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5970 quadfire issues

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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Hi there,

Yesterday I installed 5970 in quadfire setup. After installing drivers (8.663.1 Beta 5) :

1. there is no crossfire tab in CCC,

2. there is flickering of screen with artifacts (horizontal lines).

I did a clean install of drivers (3 times). Graphics Hardware tab in CCC shows Primary Adapter, Linked Adapter, Disabled Adapter and Disabled Adapter.

However, ATI Overdrive tab shows 2 HD 5900 Series GPUs while GPUz shows 4 GPUs.

Is this configuration correct? Is this a driver and/or hardware issue? I have checked and rechecked all plugs/connections. Please note:video cards are in PCIe slots 1 and 3 via 100mm crossfire cable.

Thanks in advance.

Specs:

i7 920 @4.0GHz | Asus Rampage II Extreme | G Skill 12Gb DDR3 12800 | 2*Sapphire 5970 | 2*1Tb Samsung Spinpoint F3 in RAID 0 | 4*1Tb Samsung Spinpoint F3 | NC Top 1000W | Windows 7 Ultimate x64

More about : 5970 quadfire issues

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Back again.

I solved the problem. Having cards in PCIe slots 1 and 3 (due to heat issues) I discovered that the bandwidth for slots 2 and 3 is set at x16 and x1 respectively by default.

Changing this to x8 and x8 in the BIOS seems to have solved the problem. Crossfire tab is enabled but screen flickering still a problem (hoping its a driver problem and not a hardware problem)

Does a x16 x8 bandwidth have a major effect on performance as opposed to a x16 x16 bandwidth?

I may install the second card back to the second PCIe slot.



Thanks again.

Best solution

According to Anandtech, you board has x16 and x16 if the first two are populated. If three are populated, it is x16, x8 and x8. Keep in mind, a GPU runs only as fast as the slower card, just like RAM. A slower lane can potentially limit it. I haven't seen any tests to prove this, but two of these GPUs must use lots of bandwidth. Each PCIe Gen 2 x16 slot has 500MB/s per lane and you have 16 lanes(x16). So you won't have a problem.

Here is the link.

Asus Rampage II Extreme

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3428&p=2

It is strongly recommended to use the first two PCIe slots. I use my two GPUs in the first two lanes.
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Thanks for your help.

I just upgraded from a 4970x2 quadfire setup and had huge heat problems with the card in lane 1 overheating (107C) under load. I couldnt run anything for more than 5min without artifacts.

Will just keep this setup running in lanes 1 and 3 for now.

Cheers. :hello: 

Already thought of and done!

Both cards stay below 75C under sustained 3D loading. Have several 120mm case fans inside my case. Sounds like an airplane but nothing the volume control wont fix.

Thanks for your advice. :hello: 

Thanks Mate.

It took nearly a year for ATI to get half decent drivers for my old 4870x2 quadfire setup. I felt I never got to see the full potential from these cards.

Lets hope ATI strikes while the iron is hot and release decent drivers.

hunuok said:
3 * Samsung 24" P2450.

Waiting for mini dp>DVI cable from ebay to run eyefinity. (Yes, I'm aware eyefinity doesnt work in quadfire yet) :hello: 


Or even regular crossfire for that matter....

Thanx Dude.

I considered the 950 but you can easily oc a 920 for the same/better results AND half the cost.

The 920 is a fantastic CPU to oc. I oced to 4.0 without altering voltages.
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