HD5870 crossfire problem

R

RANGAdude

New member
Hi guys,

Need a bit of help if you could. I recently picked up another HD5870 to crossfire with my current. And everything is fine when I'm using one screen but... when I play games with eyefinity, this is not the case.

(Specs in my sig btw)

I have noticed a problem in dirt3 and BadCompany2 this being that (almost no matter what graphics settings I have) I see, what I would describe as, a checker pattern popping up over gun muzzle flashes and shadows and stuff. I was wondering if this is a PSU problem. My PSU is a CoolerMaster GX750 watt (80 plus).

As I said it runs 1 screen fine, so I was thinking that in eyefinity, it needs to pull more power and that's where I get the problem.

If you understand and can lend some knowledge that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks ppl

Also, Temps are not a problem as the cards both have Accelero Extreme coolers on them (60 deg load)
 
could very well be as most xfire or sli need at least 850watts I'd test the singly first to insure both are working perfectly then I'd try a higher wattage psu if one is readily available lol. only having 60amps on the single 12volt rail with any kind of overclock plus other perf in the rig prolly has it faltering
 
Thanks for the quick reply S_I_N,

I have tested both cards individually and they both work fine...

And I don't have any other psu's to try either
sad.gif


For interests sake, when at full load (in games) the psu screams so loudly. Which seems crazy but everything else is so quiet and the psu drowns out all the other noise.

I am planning on getting a new psu, I just wanted to check whether you guys thought this was the problem.

Thanks again.
 
yeah if you hear it screaming its because its having to push out alot more to handle the load. I'm betting its psu. Go for a Corsair ax850 as its gold 80plus cert the hx850 is very decent as well. I dont normally suggest CM psu's as I had issues with them in the poast of not being actually usable at what they were sold as. I had a 600watter once that well after researching it for use in an upgrade found it should of only been about 450watts according to several review site. I'm sure now that they have the 80plus cert program out now thats a thing of the past but I'm not one to trust it again. But they do make awesome cases and fans I love them lol
 
The coolermaster gx750,only handles up to 550w,is poorly made and is utterly crap.

For x-fire hd5870,corsair tx850 v2 or better.
 
Sweet,

Thanks all for the great advice... And I had a bit of laugh at the two different ways of explaining that my current psu is terrible
biggrin.gif


Regards
 
I wouldn't rush out and buy a PSU just yet dude.

Have you tried more than one Crossfire bridge?

Reason I say this is because in Crossfire I don't think both cards are on full power draw.

The AX 850 is not a cheap unit and I would hate to see you buy something so expensive only to find it doesn't cure the problem.

I just had a look at a review and yeah, it's not a fantastic PSU. Apparently the caps are cheap crap and it can only put out a cool and stable 600w before getting very hot, leading me to question the 80+ rating.

You don't need an AX 850 though. Complete overkill. That would be more for something like SLI GTX 480.

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials...Power+Supply+?productId=43906&source=googleps

Is more than enough. The whole point to the 5870 was low power consumption and certainly not enough to warrant spending £130.

Thestepster has an (IIRC) TX 750. He's had three 460s and god knows what else pulling from it and it's never made a hiccup.

Edit. Just to put things into perspective I have a 625W Enermax Modu 80+ psu. I have a 295 on it which equates to 2x285@ 260 clock speeds. It's never made a sound, nor has the fan ever spun up. Bringing me back to my theory. It's not really the wattage that counts but the rail amps. Single or multiple rails that combine can lead to very high wattage output and stability even if they are not rated like that on the box.
 
True AlienALX but as he stated in a prior post on this thread the psu is screaming which means its trying hard to keep up. Its the psu. And just because you have one example of a psu that can handle the extra load (must be a golden psu) doesnt mean all will be the same. The GX series of psu's are budget ones and are not built for extreme usage. Bro get a new psu or drop the xfire each card when in proper use will need APROZ. 225w 75watts from each psi-e slot and 75watts each 6pin connector. As reviews have placed it in the actual 500watt range this leaves only 50watts for the rest of the system. Yes we all know amps are equally important most decent gpu's need about 35amps on a single 12volt rail his psu only has 60amps and hes using 2 gpu's plus the rest of the rig.
 
S_I_N said:
True AlienALX but as he stated in a prior post on this thread the psu is screaming which means its trying hard to keep up. Its the psu.
Click to expand...

Actually no. Loads of Corsairs have been known to squeal. Do you know what causes it? tell me and then you will realise why that can be completely normal. Hint - it isn't the capacitors. You seem to be awfully confident in giving a direct and blunt cause to the problem though. That's brave. When you do that in a computer business though you end up looking like a muppet and going out of business. You could well be lucky and have it right, that I'm with you on, but never EVER make assumptions about computer hardware.

Egg, face.

S_I_N said:
And just because you have one example of a psu that can handle the extra load (must be a golden psu) doesnt mean all will be the same.
Click to expand...

Yes, yes it does. Any PSU made identically from the same identical parts needs to conform with regulations. So yes, they may be ever so slightly off by a watt or two but need to be within a margin of error. Not a 200w here or there difference. Mine isn't a golden PSU by any means. It's a good psu, fact. Otherwise what is the use of PC hardware reviews?

S_I_N said:
The GX series of psu's are budget ones and are not built for extreme usage.
Click to expand...

