as a secondary card by default...I will have to play with it tonight. And yes MSIs website does say this motherboard will only run 1 7950 for some reason...I don't know how to attach the screen shot...I was hoping for some way around it. I will wait and see if anyone else has any input. Thanks for your input though.
 
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FnaticMeister

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If the updates say you can only fit one, then you can't crossfire them. I would run 2 different displays on each graphics cards, like I said, and that'll be your best bet.
 
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Rogue Leader

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That board will run 2 HD 7950 in Crossfire (the HD 7950 and R9 280 are the same card).

You need to make sure you have nothing installed in either of the other 2 PCIe slots however, otherwise the second GPU slot only works in x1 which does not allow for Crossfire to work. That is likely your problem.
 
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cckruse

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Oct 19, 2016
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Hey you might be on to something here! I have a wifi and bluetooth card in one of the PCIe slots....Why does that make my other PCIx16 run at the slower rate?
 
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cckruse

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Oct 19, 2016
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Hmmm this didn't help. CCC still shows my second 7950 as (disabled). I am going to check my bios again. I am running out of ideas. Everything seems fine besides the fact that they will not run together and I have no option to force them to doing so inside of CCC. I also used DDU to uninstall all the drivers and reinstall...didn't help.
 
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Rogue Leader

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You need to physically remove the Wifi/Bluetooth card or the second gpu will show as disabled, because it can't work at x1. Its a limitation of that board, sorry to say its just a cheap Gaming board and so the PCIe lanes are not divided very well. Common to run into "cheapness" issues with the Gaming M3 line from MSI.

That board has some standard PCI slots, I reccomend buying a WiFi/Bluetooth card that fits in there, or get a USB one.
 
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cckruse

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I removed it and it didn't help....I think I might just try to order a few new bridges for the interconnection....I have literally ran through everything else. CCC is giving an error saying the bridge isn't connected which is wrong...I also only have one right now does it actually need two?
 
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Rogue Leader

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I have doubts the bridge is bad. Have you confirmed the card even works? Maybe swap it out and just double check its functional. I mean a new bridge is like $10 so it won't hurt to try.

 
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cckruse

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I will try it tonight. Wasn't home last night. I am pretty certain it works fine but i will verify that it does. Otherwise any other suggestions?
 
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Rogue Leader

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I can't think of anything else. As I said the HD 7950 and the R9 280 are basically identical cards and according to the compatibility list it supports 2 R9 280's.

I know for sure there are no BIOS settings or anything it should just work. You have done DDU and re-installed all the drivers with the newest Crimson drivers and all that right?

At this point if the card is functional and the bridge is not bad, and there is nothing installed in the other PCIe slots, that points me to it either being a bad board or some bizarre incompatibility. As I said (and no offense I don't mean to rag on your stuff) MSI's Gaming M3 boards are low end and have some odd limitations because they are so cheapy. I would never use one in a build.
 
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cckruse

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Yeah I have done the DDU and everything...I can always give it another shot. Also I didn't know the M3s were considered cheap on the surface it appeared to have everything I was wanting for a $150, no issues until this crossfire mishap. Any suggestions for if i decide to change in the future?
 
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Rogue Leader

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If you like MSI the Z170A Gaming M5 is a similar board but WORLDS better, supports both Crossfire and SLI in a proper x8/x8 configuration and you can use the other slots as well without issues. Interestingly enough it has on the compatibility page the HD 7950 listed as both 1 and 2 GPU compatible, unlike the M3.
 
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cckruse

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Damn....the only reason I didn't get an M5 was because I didn't see the need for SLI and crossfire since I already had 1 7950 in my old build....Very well might just be my motherboard at this point??? The M3 seemed fine I guess I should have investigated better...should have known the $150 price point was to good to be true for all the features.
 
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cckruse

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Wow there is only a ten dollar price difference.......................... -___- well I will mess with it more when I get home. I am fairly certain my second card is perfectly fine though.
 
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cckruse

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Yeah I will double check later tonight. I also opened a ticket with MSI to see what they have to say. Might just have to order a freaking M5 in the future I guess...........so disappointing.
 
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cckruse

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Well a quick update if anyone comes to read this. I am going to order a couple new bridges and see if it was a bad one. MSI support claims that the M3 should be able to run the two 7950 boosts in crossfire. I am also going to try a few more things tonight to in an attempt to get it to work. I will come back if I do or don't fix the issues. New bridges are arriving Monday.
 
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cckruse

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Another update...tested both cards in different orientations and slots both alone and together. Both work fine alone...I will wait for the new bridges to arrive I suppose.
 
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