Ati 4870X2 ; Crysis likes it better with one GPU?

[druifluis]

Hi Guys!

Okay, now here I have a strange problem.

First of all: I did some research and know about the difficulties of Crysis scaling Ati’s multi-gpu platforms, so I know that the ATI monster is not the best choise for Crysis when it comes to multi gpu.

However, my performance is actually better when I disable 1 GPU!

When I disable Catalyst A.I. in the CCC my Crysis FPS improve considerably. The screens where taken with all settings on ‘HIGH’ , no AA. I did do the Crysys Dx10 hack for Windows XP, but that is not important here.

As you can see, with both GPU’s enabled my FPS is around 20. Lousy if you ask me, but who expects wonders anyway these days.

So,

When I disable A.I. and walk to the same scene again in Crysis, there suddenly is a 7 fps performance increase.

That’s a 35% increase for disabling half of the raw calculating power on my lovely card!

You might think; what the hell is he whining about, he’s got 27 fps with Crysis on high! I wanna be him *Whiieeeeeeeeee*

But to me it feels I spend 400 euro’s on a card that performs just as well on it’s little 4870 brother that costs 250 euro’s.

After sniffing around I came acros this very strange GPU-Z reading. Just to be clear, I already tried two reinstalls, new (and old) drivers, 32 and 64 bit operating systems, running with minimal stuff attached to my PSU and overclocking my 4870X2 / E8500 to narrow down the problem.

The only thing I found is this GPU-Z screen that states a second GPU clock of 500 ( should be 750 ) and a memory clock of 2691000Mhz ( Wich in my opinion sounds like 2690100 mhz too much ).

It also states a pixel fillrate of 8Gpixels/s where it should be 12, and a texture fillrate of 20 Gtexel/s where it should be 30.

First I thought of faulty readings, so that’s why I did all the reinstalls, different versions of Gpu-Z and so on and so on. But it’s still the same.

I personally have the feeling my second core might be a bit confused. Maybe it’s got the Flu or something? What are the thoughts of you guys!? Input would not only be greatly appreciated, I’l start worshipping you too! ;)

For nice analyses reasons I posted a screen that shows all my CPU/MOBO/GPU/MEM specs & temps.
My Unit:

Specs:
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/1484/specs1gpu.jpg (http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/1484/specs1gpu.jpg)

Crysis_2Gpu
http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/7328/crysis2gpu.jpg (http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/7328/crysis2gpu.jpg)

Crysis_1Gpu
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/91/crysis1gpu.jpg (http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/91/crysis1gpu.jpg)


Asus P5Q3.
Intel Core2 Duo E8500 @ 3800 Mhz ( Watercooled).
4 GB A-data DDR3 1333 @ 400mhz, 6, 6, 6, 18.
Club3D Ati radeon HD 4870 X2 ( Watercooled, EK 4870X2 Block ).
Corsair 650 watt PSU.
1x Blu Ray drive.
1x WD 650 gb hdd.

[Badbonji]

First, try RivaTuner. That is the best programme for monitoring speeds, and watch the timegraph whilst playing crysis, it will show temperatures for the two cards, if only one is getting hot then maybe one of them isn't actually doing anything. You shouldn't drop in FPS at all, so either one gpu is not doing any work or it is getting too hot (seems improbable due to wc). How about 3dMark vantage? Try that with 1 and 2 gpu's, that scales better with more gpu's than games. What resolution is this? For my GTX295 when it wasn't so overclocked (was at 648Mhz core or something) I got around 25-30fps 1920x1200 8xAA very high ingame on average, so I think yours is definately low except for the single gpu.

[druifluis]

Thanx, will try that as soon as i get home and post the results! Will also try to see the rivatuner clock measures when OC'ing and make a log of the temps of both GPU's.

Edit :Resolution is 1920*1080, No AA. Didn't run Vatage yet, but 3dmark 06 shows a 5000 points drop when the second core is disabled so it's definately doing someting..

Hmz, Love Crysis, hope anyone knows some tweaks to make it run better on highest settings :P haha.

[deathman20]

With my old 4850's it loved CF in Crysis getting great improvements in FPS.

[henzo]

If you have WinXP, then you will not be able to run vantage because it only runs in Vista.

And in your screenshot of the specs, why is gpu0 at 500mhz for the core clock? Is that an error, can you show us what CCC says the mhz for both gpus are?

If I am not mistaken, the cf (I think sli as well) will only clock itself to the lower clocked card.

