• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Question on Crossfire

T

TekRok

2[H]4U
Joined
Dec 9, 2005
Messages
2,279
Is it normal to have the second card be clocked significantly lower than the primary?

I currently have 2 290's in Crossfire and when playing the second card get to only about 700MHz, jumps up and down depending on load and all.

I am just trying to understand if thats normal. Both cards were tested individually and they were working at full capacity when in single mode.
 
iGrooCk said:
Is it normal to have the second card be clocked significantly lower than the primary?

I currently have 2 290's in Crossfire and when playing the second card get to only about 700MHz, jumps up and down depending on load and all.

I am just trying to understand if thats normal. Both cards were tested individually and they were working at full capacity when in single mode.
Click to expand...

Its depends on the game and the amount of load the game is putting on the GPUs.
On some gamse all my GPUs sync at the same clocks no matter the load and in some others it has to get to a very stressful part or the game before the others to fully clock up, sometimes just add more AA in game or forced through CCC can add enough load to keep them all in sync.
 
So what my cards are doing is normal? That's generally how CF works?

Also on idle the primary card will bounce around around 304 clock, and secondary at 0
I was playing BF4 by the way, since I re-installed my systems its the only game I tried.
 
iGrooCk said:
So what my cards are doing is normal? That's generally how CF works?

Also on idle the primary card will bounce around around 304 clock, and secondary at 0
I was playing BF4 by the way, since I re-installed my systems its the only game I tried.
Click to expand...

In BF4 the clocks should be synced, what settings and resolution are you playing at and do you have ULPS disabled ?
 
So the best guess is resolution and there is simply not enough load?

I tested both cards individually so I know they both work well.
 
Well its still keeping the clocks for me at 1080P with Vsync but your GPU are still likely more Powerful than 3x7950s, just maybe.
 
What are you using to monitor your gpu usage? I have 290s in crossfire and usage stays at 100% in games. When I first got the cards, I made the mistake of using CCC to check my usage in games by minimizing them. Minimizing the game or playing in windowed mode will only use one card. Use MSI afterburner and look at the usage graphs. Usage, core, and mem speed should be consistent and not fall.
 
Try increasing BF4's in game resolution scaling gradually and see how your cards react, that should really max the GPU load.
 
bigbeard86 said:
What are you using to monitor your gpu usage? I have 290s in crossfire and usage stays at 100% in games. When I first got the cards, I made the mistake of using CCC to check my usage in games by minimizing them. Minimizing the game or playing in windowed mode will only use one card. Use MSI afterburner and look at the usage graphs. Usage, core, and mem speed should be consistent and not fall.
Click to expand...

I have afterburner and I do see the second card working but at about half speed vs the primary. Its as if its in some kind of idle mode.
 
iGrooCk said:
I have afterburner and I do see the second card working but at about half speed vs the primary. Its as if its in some kind of idle mode.
Click to expand...

that is very strange. something has to be wrong somewhere. make sure the card is well fitted in the pci slot and that power connectors are all fine. your second card should not be running at half speed in full screen gaming applications. how big is your psu?
 
Can afterburner display usage like fraps? and speed of both cards? I couldnt find it in settings.

I have a 1050 watt PSU
 
Would using extensions for the 8 pin and 6 pin have something to do with it? I have sleeved cables connected to the main power supply cables.
 
This was the overall utilization during playing RAGE
rnce.png


Seems normal doesnt it?
 
no, those results are not normal at all. take a look at my graph. ignore that drop in between the two wide peaks...I ran furmark to show you what it should look like, twice. when you game it should look the exact same way. it seems like neither gpu is being utilized 100% for more than a few miliseconds. do you get the same usage graph when using a single card? You results are definitely abnormal. Look at the max temps...its in the 30's. look at the GPU fan 2 tachometer...its at 0. that should not be the case when u game or use any 3d app. something is very wrong. did you connect the cards in pci 3.0 slots? maybe you connected then to 1.0 slots or 2.0 4x? your max temp cannot be in the 30's unless you are using ice cold water to cool your gpu with a freezer for a radiator. that right there is telling you the gpus are not being utilized properly.

Capture.jpg
 
MSI Afterburner

Settings>Disable ULPS

Reboot and see if that helps.

If usage remains similar then you're not pushing the GPUs enough.

Driver version?
 
bigbeard86 said:
no, those results are not normal at all. take a look at my graph. ignore that drop in between the two wide peaks...I ran furmark to show you what it should look like, twice. when you game it should look the exact same way. it seems like neither gpu is being utilized 100% for more than a few miliseconds. do you get the same usage graph when using a single card? You results are definitely abnormal. Look at the max temps...its in the 30's. look at the GPU fan 2 tachometer...its at 0. that should not be the case when u game or use any 3d app. something is very wrong. did you connect the cards in pci 3.0 slots? maybe you connected then to 1.0 slots or 2.0 4x? your max temp cannot be in the 30's unless you are using ice cold water to cool your gpu with a freezer for a radiator. that right there is telling you the gpus are not being utilized properly.

Capture.jpg
Click to expand...

Both of the cards are water cooled my friend, the fan meter will always show as zero and that temperature indicator is showing full load temp.
Here is another screenshot.
gnzr.png
 
what water cooling system do yuou have? full load at 30's in real nice. why don't you oc them higher?
 
bigbeard86 said:
what water cooling system do yuou have? full load at 30's in real nice. why don't you oc them higher?
Click to expand...
Sorry, meant to say 30-31 is normal operations, 37 full load while playing games like BF4 and Metro LL.

Waterblocks on the cards are EK, Acetal + Nickel, along with the CPU
2 x 480 Rads along with a 280mm with fans only doing pull. Put it together a few days ago, if you need photos I can post some shots in the gallery section.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top