That may well be the case. However, it may not be the cause of the problem. Before you go around telling people to spend money it's always best to rule out absolutely everything you possibly can. It could well be a badly made or damaged Crossfire bridge. They cost about ten pence. Here you are telling him to dump out £80 odd and find out that way.

Any way yes, go and find out what is causing that buzzing noise, then come back to me.
 
those regulations as you flaunt are so wide open that is why they have multiple ranges from just 80plus all the way to 80plus Platinum his is just 80plus the most relaxed standard. I have suggested other trouble shooting in my previous post and he stated it all checked out ok. Yes it can still be a farkin bridge but as his PSu is screaming so loud it drowns out all other items and his psu is of a known lesser quality and since he is pushing it to the max to a point that it will fail eventually due to being forced to run at full bore (which psu's arent meant to be done with) the easier you make the psu's work the more efficient they are.

Not to mention he has plans already of buying another one.

We all know and most agree xfire and sli work BETTER with a 850watt or higher psu I'm basing my facts off the 30-45 mins of research I did last night trying to help him. That PSU is complete and utter shite. I know I have its lil sister in a rig I built for my former step-son. Now please instead of beating up other SUGGESTIONS if you disagree thats cool we all have our own opinions and thats what this site is all about but dont call out individuals everytime you disagree with them post ur on suggestion and move on without the trashing of others I have seen ya do this a few times now and while I normally agree with ya its becoming to common place around here.

sorry to do this on ur thread bro but I think it needed saying
 
I'm not trashing others. Did any one else mention the bridge? no?

No. Actually what they did was start recommending 850w £130 power supplies. Awesome !

You have made your mind up now that it's the power supply.I clearly said that you could well be right however I think it's bad advice to go around making up YOUR mind with some one else's money.

As for that squeal? it's the voltage regulation circuitry. The VRMs are made up of coils. When put to use they vibrate, causing that noise. It has nothing to do with it crapping out as Corsair were putting out perfectly working power supplies a couple of years ago that people were RMAing back to them.

You can get as annoyed at me as you like. It doesn't stop what is happening. Go on, scream and rant, keep telling him to buy a PSU.

The other day a guy on this forum bought himself a NH-D14 for his CPU. He overclocked too far, poof ! gone. He then figured it would be the motherboard, so he went and got a new one. Poof ! gone. At the end of the day and after all of that tail chasing he still hadn't found out exactly what was causing it.

If you suspect a faulty or just simply crappy power supply then fine. I do too. However, there are many other things that could be causing that problem. I had quadfire on a 750w psu once. It refused to boot. People kept telling me over and over and over to go out and get a new power supply and you know what? I so nearly did. However, I had thought about it logically and decided instead to email Asrock and ask them if they had ever tested quadfire on my motherboard. They said no. I replaced the motherboard first and guess what? it worked, perfectly.

I sent information to Asrock which they then studied. A replacement board was far cheaper than a new power supply (especially a replacement for the good one I had) and more specifically was the actual cause of the problem, rather than an angry little crap shoot.
 
Blair said:
IF the crossfire works fine one a single screen why would it be the psu?

Or am i reading it wrong?
huh.gif
Click to expand...

multi monitor can make the gpu draw more power so it can push the displays

true ALX but most ppl dont try and push their 750watters with quad xfire lol. Glad it worked out for you. But imho the case you quote isnt actually valid to this as you said it hadnt been tested by them so therefore I doubt it supported it. but thats besides the point I merely made a recommendation to up the psu from first hand experience with that line of CM psu's And first hand experience with running multi monitors. I know they make the cards work harder which in turn makes the psu work harder. But hey bro lets just agree to disagree or however ya wanna look at it
smile.gif
were all here because we love tweakin da shite outta stuff and wanna share our experiences
smile.gif


Peace out Bro
 
I had mine on a 750w psu that was three years old - IE that was crap. Total crap. It worked though. It squealed too. But it did work and continued to long after quadfire was gone.

I've never seen a PSU cause artefacts or glitching. Ever. So hey, it could well be the PSU but it could be other things. The reason I thought of the bridge is because I too have had bridge issues with every single SLI set up I have put together. Glitching, artefacts, all out lock ups. Over a ribbon.

Fix was cleaning the contacts with alcohol and then fitting the bridge to the millimeter. They're not exactly the soundest things in the world.

The 5870 doesn't draw an awful lot of power. IIRC, total and complete system power consumption should be in the 400w range. Actually it seems I was rather generous. A fully loaded 285 system draws 378w, and a 5870 Xfire PC draws 561w and that's under Furmark.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5870,2422-20.html

So yes, I still suspect what you do but I think it's just a little better to see if it's the Xfire bridge first. Either way I would replace the PSU as it seems to be a bit poo
biggrin.gif
 
I'll admit my sli xfire experience is limited. But yes your right its a helluva lot cheaper to try the bridge first
 
Xfire was less problematic for me. But it still came with its problems. Even the single GPUs have problems. Example -

Radeon 5 series. Put two monitors on and overclock the card, second display screwed... Hmmmmmmmm WAIT !

Have you overclocked the Radeons per chance? There's a known friggin issue with Radeons OC on more than one monitor..

Any way, next up Nvidia. Put two monitors on a Nvidia card and it immediately goes to full load, full heat, full temps. And theres nothing that can be done about it, it's normal.

SLI was a nightmare. Three times I used it, and all three times it was the sodding same. Bridge issues. Once running it was fun though !
 
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