7970 Woes..

[somewhatdamaged]

Installed three Gigabyte Windforce 7970Ghz cards into my machine, and really had quite a few problems

first one is that three in trifire don't really fit due to the aftermarket cooler, so the fans end up catching on the below card - pain

Sorted this with cables ties.

Next problem is most games are worse with three cards than two. The newest ATI 13.2 beta caused graphical corruption in a few games, and i'm starting to think i should have stuck with Nvidia and followed by gut instinct

Crossfire doesn't feel particularly smooth, although the FPS is fine, the games (especially Skyrim) doesn't "feel" smooth - my 580 SLI felt much better

I'll have a play today but these may well end up going back, or possibly just one
Just looking at Vantage and my GTX670 SLI scored 55880 on Graphics score, Triple 7970s scored 57268

Not impressed to be honest

Really need to have a think - i just dont want a card thats going to be a hassle, i just want them to work like SLI

 

[tommybhoy]

i just dont want a card thats going to be a hassle, i just want them to work like SLI

3X7970's@1200p are going to be bottlenecked at that resolution as it is, I don't imagine gpu usage is very good on your resolution with 3 cards.


Take one out, 3 is more problematic on both CrossFire/SLi as explained to you yesterday:

I find that most stuff doesn't scale well after 2 cards mate. There are a few that do, like Black Ops 2, Hawx and a few others, but in the main, performance is better with 2 than 3.

The problem is, its not JUST the drivers that control the scaling, the game needs to be optimised too.
Here is a great example of a game optimised for 2 CPU's and not 3 or more. Crisis 3.

3 x 7970's


2x 7970's


Both taken at the same place, start of new York outdoor level
result = Identical 51fps.


**Note**
The above is related to my eyefinity 5760x1080 setup - results may vary outside of eyefinity - I don't know.

Also, I do firmly believe that most initial reactions when changing vendor tend to not be enjoyable for most due to differing Control Panels regardless what way they move.

 

[Boomstick777]

Could always grab a single Titan, no SLI no Crossfire, just awesome performance .

 

[DigitalPrime]

Could always grab a single Titan, no SLI no Crossfire, just awesome performance .

I love the way this forum has shaped up over the years. Instead of helping out someone with there issues. People wave the fanboi flag without giving advise.

To the OP, You would be better off selling one of those 7970s and going Xfire leaving trifire alone. (for gaming) Even with Nvidia, you will run into the same issues with scaling when it comes to 3 GPUs. Or you could sell off your 7970s and go for a lesser titan. As one card its great. But 2x7970s ...yes please

 

[somewhatdamaged]

OK removed a single card to try normal crossfire

Unfortunately these Gigabyte cards are voltage locked, and mine won't work above 1150 core, which is pretty poor

Almost certain these are going back now

 

[richb93]

OK removed a single card to try normal crossfire

Unfortunately these Gigabyte cards are voltage locked, and mine won't work above 1150 core, which is pretty poor

Almost certain these are going back now

All cards are voltage locked, you need to use something like MSI Afterburner to unlock them I believe.

EDIT: I see they've actually started hard locking them. I just assumed they were all unlockable in the normal fashion. Anyway yeah just go for the equivalent NVIDIA solution if you want to tweak, or a Titan if you have more money than sense ;P

 

[Gregster]

Locky is the Tri-Fire man. He will give some good advice before you throw in the towell.

Only a couple of cards are voltage unlocked now but do you need volts unlocked?

I am sure with 3, that is more than enough for gaming/general use

 

[somewhatdamaged]

Well i took one card out, and overclocked mine to the max they will go (1100)

Ran Vantage, and my cards only just beat the GTX670 SLI i had

These cards quite simply are not as fast as i expected

Not sure what else i can do. tried Max Payne 3, 1920x1200 8XAA everything maxed, and can't keep a solid 60fps which i had hoped for

 

[humbug]

CF scaling in Max Payne 3 is not as good as SLI.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/06/01/max_payne_3_iq_performance_preview_reviewers_guide/2

CF vs SLI are give are take, depending on the specific game ecte.... its the nature of using 2 or more GPU's.

Always do some research before hand.

Locky might be able to help you get the scaling up.

Also, if you report it to AMD they might fix it, also send them the [H] link, it might spur them on

http://www.amdsurveys.com/se.ashx?s=5A1E27D20B2F3F36