What is wrong with crossfire?!!

kirdsun

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May 29, 2011
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When I use crossfire with two Gigabyte Radeon HD 6970. They both get really hot (over 100C, play Blade & Soul) and I got screen freeze and blue screen.
When I use either one of them. They both work perfectly (60C, play Blade & Soul)
I took my pc to IJK, they couldn't figure out what is going on. They have tested all hardware, and they are all passed.

QuadCore Intel Core i7-2600K, 3800 MHz (38 x 100)
Gigabyte Z68 UD7
4 GB DDR3-1600 DDR3 SDRAM * 2
Gigabyte Radeon HD 6970 * 2
OCZ-VERTEX2 ATA Device (SATA-II)
WDC WD15EARS-00Z5B1 ATA Device
Samsung SyncMaster MD230X3.
 

x Heavy

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Aug 16, 2011
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100 C is way too damn hot. I am not certain but think converting to F tells me you literally will destroy the physical cards at that high temp.

Look at your cooling. Blow out any dust bunnies, clean off filters.

Boost your power supply.

Replace case with better cooling if necessary.

Use the latest Catalyst software or a earlier known reliable version for your cards.

Replace the cards with bigger newer cards.

Bottom line 100 C is just too damn hot. You are gonna burn it up.
 

kirdsun

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May 29, 2011
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I've Got TT Level 10 GT CASE with 6 cooling fans.
TT 1000W power supply. should be fine
 

kirdsun

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I've got the lastest new driver.

How come ran 1 card is cooler than 2 card with crossfire ????????? same game setting. 1 card=60C, 2 card with crossfire=100C.
 
Are the cards in the PCIe x16 Slots?
Or is one in the 16x and one in the 8x? check that
First try using both the cards in the 16X Slots and see if the same problem occurs.
Then Try them both in the 8X Slots and see if the Problem occurs again.
At each change it would be nice to know your temp readings.
The information and follow ups will certainly be helpful in diagnosing the problem.
And are you using 2 CrossFire Connectors or just one?
Another thing are both the cards using the same company BIOS? they each have 2 , right?
Make sure they're both on the default one.
 

cliffro

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Aug 30, 2007
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A quick google search using the info he provided reveals that the motherboard has 4 x16 slots, if only 2 are used, they run @ x16 if more are used they run @ x8.
Edit: Newegg's info was misleading! Slot 1 and 3 are the x16 slots.

[strike]That said, acquiring a longer crossfire bridge and placing one in the top slot and the 2nd card in the 4th slot would help alleviate the temps.[/strike]

My friend has 2 6950's unlocked to 6970's and is usually in the 60's(70's max). He is using a Corsair 600T with the middle hard drive cage removed and a fan blowing between the two cards because the top card was way warmer than the bottom card without the fan.

600tj.jpg


Are you using MSI Afterburner for custom fan profiles? or just running them at default? That made the biggest difference for him. Prior to using custom profiles it was in the 90's on the cards.
 

cliffro

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Apparently you missed my edit ;)

I also looked a bit closer at the board...that's a horrible design, Slots 2/4(x8) have MORE clearance(if you were to just use them) than 1/3(x16).

Versus the Asus P8Z68-V Pro(it's being used in the pic I posted earlier) which has more clearance between 1/2 than 2/3.

So basically what I'm guessing is that his high temps are due to the design choices made by Gigabyte for the UD7(a company I usually speak highly of).

Assuming he is using slots 1/3, his options are:
1. Do nothing to the placement of the cards but install Afterburner(if he's running the stock fan settings) and adjust the fan speeds used. And maybe add a fan blowing between them if room permits.

2. Run them in the x8 slots(2/4) for more ventilation between cards.

3. Run one in slot 1 and one in slot 4(if a xfire bridge is available for that length) and have even more clearance.

In any of the 3 scenarios I would recommend something to change the fan settings if stock settings are used.

Edit: I haven't seen any reviews lately that show the difference between x16 and x8 for the 69xx cards, but ones I've seen in the past didn't show significant loss in performance between the two. So using one or two x8 should not hurt much.
Nevermind I found one using GTX480's in SLI which is pretty close, comparing 16/16 vs 8/8

1282534990Cnhf3iYXfv_1_5_l.gif

So if 8/8 @ that resolution/settings in Metro2033 is that close, 16/8 or 8/8 should be fine.
 

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