EDIT:Here it is. (http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=260&threadid=110344) First google result lol. Second post down there is a Mod for the SapphireTech's VGA / Mainboard Help Forums.

[druifluis]

In the screenshot of GPU-Z the core and memoryclock of core 2 are both not what they should be. CCC shows the correct clocks ( 750 , 900 ) but i'm not sure what reading is correct.

I'm still thinking there might be some strange problem with core 2.

[henzo]

I had to RMA my x2 this week because the second gpu was giving me problems.

That being said, RivaTuner will give you the real clock speed as well as change it and also allows you to set fan speed manually.

[dealmaster]

With my old 4850's it loved CF in Crysis getting great improvements in FPS.

I've had this experience with my 4870X2. I turned off CF to see how it'd do and the performance was really poor. Turning CF back on made it run perfectly. Do you see 2 display adapters under the device manager?

For what it's worth, my current setup is able to churn out around 45-50fps in most places in Crysis on 1920x1200 at all high settings, no AA. You should be able to get at least that performance, possibly a bit more since your CPU is clocked a bit higher and you've got DDR3 memory.

[mastrdrver]

Are you running the game in 64-bit mode, or is that only available under DX10/Vista?

[Alacritan]

Are you running the game in 64-bit mode, or is that only available under DX10/Vista?

You can run Crysis in 64-bit mode with XP 64-bit. Vista/DX10 not required.

And it's definitely worth it too. I've seen reports of 10-15% FPS improvement.

[druifluis]

So, goodmorning guys ( here it is morning ).

Tried the Cat 9.3 drivers yesterday. Also installed Rivatuner to do the monitoring of temps & clock speeds.

As expected, temps were ok due to watercooling ( none went over 45 under load ).

What bothered me is that rivatuner actually displayed the right clockspeeds ( when starting a 3d application the clocks jumped to 750gpu, 900mem as they should be ).

This implies that there is actually nothing wrong with the card but that i'm just getting crappy Crysis performance :P

Also did a 3dmark 06' test. Got around 20200 points as the score so this looks ok as well.

I'll just go try to find some Crysis tweaks to get some more juice out of it!

Got any more suggestions? ;)

[Ekko]

i now aquired same problem..
50 + fps one gpu with crossfire disabled...
then enabled it runs like 12 fps..
wow
rivia tuner says both cards clocked the same 750 then 900
this is probably just a crysis issue

update: installed full version now..removed demo of crysis and patched it to latest 1.2 patch...same prob if not worse fps now...
LOL

[Alacritan]

Crysis definitely doesn't prefer running with one GPU, because I'm running a 4850 X2 and I can run at 1920x1200 with Very High settings and AA enabled and get 30+ fps (on earlier levels at least). A 4870 X2 definitely shouldn't be down under 20 fps with both GPUs enabled. 4870 X2 benchmarks show that you should be getting ~40 fps at 1920x1200 with 4xAA. In fact, 4xAA has almost no impact on high end ATI cards in Crysis benchmarks, so there's no reason not to have it enabled.

[donjonson]

Crysis definitely doesn't prefer running with one GPU, because I'm running a 4850 X2 and I can run at 1920x1200 with Very High settings and AA enabled and get 30+ fps (on earlier levels at least). A 4870 X2 definitely shouldn't be down under 20 fps with both GPUs enabled. 4870 X2 benchmarks show that you should be getting ~40 fps at 1920x1200 with 4xAA. In fact, 4xAA has almost no impact on high end ATI cards in Crysis benchmarks, so there's no reason not to have it enabled.

Hi What OS and drivers are you using?
I have vista 64
cori7 920
4850x2
6G ddr3
ASUS P6T mobo.
I have all the same problems mentioned in this thread with my 4850 X2 at stock speeds. I have tried all drivers I can get my hands on. to add to the listed problems I have been getting all kinds of flashing clouds,trees, bushes and artifacts in the Crysis demo. Also the first test in vantage runs crazy. the water is jumping all around the screen and I am getting artifacts to boot. with the Cat 9.3 drivers the card seems to be behaving better with everything except the crysis demo. I still get the artifacts and flahing clouds/distant trees. I am wondering if there is a driver problem or there actually is something wrong with my card that only crysis exposes. The catch is that all other games perform flawlessly. I am very tempted to RMA my card but I am not sure if it is just a driver problem. So when I read that you are using this card in the crysis demo successfuly i thought I would ask what drivers are you using and if you have seen these prblems and if you think I should RMA my card. It is also possible there is some sort of hardware compatability between the card and the mobo

[Alacritan]

I'm running Vista 32-bit and Catalyst 9.3 drivers. Aside from the occasional crash, Crysis hasn't given me any problems at all.

