Making Crossfire Work and Optimization

[asb2106]

Besides listening to trog100 bag on Crossfire constantly...

No reason whatsoever.

Unfortunately, I also just discovered the other part of the equation. In an attempt to run the same card clocks as trog100 (and try to bump my CPU to 3.7) I had to Unlock my Overdrive tab in CCC. Big mistake!

See I have my cards flashed to run at 875 by default, so I didn't need to unlock Overdrive. I was OCing my single card with Riva. Crossfire needed to be OCed via CCC.

So....you'll have to do a fresh install of CCC AND run at the "default" 3D speeds for your card. So either flash to a higher speed or run whatever "stock" is for your particular card. Usually in the range of 777 to 850.

Sorry.

Im confused, why was it a mistake to unlock the cards in overdrive??

Does it disable something or what??

 

[Dr. Spankenstein]

In a way, it does. That's why it gives you a prompt before you unlock it. Plus there is no way to re-lock it if you click on the lock icon. I'm not sure exactly WHAT it does, it is just proven that it hiners some of the properties of CF.

So to recap: Unlock Overdrive=BAD!!

 

[asb2106]

In a way, it does. That's why it gives you a prompt before you unlock it. Plus there is no way to re-lock it if you click on the lock icon. I'm not sure exactly WHAT it does, it is just proven that it hiners some of the properties of CF.

So to recap: Unlock Overdrive=BAD!!

oh crap, I did not know that.

Well Im gonna find a stable OC for my cards soon, then Im gonna make a new bios and flash the cards to that speed. Im gonna wait till I get my water cooling all done though, Im thinking 965 core. I have been playing TF2 at 965 core at 1.39 volts. I might be able to drop the volts, but who knows. I want to make sure its stable before I make any changes though

WOW AGAIN. I knew unlocking it messed with it a bit, but I didnt think it actually funked up perfromance!!

 

[Dr. Spankenstein]

Although this is a total PITA, it is the only way to get the performance you paid for in ALL games.

Enjoy!

 

[trog100]

In a way, it does. That's why it gives you a prompt before you unlock it. Plus there is no way to re-lock it if you click on the lock icon. I'm not sure exactly WHAT it does, it is just proven that it hiners some of the properties of CF.

So to recap: Unlock Overdrive=BAD!!

unless u can back this up doc i aint gonna believe it.. says he having major CF problems.. one thing thow a really clean driver install puts the lock back.. i have seen it come back many times..

trog

 

[Dr. Spankenstein]

Thanks

Probably the reason I stated:

Unfortunately, I also just discovered the other part of the equation. In an attempt to run the same card clocks as trog100 (and try to bump my CPU to 3.7) I had to Unlock my Overdrive tab in CCC. Big mistake!

So....you'll have to do a fresh install of CCC AND run at the "default" 3D speeds for your card. So either flash to a higher speed or run whatever "stock" is for your particular card. Usually in the range of 777 to 850.

Sorry.

It works. Just humor me and try it.

 

[trog100]

Guys, believe it or not...I may have this issure sorted out!

The only proof I have so far is these screens for WiC and The Witcher:

*Witcher screenie not uploading*


Now grated, my WiC score is'nt much better, but consider that my card is clocked @ 863 each and CPU @ 3.6GHz. So there world be more performance in there. Plus ther has NEVER been a situation where CF has increased MIN FPS, in fact is usually gets worse. But AVERAGE will generally show a marked improvement along with MAX.

I noticed a marked improvement in framerates with Coflict: DO as well, I just don't know how to show you.

Here's the deal... you HAVE to rename your .exe to something with a known CF profile. Some common ones are Oblivion, CoD2SP, FEAR, AFRFriendlyD3D. Then you must set CAT A.I. to Advanced. This lets the driver know that you want to override the default rendering mode and will force AFR (based on the above mentioned profiles).

But I want some more confirmation from people.

So if ANYONE is having issues with a game not giving you the expected increase from CF and you are sure that you CF setup is working (via 3DM06 or another game), try this technique.

