Need some help with Crossfire MSI 290x Please :)

djay · 28 Jan 2014 at 08:45

Morning All,

I am looking for some help from you guys relating to the following issue I have when using crossfire on my 2 x Reference MSI 290x video cards.

I mainly play BF4, Crysis 3 and for testing purposes I have used Heaven and 3dMark Vantage to try and see what is happening. I monitor the GPU useage and framerates etc using MSI Afterburner.

The GPU useage of my R290x's when used in crossfire fluctuates anywhere from 100% down as low as 6% in some places. However if I use just one card then GPU useage stays at a constant 90-100%. On heaven I have noticed in some places (And it seems to be the same tests) that both GPU's can drop to around 40-50% then ramp back up, its not a quick drop then back up, its a quick drop and then increments itself back to 100%. The temps of either card never go above 85c. I have also tested this with the coolers on max 100% (Dam thats loud) and the temps stayed below 75c.

I also have a power meter attached to my pc to monitor the draw from the wall and when these drops happen the draw from the wall drops, I guess this is to be expected however I was thinking if it could be a psu issue?

I have also disabled ULPS using afterburner and also tried with Frame Pacing on and off which resulted in the same.

When Gaming the draw from the wall never exceeds 700w at full tilt.

My systems is as follows:

i7-2700k @ 4.6ghz
Asus Z68-V/Gen3
2 x MSI R290x Reference Cards
4x4gb Corsair Vengeance
XFX850 PSU
BenQ XL2420T
2 x SSD
1 x 3.5" 1TB Drive

Thanks in advance for any help.

LtMatt · 28 Jan 2014 at 09:16

Are you using the latest 13.12 WHQL drivers? Are you using MSI Afterburner to monitor the gpu usage? If so its relatively normal. I'm assuming actual performance/smoothness is ok?

According to the creator of afterburner there is a bug in the AMD drivers that reports incorrect readings to the gpu usage. There is a more technical explanation, but that's the TL : DR version. However in the latest version of afterburner (beta 18) it is measured slightly differently so it averages out over time. This results in a more solid and consistent gpu usage. Basically, don't worry about it too much. Click the link above for the latest beta of afterburner.

Gregster · 28 Jan 2014 at 09:18

LtMatt said:
Are you using the latest 13.12 WHQL drivers? Are you using MSI Afterburner to monitor the gpu usage? If so its relatively normal. I'm assuming actual performance/smoothness is ok?

According to the creator of afterburner there is a bug in the AMD drivers that reports incorrect readings to the gpu usage. There is a more technical explanation, but that's the TL : DR version. However in the latest version of afterburner (beta 18) it is measured slightly differently so it averages out over time. This results in a more solid and consistent gpu usage. Basically, don't worry about it too much. Click the link above for the latest beta of afterburner.

I think it is more serious than a reading bug Matt, as he has a multi meter and it is dropping wattage at the wall when it is doing it.

LtMatt · 28 Jan 2014 at 09:20

Gregster said:
I think it is more serious than a reading bug Matt, as he has a multi meter and it is dropping wattage at the wall when it is doing it.

Sounds like a PSU issue then.

Gregster · 28 Jan 2014 at 09:25

LtMatt said:
Sounds like a PSU issue then.

Yer could be. I would expect it to crash/shut off if it was but it is a possibility.

LtMatt · 28 Jan 2014 at 09:26

Gregster said:
Yer could be. I would expect it to crash/shut off if it was but it is a possibility.

He should try the latest version of afterburner as well though to make sure that is not causing the performance drops. I believe it might be as i helped Diagro with a similar issue and he was using a slightly older beta version. The final test would then be to test without afterburner running at all.

djay · 28 Jan 2014 at 09:29

Guys thanks for the replies.

Yes I am using afterburner beta 18. It's not smooth when the GPU Useage drops it causes a huge stutter, as it happens at the same points every time in heaven especially I can see on the meter the wattage drop.

Currently I have each card connected by one cable from the PSU. So 1 connector to the PSU and then it splits to 2 x 8pins. I will check in the PSU box to see if there are another 2 such cables and run these so effectively each card has 2 rails? (Does that make sense)

LtMatt, I will try without afterburner running tonight when I get in from work and report back.

Failing that what PSU would you guys recommend for this setup?

Thanks again.

LtMatt · 28 Jan 2014 at 09:30

djay said:
Guys thanks for the replies.

Yes I am using afterburner beta 18. It's not smooth when the GPU Useage drops it causes a huge stutter, as it happens at the same points every time I can see on the meter the wattage drop.

