3870x2+catalyst 8.3

[iancarnage]

I just got my 3870x2 and I downloaded the catalyst 8.3 drivers. I am not positive if the card is working properly. I am getting excellent FPS in games, but GPU-Z is telling me that I only have 512mb and 320 stream processors. Someone inform me if it is really working properly or if I need to do something else. THANKS.


BTW, I love this card, it owns over my 8800GT 512mb in SLI.

 

[Pyros777]

GPU-Z will still only read one GPU at a time. Nothing to worry about.

 

[yipsl]

When I get home in the morning, I'll give the new 8.3 Catalyst a try, but one thing I must tell you about the 3870x2 is that not every game supports Crossfire, so results vary. I get Crossfire results in Oblivion and The Witcher, but only seem to do as well as one 3870 in LOTR online.

Overall, it's a good card, and I hope that 8.3 adds more game support under internal Crossfire. What I'd like to see in the CCC panel when it's unlocked and auto settings test the card, is recognition of both GPU's temp and usage.

If ATI's going to rely upon dual GPU cards at the high end (i.e. Nordic Hardware reports the 4870x2 out in June), then it's a must. Something like Window's recognition of multiple CPU cores is needed in CCC. Right now, I'm thinking that 8.2 only recognizes multi-GPU's if they're on separate cards in a Crossfire board.

 

[iancarnage]

eek, I really like to read when something is working properly.

 

[xxaimpiratexx]

Kind of a thread stealing question here, but have any of you heard of what kind of performance the HD3870x2 crossfired with another HD3870x2 could crank out?

 

[hannibal]

Kind of a thread stealing question here, but have any of you heard of what kind of performance the HD3870x2 crossfired with another HD3870x2 could crank out?

Try: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareuk.inc&cat=15&post=248856&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=1&trash=0&trash_post=0&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0

 

[iancarnage]

I couldnt tell you from experience, but I have one of them, and it f**kin owns. I just ran 3dmark06 and got 18,000 with my core 2 duo wolfdale and HD3870x2.

 

[yipsl]

Kind of a thread stealing question here, but have any of you heard of what kind of performance the HD3870x2 crossfired with another HD3870x2 could crank out?

I'll let you know how one works crossfired with a 4850 (which is expected to also be clocked at 850). I hope to have that in June, after just two more upgrades. What I'll be asking then, is how two 4870x2's do in Crossfire.

If I'd have known the 4xxx series was so close, I'd have held off on the 3870x2.

 

[iancarnage]

thread stealer, rofl

 

[swifty_morgan]

I just got my 3870x2 and I downloaded the catalyst 8.3 drivers. I am not positive if the card is working properly. I am getting excellent FPS in games, but GPU-Z is telling me that I only have 512mb and 320 stream processors. Someone inform me if it is really working properly or if I need to do something else. THANKS.


BTW, I love this card, it owns over my 8800GT 512mb in SLI.

512 + 512 doesn't = 1gig. Same as sli.

 

[yipsl]

thread stealer, rofl

Well, not trying to steal the thread. I'd be pleased to see the results of CrossfireX 3870x2's if anyone has two of them right now.

Here's the latest results I got from the Catalyst 8.3 drivers:

3DMark Score 9524 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 3906
SM 3.0 Score 5827
CPU Score 1708


1. Return to Procyon 30.72 fps
2. Firefly Forest 34.38

CPU1-Red Valley 0.54 fps
CPU2-Red Valley 0.87 fps

HDR Tests

1. Canyon Flight (SM 3.0) 73.45 fps
2. Deep Freeze (SM 3.0) 43.1 fps

It's a little bit better than my prior score. I unlocked ATI Overdrive and set each GPU at 860 instead of 850 and the memory at 931 instead of 901. The prior CCC only recognized one 3870x2 but this version shows two. It does freeze on Auto-Tune, but the new settings pass as stable, and games seem to be okay. In Catalyst 8.2, Auto-Tune only showed one GPU, but now it shows 2 when I try to tune All. There are probably still some bugs to be worked out and I guess it's because of my Athlon X2 4600+ CPU that I'm getting lower scores then guys with Wolfie 3.0 or Q6600. We'll see how it does with a Phenom 9750 when they become available sometime in May.

