R9 290 (non X) crossfire performance

[luigi1k]

Hey guys, I've been running a single sapphire r9 290 for a while now. Card is doing a nice job, but some game just require a bit more. I got myself a Gigabyte r9 290 as a second card to try crossfire. My single card was getting around 9500-10000 on 3dmark fire strike, with the second card added im getting 0 improvement. It is still around the 9500-10000 mark, but its making a hell of a lot of noise, drawing a lot of power and games are rubber banding like theres no tomorrow, its crazy. Watch dogs maxxed out was did 24-50 fps on a single card, 24-30 on the pair, but due to the stuttering it feels like one and a half. Ive tried AMD 14.6 and 14.7 drivers, crossfireX is enabled in CCC. However as I am typing this I feel like I should try 14.4, as it isn't in beta unlike the other two. Anyways, is this normal behavior or should I be expecting more from the pair of cards?

My system specs:

MSI Z97 Gaming 5
Sapphire R9 290 (reference model)
Gigabyte R9 290 (reference model)
2x4GB Corsair Vengeance memory
Intel 4770k@4.2GHz
Corsair H80i
Corsair AX1200 (non i) PSU
Fractal design Core 3000 Case

 

[YouWhat]

I not sure about xfire as I never used it before, I've only ever done SLi on nVidia stuff, but there are game / application profiles which can be loaded up designed to have the best setup for the gfx card for the game or program being used.

As for the performance, yes you should see a marked improvement on the test and game scores and also the FPS in games, so to me the obvious thing is that the cards aren't talking to each other properly.

Try removing the drivers and delete them completely, reboot and then re-install. I am assuming that both cards are the 4GB models.

Have you tried to get both clock speeds the same in something like afterburner?

I know that they should work together as they same chip etc, but are you certain they are compatible with each other?

Have you tried swapping the cards around so for example gigabyte card on top, saphire underneath?

Have you checked event manager see if there any hardware errors getting flagged up, also check for the software ones also. In device manager, are both cards being recognised by system and have drivers loaded (eg no yellow triangles flagging up some issue)

I will probably come up with few more question as day progresses to try and help solve this.

 

[Etlar]

When you get a new card, you need to do something first.

You need to delete your driver and close down your pc, then put the new card in. Then you can put back the driver. Then the driver will see two cards, there can still be some problem on crossfire sometimes. But have not seen that my self in a long run.

// Etlar

EDIT - Will also like to hear, what screen you a useing and what ress.

 

[Kushiro]

what temps are you getting? Have you tried a fresh install? the usual etc etc

 

[luigi1k]

Removed second card, to try removing drivers etc. PC is struggling a lot. Booting is taking 10 minutes plus+its mega laggy when doing anything. CFX is working wonders for me so far.

Nevermind that, seems that one of my HDD's has died. Anyways, I uninstalled all AMD/ATI products, shut down my pc, put in the second card and installed the 14.4 drivers. Its running Firestrike (demo) right now.

I am running a Dell 2713HM 1440p screen btw, connected with a DVI cable

 

[barnsley]

Removed second card, to try removing drivers etc. PC is struggling a lot. Booting is taking 10 minutes plus+its mega laggy when doing anything. CFX is working wonders for me so far.

Sounds like a RAM issue tbh. I had that exact problem (high cpu usage as well) and it turned out to be a faulty RAM stick.

 

[luigi1k]

Sounds like a RAM issue tbh. I had that exact problem (high cpu usage as well) and it turned out to be a faulty RAM stick.

It was my harddrive, once I unplugged it and left just my SSD in all is fine again.

-------------
Heat seems to be the issue. I can see both cards in MSI afterburner just throttling like crazy.

 

[barnsley]

It was my harddrive, once I unplugged it and left just my SSD in all is fine again.

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Heat seems to be the issue. I can see both cards in MSI afterburner just throttling like crazy.

Are they running in uber or silent mode?


You might have to look into getting different cooling

 

[luigi1k]

They are running in uber mode. I'l just stick with a single card for now, sell the other and wait for a 390x /gtx880 to come out.

 

[barnsley]

They are running in uber mode. I'l just stick with a single card for now, sell the other and wait for a 390x /gtx880 to come out.

Fair dos. I'd personally have looked at something like the nzxt kraken.

 

[luigi1k]

Fair dos. I'd personally have looked at something like the nzxt kraken.

With the kraken comes another problem which is my case. I am using a Fractal design core 3000 USB 3.0 and with my H80i rad fitted at the rear it has zero output fans. So that needs an upgrade anyways. Also my GFX doesn't actually fit. I have to bend and stretch the rear of the case a bit to get the card past my hard drive cage. I didn't want to waste your time but I just hoped I was doing something fundamentally wrong. I got to admit, it looked cool tho inside my case with 2 290's, very snug.

I am unable to use Tags for some reason, i wanted to add an image.

http://i.imgur.com/3PLIld9l.jpg

 

[barnsley]

With the kraken comes another problem which is my case. I am using a Fractal design core 3000 USB 3.0 and with my H80i rad fitted at the rear it has zero output fans. So that needs an upgrade anyways. Also my GFX doesn't actually fit. I have to bend and stretch the rear of the case a bit to get the card past my hard drive cage. I didn't want to waste your time but I just hoped I was doing something fundamentally wrong. I got to admit, it looked cool tho inside my case with 2 290's, very snug.

I am unable to use Tags for some reason, i wanted to add an image.

http://i.imgur.com/3PLIld9l.jpg

Thats a very clean job . Very jealous of your setup. Its a shame the stock AMD coolers aren't all that good otherwise that'd be a perfect high res setup imo ^_^.

 

[luigi1k]

Thats a very clean job . Very jealous of your setup. Its a shame the stock AMD coolers aren't all that good otherwise that'd be a perfect high res setup imo ^_^.

Thanks, I'm quite happy with the system myself. It has been my first build in 7 years, I've got the parts just over a month ago now. This is how it sits atm, with just a single card. Note the AX1200 sticker ive had printed in Red instead of gold.

http://i.imgur.com/YwnYQ8n.jpg