Radeon HD7850 CrossfireX help

[LukeD1357]

Hello, first off this is my PC specs:
MSI Z77A-G43
Intel Core i5-3570K
8GB Corsair Vengeance RAM
HIS HD7850
Sapphire HD7850
500GB Hitachi HDD
OCZ ZS750W PSU
and case doesn't make a difference

My problem is that, when using both graphics cards, only one of them has 'usage' on it, and the other card is idle, both cards have drivers installed and crossfireX is enabled, but even on Minecraft (this was the only game at 1920x1080 that my PC struggled with) at absolute max settings with everything turned on I was getting only around 20FPS and the second card was idle 95% of the time. How would I get both cards to share the load evenly, or even get the second card to spring into action when I need it. I plan on running a triple monitor setup, 5760x1080, would this cause both cards to run at max load on a demanding game, or once again will only 1 of them work and struggle? I'm confused.
Thank you.

 

[LukeD1357]

Also now, one graphics card is running at 300MHz clock speed and the other one isn't even running at anything, is this meant to happen?

 

[aicom]

Also now, one graphics card is running at 300MHz clock speed and the other one isn't even running at anything, is this meant to happen?

This is AMD's ZeroCore technology in action. You don't need serious horsepower to render the UI, so it turns off any secondary GPUs and lowers the clock of the primary GPU.

http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/gcn/Pages/gcn-architecture.aspx

From what I'm reading, it doesn't appear the CrossFire is well supported under OpenGL games like Minecraft, so the underutilization of the second GPU may be expected.

 

[LukeD1357]

Thankyou very much for the response, I found it works properly in other games, such as Call of Duty Black ops 2 and Skyrim, as the logo appears in the top right corner and performance is dramatically increased. I'm also presuming it just doesn't work well in OpenGL games.

 

[maxinexus]

Easy fix is to sell both cards (~150 ea) and buy a single card solution. 7970 or 670 or if you have $$$ get 680

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150596

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133452

 

[LukeD1357]

I wouldn't consider that an easy fix, considering only one game I play crossfire doesn't work optimally, also take a look at this, crossfire 7850 is equal or better than the 7970 in almost every game and is very close the 680.
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4798/his_radeon_hd_7850_iceq_x_turbox_2gb_in_crossfire_video_card_review/index9.html

 

[maxinexus]

I wouldn't consider that an easy fix, considering only one game I play crossfire doesn't work optimally, also take a look at this, crossfire 7850 is equal or better than the 7970 in almost every game and is very close the 680.
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4798/his_radeon_hd_7850_iceq_x_turbox_2gb_in_crossfire_video_card_review/index9.html

but you forgot to count in the extra heat, extra noise, and overall headache...it is simply not worth it when you game at 1080...Now if you game at 2560x1600 or1440 I would understand the CF of SLI...plus you can always watercool which would eliminate heat and noise but you are still stuck with glitches here and there.

So, to Sum it up yes you get better performance with CF but at 1080 you don't need a CF you are fine with single top end card and yes you can still run everything on max.

 

[LukeD1357]

If you read my original post I said i plan on running games at 5760x1080. And so far there have been no extra headaches apart from the OpenGL one, and so far also no extra heat, both GPU's stay at the same temperature as when I only had one.

 

[maxinexus]

That slipped my eyes....If you plan on gaming at 57x10 in that case I would recommend another 7850...I mean if you want to play at top quality with all the candies on...plus you will need a noise cancelling headset too...could not resist lol

Tried 3 monitor set up and I just could not get used to the frames. Perhaps when frame less monitors would do the trick but for now the best gaming is done on 30" with 2560x1600. I have my 7950 clocked@1050 and have still I need reduce some candies in order to hit 40+fps.

 

[LukeD1357]

7850's are only capable of two way crossfire so if it is the case that I can't run games to the standard i want at this resolution i will have to get hold of a larder higher res monitor