512 + 512 doesn't = 1gig. Same as sli.

It's marketing. My card's marketed as core clock of 850 and 1800 for RAM. It's shown as 850 in CCC for the GPU, but 901 for the GDDR3. 3DMark06 shows the clocks as 425 for the GPU and 425 for the RAM, so I don't know what's up with that.

 

[review_benchmark_hun]

effective clock (memory) = 900 x 2 = 1800Mhz

Maybe 3dm06 detected the clocks while your card is in 2D idle mode?
My CCC reports the clocks was running during bootup.

See the last screen-shot of 3870x2 on rivatuner in this page:
http://lly316.blogspot.com/2008/03/radeon-hd-3870x2-vs-geforce-8800-ultra.html

 

[iancarnage]

i wish i could get rivatuner to work.

 

[railroaderron]

8.3 was a disappointment for me with a substantial decrease in benchmark scores. Did 3 installs with diver cleaner in safe mode just to double check. I use xp so this may be the difference here. 8.1 drivers still perform the best benchmark scores for me even over the 8.2. e8400/asus p5e/3870x2

 

[honor]

well i have quad fire (2 3870X2) and its working great the only down for me is the crysis performance but in COD4 its amazing full graphics im getting 180fps-290 some maps in the 300's

 

[San Pedro]

iamcarnage, just google rivatuner + 3870x2. I have found two decent guides this way. Basically you just modify the config file in notepad, it's real easy. I can set my fan speeds in there as well as my core and memory clocks. There is a also a way to get get AMD GPU Tool, by using a modded library for it.

For others out there make sure that you enable Catalyst A.I. and that GPU-Z says crossfire enabled.

 

[topper743]

Anyone know about the cat 8.3 performance and a 3870 or a 3850 card? Is the update primarily for crossX or the 3870x2? Is there anything a single card?

 

[ScottyCFC]

I just got my 3870x2 and I downloaded the catalyst 8.3 drivers. I am not positive if the card is working properly. I am getting excellent FPS in games, but GPU-Z is telling me that I only have 512mb and 320 stream processors. Someone inform me if it is really working properly or if I need to do something else. THANKS.


BTW, I love this card, it owns over my 8800GT 512mb in SLI.

Mannn, I envy you, I was satisfied with one, but 2 of them??

Good news, next buy for me is a motherboard that supports 2 x 16xPCI-E's.

 

[review_benchmark_hun]

From those reviews I read, the 8.3 is still buggy with dual-x2.

Moreover, not many games are well optimized for quad-fire.

 

[yipsl]

From those reviews I read, the 8.3 is still buggy with dual-x2.

Moreover, not many games are well optimized for quad-fire.

Would I recommend going CrossfireX today with a 3870x2 and a 3870? Or two 3870x2's? No I would not. Nor would I recommend triple SLI right now either. However, it's only a matter of time before games arrive that are optimized right out of the box.

By the summer, CrossfireX and Triple SLI support for current games should be improved under both ATI and Nvidia drivers. The big advantage 2+ GPU optimized drivers have is the ability to keep a still decent last gen card useful alongside the latest.

 

[SpinachEater]

Would I recommend going CrossfireX today with a 3870x2 and a 3870? Or two 3870x2's? No I would not. Nor would I recommend triple SLI right now either. However, it's only a matter of time before games arrive that are optimized right out of the box.

I would say that depends on the resolution and game. Below, each GPU in the dual x2 setup really does make a difference at 2560x1600 for Oblivion. 1600x1200...that's a different story. When you kick AA and AF in, it really helps in some cases.



Hmm...I am too dumb to get the pic to show. Here is the page.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3256&p=5