R6950 Crossfire issues

[KingOtaku]

Now, I just began to crossfire my Radeon 6950's. In some games, it works (most notably Metro 2033) but in others it fails completely. In BD2, I lose about 10-20 fps. And worst of all is that in BF3, the game that I specifically got a second card for, crossfire adds absolutely no FPS gain. I just want to know if anyone else has been having crossfire/driver problems in this game.

 

[ilysaml]

Also to ensure you have the proper improvements in Metro and other games, just compare it to reviews on other sites to see if you're getting the Proper FPS.

 

[bystander]

The game with the issues, are you playing it in windowed mode? Crossfire doesn't work in windowed mode.

 

[KingOtaku]

No, I always fullscreen it. Once I finish downloading it again, I'll try again.
Also, I just got Dirt 3, and am downloading it along with BF3; I will see if Crossfire works in Dirt.

 

[KingOtaku]

Alright, so crossfire works in Dirt 3 (about a 20fps increase; not great, but at least I know it's working)
So it's just Battlefield 3. In a way. I'm relieved. At least I know my cards work.

 

[ilysaml]

how many FPS do you get with FRAPS ?

 

[KingOtaku]

In Dirt 3 or BF3?
Dirt 3 has it's own benchmark, and I used that. FPS went from an average of 67 with lowest frame being 49, to 86 with lowest frame being 72. Here, I honestly think my CPU is pushed to it's limits, so that's why I'm only getting the 20fps boost. At least it's working.
Speaking of which, I OC'd my CPU to 3.8ghz.

 

[ilysaml]

hmm..you should get around 95-100 avg FPS

 

[KingOtaku]

Yeah...now that I check, I guess I should be...
I checked in afterburner; both my GPU's were at full speed and were using around 65-75 percent of their power(which is normal for most games; usually only benchmarks max that out)
Dirt 3 isn't exactly famous for it's Crossfire scaling, if I recall correctly...
Edit: Actually, you're right. I saw a benchmark for crossfire 5850's, and that nearly doubled fps (45 to 80)

 

[ilysaml]

And it was benchmarked on i7 2600K and 2 HDs and it AVGed 108 FPS

 

[KingOtaku]

But regardless, this isn't about Dirt 3. Dirt 3 runs great, and I know it's my CPU maxing it out, because it seems like my FPS cap while in a race is 90-95, and it never goes higher even when nothing is happening. However, even with my CPU, I should be getting a higher FPS on BF3. Since I know my crossfire is working, that means it's just driver issues. I'll just have to wait things out, and if it isn't fixed, I'll just return my second card.

 

[bystander]

You might check to see if there is a Bios update for your motherboard. There could be something going on there that is causing problems.

 

[KingOtaku]

The only new drivers they had were audio drivers.

 

[bystander]

The only new drivers they had were audio drivers.

Bios aren't drivers. Although it's not normally needed to check for bios updates, but sometimes they do fix errors that can cause problems.

 

[KingOtaku]

Oh, damn, sorry. I searched for bios updates and couldn't find anything for the bios, so I just downloaded the most recent drivers...now I found where the bios's are(they were right in front of me, I just wasn't paying attention)
Now, I have never messed with my bios before, so any help on how to do this without ruining my system would be appreciated.
EDIT: Nevermind; I just looked at my system info, my bios is already up to date.

 

[ilysaml]

Away from the thread....
@ Bystander, what's your experience with the 3D 120 Hz monitor ?
As far as i know Analog 50 - 122 Hz Digital: 50 - 85 Hz
Do you use a special HDMI cable ?
Does that mean I'll only get 85Hz at most from this monitor using a DVI cable while getting higher refresh rates from a VGA cable (122Hz)?

Do you really get 120 Hz out of the monitor ? where does it come to play ?

 

[gnomio]

You are flat wrong or misread what I wrote. While your GPU might generate 120 FPS, the monitor still will only update its images at their refresh (hz) rating. A 60 hz monitor still only updates 60 times per second.

While LCD's do not use a gun, and are solid state, they still only update the screen at the rate of their refresh rate. Why on earth would people buy 120hz LCD's over a 60hz if it didn't matter? Why does 3D on a 60hz monitor perform horribly?

As someone who has both a 60hz and 120hz monitor, I can refute your claim quite easily.

no it will change its pixels that it needs to change. A gpu will wait for a signal from the LCD before sending the frames. If v-sync is disabled it will overlap the frames because it ran out of space to write it on while waiting for the signal for the screen.
As I said LCD don't have a refresh rate. They emulate it. But they don't blank the whole screen they just change the pixels that needs changing. Its not a claim its the truth.

 

[bystander]

Away from the thread....
@ Bystander, what's your experience with the 3D 120 Hz monitor ?
As far as i know Analog 50 - 122 Hz Digital: 50 - 85 Hz
Do you use a special HDMI cable ?
Does that mean I'll only get 85Hz at most from this monitor using a DVI cable while getting higher refresh rates from a VGA cable (122Hz)?

Do you really get 120 Hz out of the monitor ? where does it come to play ?

I'll try to answer your questions.

I've been using it for a few months now, maybe 4-5 months. I enjoy it a lot.

To get 120hz with this monitor, you need a dual-link DVI cable. Single-link DVI cables are limited to 60hz at 1080p, although they can go up to 75hz or 85hz at lower resolutions.

With the HDMI interface, you do need at least HDMI 1.3 or 1.4 (this monitor is 1.4a), but it is limited to 720p at 120hz, or 60hz at 1080p.

Samsung is releasing new monitors with displayport connections, which can also reach 120hz at 1080p.

I'm not aware of any VGA connections that are designed for 120hz.

 

[bystander]

no it will change its pixels that it needs to change. A gpu will wait for a signal from the LCD before sending the frames. If v-sync is disabled it will overlap the frames because it ran out of space to write it on while waiting for the signal for the screen.
As I said LCD don't have a refresh rate. They emulate it. But they don't blank the whole screen they just change the pixels that needs changing. Its not a claim its the truth.

Edit: I never said they blank the screen, I did say they still update the screen at consistent intervals. They "emulate" a refresh, they still refresh the screen, they just don't do it in the same manner that CRT's do. Every 1/60th of a second, the monitor will update the screen to match what is in the frame buffer. It doesn't emulate that, it does it. It doesn't update it's screen any faster either. A 60hz LCD is still limited to 60 FPS of updated frames.

Now retrace what you and I both said. The LCD refreshes the image on the screen to, in your words, emulate a CRT (it would likely be done this way regardless if CRT's existed). That means that even if v-sync isn't activated, it won't draw the frame buffer to the screen except at the normal 1/60th of a second interval (or higher with higher refresh rates).

I think the part that could be confusing you is the fact that the frames created by the GPU are not drawn on the screen, they are drawn to a frame buffer. During the refresh, the monitor gets the info from the frame buffer and then updates the screen. This process only occurs at a rate of your refresh rate.