I am in total agreement that all this should "just work", but we are painfully aware that it does not. This simple work-around has been around for ages and still works.

i aint seeing anything that makes sense here doc.. a big increase in maximum.. no increase in the average and a similar minimum.. so where does all that apparent huge maximum increase go if it dosnt increase the average..

u now throw in some other known only to u factor that unlocking the overdrive messes up crossfire.. whats the plot dude..??

as for all this renaming executables to make things work.. come on.. is crossfire really that bad.. is it really such a crock of shit.. or have u lost the plot completely..

this all started off with making C/F work in crysis.. one game.. having to mess about with all games really dont make sense..

trog

 

[Dr. Spankenstein]

I stated directly underneath the screenshot that: 1) my cards were clocked slower than yours. 2) my CPU was clocked slower than yours.

It only stands to reason that if my specs were matched to yours, everything would be boosted.

Your aggressive stance towards CF has made you start using selective vison. You pick apart the things that have already been explained and you ignore the things that can help. I also made the statement that repeats your sentiment that this all should "just work". But we've all had enough experience in life to realise that this isn't the case in many MANY situations. You just choose to focus your hate at CF.

Believe it or don't. My place isn't to convince trog100 that CF works (albeit with more effort than is necessary), mine is only to report MY findings in MY thread.

 

[trog100]

dude its u that are useing selective vision.. your card is clocked faster than mine.. mine is at 837... yours 863..

your maximim goes up to 134 from my 94.. your minimum stays about the same so does your average..

do your maths.. u must be getting a far greater percentage of lows for the highs not to speed up the average.. this is not a performance increase.. just a rearrangement of how the average is made up and not for the better either..

u are also wrong in claiming CF dosnt help the lows as being the norm.. bullsh-t..

take fear a three year old game we all know works in crossfire XP.. i have just run the fear in game bench..

CF disabled..

minimum.. 45

average.. 105

maximum.. 195

CF enabled..

minimum.. 90

average.. 168

maximum.. 493

a nice across the board gain.. crossfire quite clearly work in XP with fear...

the problem here is u are antagonistic to my claims about XP crossfire.. its a total crock of shit in essence.. it works where it dosnt need to work with ancient games like fear and doom 3 but messes up newer games where it actually needs to work and might be of some use..

i am open to suggestions that it might be my system but my fear and 3dmark results kinda go against that.. so what does that leave.. so far it still leaves XP crossfire looking like a crock of useless crap...

as for your idea of the executable rename.. i just tried that with world in conflict.. u are kind of on the right track except for one big thing.. feeding in optimizations for an old game that does work aint gonna work with a new game that dosnt.. the optimizations are game specific..

renaming wic.exe to fear.exe does make a difference but it makes things worse not better.. the average drops to 37 fps.. pretty obvious when u stop and think about it..

i know u like to think CF can be made to work but so far it aint looking good for CF in XP..

i am still waiting for someone to post simple CF and none CF comparative results.. yours have simply muddied the water..

or do.. as i am strongly beginning to believe folks just run a 3dmark go gee wow whiz and see what they want to see.. he he

i am now wondering just how ati get away with selling the world such rubbish.. please someone prove me wrong..

trog

ps.. mine is only to report my finding in a crossfire thread started by u.. its now a public thread isnt it.. or are only dr loving sycophants allowed to join in the discussion..

its time u grew up dude.. no offense intended..

 

[Dr. Spankenstein]

I've already asked before: Tell me the res and settings you want me to run. Tell me which game. Tell me what you would like to see for proof.

Seems we are arguing different sides of the same battle. I think you're waiting for me to say: "Cf is f'ed!" and IT IS from the standpoint of it requiring the end-user to jump through hoops to get there.
But it can work. That is the point you refuse to conceed.

These personal attacks contribute NOTHING to this thread. Please try to refrain.

