Gainward 4870x2 Only Using One Core??

Speed · 1 Sep 2009 at 21:38

Hi Guys,

Thread posted previously 25/08/09, reposted due to some previous confusion with me using these cards in Crossfire, which I'm not, they are used seperately.

Basically I own two 4870x2 cards, I purchased the Gainward first which now appears to be faulty, showing and using only one core. I then purchased a Sapphire to replace it after Gainward refusing to replace it to start with. Now the Gainward card itself appears to work fine, but it only uses one of the two cores, this is clearly visible in GPU-Z saying Crossfire is disabled and from the low 8k performance in 3DMark Vantage. GPU-Z on the Sapphire card detects two GPUs and gets around 11500 (CPU limited) in Vantage.

After trying loads of drivers, different operating systems and making sure Catalyst A.I is enabled I assumed that the card is faulty, my guess being that the bridge chip is faulty. So I sent it to Gainward in Germany (not cheap) who to be honest I've received frankly rubbish after sales service from. Firstly they flatly refused to replace the card as it is under 1 year old, but the business I purchased it from has shut down, so I manage to get them to accept it back.

I got it back recently and according to the paperwork it was repaired, but this isn't the case, it exhibits the same problem regardless of OS (tried Windows 7 x64 and Vista x86). I e-mailed them about this and was told:

“We tested the card on two different pc for long time and we can’t reproduce your problem. The card is working fine. Please check your PC."

No communication to let me know they couldn’t reproduce the problem, they just sent it back which is not very helpful at all. I replied asking how they tested it but not heard back, think they are ignoring me know!?! :rolleyes:

I can in fact switch the cards over, changing nothing, no changes to drivers, settings etc and the problem appears. So is there any reason anyone can think of aside from some bizarre incompatiablity that only affects a standard reference Gainward 4870x2 and my motherboard (XFX 780i) but not a standard reference Sapphire 4870x2, that would cause this problem? Or are Gainward wrong and my card is faulty?

Thanks,

Mark

Speed · 1 Sep 2009 at 21:39

Update: 01/09/09

Right, quick update. Finally got round to taking my sisters PC apart (by that I mean I managed to get her off of it! lol) to use it for testing, using my PSU. Had to build it outside of the case as the card didn't fit inside! :rolleyes:

Anyways, same problem, only components that were the same are the gainward 4870x2 and the PSU. Everything else is completely different, motherboard, cpu, ram etc. Tried Windows 7 and Vista x86, both got around 7k in 3DMark Vantage with stock settings, tried catalyst A.I in both Standard and Advanced mode, no change.

Couple of screenshots:

So as far as I can see, it has to be the card that is faulty and Gainward are wrong? Unless I'm missing something very obvious?

Happy · 1 Sep 2009 at 21:55

Isn't there something in Catalyst to tick to enable/disable crossfire?

Speed · 1 Sep 2009 at 22:08

Couldn't see anything! Anyone got a screenshot?

Doesn't explain why my Sapphire works fine with swapped over though.

arc@css · 1 Sep 2009 at 22:13

Do you have Catalyst A.I. set to advanced?

Happy · 1 Sep 2009 at 23:12

I thought there was an option similar to this:-

Granted your using an X2 but I would have thought the option would still be there.

Edit:- Found this, so you should have the option.

Ladiesman417 · 2 Sep 2009 at 00:11

If you got a single x2 it should show 2 GPU`s without enable anything. I think your card is faulty.

Speed · 2 Sep 2009 at 00:37

arc@css said:
Do you have Catalyst A.I. set to advanced?

I've tried both standard and advanced as per the 2nd post.

Happy said:
I thought there was an option similar to this:-

Granted your using an X2 but I would have thought the option would still be there.

Edit:- Found this, so you should have the option.

I'll take a look.

Ladiesman417 said:
If you got a single x2 it should show 2 GPU`s without enable anything. I think your card is faulty.

Indeed that is what I'm thinking. Think I'll double check and give Gainward a call tomorrow. They have decided it is a good idea to ignore my e-mails! :rolleyes:

DarkWhisper · 2 Sep 2009 at 00:40

is that idle temp 81c. didn't know the stock coolers ran so hot. i was at 24c.

Speed · 2 Sep 2009 at 01:02

DarkWhisper said:
is that idle temp 81c. didn't know the stock coolers ran so hot. i was at 24c.

I think it was right after a run of 3DMark Vantage, but I guess even then it is still quite hot. Either way that is not something they would replace it for.

kylew · 2 Sep 2009 at 11:04

When I had a 3870X2, crossfire was supposed to be transparent, in the sense that I couldn't enable/disable it.

I never got the crossfire option within control center.

With that though, they a peice of software called crossfire xtension it forces/makes custom profiles for applications that don't seem to be working with all your GPUs.

Speed · 2 Sep 2009 at 16:19

Indeed, I reinstalled Windows 7 and the latest drivers, couldn't find any mention of Crossfire in the options. These are the settings it is set to:

Not a changed a single one, so they are all default options.

So as far as I can see, the card is faulty, unless anyone can suggest anything else?

Thanks.

Happy · 2 Sep 2009 at 19:39

Have you got both the power cables correctly plugged in, unlikely but it may have gimped itself to a single 4870?

Speed · 2 Sep 2009 at 20:19

Yup, both plugged in, one 8 pin and one 6 pin. No power warning LEDs stay on either.

Happy · 2 Sep 2009 at 22:54

Just re-read you OP, they said:-

'We tested the card on two different pc for long time and we can’t reproduce your problem. The card is working fine. Please check your PC.'

Did they mention how the card was tested, because one may argue it still 'works' per se, however not as it should. If it still plays games etc, then unless they measured the FPS, they could easily say it works. If you get where I'm coming from... That sounded better in my head

Speed · 2 Sep 2009 at 23:00

I replied asking that very question and my e-mails have been ignored. So assuming I have some free time tomorrow I'll be giving them a call, hopefully I can get some answers.

I expect they ignored the included details of my fault and just tested the card worked like you say, not checking that both cores are active and in use. I won't back down though, a 4870x2 using only one core is just a 4870 1GB. :rolleyes:

LoadsaMoney · 2 Sep 2009 at 23:03

Its ******

Final8y · 2 Sep 2009 at 23:04

Happy · 2 Sep 2009 at 23:07

Speed said:
I replied asking that very question and my e-mails have been ignored. So assuming I have some free time tomorrow I'll be giving them a call, hopefully I can get some answers.

I expect they ignored the included details of my fault and just tested the card worked like you say, not checking that both cores are active and in use. I won't back down though, a 4870x2 using only one core is just a 4870 1GB.

Then ******* hound them!

I hate it when people can't follow simple instructions, you provide a description of the problem, and then bam they ignore what you say :mad:

kylew · 3 Sep 2009 at 05:20

Happy said:
Then ******* hound them! I hate it when people can't follow simple instructions, you provide a description of the problem, and then bam they ignore what you say

When my 3870X2 broke, I sent the retailer an RMA request and gave them a meticulous break down of how to get the fault to show itself, and I called in after making the request to to just confirm that they had gotten the directions.

They tested it how I asked them to and found it was most definitely faulty.

I would suspect that if I hadn't, they would have just popped it in their test PCs, seen that it appeared to be all right and declined RMA.