Can I even out the cards???

[pabloottawa]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if anyone knows how to make my two CROSSFIRED 5850s share the load more evenly. They are the same GPU and memory but different brands and when I check GPU-Z it tells me they are different bios versions. Would the difference in bios versions be making one card perform MUCH more than the other? also, if this is the case, is it possible to change the bios of either cards to make the bios versions match???

primary is a Power Color with the following info: notice the bios version

secondary is the Asus EAH 5850 with the following info: notice the bios version

 

[wa1]

On CF mode, the faster card would downclocked it's speed to match the slower card, that GPU-Z stated that CF mode is enable, so your setup is already right.
Have you tried any games yet?

 

[pabloottawa]

Oh yeah,

I've been playing Bad company 2 for around a month with the CF setup and when maxed out, it doesn't seem to run as smooth as it should for a rig that has two three hundred dollar video cards in it. VERY strange.

So what's the norm here??? Even when we invest over 600 dollars on a video card combo we still can't get a smooth running up to date game with maxed setting??? If this is the case then it's the last time I EVER invest in crossfire or SLI.

Here are my specs:

Asus P6T mobo
Intel i7 930 2.8ghz
Windows 7 x64 Ultimate
12 gigs DDR3
Cooler Master Silent Power 700W
2 CF cards Primary: Power Color 5850 Secondary: Asus EAH5850
10.5 ATI driver suite

 

[Mousemonkey]

You can't judge SLi and Crossfire by the same yardstick, it's widely accepted that SLi scales better and that Nvidia drivers are easier to work with. Ati have had issues with BB2 before with load times being a bit long, maybe this is related?

 

[jerreece]

My brother plays BFBC2 with an i5-750 @ stock with a single ATI 5850 and hasn't complained to me once. He also plays @ 1920x1080.

The thing with Crossfire (and SLI even) is that you don't always get a huge jump in overall performance. Some games handle SLI or Crossfire better than others. In some cases, some games hate Crossfire, or SLI.

I play BFBC2 @ 1920x1080 with DX10 mode with a GTX 470 and do very well. Probably in the 50-60FPS when multiplayer, with 60FPS fairly common as I use VSync.

How about any other games? Do you get smooth performance elsewhere?

 

[pabloottawa]

Thanks for all the replies and I see what you all mean. some games like CF, some like SLI and some don't like either one.

Jerreece, does your brother play it with maxed settings???? It would be interesting to see if he did. I guess next time I'll do a little more research before going with something this pricey.... Now it's the debate over 2 cards vs one.

Lastly, I only play BFBC2 and MW2 (although not that often because Infinity Ward doesn't give a *** about it's servers and it's a hackfest) but I'll try some other games and see what happens.

Thanks for the help guys!!1 If anyone has any other opinions about this issue by all means, please respond!

 

[jerreece]

I'm not sure exactly what settings he uses. He's a couple hundred miles away so I don't get to see his PC up close. I helped him buy the parts and then build it over the phone. LOL Honestly never seen it in person.

I do know for sure he plays @ 1920x1080 though, because that's the monitor we got him. Course now he's playing it on his 46" LED HDTV @ 1080p I'm pretty sure. Yeah, it's fairly overkill, but he's a bachelor.