 

[trog100]

dude it dosnt work for me.. not in XP it dosnt.. i see reviews that appear to show CF working.. they dont have to mess with things it just seems to work.. at least with some games it does.. but they are all in dx10 vista..

now this is a fact.. for me CF is a total waste of space in XP.. i run XP and really dont want to change to vista.. but long term it might affect my card buying and operating system decisions..

all i need to know is am i the odd case or is what i am seeing the general rule for XP crossfire users.... it should be simple enough to find out.. odd why it isnt..

it dosnt matter exact resolutions all i need to know is does crossfire give some performance increase in recent games with dx9 XP or dosnt it..

post your world in conflict bench with CF enabled and CF disabled.. the same applies to anybody with CF in XP.. all it needs is to run fraps load the game any recent game dont move and look at the frame rates.. does CF make them better or as in my case make them worse..

have ati stopped bothering optimizing for dx9 as seems the case.. or is it just my system that for some reason is showing poor results.. i accept it could be..

lets not beat about the bush.. should an XP user bother with CF for instance or is ati XP driver support dead.. we do all buy CF to play newer games not to get 300 fps in four year old ones..

its the fact it works in all the ancient games but none of the newer ones that makes me wonder.. or am i the only one that runs more than 2006 to see how well CF works.. it does seem this way..

trog

 

[erocker]

I play BF2, BF2132, UT3, Crysis, FFoW, TF2 all with crossfire enabled in XP with AA and AF on and I do not have problems.

 

[FR@NK]

take fear a three year old game we all know works in crossfire XP.. i have just run the fear in game bench..

a nice across the board gain.. crossfire quite clearly work in XP with fear...its a total crock of shit in essence.. it works where it dosnt need to work with ancient games like fear and doom 3 but messes up newer games where it actually needs to work and might be of some use..

Trog you are 100% right, out of the box crossfire isnt gunna work perfectly for most of the new games. ATI needs to add more crossfire options to CCC kinda like nvidia has done. They take too long optimizing crossfire profiles that are added to newer drivers. Its crazy to think that I have to rename the exe to "AFRFriendlyD3D" to get AFR mode to work.

Seems we are arguing different sides of the same battle. I think you're waiting for me to say: "Cf is f'ed!" and IT IS from the standpoint of it requiring the end-user to jump through hoops to get there.
But it can work. That is the point you refuse to conceed.

Yea CF does work....I just wish ATI would help us jump through afew hoops. I guess they need to add an asterisk after they "Crossfire Ready"




Crossfire Ready*

*for 3Dmark and some older games you probably dont play any more.

 

[Dr. Spankenstein]

Here is Single card @ 863, CPU @ 3.6:

CF as posted before same specs:

I think anyone looking at this can come to the conclusion that CF can work in this game.
It's just a matter if you want to go throught the motions. I'll do it for a 26% increase!

trog100, it also "works" in The Witcher and Conflict: DO. There was no demo of Vegas 2 to try. So I would venture to say it could work for you too, you just don't seem interested in the proceedure to get you there. With that stance, yes CF is a waste. It's not going to work "out of the box" for 98% of people, but then again, I don't think we represent a very typical cross section of Joe Six-Pack computer users.

To everyone, it's your's for the taking but you'll have to meet Crossfire halfway until ATi gets it together. I'm not holding my breath so I dig up work-arounds.

 

[trog100]

there does seem to be gain from your post dr.. but now u must tell me exactly what u did to get one..

what exactly are these "motions".. and if i go thru these "motions" will i see a similar gain.. ???

just to check.. both runs were done in XP.. one with CF enabled and one with it disabled.. also what cats are u useing.. ??

erocker.. would u care to say what your CF gains are.. have u compared CF on with CF off.. ???

my problem with this CF woks for me stuff is one card works for me.. i dont really need CF as yet.. but i aint happy it dosnt seem to work as it should do.. a decrease in performance aint exactly why i have two cards and a bigger leccy bill.. even with one switched off all the time it consumes power..

