[MissCorby]

I've just gotten a 4850 and decided to get another to run them in crossfire and my green feet to the land of ATi is showing. Ive spent ages searching but cant find a clear answer to the issues I'm facing. I'm hoping some kind soul can save me from them here.

What I've got;

Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R F10 BIOS
http://www.giga-byte.com/Support/Mot...ProductID=2842
1x HIS 4850 256bit 512mb
1x Palit 4850 256bit 512mb
Catalyst 8.11 (8.12 had issues with crossfire)
Thermaltake 850w

Basically, I'm not sure that its working properly. I couldnt figure out if I use the 2 crossfire ribbons of if my mobo is the sort that doesnt need them. (Im using them currently)

And I get ridiculously low clock speeds for one of my cards


You can see in the overdrive area (which I cant get to work mind you - another thing Im having trouble with) Its adding those two speeds together


I find it pretty hard to believe one of these cards is running those low clock speeds - I mean surely they wouldnt be correct if it is - who would make such a slow card???

Is it that my mobo doesnt use the crossfire ribbons (im too scared to try it without them i dont wanna kill it) or is there a way to enable overdrive so I can set them up properly??

[MissCorby]

Its vista 64bit btw

[boorishid]

its probably the idle clock the card runs when its not in windows did your benching go up? enable overdrive then hit test these settings watch your clock in gpu z see if they boost that will load up your card.

[MissCorby]

My scores in 3dmark vantage did go up, I cant get overdrive to work tho

[MissCorby]

oh lol i just unlocked it :P

[MissCorby]

The card thats got the slow clocks I know arent that slow coz its the first card I got and Its the one my monitor is I guess its idle like you said. What about the crossfire ribbons any idea?

[boorishid]

I dunno my CF isnt working one of my cards was doa so im waiting for a new one. I would just but the ribbon on the first slot, u dont need too. I ran a 3x CF 3870 set up for a while the the reason there are too jumpers is to connect 3 cards. Im pretty sure it oesnt even matter which jumper you use. btw how much did your vantage score go up

[MissCorby]

from 6722 to 9933 for the GPU

[Rich'[ard]]

for me, overclocking in CCC doesn't work if you use another program to oc (like Rivatuner). you must default the setting in the other program for CCC to work. also, the low clock speeds is the 2d settings it uses to save power. once you load it, it will go back to your full clock speeds.

[El<(')>Maxi]

Native CF (ribbonless CF) may work but the performance is poor compared to your current setup. Btw GPU-Z reports 2D clocks on the second card on the desktop, it's perfectly normal.

[boorishid]

wow i just realized that my post was pretty incoherent. What i meant is that you only need to run one bridge, i would use it on the first set of crossfire jumpers closet to the back of the case. The reason there are two slots are to daisy chain 3 cards there is no need for 2 bridges in a dual card set up.

[MissCorby]

Originally Posted by El<(')>Maxi

Native CF (ribbonless CF) may work but the performance is poor compared to your current setup. Btw GPU-Z reports 2D clocks on the second card on the desktop, it's perfectly normal.

ahhh that makes sense cheers

[SeanBest]

Most people say to sue one ribbon, I personally use 2, no change in gaming benching or everyday use in using 1 or 2 ribbons.

[Mr.Guvernment]

does each invidivual card work okay?

[MissCorby]

Originally Posted by Mr.Guvernment

does each invidivual card work okay?

well I know the HIS card works great coz I got that one first and ran it on its own for about a week before I got the 2nd card. I've never actually run the second card on its own before though.

Maybe I should because I ran 3dmark06 and I actually got a lower score then I used to get with just one 4850 and lower then what I'd get with my 8800GT which has kinda made me wonder.

I've read that 3dmark06 isnt good for benchmarking these days but I still wouldve thought despite that that I should theoretically get a higher score, if not the same, but not lower.... from the searches Ive done people always scored higher never lower....

The thing thats annoyed me the most is my dirty cheating motherboard. It says 2x 16x PCI-E slots on the motherboards specs (I looked into that to make sure they were both 16x coz Ive seen some boards slow down in SLI or have a slower slot etc and didnt want that) only to find that it does in fact drop to 8x for both slot in SLI.

Is there a significant difference between 8x and 16x?? I mean is it making each card half as good bcoz of the slower slot speed?

And as far as ribbons are concerned I really wanna try using none or maybe just 1 (im currently using 2) but im scared it will kill my comp, though I would imagine itd simply just fail to start... anyone know if its safe to try?? I read you're meant to use 2 ribbons because the second ribbon enables bi-directional communication between the 2 cards or something....