48x0 Crossfire Display flickering/wavy?

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Sabrewulf165

2[H]4U
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Jun 23, 2004
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Posted my initial impressions of 4850CF yesterday in this thread - http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1329492

I've noticed that there is an odd issue with 4850 CF where the display sort of flickers or is "wavy" when crossfire is enabled, especially in Oblivion. It's much easier to spot on dark menus or dimly lit areas. This doesn't happen in single-card mode. I thought it might be a power issue, so I upped to a Corsair TX650W, but that doesn't solve it either.

The best way I could describe the effect is something like when you have interference in the signal... or maybe similar to a CRT with a very low refresh rate. Any input is appreciated.

thread about this issue on a few other forums:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=196387

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33928403

http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=262&threadid=98211
 
I'm just taking a shot in the dark here, but could it have anything to do with the "scissors mode" for CF? Its sounds related. Maybe check if you can alter the settings for dual card support. On NV cards there is an option like for AFR or SFR or something like that. ATI should have something similar. I don't run dual cards, so I'm not sure about that. Just trying to be helpful.
 
Hey, thanks for the suggestion. I definitely appreciate the input, and it's not something I would have thought of before. Apparently the only way to forcibly choose one render mode or another is to set Catalyst AI to "advanced." I'll give it a shot if my next PSU swap doesn't help any.

Any other ideas, anyone?
 
Tried that, no dice unfortunately. Also tried using one or two CF bridges, didn't matter either. Nor does vsync.
 
bump, here's my thread on XS with everything I've tried so far - http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=196387

Long story short, absolutely nothing works except enabling 16x Box AA, which obviously murders my performance and kinda defeats the point of having CF.

Still hoping for a possible solution if anyone wants to give that thread a read and share their thoughts.

So far I've tried:

-one bridge vs two, swapping bridges, diff connectors
-vsync, refresh rate, in-game fps caps, etc.
-various CCC settings including Cat. AI and DVI frequency/alternate
-enable/disable hotkey poller/external event util
-set mobo PCIe to 101 instead of 100
-diff ports on the card
-diff dvi cable
-dvi/vga adapter
-diff monitor
-diff cards (borrowed a third 4850 for this purpose)
-diff drivers (have tried them all at this point)
 
i had the same problem when running them through the d-sub vga cable... i tried it through HDMI instead and the problem went away....
 
nightwalker said:
i had the same problem when running them through the d-sub vga cable... i tried it through HDMI instead and the problem went away....
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Yeah I'm having the problem over DVI and VGA though. I haven't tried HDMI but my LCD doesn't have HDMI anyway so the only thing to do would be test it on my TV, but that's not really a permanent solution. I guess more than anything I'm wondering if this is something that could be a driver issue and could be (or more important, is likely to be) fixed.
 
i hope you do find a fix because im tired of switching my hdmi cable between my pc and ps3 lol
 
nightwalker said:
i hope you do find a fix because im tired of switching my hdmi cable between my pc and ps3 lol
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity could you try enabling 16x Box AA in CCC and see if that fixes it for you? Obviously playing that way all the time isn't very practical esp. on newer games, but I would be interested to know if it fixes the problem for you too.
 
man i have this same issue. it's bugging the crap out of me in UT3, its way more apparent when I'm using the 12x edge detect AA. in-game fps never goes below 25-30 but everything from 40-90 fps it makes everything look VERY jittery
 
Ideas, anyone? I may be in a small minority but I know I'm not the only one experiencing this problem. I'm pretty much to the point of selling off one or both of these cards and going with something else if I can't find a solution for this problem.

Quick recap: Crossfire causes alternating horizontal light/dark bars that roll/flicker up and down the screen during 3D operation. The ONLY thing that fixes the problem is enabling 16x AA in the CCC (which is only available when CF is enabled) Here is a list of everything else I have tried, none of which have any effect:

-one bridge vs two, swapping bridges, bridge placement
-vsync, refresh rate, in-game fps caps, etc.
-various CCC settings including Cat. AI and DVI frequency/alternate
-enable/disable hotkey poller/external event util
-set mobo PCIe to 101 instead of 100
-diff ports on the card
-diff dvi cable
-dvi/vga adapter
-diff monitor (several)
-diff cards (borrowed a third 4850 for this purpose)
-diff drivers (have tried them all at this point, CD, 8.6 hotfix, and all varieties of 8.7 and 8.8 both official and non)
-making sure gamma on both cards is the same in CCC
-swapping primary/secondary card positions

I have diff branded cards (Asus and Visiontek), and while the thought of flashing the bios of one onto the other has occurred to me, I'm not sure it would make any difference considering I've also tested with same branded cards that had the same BIOS.
 
For what it's worth, 16x AA is apparently "super AA" in which both GPUs render every frame, but split up the AA sample load, so that could help explain why the problem does not exist for me with 16x AA enabled. It effectively disables AFR, which seems to be the root of the issue.
 