You may want to use GPU-Z to log the temperatures while you're playing Crysis. Also, make sure you have enough airflow over the VRM heatsink, as that's been known to cause crashes, though I've never seen it happen outside of using Furmark benchmarking.

[donjonson]

I'm running Vista 32-bit and Catalyst 9.3 drivers. Aside from the occasional crash, Crysis hasn't given me any problems at all.

You may want to use GPU-Z to log the temperatures while you're playing Crysis. Also, make sure you have enough airflow over the VRM heatsink, as that's been known to cause crashes, though I've never seen it happen outside of using Furmark benchmarking.

what is a dangerous temp zone for the 4850X2? The cat 9.3 dirvers fixed some of the problems for me. Vantage runs good now, also both gpus are used and I get better performance but crysis still looks JACKED UP. clouds and shrubs are strobing in and out of existance and everyn ow and then a grid of square artifacts pops on the screen. But this only occurs in Crysis. The other games I have tried. seem to work fine. If I disable CCC AI Crysis behaves normally but only one GPU is in use so obviously performance is way down. Since this has happened regardless of driver version I think Im going to go ahead and RMA the card to be on the safe side. I guess the risk I run is getting an even worse card in return.
do yo uagree with me?

[Ekko]

I'm running Vista 32-bit and Catalyst 9.3 drivers. Aside from the occasional crash, Crysis hasn't given me any problems at all.

You may want to use GPU-Z to log the temperatures while you're playing Crysis. Also, make sure you have enough airflow over the VRM heatsink, as that's been known to cause crashes, though I've never seen it happen outside of using Furmark benchmarking.


Ok well let me say this
I have 2huge fans plus the dk pipe coolers on my crossfire 4870's
They never reach above 45c max load
I ran crysis bench same everything as you
Crossfire enabled
30fps dx10 50fps dx9 1280x1024
I did not even bother with 1080p becase it's not worthplaying unless your getting 60fps solid
crossfire disabled
Dx10 50fps 1280x1024 dx9 max everything 65fps
How can I make such a proformance hit when Enableing 2gpu?
Don't worry asus dosent even know that's why they are building new bios for 4870 crossfire config again
They offerd to send me a 4870x2 for all the problems if I wana rma
But I'm disinclined to do so
Waiting 3 months for a grapic card again is out of the question
Now

[Ekko]

brand new vista 32 install
everything updated same issue persists...now im going to rma prob all of this gear..
mother board and bolth cards ..hell with it let them fix it and send me new gear that works

[Alacritan]

what is a dangerous temp zone for the 4850X2? The cat 9.3 dirvers fixed some of the problems for me. Vantage runs good now, also both gpus are used and I get better performance but crysis still looks JACKED UP. clouds and shrubs are strobing in and out of existance and everyn ow and then a grid of square artifacts pops on the screen. But this only occurs in Crysis. The other games I have tried. seem to work fine. If I disable CCC AI Crysis behaves normally but only one GPU is in use so obviously performance is way down. Since this has happened regardless of driver version I think Im going to go ahead and RMA the card to be on the safe side. I guess the risk I run is getting an even worse card in return.
do yo uagree with me?

If you're getting artifacting at stock speeds and you have adequate air flow over the card's VRM heatsink (the passive one), then you should definitely RMA it. I had to turn down my overclock to get Crysis to stop producing artifacts, but it was fine after that.

However, I did have to RMA my first 4850 X2 because the the video output was garbled, even prior to reaching Windows, at the POST screen. The new one I got doesn't overclock anywhere near as well as the reviews would indicate it should (Sapphire sending out hand picked cards? It wouldn't surprise me), but it doesn't have any problems otherwise.

[Baby3ater666]

Yeah I'm not sure but I'm not getting very impressive results too. My computer is as follows: Dell XPS 430, Intel Q8300 @2.5GHZ, 6GB DDR3 dual channel, VisionTek 4870x2, Vista x64, 750GB HDD, Creative SB X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro. Is my my 3DMark Vantage score is 11058, does that sound normal? I'm wondering if i should get a new mobo cause dell Bios are locked :(