Crossfire GPU's only getting 40-60% Usage on certain games?

Martini1991 · 6 Sep 2013 at 18:58

xTommy92 said:
Can't use Windows 8.1 as I do not have Windows 8 to start with. I am currently using Windows 7. Wouldn't Re-installing Windows delete everything?

Tom

Just install the 8.1 preview ISO, you don't need to have 8 installed.
Use another HDD, or don't format, install over.

pastymuncher · 6 Sep 2013 at 19:16

Second slot on the Z77-D3H is only 4x so could it be anything to do with that. Dropping down to a Sandy and pci-e 2.0 will make that worse.

Martini1991 · 6 Sep 2013 at 19:17

4x PCI-E 3.0 shouldn't really be that detrimental.

xTommy92 · 6 Sep 2013 at 19:52

I have my Windows installed onto an SSD.

Tom

xTommy92 · 6 Sep 2013 at 19:57

Finding quite a few i7 2600K's around for good prices, what are they like performance and overclocking wise?

Tom

Orangey · 6 Sep 2013 at 20:10

I just bought a 2600K a couple of days ago, could maybe do some benches vs my 2500K. Although I bought it (2500K) off Matt so he might have his old results still hanging around.

xTommy92 · 6 Sep 2013 at 20:14

Orangey said:
I just bought a 2600K a couple of days ago, could maybe do some benches vs my 2500K. Although I bought it (2500K) off Matt so he might have his old results still hanging around.

Cool! What are your specs alongside the 2600K?
Seeing them on Ebay for around £40 with 4 days left so keeping an eye out!

Tom

LtMatt · 6 Sep 2013 at 20:14

Orangey said:
I just bought a 2600K a couple of days ago, could maybe do some benches vs my 2500K. Although I bought it (2500K) off Matt so he might have his old results still hanging around.

Yes i remember the sale. From memory and on my standard p8p67 (which ive since sold on the MM) it required 1.36v for 4.6ghz and 1.32v for 4.5ghz. I don't think i posted many benchmark results using it though, cant remember.

LtMatt · 6 Sep 2013 at 20:18

xTommy92 said:
Cool! What are your specs alongside the 2600K?
Seeing them on Ebay for around £40 with 4 days left so keeping an eye out!

Tom

Your motherboard only supports x16 x4 crossfire. I'd stick with ivybridge so you can at least use pci-e 3.0 x4 which = pci-e 2.0 x8.

xTommy92 · 6 Sep 2013 at 20:20

LtMatt said:
Your motherboard only supports x16 x4 crossfire. I'd stick with ivybridge so you can at least use pci-e 3.0 x4 which = pci-e 2.0 x8.

Ahh very good point Matt, good call!
What do you reckon on doing a fresh windows install, a lot of hassle isn't it?
Could always just fit the i7 and if I have problems then on, re-install windows.

Tom

LtMatt · 6 Sep 2013 at 20:21

xTommy92 said:
Ahh very good point Matt, good call!
What do you reckon on doing a fresh windows install, a lot of hassle isn't it?

Tom

It could help but i doubt it. Not unless you've borked your windows install somehow. Your call on whether to do it or not.

Uncle Petey · 6 Sep 2013 at 20:23

So what's the lesser evil?

i5 Ivy at x16/x4 PCI 3.0
i7 Sandy at x16/x4 PCI 2.0

LtMatt · 6 Sep 2013 at 20:26

Uncle Petey said:
So what's the lesser evil?

i5 Ivy at x16/x4 PCI 3.0
i7 Sandy at x16/x4 PCI 2.0

Probably the second option tbh. According to my testing you lose about 5-10% performance with a x16 x4 setup on pci-e 2.0. He's likely losing about the same performance in games that benefit from the extra threads. I'd go for an i7 ivy personally. But id also want a motherboard that offers x8 x8. When i had x16 x4, gpu 2 usage at x4 would always sit 10% lower than gpu1 usage at x16.

Martini1991 · 6 Sep 2013 at 20:28

When I had driver problems, only a reinstalled of windows fixed it.

Over the year or so, the driver installs for whatever reason had become messed up.
40% is very low GPU usage in Crossfire, it's not 40% because it's an i5.

If you want to spend money before actually doing any diagnosing work, be my guest.

EDIT : Why don't you check benchmarks with systems which are like yours? Ask for users who use an i5 3570K and a 7970 Crossfire, ask for the games you see massive problems in.
40% is ridiculously low usage, like really ridiculous.

Uncle Petey · 6 Sep 2013 at 20:37

LtMatt said:
Probably the second option tbh. According to my testing you lose about 5-10% performance with a x16 x4 setup on pci-e 2.0. He's likely losing about the same performance in games that benefit from the extra threads. I'd go for an i7 ivy personally. But id also want a motherboard that offers x8 x8. When i had x16 x4, gpu 2 usage at x4 would always sit 10% lower than gpu1 usage at x16.

Matt, for the love of Christ, talk me out of picking up a 2nd 7970 to go with my 2500k and x16/x4 mobo.
I only want xfire for the two card pimp factor really

I have to say that even when I bodged another 7970 into my rig for an hour or so, it seemed fine and dandy... Not the most extensive of test sessions, granted.
BF3 multiplayer was sweet and this was way before the frame pacing stuff got released.

LtMatt · 6 Sep 2013 at 20:40

Uncle Petey said:
Matt, for the love of Christ, talk me out of picking up a 2nd 7970 to go with my 2500k and x16/x4 mobo.
I only want xfire for the two card pimp factor really

I have to say that even when I bodged another 7970 into my rig for an hour or so, it seemed fine and dandy... Not the most extensive of test sessions, granted.
BF3 multiplayer was sweet and this was way before the frame pacing stuff got released.

Well as i said you will still get a large performance increase. The only problems are the 5-10% you'll be missing fps wise and the lower gpu usage of gpu 2. THe i5 2500k will also bottleneck in a few titles, but not enough that it makes a second card a bad choice. Its just to get the best from it, you'll need an i7. Particularly in Battlefield 3. I say go for it, gpu prices are pretty good right now. You can make sure your next upgrade is an i7 3770k and a new mobo for pci-e 3.0 x8 x8.

Uncle Petey · 6 Sep 2013 at 20:44

5-10% performance loss I can deal with until future upgrades happen.
As long as it doesn't result in skippy, glitchy type issues and performance is noticeably better than a single card, it's all cool with me.

xTommy92 · 6 Sep 2013 at 21:31

I followed a guide whilst building and installing OS so I can't say I know somewhere I went wrong. Brother was playing Zombie Panic Source earlier and this runs on the Half Life 2 Engine and was only getting 20-30% usage on both GPU's?!?
I also got a couple of Driver Crashes earlier where the screen goes blank for a minute and comes back on.

Tom

mcleish · 6 Sep 2013 at 21:41

xTommy92 said:
I followed a guide whilst building and installing OS so I can't say I know somewhere I went wrong. Brother was playing Zombie Panic Source earlier and this runs on the Half Life 2 Engine and was only getting 20-30% usage on both GPU's?!?
I also got a couple of Driver Crashes earlier where the screen goes blank for a minute and comes back on.

Tom

The thing is, your gpu's will rarely hit maximum usage, apart from when you're benching. It'll work hard enough for the settings you've select. You've probably got vsync on to, which means it'll only push to 60fps (depending on your monitor).

Martini1991 · 6 Sep 2013 at 21:41

Things can go wrong over time, it's more likely to be drivers than anything else, that the driver crashes to me signify that.