Sapphire R9 295x2 Doesn't appear to be using both GPU's - runs very poorly, low fps

[Mekkalyn]

I have purchased a Sapphire R9 295x2, which to my understand is supposed to be a very powerful card.

I purchased a EVGA Supernova 1000 p2 power supply with the graphics card and installed them at the same time, since my old power supply was a 550watt. I tried running games expecting a huge increase in performance, to be met with barely an increase at all in FPS (with the exact same settings as my old card).

I realized that my motherboard did not support a second GPU at x16 speed, so I purchased a new one: Gigabyte 990fxa-ud3 that would run them both at x16. I did not get any increase in performance.

I looked in GPU-Z while running The Witcher 3 and noticed that my second GPU doesn't seem to be working. I will include a screenshot of my GPU-Z logs. One gets 100% GPU load, and the second one barely does anything. The 100% one is getting 80-100watts and the one that does nothing gets like 10w. I also have AMD crossfire enabled. I tried disabling it to see if it made a difference, and it didn't seem to do anything (same FPS).

I have done a complete uninstall/reinstall of my AMD drivers (beta and nonbeta).
I have updated my bios.
I have not done any overclocking or messed with any values.

Here are my specs -
CPU: AMD FX-8350 8 core 4.0 mhz
RAM: 4 gb ddr3 800 mhz G.skill (2 sticks)
Motherboard: Gigabyte 990fxa-ud3
GPU: Sapphire Radeon R9 295x2

Here are screenshots of my GPU-Z log -

If there is any other information you need, I will supply it.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Calculatron]

It is probably a case that the drivers for the game are just not optimized for a dual-graphics set-up yet.

 

[Mekkalyn]

It is probably a case that the drivers for the game are just not optimized for a dual-graphics set-up yet.

But its like that for every single game that I launch.
It never recognizes the second GPU.

 

[vulcangrey]

GPU-z also doesn't work with my crossfire R9 290's... It doesn't detect the 2nd one properly, no matter which one is switched to be the secondary card.
Don't use GPU-Z

Use MSI Afterburner instead.

 

[Mekkalyn]

GPU-z also doesn't work with my crossfire R9 290's... It doesn't detect the 2nd one properly, no matter which one is switched to be the secondary card.
Don't use GPU-Z

Use MSI Afterburner instead.

Used that with the same results as GPU-Z.
The second one is not being utilized at all.

 

[bystander]

Are you trying to look at the results while in the game? If you play in Windowed mode, CF and SLI will not function. They only work in fullscreen mode.

 

[Mekkalyn]

Are you trying to look at the results while in the game? If you play in Windowed mode, CF and SLI will not function. They only work in fullscreen mode.

When I do look at it in full screen it will say the 2nd gpu is being used both 85-100%, however I am still getting consistently lower fps than I would think, msi afterburner is saying that my pagefile usage is being max out. Could this be an issue of ram bottlenecking?

Also when switching between windowed and fullscreen fps doesn't change at all.

 

[bystander]

Well, that solves one issue, use fullscreen. Now before jumping the gun, what is your resolution, the game of question, settings used and the FPS you are getting?

Too many people seem to think a high end GPU means they can play at maxed out settings, but that isn't always true. There are many demanding games out there that will still require you to lower settings to get high FPS.

 

[17seconds]

You need to be using Catalyst 15.5 beta drivers, which are intended for the Witcher 3 and include an updated Crossfire profile. You should also disable HairWorks, which will overly tax any AMD card's relatively weak tesselation capabilities.

 

[Mekkalyn]

Well, that solves one issue, use fullscreen. Now before jumping the gun, what is your resolution, the game of question, settings used and the FPS you are getting?

Too many people seem to think a high end GPU means they can play at maxed out settings, but that isn't always true. There are many demanding games out there that will still require you to lower settings to get high FPS.

Full screen did not increase FPS.
The game of question is every game (specifically The Witcher 3, GTA V).
My normal resolution is 1920x1200 and runs 35-40 fps at most things maxed out (which is the same as my old graphics card which is: radeon hd 7950. I have only gained about 5 fps switching to this new graphics card).
I also tried connecting with a 4k monitor (swapping out my normal one) and it made my FPS 15-30 in those games, running at 4k.
Yes, I'm not expecting 60 fps, but I do expect a high end GPU to run 4k almost maxed out at more than 15 fps.
I've tried turning off AA and other demanding settings and it doesn't help much.

 

[Mekkalyn]

You need to be using Catalyst 15.5 beta drivers, which are intended for the Witcher 3 and include an updated Crossfire profile. You should also disable HairWorks, which will overly tax any AMD card's relatively weak tesselation capabilities.

Yes, I have done all of that.
I've tried that beta driver and the nonbeta driver, both with the exact same performance.
I am currently using the 15.5 beta drivers.
I have hairworks disabled and things that overly tax any AMD card.

I've run the exact same settings on my other card with BARELY less FPS, and it is a significantly worse card (Radeon HD 7900 series).
There isn't anything I can think of to do.
i've also installed 8gb more ram into the computer (stolen from a different computer) to see if that was a bottleneck, but I still have the same FPS.

Both GPUs are recognized by my computer.
I don't understand what could possibly be the problem.
It is not the settings I am using because I have used the exact same game settings with barely worse results.

 

[17seconds]

Did we catch your resolution? At 1080p, a 295x2 isn't going to be much faster than a single 290x.

 

[Mekkalyn]

Did we catch your resolution? At 1080p, a 295x2 isn't going to be much faster than a single 290x.

