6870 Crossfire Yields Inconsistent

[SpamShadow]

After a frantic run-around trying to get everything working fast and cool, I finally have crossfire working, temps are normal, drivers are fine, finally. Now, my performance is funky though. In Metro2033, I'm spot on with most other 6870x2 benches I've seen, if just a few fps better. BFBC2 never goes below 60fps now, smooth as butter. Everything else, not so much. Crysis shows no improvement, Crysis Warhead only shows a slight improvement, Crysis 2 runs about the same with or without crossfire, MW2 shows 0 difference. It seems that for the most part, the crossfire isn't functioning any better in most games, EXCEPT Metro2033 and BFBC2 which show huge performance increases (almost 90% scaling in metro2033).

I'm using 11.9 w/latest CAP. I use MSI:AB for a fan profile to keep things cool. I've tried RadeonPro, I've tried 11.8 drivers, I'm just not getting the performance yields in a lot of titles that others seem to be getting (upwards of 50-60fps in Crysis, over 100fps in MW2). Any ideas welcome, almost at the end of my rope...of ideas....thanks.

 

[rolli59]

You have tried these http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/pages/crossfirex-app-profiles.aspx

 

[SpamShadow]

You have tried these http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/pages/crossfirex-app-profiles.aspx

I'm using 11.9 w/latest CAP.

 

[purple stain]

Crysis 2 is probably being CPU bottlenecked.I know that game likes really fast CPU's.Try O.C.ing to about 3.8ghz and see if anything changes.

 

[SpamShadow]

Alright, finally got Crysis 2 running again (had to reinstall, lots of downloading). I left the task manager running in the background and played for a bit. CPU usage on all cores was jumping between 75-90%, seems like a bottleneck to me. I also get about the same performance regardless of whether I run it in DX9 or DX11 (if not slightly better in DX11). I could potentially squeeze another 200-400Mhz out of my 955, but its a bad overclocker, core temps get over 62C if go beyond 3.6Ghz.

Edit: Ok, got my 955 up to 3.84Ghz at 1.42v, cores go over 74C in Crysis 2, but there's certainly a performance increase. I gave Crysis Warhead a shot, too. Also a decent increase, I'd say 5-10fps. I don't feel like 74C is really all that dangerous, I might try tweaking some settings and seeing if I can't squeeze a 4.0Ghz oc out of it at this voltage.

 

[purple stain]

What CPU cooler are you using?
I have the 965 and my temps don't ever go over 50c at 3.8ghz.

Do you know the max temp for you processor? It is 62c.You might have destroyed your processor.

http://products.amd.com/pages/desktopcpudetail.aspx?id=532

 

[SpamShadow]

I have a Hyper 212+, I've tried reseating it several times, temps never change. I'm afraid I'll run out of thermal paste if I try again. I just assumed I had a hot running processor. Maybe I'll try reseating here at some point, just not today. I'll play the games I can until then.

Also I do know what the "max temp" for the 955 is. I figured it was a pretty conservative number, before I got my Hyper 212+ my processor would go over 62C consistently at stock settings. Maybe the temp is reporting wrong? I feel like if I were about to "destroy" my processor my computer would have shut down. It is fair warning though, and I do need to research correcting my temp problem some more. Hopefully (pride aside) I'm just really bad at seating FHS.

As a side note, at 3.8Ghz with a 400Mhz OC on my NB resulted in an almost smooth 60fps in Crysis 2. The same settings without the NB OC were significantly worse. Although, 3.8Ghz + NB OC = temps too high. Time to sort this out. Thanks for your input so far.

Edit: I realized looking in my case that the fan on my Hyper212+ is backwards, blowing air across the FHS towards the front of the case, should probably be on the opposite side blowing out the back? Or should it be pulling air off the heat sink? Also just as a reference, at 3.6Ghz 1.375v I get 44C idle and 60C under load. Too much for a 212 you think? Thanks.

 

[purple stain]

Is your 955 the 125 watt or 150 watt model?

You should try updating the BIOS.If it is reporting the temps wrong then that might fix it.

The Hyper212+ is a good heatsink and it can handle the 955.Yes you want the air blowing out the back of the case so reverse that fan.

 

[SpamShadow]

*sigh* I was really hoping to NOT update my BIOS. Its just nerve wracking, what method would you recommend, I was planning on using EZ Flash, I just don't want my flash drive to fail on me during the flash. I am using the original release of the BIOS, there have been quite a few updates since. Think its worth the risk?

Edit: forgot, 125w

 

[purple stain]

Alright if it's the 125 watt version then the max temp is definitly 62c.So either your overheating the CPU or theirs a glitch with your BIOS.

It's not that difficult.I've done it many many times.Just make sure you have the correct revision,OS and the model number and everything should go smooth.I always use a software program(EZ Flash) to update the BIOS while in the OS.

I would think you would have a greater chance of the OS failing than a Flash drive.

What program are you using the read the temps?

 

[SpamShadow]

I'm reading temps with CPUID HWMonitor, they correlate with most other programs (speedfan, PC Probe). HWMonitor gives me both "CPU" temp and "Core" temp while it seems like most software gives me one or the other (and never labels it properly).

Alright, I'll probably flash my bios later this week, this is the guide I'm planning on using: http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20070215223109668&board_id=1&model=P5B+Deluxe

 

[purple stain]

Ok.Just us know if you need anymore help.

 

[SpamShadow]

Best answer selected by SpamShadow.

 

[SpamShadow]

Alright, BIOS flashed, temps unchanged, time to re-apply the heat sink. Did some reading on the 212+, I guess their heatpipe design requires a particular method of application, filling in grooves around the heatpipes level with cooler surface and applying two small strips instead of a pea sized glob. Hopefully this will help. I also still need to flip that fan around and I want to disable Smart Fan in the BIOS.

Edit: At 3.8Ghz core and 2.6Ghz NB I get buttery smooth gameplay, but I ran Prime95 and one of the workers kept failing, I'll screw around with more voltages tonight and see if I can't find a stable medium.

Edit Edit: Forgot to mention, swapped the fan to the proper side, can get 3.8Ghz (1.385v) without going over 57 in Prime95, silly how much of a difference that made. So the heatsink could probably use reseated at some point, but I don't know that I have enough thermal paste lying around for it, so I'm not going to risk it until I get another tube.

 

[SpamShadow]

Sorry to double post, but I kinda need to bump this thread. So I've got a pretty stable OC on my processor (3.8ghz) and NB (2.6Ghz). It resolves the problem...some. When I first start BF3 or Crysis 2, things run amazingly smooth. After a bit, it starts getting choppy. It gets worse and worse, video starts to skip, models start disappearing and reappearing. It just becomes unplayable.

Which is weird, considering that most other games (Crysis Warhead, Metro 2033) don't seem to suffer from this phenomenon at all. Any thoughts? I've pretty much ruled out the processor at this point, unless there's something wrong with it, like it's damaged or something. If it won't work at 3.8Ghz with a NB OC I doubt it'll work at any other setting.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey