SLI / CrossFire FAQs

[calumconroy]

Hmmm, Clears up some queries i had with Crossfire, nice one.

 

[Maziar]

XFX Radeon HD 7970 black is compatible with the other in its range HD 7970 for CF?
seems your saying that as long as the GDDR is same and the speed is aits full steam ahead ? am i right ?...and how will this play out for the OC on the black edition ?

Yes,it'll work fine

if this has already been addressed I am sorry.. I just need some help now..

I have a problem.. I have 600 bucks worth of cards and they don't perform.. I have two MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II 2GD5/OC.. with 2GB.. I have a i-7 2600K CPU and a GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 motherboard.. Running 16 GB Ram (2X Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB. I also am running two Chronos SSD as well as 2 1 TB WD sata 6 drives.. I have a 680 watt APEVIA ATX-AS680W-BL 680W.

I can run one card and it crushes the two in SLI.. Can anyone tell me why? Seems afterburner telles me second card has 0% GPU use..

Probably one of your cards is defective,test them simultaneously to see if they work or not

can you crossfire HIS Radeon HD 7970 X2 with r7970 black edition? are they still in the same family as there 2xs?

You mean 3-way CF ? is so,then yes

Hmmm, Clears up some queries i had with Crossfire, nice one.

Glad it helped

 

[prototype18]

Guys i was thinking to SLI my 560 Ti as im upgr my monitor to 1080 P
Should i do that or my CPU would bottleneck ?

And is the SLI ok now ? I mean no more problems ?

It's been more than a year w/o sli

 

[Maziar]

Guys i was thinking to SLI my 560 Ti as im upgr my monitor to 1080 P
Should i do that or my CPU would bottleneck ?

And is the SLI ok now ? I mean no more problems ?

It's been more than a year w/o sli

Your CPU will definitely be a bottleneck.
And no,neither SLI/CF are perfect.

 

[prototype18]

Thank you Saving for I5 coming

 

[usman8001]

helo..... that was very informative. i like this forum iIf the things u say are true.thnx a lot

 

[Xaian]

Well thx for the info.

But I have a question.

I have an msi n560gtx-ti 2gb and a pny gtx 560 ti 1gb.

Would it be better to just run the single card with 2gb ram. Or keep them in sli and have the 2gb run at 1gb.

Il eventually get another 2gb card knowing that my 1gb card is downgrading my 2gb

 

[GAURAV9822]

My pc config is
intel i3 2120 @3.3ghz
intel hd 2000 graphics and nvidia geforce 8400gs
can i use nvidia hybrid sli on an ASUS P8H61-MLX motheboard?

 

[nukemaster]

My pc config is
intel i3 2120 @3.3ghz
intel hd 2000 graphics and nvidia geforce 8400gs
can i use nvidia hybrid sli on an ASUS P8H61-MLX motheboard?

No, It only worked with Nvidia onboard graphics. Your boards onboard is part of the Intel cpu.

 

[mradrianaslani]

Since FAQ's where listed I have a question of my own. How do you overclock two video cards that use crossfire? Do you do them indiviudaly or?

 

[nukemaster]

Your images do not work, but video ram is not the only factor. Some times you can get a slower card with more vram(I remember seeing some rather memory filled FX series cards back in the day), but it is still a slower card.

768 kind of reminds me of the 8800GTX cards. Most current gen cards(mid end and up) are as fast and faster(much faster in higher end cards) then it now.

 

[Maziar]

Well thx for the info.

But I have a question.

I have an msi n560gtx-ti 2gb and a pny gtx 560 ti 1gb.

Would it be better to just run the single card with 2gb ram. Or keep them in sli and have the 2gb run at 1gb.

Il eventually get another 2gb card knowing that my 1gb card is downgrading my 2gb

If you currently have both,then keep them in SLI.2 560s perform better than 1(even if one of them is downgraded to 1GB)

 

[comster]

My apologies if this question is completely idiotic. My build currently employs a HD 6970, which I am now attempting to upgrade. If I was to purchase a 7950, could I CrossFire them?

 

[nukemaster]

No you can not, they have different cores. While the 5770 and 6770 had the same core and could be used in crossfire.

Please see the chart on the first page.

 

[thelaughinganon]

Hi everyone, i'm trying crossfire for the first time and i'm having a problem, i can't get the "AMD Crossfire" option on CCC.

I have:

- ASUS Crosshair III Formula
- Phenom II 955
- 16gb Gskill Ripjaws
- Samsung 830 SSD 512gb

- MSI R5870 Lightning
- MSI R7970 Lightning

- Antec true Power 750 wattt PSU (with, i believe, 4 rail +12v)
- Windows 7 Ultimate x64

I connected the 7970 on the 1st pcie slot and the 5870 on the 2nd.
Both cards are connected with the 2 8pin adapter (6 + 2) that both requiered for power supply.
Connected the crossfire bridge (tried already with 2, not the 2 at the same time, 1st with the one that came with the 7970 and then with the one that came with the 5870).
Installed the latest drivers (12.10).
Installed the AMD Catalyst Application Profiles 12.11 CAP 2.

Both cards are recognized by windows, by CCC and by the MSI Afterburner but i'm still not sure if crossfire is enabled or not since the option doesn't show up on CCC. I've run the Unigine Heaven benchmark with everything max out and got 70fps most of the time, don't know if that's ok.
I also tried connecting first both cards with the crossfire bridge and installing the driver, and then i tried connecting only the 7970, installing the driver and the Application Profiles and the connecting the second card, but same result.

