Crossfire issues

[skitzo2012]

Ok so I just bought a second gigabyte 7950 and crossfired them. Im not sure if i had my hopes up for something alot better. Or if i have a issue with the setup. As i see no performance gain in games. I usually cant play BF3 on ultra to well with out lag. unless i OC my gpu alot. Thing is i rather not oc my gpu. So i got a CF setup to fix this issue. So i ran BF3 after setting it all up. And i still can not play BF3 on ultra to well without lag. Any idea on any tweaks or improvements i need to do. Also pc freezes when i open trixx. Havent tried redownloading that yet. Which could fix that prob idk.

I turned off the ULPS as i tried over clocking a bit still no luck. So i set it back to stock.
I have OC my cpu to 4.2ghz
I have the latest drivers. Did the whole driver sweaper and reinstalled latest as well.
I tried running each card to make sure both work and they do.
3Dmark11 test showed a great improvement on my graphics score so i know the CF is enabled. and functioning.
Also tried 1 and 2 bridges

Current setup

i5 3570k oc to 4.2ghz to compisate for the CF
CF 2x 7950 gigabyte so it comes a bit OC at 900mhz core and 1250mhz memory.
Asus P8z77-V-Deluxe
8gb of corsair ram
Corsair TX650W PSU (and yes 650 with a good quility psu can run cf 7950's so i have been told seems to be running them anyways...)
H100 corsair water cooler
and the misc dvd and optical drives HDD of course.
32" 720p samsung led tv as monitor-- primary
24" AOC 1080 monitor secondary

Thanks for taking time to help

(Please no comments on CF being bad and SLI being better. This is not a bashing thread) just need some helpful advice.

 

[Boulard83]

I think that your TX650 is not enough and if you OC your system, even more.


IMO, your pushing it on the TX650, everything on stock, maybe a little OC on the CPU but nothing more and you are near the limit of your PSU. A GPU will not make a linear curve when OCed, they pump more and more juice to stay "awake". I already saw over 1100w on my meter with a simple GTX570 sli @ 940mhz 1.213v and a 3920K @ 5ghz, and over 1200w with a SLI 580 and an I7 920 ( wich pump way more juice than a 2500k ).

BF3 is a "hard" title so the watts usage may be higher than the average you see in these chart.

* OCing your CPU is still a sure win to help feeding the CF. *

 

[skitzo2012]

So basiclly i need a new psu maybe 850W and OC the hell out of it all ?

 

[Boulard83]

If you want some headroom for OC on the 7950 and your 2500K, yes, im sorry to tell you A 650 is cutting it for a CF7950.

If you have a spare PSU you can try to power one of the card from a secondary PSU just to see if it resolve your freeze issue, just to be sure ! ( a 300~400w PSU is enough )

 

[skitzo2012]

i have a 3570k and i thot about a second psu so i would not have to spend so much for a bigger one. it seems to work now in game for a few mins with no issues on ultra and its smoothe then i get sluggish fora min or so

 

[skitzo2012]

I just want to get the most out of my CF and be able to play any game now on max settings. high FPS of course. so besides PSU which i will but a 400W corsair one tomorrow or something in that line. to help tweak my CF??

 

[Boulard83]

Sorry, i missread your CPU spec Or my brain just wanted to write 2500k !

If it get sluggish after a few minutes and come back to normal, this issue is probably software related. Try a clean driver install, uninstall driver, driversweeper, reinstall newest driver from AMD.

 

[Boulard83]

I just want to get the most out of my CF and be able to play any game now on max settings. high FPS of course. so besides PSU which i will but a 400W corsair one tomorrow or something in that line. to help tweak my CF??

This will solve your freeze issue. With the CPU and GPU OCed, your 650w will pop to overcurrent protection. test with the second GPU plugged to your 400W PSU and the rest of the rig to your 650W. This way youll have plenty of power for everything and youll make sure that this is the cause of the freezing issue.

 

[skitzo2012]

Ok sounds good. and i did a Driver sweap and reinstalledwhen setting up CF

 

[skitzo2012]

Ok so if i do just buy a whole new one and sell old one what would be a good psu or if i buy a second one and run both

 

[wingman99]

This is a good PSU, however I don't think it will fix your problem because with power delivery it either works or the video cards would crash because of the loss of power or the PSU would shut down.


