R9 270X CrossFire not working

flavinator · Sep 12, 2014

So, I recently noticed after watching this video here, that my crossfire isn't working. I hadn't thought much of it because GPU-Z and CCC say it is enabled, though it seemed like I was getting fairly low FPS (Avg: 42) in the Tomb Raider benchmark the couple times I've run it. Once I saw the video though, where the guy is getting 78 FPS average, I ran the benchmark a couple more times with CF on/off. I was surprised to see that my results were thus:

CrossFire
Min: 32
Max: 54.4
Avg: 41.9

Non-CrossFire
Min: 32
Max: 56
Avg: 41.9

I checked both GPU-Z and CCC every time I hit toggled CrossFire, to make sure it was working. Both cards are independently working. My only thought is that maybe it's the fact that I have a FX-6300, while he has a FX-8350, but it doesn't seem like it would make THAT big of a difference. I remember once (I've done about 3 clean installs of W7 by now), getting the kind of FPS the guy in the video got, but not anymore. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for help/advice.

Aquinus · Sep 12, 2014

You need to use a tool to watch your GPU load using some form of OSD to see if both GPUs are actually working when CFX is enabled. It's important to note that CFX does not work with windowed 3D applications and requires games to be running in full screen mode. I'm not sure if that's your issue, but it's worth noting.

Consider your results for both were the same, I suspect CFX isn't even kicking in, either that or your CPU is a bottleneck but I'm reluctant to jump to that conclusion. You need to gather more data.

flavinator · Sep 12, 2014

I'm using Steam in Big Picture, so it should be launching the games in full screen. As for checking the usage, CCC says my main GPU usage is 100% during the benchmark. My other GPU does the 100%-usage-during-non-gaming-loads thing. I thought that was normal though, if you don't turn off ULPS? I'd prefer to not have to.

I would agree my CF probably isn't kicking in, but don't know what to do as CCC/GPU-Z says it's enabled. Could my CPU really be bottlenecked? Anything else?

flavinator · Sep 13, 2014

Update: It looks like, with ULPS off, during the benchmark, my second GPU doesn't load (according to Trix). I also noticed my second card is at x16 1.1, rather than 2.0. Does this help? Thanks.

The Von Matrices · Sep 13, 2014

flavinator said:
As for checking the usage, CCC says my main GPU usage is 100% during the benchmark. My other GPU does the 100%-usage-during-non-gaming-loads thing. I thought that was normal though, if you don't turn off ULPS? I'd prefer to not have to.

Can you try disabling ULPS and see if it fixes it? That could provide more insight on the issue even if you don't keep it in that configuration.

flavinator said:
Could my CPU really be bottlenecked?

That's highly unlikley, unless you're running at ultra low quality graphics settings.

flavinator said:
Update: It looks like, with ULPS off, during the benchmark, my second GPU doesn't load (according to Trix).

I think this is normal. With my 7970s, when they are in Crossfire I can only view detailed statistics on the first card. I need to disable Crossfire to view statistics on the other cards.

flavinator said:
I also noticed my second card is at x16 1.1, rather than 2.0. Does this help? Thanks.

This is a power saving feature when the card is idle. If this is occurring when you are playing a game, that is bad, but if it's occurring when the system is idle at desktop, it doesn't mean anything's wrong.

flavinator · Sep 13, 2014

The Von Matrices said:
Can you try disabling ULPS and see if it fixes it? That could provide more insight on the issue even if you don't keep it in that configuration.

That's highly unlikley, unless you're running at ultra low quality graphics settings.

I think this is normal. With my 7970s, when they are in Crossfire I can only view detailed statistics on the first card. I need to disable Crossfire to view statistics on the other cards.

This is a power saving feature when the card is idle. If this is occurring when you are playing a game, that is bad, but if it's occurring when the system is idle at desktop, it doesn't mean anything's wrong.

It was showing 16x 1.1 during the benchmark, which worried me. What would I do though? Do you think my CF isn't kicking in?

Aquinus · Sep 13, 2014

flavinator said:
It was showing 16x 1.1 during the benchmark, which worried me. What would I do though? Do you think my CF isn't kicking in?

