6970 causing boot issues

[Retep1515]

Hello,
I recently got a custom gaming PC and it's fighting with me. At the moment I'm getting all of the drivers set up but i hit an issue when i get to the graphics drivers. The PC will install te driver but then when i reboot it gets frozen on the starting windows screen. I end up having to force shut off which kills me a little inside. It usually worked to do the bootup fix it prompts you to do after the pc fails to boot but now that doesnt even work. Can anyone help? Here is my configuration. Thanks!


It is a cyber power build.


Intel i7 2600k 3.40 ghz 8m lga 1155. Overclocked 30%

60 gb ocz agility 3 sata 3 ssd

2tb sata 3 6gb/s 7200rpm 64mb cache 3.5" hd

Kingston hyper x 4 gb ddr3/1600 mhz

Azza hurricane 2000 full tower

Sony 24 x dvdrw

Gigabyte z68x-ud7-b3 intel z68 sli/crossfire ddr3 sata 3 usb 3.0 lga 1155

Raidmax rx-1000 ae 1000 watt plus gold power supply

Amd radeon hd 6970 2gb ddr5 pice

Amd radeon hd 6870 1gb ddr5 pice


I loaded windows 7 profession 64 bit. Thanks.

 

[Onus]

Why a HD6970 and a HD6870? You're not trying to Crossfire them, are you? Take out the HD6870.

 

[Dogsnake]

If you are trying to XFire..you can not use two different cards. Each card best be exactly the same and I mean brand, model number, bios version..everything. If you are running multiple independent monitors you can use the two different cards. I am curious, if you bought a Cyber Power system why did you not have them install the OS and set up the system? I see it has 4g memory (?) was this a used computer that ran a 32bit OS?

 

[tlmck]

Pull the 6870 card and see if it boots. Once you get it running and stable, and drivers all up to date etc, add the second card. In would also unplug the 2tb drive and add it in later as well. Just to simplify things.

Also check to see that AHCI is selected in your BIOS. If it was not when Windows was installed, you will need to reinstall. And just for grins, make sure the SSD is plugged into SATA 0.

 

[tlmck]

If you are trying to XFire..you can not use two different cards. Each card best be exactly the same and I mean brand, model number, bios version..everything. If you are running multiple independent monitors you can use the two different cards. I am curious, if you bought a Cyber Power system why did you not have them install the OS and set up the system? I see it has 4g memory (?) was this a used computer that ran a 32bit OS?

Not according to AMD.

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/technology/Pages/crossfirex.aspx

 

[Onus]

They don't need to be "identical" cards, but they need to be the same model, like 6970 and 6970. If they are clocked differently, or have different amounts of RAM, they will behave as though both had the lesser of the two.

 

[Dogsnake]

Ya I know what they say. If you want I can link an informative article about how multi gpu solutions work. Then you can draw your own conclusions.

 

[tlmck]

Ya I know what they say. If you want I can link an informative article about how multi gpu solutions work. Then you can draw your own conclusions.

Please do. New information is always welcome.

 

[Dogsnake]

Take a look at this (http://techreport.com/articles.x/21516). I found it informative.

 

[Onus]

That was an EXTREMELY interesting read. I don't think it makes the point at all that paired GPUs need to be "identical," but it was still very enlightening. It perhaps explains why paired GPUs need to operate at the lowest common denominator though, so they do essentially "become" identical.
I think it also strengthens the point of view that a single stronger GPU is generally a better purchase decision than a pair of weaker GPUs.
In any case, I'd like to hear how the OP is getting on now with the HD6870 removed, or at the very least not connected using the Crossfire bridge (if it ever was).

 

[bryonhowley]

If you are trying to XFire..you can not use two different cards. Each card best be exactly the same and I mean brand, model number, bios version..everything. If you are running multiple independent monitors you can use the two different cards. I am curious, if you bought a Cyber Power system why did you not have them install the OS and set up the system? I see it has 4g memory (?) was this a used computer that ran a 32bit OS?

NO you are thinking of Nvidia with AMD you do not need to worry about brand model version or bios. What you cant do is Crossfire with different generations so you could not Crossfire a 6xx with a 5xx card.

 

[tlmck]

Take a look at this (http://techreport.com/articles.x/21516). I found it informative.

Interesting article, but as my old grandpappy would have said to the author after slapping him up side the head, "get to the point son!".

But seriously, the article does not say you cannot run dissimilar cards in Crossfire. For all we know, AMD does some sort of trickery in the driver that balances dissimilar cards, but that's beyond my pay grade. Couple that with the fact that due to component and manufacturing tolerances, getting two completely identical cards would be a total fluke anyway. Add in component wear tolerances and you really have fun. I was educated in and worked in electronic manufacturing for 17 years, so I know this to be true.

The article does show what many already knew. That while multi-card solutions may give you marginally better frame rates, they are really not worth the expense or the trouble over a single powerful card. That fact has not changed since the inception of both Crossfire, and SLi. Maybe some day they will figure it out, but we still are not there yet.

I do appreciate the post though. As I said, new information is always welcomed.

 

[Dogsnake]

You draw the same conclusions that I do.

 

[Retep1515]

Thanks for all of your input. Yes, I am Tryin to run the cards in crossfire and I used AMD's utility to find out what cards I needed. I'm going to be running four screen with both cards.

 

[Retep1515]

And yes, i removed the 6870 for the time being and it's working fine.

 

[Retep1515]

Oh, and I do actually have 16 GB RAM.

 

[Onus]

Good news. They won't work in Crossfire, but should be fine for multiple monitors.