SeaSonic X Series X-850 (SS-850KM Active PFC F3) 850W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151102

 

[skitzo2012]

ok lets say its not psu what could the problem be ? i played a bit of bf3 on ultra and it worked for a few min then got sluggish worked fora few min then got sluggish and repeat.. I would think 7950 in CF would be able to handle BF3 on ultra for sure.

 

[wingman99]

ok lets say its not psu what could the problem be ? i played a bit of bf3 on ultra and it worked for a few min then got sluggish worked fora few min then got sluggish and repeat.. I would think 7950 in CF would be able to handle BF3 on ultra for sure.

Yes 7950 in CF should work fine, I play BF3 on ultra with GTX 570 so there is something in your OS or drivers that is slowing it down I would think because it's not crashing.

What is you CPU usage at idle?

Usually when I have the problem that you are having it's AMD drivers.

 

[Boulard83]

Your slowdown are not PSU related but your freeze issue possibly is. As i told, testing with a second PSU to power one of the GPU will prove that its the issue.

Your slowdown are 99.99% software related. Your hardware is supposed to be OK for this task. Fresh/clean drivers is the first thing to try.

 

[wingman99]

Another way to test is just keep one video card in and see if you get lag or freeze.

 

[Alphamale]

My 2500k is at 1.4v, my 7950s are at 1.3. Dual water pumps, 50w fan controller, plus three monitors in the total...600w max while gaming. I only go over that when benching, and still remain below 700w. Keep in mind monitors are not pulling from PSU, so the pull on the PSU is actually less than 600w.

Source:Kill-a-watt meter.

BF3 goes between 45-60+ FPS for me.

 

[skitzo2012]

Ok sry if i may make things confusing lol.
To answer a few of your replies

I know my monitors dont draw from my psu as they are plugged into the wall

My CPU usage at idle is 1-10%

I have tried doing driver sweeper and doing a complete fresh install of drivers. ( But only for AMD drivers.) Should i do this for all drivers??

Ok so i think i under stand a bit So a new PSU will fix my freezes do to under voltage i assume. But as for sluggish game play and and or out it would be software issues. Correct ?

Also i have tried running one of each cards to test the cards. With one it as i did before i bought the second one i would get a lag here and there but no where near this bad. 2X the card seems 2x the prob LOL irony....

Another question would be and im sorry for all the questions and do apreciate your help.

1. Should i just do a complete reformat?
2. Should i try reinstalling all drivers? using driver sweeper.
3. If i do a reformat what would be the best way to do drivers? as i usually use the mobo driver CD and let my PC update windows.
4. Could this be a bottleneck anywhere (my opinion is no but want to cover every possible prob)

 

[Boulard83]

1. Should i just do a complete reformat?

Yes and no. Im the kind of user who format my PC each and every time i do a major change. Going from 1 AMD to 2 AMD card isnt supposed to need a clean install but you seems to have an issue somewhere so YES, you can try. Reformating and reinstalling take me from 1 to 2 hrs. I backup my games and save games to an HDD, format (secure erase my SSDs) and reinstall windows.

2. Should i try reinstalling all drivers? using driver sweeper.

If so, the first answer is better.

3. If i do a reformat what would be the best way to do drivers? as i usually use the mobo driver CD and let my PC update windows.

NEVER install driver from CDs, alwais go to your motherboard/gpu/wireless/etc website to download the latest drivers and firmware. You could also flash your motherboard bios to a newer one, asus alwais have alot of bios update. As for order, i usually do, windows-chipset-nvidia-rest (reboot between when its asked).

4. Could this be a bottleneck anywhere (my opinion is no but want to cover every possible prob)

No.

 

[skitzo2012]

Wow fast reply thanks so i will try a reinstall it takes me a bit longer more like all day to reinstall games and everything.

I see what you mean by not using CD as it may not contain latest updated driver and could leave older drivers behind when it installs new ones causing a conflict? and in my case this performance drop.

okay was reading through my thread rly didnt see a recommended psu besides a 850w
would this be okay ? as i can go grab one now and get it all hooked up and reformate should be done by tonight i hopes and working good. Thx for all your help

 

[wingman99]

I would just install all the drivers and updates for windows and BF3 and see how it works before you install everything else.