Have you set the power limit at +50% in afterburner? Do the clocks drop at all or do they remain constant during 3D load?

djay · 28 Jan 2014 at 09:34

LtMatt said:
Have you set the power limit at +50% in afterburner? Do the clocks drop at all or do they remain constant during 3D load?

Yep, set to 50% and no the clocks do not drop at all in xfire but do singularly. I saw this in the MSI Gaming thread the other day. I did also try clocking them to 1100 core each and they ran just the same.

Also, yes I am using the latest 13.12 Drivers.

LtMatt · 28 Jan 2014 at 09:38

djay said:
Yep, set to 50% and no the clocks do not drop at all in xfire but do singularly. I saw this in the MSI Gaming thread the other day. I did also try clocking them to 1100 core each and they ran just the same.

Have you got another PSU you can test? Because that's the only thing i can think of. Sure you're only pulling 700W but is the PSU delivering enough amps? 850W is not enough for heavily overclocked 290 Pro's and you have 290X's. Though admittedly it would be enough at stock, you'd think.

Run a Unigine Valley/Heaven benchmark and then show me your afterburner gpu usage and gpu clock graphs please.

After that try running with the cards underclocked by 200mhz on the core and memory and then post the graphs. Does it run better under clocked? If so it could be the psu.

Just a couple of things worth trying.

Gregster · 28 Jan 2014 at 09:41

Good shout ont Heaven/Valley Matt. It would show if the PSU has enough oomph.

djay · 28 Jan 2014 at 10:00

Guys thanks again, will test these suggestions out tonight.

Unfortunately I do not have a spare PSU however I do need to order one for my sons PC so I am thinking to order something better for my system that would be ample for this setup and put the XFX850 into my sons PC who has a MSI 280x.

What PSU would you guys suggest? I was looking at the Corsair AX1200i Digital but have seen that 8pack definitely does nto recommend them for Multiple GPU setups it seems.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18571430

LtMatt · 28 Jan 2014 at 10:02

djay said:
Guys thanks again, will test these suggestions out tonight.

Unfortunately I do not have a spare PSU however I do need to order one for my sons PC so I am thinking to order something better for my system that would be ample for this setup and put the XFX850 into my sons PC who has a MSI 280x.

What PSU would you guys suggest? I was looking at the Corsair AX1200i Digital but have seen that 8pack definitely does nto recommend them for Multiple GPU setups it seems.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18571430

I'm not a psu expert so will ask whyscotty/others to chime in with a suggestion. However a 1200W PSU with a strong single rail would be advisable i think.

Gregster · 28 Jan 2014 at 10:04

The Superflower PSU's are getting rave reviews, so worth considering (Sadly out of stock at present).

djay · 28 Jan 2014 at 10:25

Gregster said:
The Superflower PSU's are getting rave reviews, so worth considering (Sadly out of stock at present).

Dam the ETA on these is 28/02/2014!!!

whyscotty · 28 Jan 2014 at 10:28

My call would be a decent single rail 1000w psu as a minimum

Amps is the main point that seems to get overlooked.

290/290X's are power hungry beasts, headroom is required especially if overclocking/overvolting.

You spent slot of money on your rig, now is not the time to cut costs

djay · 28 Jan 2014 at 11:24

whyscotty said:
My call would be a decent single rail 1000w psu as a minimum

Amps is the main point that seems to get overlooked.

290/290X's are power hungry beasts, headroom is required especially if overclocking/overvolting.

You spent slot of money on your rig, now is not the time to cut costs

Recommendations please

?

LtMatt · 28 Jan 2014 at 12:12

djay said:
Recommendations please ?

Whyscotty just found me a bargain in a place far far away in the fatherland. I'm going to send you a trust message with details. I'll be getting the same psu for my 290 crossfire setup. Its got more amps than a led zeppelin concert for the hard of hearing.

djay · 28 Jan 2014 at 13:21

LtMatt said:
Whyscotty just found me a bargain in a place far far away in the fatherland. I'm going to send you a trust message with details. I'll be getting the same psu for my 290 crossfire setup. Its got more amps than a led zeppelin concert for the hard of hearing.

Love the description, Ok I have the details, you sure that thing will be ok for the 290x's crossfired?

Kinda had my heart set on the 1200w Superflower.

LtMatt · 28 Jan 2014 at 13:22

djay said:
Love the description, Ok I have the details, you sure that thing will be ok for the 290x's crossfired?

Kinda had my heart set on the 1200w Superflower.

It will be fine, but if you want the 1200W then go for it.