16x @ 1.1 would still be plenty of bandwidth though. It sounds to me like it isn't even enabled. What version of Catalyst are you using? Although I do see that you only have only 1 DIMM for memory, I'm not sure what kind of impact single channel would have on this particular game. I'm not convinced it's a problem (yet) though.

flavinator · Sep 13, 2014

Aquinus said:
16x @ 1.1 would still be plenty of bandwidth though. It sounds to me like it isn't even enabled. What version of Catalyst are you using? Although I do see that you only have only 1 DIMM for memory, I'm not sure what kind of impact single channel would have on this particular game. I'm not convinced it's a problem (yet) though.

I'm on the newest stable version, 14.4 I think it is. I also agree that it isn't enabled, but as I said, I don't know what to do about that because both programs mentioned above say that it is.

RealNeil · Sep 13, 2014

There is a setting somewhere in CCC that puts a small crossfire badge on the top r/h corner of your screen whenever crossfire is enabled and working.

flavinator · Sep 14, 2014

RealNeil said:
There is a setting somewhere in CCC that puts a small crossfire badge on the top r/h corner of your screen whenever crossfire is enabled and working.

I'll look, but I haven't seen a setting like that.

Asylum · Sep 14, 2014

Had a problem with my crossfire on 270's.
Had to uninstall the 14.4 drivers and install the 13.9 to get them to work.
After that you can upgrade the drivers over that set.

flavinator · Sep 14, 2014

Update 2: Looks like TR, specifically, isn't using my other GPU. Any suggestion getting it to recognize? Config file edit?

Sempron Guy · Sep 14, 2014

I can't quite remember if you have to disable exclusive fullscreen or enable it for crossfire to work. Just toggle between the options, one of it should work. I had this issue a few months back with my 2 280Xs.

flavinator · Sep 14, 2014

Sempron Guy said:
I can't quite remember if you have to disable exclusive fullscreen or enable it for crossfire to work. Just toggle between the options, one of it should work. I had this issue a few months back with my 2 280Xs.

It's a no go. Toggling the setting didn't help. When I start the game, on the blank screen, just before the the credits show, the CF logo is displayed. Once the game menu appears on screen though, the CF logo disappears.

Sempron Guy · Sep 14, 2014

that's odd cause it fixes my issue. What driver version are you using for your cards?

edit: nvm, just backread, tried updating your driver?

flavinator · Sep 14, 2014

Sempron Guy said:
that's odd cause it fixes my issue. What driver version are you using for your cards?

edit: nvm, just backread, tried updating your driver?

It's the latest. The only thing I can do is install beta drivers, but I don't know if I trust them.

eidairaman1 · Sep 14, 2014

flavinator said:
Update: It looks like, with ULPS off, during the benchmark, my second GPU doesn't load (according to Trix). I also noticed my second card is at x16 1.1, rather than 2.0. Does this help? Thanks.

Does that board have more than 2 pcie 16x size slots?

flavinator · Sep 14, 2014

eidairaman1 said:
Does that board have more than 2 pcie 16x size slots?

Yes. It has 4 PCI 16x slots with 2 at x16 and 2 at x4. I know I plugged them in the right ones though.

Mussels · Sep 14, 2014

sounds like its an issue with that game alone. maybe AMD disabled crossfire for some reason, incompatible with some game settings? tressFX?

flavinator · Sep 14, 2014

Mussels said:
sounds like its an issue with that game alone. maybe AMD disabled crossfire for some reason, incompatible with some game settings? tressFX?

So, possibly, some time after the guy in the video I linked to ran his tests, AMD disabled CF support?

The Von Matrices · Sep 14, 2014

I don't think you've ever told us - does Crossfire work in other games?

Sempron Guy · Sep 14, 2014

cf ran fine on tomb raider in my case though

de.das.dude · Sep 14, 2014

not sure if you have done this yet.... but make sure the GAME is updated to the LATEST PATCH.

that is the main reason why cfx doesnt work most of the time if drivers arent the issue.

fx 6300 should never be a bottle neck.

flavinator · Sep 14, 2014

The Von Matrices said:
I don't think you've ever told us - does Crossfire work in other games?

I'm sorry, I thought it was clear when I said specifically in TR.

flavinator · Sep 14, 2014

de.das.dude said:
not sure if you have done this yet.... but make sure the GAME is updated to the LATEST PATCH.

that is the main reason why cfx doesnt work most of the time if drivers arent the issue.

fx 6300 should never be a bottle neck.

OK, I will make sure the game is up to date. I guess I just assumed it was since it's through Steam and I have automatic updates on.

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R9 270X CrossFire not working

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