Zeus ST56ZF 560w + x1900 crossfire?

[Chaos_Being]

I have this psu- http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=160&products_id=3864 It is rated at 38A on the 12v rail, peak of 45A, and 560w. I had originally bought it with the intention of running a 7900gtx and later 7900gtx SLI, but due to a faulty card, I ended up using a x1900xt instead.

My question is- would this psu have enough power for me to add a x1900 crossfire master card and run crossfire? x1900 crossfire is supposed to require 550w and 38A on the 12v, which this psu has. However, it is not listed as a certified component for x1900 crossfire on this website- http://ati.de/technology/crossfire/buildyourown2.html

Has anyone used or know anyone who has used this psu successfully with a crossfire setup? Crossfire master cards have come down in price nicely ($319 at the egg, although sold out atm,) and even though I'd love to have a 8800gts/gtx, a crossfire setup would also be nice until I can do a BIG upgrade

 

[Oklahoma Wolf]

I would actually give it a try... most other PSU's rated as this one is I'd suggest replacing with something with a little more 12v grunt, but Etasis built this one. I think it'll work.

 

[Chaos_Being]

That's what I had been tenatively thinking also. I've seen some pretty crazy things done on this forum with good branded PSU's (the PCP&C 510 comes to mind) that didn't appear to be up to snuff on paper, yet they worked. If I were to have to upgrade my PSU, I'd be better off just getting a 8800(something), since it would cost about the same anyways.

So that's two "I think it'll work" (counting myself,) hopefully someone else has actually tried this so I don't have the be the guinea pig

 

[WonderingSoul]

I have seen these PSUs run two 7900GTX, I have no doubts it can run those cards

 

[Super Nade]

So that's two "I think it'll work" (counting myself,) hopefully someone else has actually tried this so I don't have the be the guinea pig

If you can send me an x1900 mastercard, I'd be more than willing to give it a shot

 

[Chaos_Being]

If you can send me an x1900 mastercard, I'd be more than willing to give it a shot

lol

I think I'll probably give it a try, I'm going to see if I can get a cheap master card on Ebay (or just wait for them to come back in stock on Newegg.) While searching around, I found a few people that have run x1900 crossfire on the PCP&C 510w units, so if that psu can do it, I think mine can too.

 

[Super Nade]

I see no reason why the ZF cannot. I believe it will even pull off a non-overclocked 8800GTX setup.

 

[MadMan007]

Just to throw a wrench into the thread, you could sell your x1900 for I'm sure more than $150 and get an 8800GTS with that plus the money you'd spend on an x1900 master card.

 

[Chaos_Being]

Hmm, that's true also.

 

[Chaos_Being]

Well, I'll have an answer soon enough- I got a good deal for a x1900 master card on Ebay, and its on its way

...and if for some reason my psu won't drive two cards, I'll just put my Zeus in my file server (as I think its psu is dying...random shutdowns and reboots, along with difficulty booting up.) Then I'll probably grab one of the 750w Silverstones for my gaming pc.

 

[Super Nade]

If you are in the mood for a wager, I would say that you will have no problems.

 

[Chaos_Being]

I got my crossfire master card today and I just finished installing it. Well, so far it seems to work, with one reserve. The first time I tried loading up 3dmark 06, my computer froze (however, I'm pretty sure it has frozen on me in the past with a single card, so eh.) The 2nd time it passed fine, and I netted a score of 8918 with both cards at stock (vs. a score of 5643 for the master card only- I made sure it worked before I completed the crossfire setup!) I decided to really stress it out a bit, so I ran the 3dmark demo, at 1920x1200, 4x AA, 8x AF, and it finished without issue

The main thing I am noticing though is some flicker- I didn't really notice it when had my pc on my test bench using an old 17" trinitron, but I am definitely noticing it on my 24" FW900. It is only visible on lighter backgrounds (like Ebay), and it looks like very faint, flickery bars of slightly darker tone going across my monitor- almost like interference, or scanlines. It's hard to explain. I'm noticing it primarily while surfing the web- the flicker happens while the page loads and then it goes away- however, It sometimes happens again when I move the mouse. I also noticed it a bit in 3dmark. Is this a common occurance with crossfire, or could this be a sign that my psu is not up to the task after all?

I'm going to try re-seating my vga cable and try using the dvi-vga adapter that came with the master card (I'm using the one that came with my x1900xt- and I never saw any flicker with it before, but it's worth a try.) Running straight DVI isn't an option, as there isn't a DVI input on my trusty CRT

Edit: I tried using the 2nd DVI-VGA adapter, and made sure all of the connections from dongle -> adapter -> VGA cable were nice and tight. No dice, it still flickers.

 

[Super Nade]

Mate, CF has been known to be a bit dodgy, unless you reinstall the drivers. What do the rails look like?

 

[Chaos_Being]

Someone else is up late

I'm using a fresh install of the newest catalysts (actually I uninstalled and reinstalled again after I put my slave card back in, just to be sure.) Hmm, as for the rails, I don't have a multimeter or anything- I used to use MBM to check out my psu's stats, but of course that doesn't work with new motherboards. I know software can be a bit iffy, but are there any other programs that I could try using? (I could probably think of one myself, if I were not so tired.)

I know cf can be a bit weird, so I'm not all that surprised really. If it turns out that this is something that can just happen, I'll just live with it as it isn't that annoying (I just don't understand why it is happening.) However, if it is my psu, well then, that's something that I can address

...ok, I'm going to sleep now.

 

[greenmaji]

I see no reason why the ZF cannot. I believe it will even pull off a non-overclocked 8800GTX setup.

Isn't this the PSU that dominick used with his single 8800GTX stock air overclocked, 4.2Ghz C2D benching?

How old is your OS image out of curriousity?

 

[Chaos_Being]

I've had my OS installed since May.

I just tried connecting the crossfire dongle to the other DVI port on my slave card, and I still get the strange, faint flickery bars. Here's an interesting thing though- I disabled crossfire (in the thought that if it was my psu being stressed, the problem may then go away.) Nothing changed. I'm seriously thinking that the dongle is the part that is picking up some interference or creating the flicker in some way. The only other part I can re-seat is the connector to the crossfire master card, but I made sure that it was securely fastened and screwed down all the way when I installed it, so hmm.

EDIT: I had time for one last thing before I have to go to work. I tried disconnecting the dongle (both video cards are still installed,) and I connected my monitor's cable through the same vga-dvi adapter to the dvi port on the master card. And what do you know, no flicker...I think it's the dongle that is my problem! Grr...

I'll try re-connecting it when I get home. I can also try connecting to my wife's 22" westy lcd, and see if it's actually my crt that is not liking things. This isn't turning out as well as I had hoped I had said it "wasn't that annoying" last night- well I tried WoW this morning and the flicker/waver was extremely noticable, and very annoying.

 

[shard]

The dongle has been known to cuase strain on the signal and/or interference. At least with the latest ATI cards the native Crossfire only needs the bridge, ala SLI.

 

[Chaos_Being]

Yep, now I see why so many people seem to hate the dongle setup. An update though- it turns out that using a DVI cable (I had to use my wife's lcd to test of course) solves the problem- NO FLICKER over DVI! I am going to try using a DVI-BNC cable on my monitor in the hope that I can also get my crt to be flicker-free.