how to Crossfire properly

panyan · 17 Dec 2011 at 11:32

Im at home for the christmas break, the computer's specs are

2500K
msi p67-gd65
Corsair cx600
sapphire 5850

i have these components to add to it

ocz zs 750W (CF compatible)
another sapphire 5850

1) do i need to uninstall the video drivers before installation?

2) is there a special version of CCC for crossfire or do i just use the normal one?

3) to which video card do i connect the monitor to?

4) how so i assign a primary/secondary card?

5) when should i put on the crossfire bridge?

seasons greetings

Hyburnate · 17 Dec 2011 at 11:36

1) Yes
2) Don't know what CCC is.
3) The one in the first PCI-E Slot.
4) I think its automatic
5) On the crossfire finger.

panyan · 17 Dec 2011 at 11:39

Hyburnate said:
1) Yes
2) Don't know what CCC is.
3) The one in the first PCI-E Slot.
4) I think its automatic
5) On the crossfire finger.

CCC is the ati video card driver suite

question 5 is when, not where i.e. do i install the bridge before or after drivers?

thanks again

Hyburnate · 17 Dec 2011 at 11:41

Oh I don't know on that one.

panyan · 17 Dec 2011 at 11:45

Hyburnate said:
Oh I don't know on that one.

thanks anyway mate

im still trying to find someone with a spare crossfire bridge - i didnt get one with the mobo

brigzilla · 17 Dec 2011 at 11:47

dont uninatall the drivers

1. put the other GPU in the motherboard
2. connect the crossfire bridge to the fingers on the GPU's. some people only connect one, some connect both, it makes no difference really.
3. turn it on
4. open ccc
5. go to the performance tab
6. AMD CrossFireX
7. enable crossfire.

update your drivers before you put the other one in, if you ever update your drivers in the future disable crossfire first. hope this helps

Mat

Idleman · 17 Dec 2011 at 11:49

http://pcgamingcorner.com/wordpress/?p=630

This is a good guide, should help.

kitfit1 · 17 Dec 2011 at 11:49

1) do i need to uninstall the video drivers before installation? Yes

2) is there a special version of CCC for crossfire or do i just use the normal one? No, just the normal driver package

3) to which video card do i connect the monitor to? The top card

4) how so i assign a primary/secondary card? From within CCC

5) when should i put on the crossfire bridge? After uninstalling the old drivers. Sut down and install the second card, along with the Xfire bridge

brigzilla · 17 Dec 2011 at 11:52

kitfit1 said:
1) do i need to uninstall the video drivers before installation? Yes

why do you have to uninstall the drivers if he is adding the same GPU to the system? I have never done that and ive been using crossfire since the 3870 days

panyan · 17 Dec 2011 at 11:54

brigzilla said:
why do you have to uninstall the drivers if he is adding the same GPU to the system? I have never done that and ive been using crossfire since the 3870 days

thats what i'd like to know too, i;d be removing CCC, installing the second card and then reinstalling CCC

brigzilla · 17 Dec 2011 at 11:58

panyan said:
thats what i'd like to know too, i;d be removing CCC, installing the second card and then reinstalling CCC

as ive said, ive never done it that way and ive never had a problem with it. up to you what advice you take. but it does seem like an unecesserily long way of doing things

panyan · 17 Dec 2011 at 12:01

brigzilla said:
as ive said, ive never done it that way and ive never had a problem with it. up to you what advice you take. but it does seem like an unecesserily long way of doing things

i will do it anyway because my drivers are out of date so i may as well - i was just curious

kitfit1 · 17 Dec 2011 at 12:05

brigzilla said:
why do you have to uninstall the drivers if he is adding the same GPU to the system? I have never done that and ive been using crossfire since the 3870 days

panyan said:
thats what i'd like to know too, i;d be removing CCC, installing the second card and then reinstalling CCC

Just going by personal experience going back to NF4 days.
In lots of different forums over the years, most Xfire problems have come from just adding the card then enabling Xfire in CCC.
It takes so little time to just uninstall and reinstall when the second card and bridge are in, that to me, it's just not worth any potential agro latter.
I would imagine there have been 100's of threads over the years asking, "my card worked yesterday in Xfire, but today it's only showing one card, what do i do ?"

Just trying to save you having to start another thread

panyan · 17 Dec 2011 at 12:11

kitfit1 said:
Just going by personal experience going back to NF4 days.
In lots of different forums over the years, most Xfire problems have come from just adding the card then enabling Xfire in CCC.

i wonder why CCC has that issue

It takes so little time to just uninstall and reinstall when the second card and bridge are in, that to me, it's just not worth any potential agro latter.

i agree, also they are out of date so i may as well

I would imagine there have been 100's of threads over the years asking, "my card worked yesterday in Xfire, but today it's only showing one card, what do i do ?"

Just trying to save you having to start another thread

thanks very much

thanks for your advice guys, ill update my build log when its done (if i can source a CF bridge - i just called overclockers and they wouldnt help me

)

Idleman · 17 Dec 2011 at 12:15

Must be someone in the MM with a spare.

kitfit1 · 17 Dec 2011 at 12:23

An Xfire bridge comes in the box with every ATI card.
The SLI bridge for Nvidia cards comes with all SLI enabled mobo's.

panyan · 17 Dec 2011 at 12:25

kitfit1 said:
An Xfire bridge comes in the box with every ATI card.
The SLI bridge for Nvidia cards comes with all SLI enabled mobo's.

neither of my 5850's came with bridges

i called ocuk and they said they wouldnt send me one out

panyan · 17 Dec 2011 at 12:26

Idleman said:
Must be someone in the MM with a spare.

ive had an advert in the "wanted" section for 2 days with not one reply