I noticed this the first day I received the card, first in oblivion and then in Grid.

I also noticed switching drivers dramatically decreased the issue and in some games the problem does not exist at all such as DMC4.

Hopefully drivers can tidy up this issue.
 
1erCru, you're saying that you get this same flickering/interference with a 4870x2? Just one, not two in crossfire?

If so, well then fuck me, because I want one of these cards but don't want to have to try to deal with the same problem I had before.

Sabrewulf165, I'm sorry to hear that you still haven't found a solution :(
 
Sabrewulf165 said:
For what it's worth, 16x AA is apparently "super AA" in which both GPUs render every frame, but split up the AA sample load, so that could help explain why the problem does not exist for me with 16x AA enabled. It effectively disables AFR, which seems to be the root of the issue.
Click to expand...

Saberwulf and others, what type of psu do you have...

i had this same issue, i originally had an older vantec 580 watt psu, figured it was powerful enough but it is several years old and didnt have any 6 pin pci-e connectors so i bought some convertes and figured that would do, i experienced the flicker issue with my cf 4850's so i got a 500 watt antec figuring that since it had dual 6 pin pci-e connectors that it would be enough but i still had the same issue

in the end i still wasnt comfortable running these 2 cards along with a 9850 @ 2.8 on a 500 watt psu so i got a more powerful and nicer psu and the problem has since gone away... so this problem of you and others experiencing this flickering issue may just boil down to being an insufficient power problem and getting a more powerful psu is the answer
 
Yeah I considered that a while back and upgraded from an Antec 500 to a Corsair 650... didn't fix it. I can't possibly imagine I'd need more than that. I've never seen the wall draw break 400 on my killawatt
 
Yes just one 4870X2. I noticed it the most with the beta 8.8's. The official 8.8's have reduced the occurrence by a pretty large degree.

The problem doesn't appear when using vsync from what I have noticed as well.

The anomaly bothered me. I found another DVI cable and this seems to have helped. Don't ask me why. I also noticed that when the card was seated properly in the PCIe slot, the upper clearance out the back of the case was very close to metal from my case. I bent the metal upward a bit, fearing it was somehow coming in contact with the DVI cable.

None of these probably make a lick of difference, I am just telling you what I did.

To be honest I have been playing Oblivion at 4x box and 4x edge detect and over the past couple days I do not notice the flicker at all.



My power supply is an OCZ EliteXtreme 800.
 
1erCru said:
Yes just one 4870X2. I noticed it the most with the beta 8.8's. The official 8.8's have reduced the occurrence by a pretty large degree.

The problem doesn't appear when using vsync from what I have noticed as well.

The anomaly bothered me. I found another DVI cable and this seems to have helped. Don't ask me why. I also noticed that when the card was seated properly in the PCIe slot, the upper clearance out the back of the case was very close to metal from my case. I bent the metal upward a bit, fearing it was somehow coming in contact with the DVI cable.

None of these probably make a lick of difference, I am just telling you what I did.

To be honest I have been playing Oblivion at 4x box and 4x edge detect and over the past couple days I do not notice the flicker at all.

My power supply is an OCZ EliteXtreme 800.
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Ok, I am seeing this same wavy effect in COD4 with my 4870x2 and 8.8 betas 8.52 version. Its easier to see in dark areas of COD4.
 
Sabrewulf165 said:
Yes, exactly, much easier to see in dark areas.

Does anyone know what game engine CoD4 uses or is based on?
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I ran the 8.54 drivers.. just as bad. My 3dmark score went down.. my temps went up but COD4 is spitting out better FPS with the 8.54. In the end its not worth it. I am going back to the 8.52 for the nice mid 60 idle temps.. the 8.54 was giving me mid 70 idle temps. Fan doesn't seem to ramp up as quick which is giving me higher temps while gaming also.
 
I get it in HL2. Not HL2Ep1, Ep2, CS:S or TF2. Only HL2. Goes away with v-sync but then I get mouse lag. Getting something wierd in Crysis too if I strafe sideways for a long time. Didn't notice it in Bioshock but I'll load up UT3 today and see if I have issues.

I'm actually relieved it's drivers/crossfire.......thought it was my new monitor..lol

Gonna try HDMI today and see if that helps.
 
wrangler said:
I get it in HL2. Not HL2Ep1, Ep2, CS:S or TF2. Only HL2. Goes away with v-sync but then I get mouse lag. Getting something wierd in Crysis too if I strafe sideways for a long time. Didn't notice it in Bioshock but I'll load up UT3 today and see if I have issues.

I'm actually relieved it's drivers/crossfire.......thought it was my new monitor..lol

Gonna try HDMI today and see if that helps.
Click to expand...

I've tried HDMI with my TV and it didn't help, but I have heard that helps some people.
 
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