x1950 pro Crossfire problems and solutions.

[Lazzer408]

UPDATE - I got the c2d 6600 and that fixed it. Now I'm seeing differences between xf-on and xf-off. I wasn't so worried about the actual scores. I was more worried about the fact that xf-on showed no improvement and the second card was ice cold. Now the second card gets as hot as the first so I know it's working now. Here are some results.

System:
-Intel D975XBX2
-P4 Core2duo 6600 (2.4) @ 3.06 (give it time I'll get to 3.5)
-1gb (2x512) Kingston Hyper-x pc6200 (junk ram btw, can't do 800 even with v-adj. and higher timings)
-2x x1950 pro crossfire
-Nothing else important.

3dMark05:
-16,465 xf-on
-10,383 xf-off

3dMark06:
-8682 xf-on
-xf-off no test cause I'm sick of 3dMark for tonight. (I'll update it later)

The other 2 cpu tested were the P4ht 550 (3.4) and a P4d 930 (3.0). Crossfire would not function with either of these CPUs. Some combination of the x1950pro in crossfire, 975x chipset, and the 2 P4s tested don't get along very well. I didn't get my call back from ATI today but the CPU seems to have solved everything. Very strange the "cold card" issue. As if it wasn't working at all. Now it's fine. Go figure.

I will keep in touch with ATI and maybe they will figure out what the incompatability was with those other 2 CPUs. If an updated driver is released addressing the problem, it may be a nice suprise to someone who unknownly isn't using both cards.


Thank you to everyone who tried to help. Especially those who didn't hint towards me lying about the whole thing :shadedshu and had an open mind and honest input. Cheers!

EDIT - CPU@3400. xf=on 17,240 3dmarks 3dMark05

 

[R.A.G.E.]

i need some help i have 2 ati x1950 xtx cards and every time i install ati's control panel after a while i start having problems with my sound card cutting out and throwing loud noises at me. can anyone help? im thinking it may have something to do with the sound from the 2 ati cards or maybe my x-fi sound card cant handle being inbetween them because of the heat.

 

[Lazzer408]

Welcome to tpu!

Maybe a bit more information would be helpfull as to your PC specs, any overclocking? That can effect the PCI bus as well. Is it random noises in general or is it sounds from an application becoming currupted/distorted? Does it happen from the time you power up or does your PC have to be on for awhile before the problem pops up?

I assume when CCC is installed it's for you to enable crossfire. Leave CCC installed with crossfire disabled and see if you have the same problem just to lean the issue away from CCC itself and more towards a heat problem. You can also open the side of the case and put a fan in there to see if the problem is less or eliminated.

 

[R.A.G.E.]

i added my computer specs to my account. i think i may have found the problems located in my sound cards defualt settings on mic i turned off sence when mic is connected well i was having the problems with the noise being thrown back and it stoped and seems to work fine now if i start having the problem again ill make sure you post. and yes it did throw noise back when i didnt have it in cross fire mode. i think the auto mic was picking up noise from the video card when in cross fire.

 

[R.A.G.E.]

i also noticed that in your spec's you overclocked your cpu to 3.4447. iv been thinking of overclocking my e6700 even though i have no problem with the speed i would like to get it to at least a x6800 speed would be nice. i would be new to overclocking i have never overclocked anything before.

 

[Lazzer408]

I see you have the xbx not the xbx2. There are some differences between them and I don't know exactly how to o/c the first xbx. There are a few overclocking threads elsewhere on tpu forums but you can start by bumping the fsb up 10mhz at a time untill an instability occurs then go back to the speed that was stable. That should give you some noticable improvements. When you hit that unstable point it now boils down to many more variables then fsb clocks. Perhaps the memory stopped you from going any higher due to it's limitations. Next step would be to lower the ratio on the ram. If your memory default spd was 800mhz then set it to 667 manually and try to raise the fsb again 10mhz at a time. If you are able to go higher then before keep adding 10mhz till you reach instability again.
This is a very basic overclock method and doesn't get into changing any voltages or memory timings or nb straps. That, I would consider, more advanced and if your not familier with overclocking and how to monitor your temps I don't suggest trying to push your overclock untill you learn a little bit about the effects of each setting and how to identify which setting is capping your overclocking. Overclocking is a bit of an art. Your not going to know exactly what all the settings needs to be in order to hit 3.6ghz overnight. Feel free to post a new thread and ask for more advice about it. You have alot more potential in that chip then Intel let you have.