just take note i am getting similar lows and averages dr with one card as u are with two.. and one card clocked lower.. this could be settings.. what were yours dr out of curiosity..

it would also be interesting to know what are your results without magic tricks.. ??

i am very interested in the procedure dr.. or at least the ones i havnt tried.. and contrary to what u seem to think (and suggest) i really would like to get CF to work in XP..

u do seem to agree that without your special procedures it dosnt work as it should..

my main point here isnt that i need CF.. i dont.. but if it really is a crock of XP shit i recon the world including "joe soap" should be made aware of it..

if ati have given up on dx9 CF i can see why.. none of the current games need it except crysis ati do seem to have tweaked dx9 crysis or at least tried to.. future games that might need it will probably be dx10.. all the reviewers seem to have moved to vista dx10 with CF and SLI reviews..

the thing that bothers me the most is that all post 8.2 cats have gotten worse in XP not better.. the small gain i see with the 8.2s in crysis has turned into splotchy colour blocks with the 8.3s and 8.4s..

trog

 

[erocker]

Trog, I don't mean to interrupt, but this thread is for helping people to get Crossfire to work. I believe the reasons Dr. Spankenstien created this thread, was to help "Joe Soap" who realizes that Crossfire has problems and is looking for help, nothing more. This thread really isn't about the reasons why we choose to have crossfire systems. Thanks.

 

[trog100]

Trog, I don't mean to interrupt, but this thread is for helping people to get Crossfire to work. I believe the reasons Dr. Spankenstien created this thread, was to help "Joe Soap" who realizes that Crossfire has problems and is looking for help, nothing more. This thread really isn't about the reasons why we choose to have crossfire systems. Thanks.

he he he.. i ask for a few simple examples erocker.. just to see if the problems i am getting are common problems.. so far i havnt been helped in my search for crossfire knowledge in the slightest..

this is crossfire help thread isnt it.. or have i missed something.. ??

i did start my own thread but got exactly zilch.. this thread started off with CF in crysis and how to make it work.. what its about now i am beginning to wonder..

trog

 

[grunt_408]

Here is a screenie for yas wtf this is with c/f enabled only started doing this today???

this is the same if i run 3d mark or any other game.
Does it with crossfire dissabled also

 

[Dr. Spankenstein]

he he he.. i ask for a few simple examples erocker.. just to see if the problems i am getting are common problems..

Yessir, they are common problems that can be remedied by utilizing the steps I thanklessly provided in the last two pages.

so far i havnt been helped in my search for crossfire knowledge in the slightest..

That is just untrue. A statment like that just shows how dismissive you've been regarding everything I have been providing.

this is crossfire help thread isnt it.. or have i missed something.. ??

Think you answered your own question there...

i did start my own thread but got exactly zilch..

Maybe that has something to do with your attitude.

this thread started off with CF in crysis and how to make it work.. what its about now i am beginning to wonder..

trog

Apparently, you feel it's become your personal toilet. I assure you, it has not.

Move along and don't forget to flush!

 

[grunt_408]

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd145/Craigleberry/crossfireenabled.jpg

I cant get tpu image uploader to work

 

[erocker]

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd145/Craigleberry/crossfireenabled.jpg

I cant get tpu image uploader to work

It seems like your card isn't producing any textures. I would suggest doing an uninstall/reinstall of your display drivers.

 

[erocker]

Here's how to get three cards in Crossfire to work. (Vista only)

Have the bridges in this position:

Using Catalyst 8.4's. Uninstalled all previous drivers, shut machine down and installed the cards and bridges. Installed 8.4's, restarted and all worked well.

 

[Dr. Spankenstein]

That, my friend, is impressive!

 

[trog100]

That, my friend, is impressive!

i recon u are full of it dude..

the dr loves the dr and and so does someone else..

i wont bother u again..

trog

 

[grunt_408]

I did a re install of the lot. I formated the hdd and install windows from scratch. Still Crossfire not kicking in!!!! I hate these cards