Crossfire issue

[Attila the Mung]

Hello everybody

I was wondering if anybody would be able to help with a problem I've been having with my computer.

It's got 2 AMD 7970 graphics cards in it and when Crossfire is activated, stability falls through the floor. As in I can't even get games to start - the screen just goes blank and I get a message saying that Windows recovered my graphics drivers from a crash.

When I disable Crossfire, the machine works absolutely fine. I know that they're not exactly recent cards but they still pack a decent punch. I can play F1 2016 and Fallout 4 at 2560x1600 at a decent fps on high quality settings when Crossfire is disabled, I'm just a bit annoyed that I have a second card in the computer that is basically doing nothing.

I've tried uninstalling the drivers and reinstalling them and it doesn't seem to help. I've also tried various different driver versions and still no joy. I'm guessing that as soon as any load (well, loading screen, hardly pushing it?) is put through the second card it just craps out and causes a driver crash.

Any suggestions or possible fixes would be much appreciated!!

 

[Attila the Mung]

Forgot to add, I only use my main screen for games, but there are 3 monitors connected to my graphics cards. Not sure if that is relevant?

 

[AiiR]

Have you tested both cards individually?

 

[Attila the Mung]

I haven't - if I do this should I test them individually in the slots they're in at the moment or test them individually in the same slot?

 

[fizzy]

Ideally test each card in same slot so only difference is card.

Are you using eyefinity? On my previous setup I seemed to have the most problems when running both eyefinity and crossfire at the same time.

Crossfire bridge in place and seated correctly? What power supply are you using?

 

[Attila the Mung]

Ok, thanks for the tip!

I'm not using Eyefinity, but I have two smaller monitors rotated 90 degrees flanking my main screen so they create kind of an even bigger widescreen. Like I said though, only the main screen for games.

My power supply says RM1000 on the label?

 

[old gamer]

I would try editing the registry to disable ulps, it can be done with afterburner but I prefer the reg edit

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/faq/id-1904869/disable-ulps-amd-crossfire-setups.html

 

[fizzy]

Ok, thanks for the tip!

I'm not using Eyefinity, but I have two smaller monitors rotated 90 degrees flanking my main screen so they create kind of an even bigger widescreen. Like I said though, only the main screen for games.

My power supply says RM1000 on the label?

That sounds like a corsair 1000W PSU then, so should be ample. Are all the monitors connected to the one card?

 

[Attila the Mung]

I would try editing the registry to disable ulps, it can be done with afterburner but I prefer the reg edit

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/faq/id-1904869/disable-ulps-amd-crossfire-setups.html

I will give this a try - thanks!

That sounds like a corsair 1000W PSU then, so should be ample. Are all the monitors connected to the one card?

Yep, they're all connected to the 'primary' card but all using different connectors.

I'll have a go at switching the cards over tomorrow as I don't have time this evening and see what results it yields. Thanks everybody for your pointers so far!!

 

[Tacitus]

Try turning off Frame Pacing in the Global Settings under Gaming in the AMD software.

With crossfire enabled this froze my PC up completely (2 290xs).

 

[BluD]

What is the rest of the PCs specs?

You wanna be sure your using the right pcie slots, and also check to see if your mobo needs an extra power cable for crossfire the manual will have all that info. My mobo has a sata power cable that powers the pcie slots for sli/crossfire.

Disabling ULPS is a big must for keeping crossfire stable on R7s.

 

[Attila the Mung]

Hi all,

Thanks for your extra help. I didn't get round to testing the cards individually this evening, had a barney with the plumber as I've had no hot water all week.

As to the machine's other specs, there's an Intel 2500k CPU, a Gigabyte motherboard and a load of hard drives. I have it all water-cooled with custom stuff I got from Overclockers after reading various guides. Temps aren't an issue but being under water (I was short sighted and didn't make an easy drainage link as I was too obsessed with pressure) makes fiddling a bit of an extra pain and so I probably won't get round to switching cards around until the weekend at this rate.

The PCI-e slots are the two top slots, so should be the 16x lane /2 to give two 8x lanes. I'll have a crack at disabling ULPS and frame pacing tomorrow as taking the machine to pieces isn't going to be realistically possible until the weekend.

It's just weird that a game loading kills the drivers - it doesn't even get to those screens showing the developer or publisher studio, it just dies as soon as you start the exe. Weird.

Again, thank you so much for the help!!