 

[nflesher87]

k guys, I'm digging this one out of the archives because I'm having the same issue!
my system specs are as listed to the left but here are some specifics:
Sapphire X1950Pro 256mb Blue PCB
His X1950Pro 256mb (not IceQ) Red PCB

I believe the BIOS is updated to the latest the board is brand new
Wile and I tried tonight to get CF to work but to no avail
CF is checked in CCC but if I leave Catalyst AI on standard, programs like 3DMark01 and 03 run extremely scrambled, though 06 doesn't
Then if I disable Cat. AI all of them run fine but my scores are that of a single card
Anyone have any ideas?

 

[=TFM=Melvin]

Screen tearing and crashes

This is my first post to this forum. Hi!

Here's another one on the subject of X1950 pro Crossfire problems.

My PC specs are linked on the left of the message. My PC system uses only qualified equipment from ATI's Crossfire Certified component lists. My PC BIOS, Operating System, and motherboard all have the latest updates. I have two LCD monitors hooked up to one of the X1950 Pro for non-Crossfire work. I have selected all defaults in CCC, (including Catalyst AI at Standard). Resolution is set to 1280x1024, 32-bit. When I switch to Crossfire mode, I just check the Enable Crossfire box, click YES to the pop-up notice and then click Apply and then OK.

When I start Half Life 2, it crashes to desktop during startup. After I reboot, games will start but they all have horrible screen tearing; this includes, but is not limited to, Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2 and Day of Defeat: Source. There is also a problem with Battlefield 2 and others, but I'm getting the idea that it's not game related and I just need help with my setup. Could someone help?

 

[nflesher87]

ok well I found a thread elsewhere that said each card needs to have the same BIOS version...which shouldn't be but it worked for him and another guy posting in the thread
anyone know how I'd go about that seeing as one is Sapphire and the other is HIS?

 

[nflesher87]

well I found a BIOS for download at Sapphire for that card but no luck with HIS, they only have catalyst drivers for download...

 

[nflesher87]

is there no one out there that has any input?

I flashed the HIS BIOS to one that I found on our GPU BIOS database, no luck

also I noticed that in everest under crossfire it says Disabled no matter whether I have it checked or not in CCC

 

[=TFM=Melvin]

Sorry, I don't have a clue, nflesher87. Have you tried a fall back to older drivers?

Well, I have a workaround for my problem with Crossfire on two X1950pro. Just fallback to Catalyst 7.9, (the current version is 7.10), and my problem with Crossfire goes away. I guess they broke something going to version 7.10. Maybe it will show up on the next Release Notes since I filed a report with ATI Catalyst Crew Feedback. (I won't hold my breath.)

ATI support was very helpful in my case. If you haven't already, sign-up at http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894 and then file a ticket for support.

 

[nflesher87]

hey bro, thanks for the help but I have actually since sold both of my 1950Pros
the problem was resolved however
for 1950Pros to work in CF, at least the master card must have what is called a Rage Theatre chip:

neither of mine had it, hence no CF...

 

[=TFM=Melvin]

Oh, mein gott! The Sapphire and HIS cards didn't have the CF chip?!?! I never would have thought they wouldn't have the CF chip. I wonder if they had the card edge connection for the two crossfire cables to hook the two boards together for CF to work.

Anyway, I'm glad you were able to unload those cards.

 

[tkpenalty]

Don't revive old threads. But anyway, that chip isnt required for crossfire mate... thats the ATI Rage Theatre chip that handles HD video decoding . Also, X1950PROs don't have a master and slave config... No idea how you came up with that when my friend's CF setup worked without those Rage Theatre chips.

 

[chemisttt11]

hello people.:)I dont know if u still watch this topic but I have one question)) I have sapphire x1950 pro 512MB.... and I want to buy another one as an upgrade to crossfire but I cant find the same one)) and there is a new version of sapphire x1950 pro 256MB with HDMI and I want just to know if there matters the memory difference....old 512<---> new 256
my PC : AMD AM2 X2 6000+, motherboard ASUS M2R32 X580 , 2GB Dualchannel kingston 667 RAM, HDD 320 GB WD , power ...enermax liberty 500.... just if was someone solving this problem)) plz someone help....