I mentioned to a different user that I use 1920x1200 normally, but I borrowed a 4k monitor and used that resolution and the fps dropped significantly.
Also, my old graphics card was not a 290x it was a Radeon HD 7900 series. A fraction of the power of a 295x2.

 

[bystander]

Usually when that sort of poor performance happens, it is because of some CPU bottlenecking, though your CPU should do a little better than you currently are getting. I'd download MSI Afterburner, and use the On Screen Display options to monitor the CPU cores (all of them). Monitor their temps and usage. You should also check the GPU usage at the same time.

Also, when you are turning all the settings up. Are you using the preset Ultra setting, or are you turning all the individual settings up? Those benchmarks are for the preset, even though the game offers higher settings with added settings. That would drop your FPS significantly as well.

 

[17seconds]

Hmm, it might not be a problem with just your system.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Performance_Analysis/The_Witcher_3/3.html

 

[uglyduckling81]

If your using the latest beta driver that card has plenty of muscle to push 60 fps in 1080p with hairworks on.
Have you enabled crossfire in the application setting. It;s supposed to be on by default but perhaps yours is off.
Also you should uninstall the drivers using DDU and do a fresh install.
Here is video of someone testing it at different resolutions. The 295x2 is so powerful it just brute forces it's way through Hairworks no problem at 1080p.
Also from my understanding you didn't need to change your mobo as that's the beauty of a 2 in one card, you only need a single PCI-E x16 slot.
If you still have trouble it could very well be a CPU limitation. I wouldn't think so though. Despite AMD not being as powerful as Intel chips you chip is still a fine gaming CPU.

 

[Calculatron]

Do you have Tomb Raider (2013)?

Give that a shot with your graphics card. If it doesn't work with that, then something is up.

AMD has been slow to released WHQL drivers, and while the beta drivers do help with GTA V and The Witcher 3, that doesn't mean they're going to work the best.

 

[Mekkalyn]

If your using the latest beta driver that card has plenty of muscle to push 60 fps in 1080p with hairworks on.
Have you enabled crossfire in the application setting. It;s supposed to be on by default but perhaps yours is off.
Also you should uninstall the drivers using DDU and do a fresh install.
Here is video of someone testing it at different resolutions. The 295x2 is so powerful it just brute forces it's way through Hairworks no problem at 1080p.
Also from my understanding you didn't need to change your mobo as that's the beauty of a 2 in one card, you only need a single PCI-E x16 slot.
If you still have trouble it could very well be a CPU limitation. I wouldn't think so though. Despite AMD not being as powerful as Intel chips you chip is still a fine gaming CPU.

I have completely uninstalled the drivers and done a fresh install.
Crossfire is enabled, that was the first thing I checked.

At 1920x1200 on the witcher 3 I get 60 fps with AA off and no hairworks, everything else max, in full screen. Before I didn't turn AA off and compare from windowed to fullscreen, and that seems to make a difference since it shoots up 20 fps. However, my old card could run with AA on at 30fps, whereas this new card with AA on can only get 40. Not that AA is super important, but I'm surprised that it barely is any better?

I'm going to test tomb raider and see the results.

 

[Mekkalyn]

Usually when that sort of poor performance happens, it is because of some CPU bottlenecking, though your CPU should do a little better than you currently are getting. I'd download MSI Afterburner, and use the On Screen Display options to monitor the CPU cores (all of them). Monitor their temps and usage. You should also check the GPU usage at the same time.

Also, when you are turning all the settings up. Are you using the preset Ultra setting, or are you turning all the individual settings up? Those benchmarks are for the preset, even though the game offers higher settings with added settings. That would drop your FPS significantly as well.

I did that and it didn't seem like the CPU was overloaded. It was only being used up to 50%. Temps were perfectly fine (liquid cooling).
Both GPU were being used 80%-100% (fluctuated, in full screen with AA off, which as I mentioned raised my fps by 20. As soon as I turn AA on bops down 20 fps in full, in windowed it doesn't change fps at all).
I manually tune the settings myself.
I just tested the ultra settings and it didn't do anything significant to frames.

 

[bystander]

You likely tested the CPU incorrectly. When you say "it" was being used up to 50%, that sounds like you are talking about the whole CPU. I mentioned you need to check each individual core. A bottleneck happens from a single thread on a single core to get bottlenecked.

 

[Salvinha]

If your card is in perfect conditions, for sure it is a bottleneck or some wrong settings, as you can see in my signature, I have a HD 7950 like you had before, I play Witcher 3 with everything in Ultra 1080p (Hairworks off), and I get 30-35 FPS most of the time. I have the latest BETA driver for Witcher 3, it works perfect.
As our colleague said, you need to check each core individually, the bottleneck happens there, if there is a core working in 100% and the others are far below that, you have a problem.

PS: I really think your amout of memory is low for comparing to your computer specs and the current games. I'm not saying it is related to your problem, only an observation.

 

[bystander]

I didn't notice that, but yeah, 4Gb is not enough for GTA V or TW3.

 

[Mekkalyn]

Oh, I think I worded it bad. I meant I have 2 4gb sticks, so 8gb
All the cores would be 90% and the lowest would be 50% for CPU.
They all were averagely the same, though. It didn't seem like one core was maxing out. They were all being used.

Also, tested out tomb raider and everything is completely maxed, even the advanced hair setting. I got 60-70fps average (higher without the hair setting - like 90). The lowest it would ever go is 45 (in cut scenes normally).

 

[Calculatron]

Were both of the GPUs running?

 

[uglyduckling81]

Yeah you have some other issue then. I guess possibly a CPU limitation or a problem with your card.
It's the most powerful card on the market and has been showing to get great performance in The Witcher 3 even with Hairworks on.