Any advice?

PS: sorry for my grammar, english is not my native language

 

[nukemaster]

You can not crossfire those cards(5870 and 7970) they do not have the same core. They are WAY too different to crossfire.

Just use the 7970 and retire the 5870 or use it for another system.

 

[thelaughinganon]

You can not crossfire those cards(5870 and 7970) they do not have the same core. They are WAY too different to crossfire.

Just use the 7970 and retire the 5870 or use it for another system.

😱 thanks nukemaster! i did not think about that. Ones i saw an eyefinity setup and the guy was using a 5xxx and a 4xxx card in crossfire (i don't remember exactly the models), since then i've come to believe that the generation was not that important. But you're right, they are 2 generations apart, thanks again! i'll try using the 5870 in another setup or maybe selling it and trying to buy another 7970 after a motherboard+cpu upgrade 😀

PS: buying another 7970 is going to be very hard since i believe i'll need a better PSU also

 

[nukemaster]

A company called lucidlogix had once released a chip to allow ANY cards(even Nvidia + AMD) to work together. I do not think it got too far because the performance was worse then current solutions. It was a good idea, but is very hard to get it all right performance wise.

The only real cross generation cards I have seen work with Crossfire was the 5770(or 5750) + 6770(or 6750) because the 6770 was just a re brand of the 5770.

The chart is just above AND on the first page of this thread.

 

[Dropz]

Hey guys/girls
I have seen many people making mistakes about MultiGPU technology or have difficulties understanding; therefore,I decided to write a guide that helps you understand it better.
So,let's start!

What is SLI ?
NVIDIA SLI is a platform that allows you to scale graphics performance by combining multiple NVIDIA graphics solutions in a single system.

What is Nvidia Hybrid SLI?
From Hothardware.com :
NVIDIA's Hybrid SLI technology gives users the ability to pair an IGP, or mGPU (motherboard GPU), with a discreet graphics card, or cards, for two new modes of operation. NVIDIA calls these new modes Hybrid Power and GeForce Boost.
GeForce Boost does what its name suggests. By coupling the motherboard's integrated GPU with a discreet graphics card, the 3D rendering workload is shared between the two GPUs for a boost in performance. Currently, GeForce Boost is only supported by GeForce 8400 GS and 8500 GT discreet cards, as for the IGP, only the next-gen nForce 700a series of chipsets due to arrive this quarter will be supported initially.

What is CrossFire ?
CrossFire is a high-performance PC Gaming Platform technology that enables multiple ATI Radeon graphics cards and a CrossFire-ready motherboard in a single computer to increase graphics quality and performance.

What is CrossFireX(Quad CrossFire)?
From Techreport.com:
CrossFireX is, quite simply, an extension of the CrossFire dual-GPU feature to three and four GPUs.
Here is a good chart about the cards and motherboards which support CrossFire,CrossFireX and the compatibility list:
http://sites.amd.com/PublishingImag.../WebBannerJPEG/AMD_CrossfireX_Chart_1618W.jpg

What is AMD Hybrid CrossFire?
Hybrid CrossFire allows integrated graphics and low-end discrete graphics to be used in CrossFire mode.

Overall,both Hybrid CrossFire and Hybrid SLI are mainly for power savings and won't give users a great performance boost in games or intensive 3D applications.


Can you use SLI on a CrossFire board or CrossFire on a SLI board ?
Well , in general , the answer is NO;however,there are some methods(like driver hacks) that allows you to do this.
Caution:There is no guarantee that this driver hacks work,so do it at your own risk!

With the release of Core "i" CPUs,Intel announced chipsets(P55,X58,Z68,etc.) that allow users to use CrossFire and SLI on the same motherbard.(However,not all of these chipsets support SLI and Crossfire.Some of them only support one of these MultiGPU options)

Do the cards have to be same model?
For "Most" Nvidia cards the answer is yes,but there are some exceptions too,such as pairing a GTS 250 with a 9800GTX+,which can only be done if both cards have the same amount of memory. (It's possible because GTS 250 is actually a re-badged 9800GTX+)
But again there are some cards like 9800GT and 8800GT which have the same specifications but in general you can't pair them in SLI.(Some users have reported that by flashing a 8800GT's BIOS to a 9800GT's BIOS,you can do it,but its risky and not recommended.)

But for AMD/ATI cards,It's different.
For older models like X1900 cards,you have to use the same/master card in order to run them in CrossFire mode.
But for HD 2xxx cards and up,there are no master cards so you simply can use 2(or more) (same)cards in Crossfire.

You can find more info about mixing cards in SLI/Crossfire down this article(Where the GPU models are)

But what about the memory? Can you SLI 7800GTX 256MB with it's 512MB version ?
For Nvidia cards,the general answer is no.
http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_ask_mmm013.html
"Another misconception is that the GeForce 7800 GTX (256MB) graphics cards and the GeForce 78000 GTX 512 graphics cards can be paired together. Since these graphics cards use different GPUs, they unfortunately CAN'T be paired together. Always refer the Learn More or Build sections of SLIZone."
So,you generally can't pair a 7800GTX 256 with 7800GTX 512 or GTX 460 768MB with its 1GB version unless you use some 3rd party applications(which isn't recommended).
However,if you manage to run these cards in SLI,then the model,with higher amount of RAM,will reduce it's RAM to match the other card.

For ATI cards,it's different.
As an example,you can Crossfire HD 5870 2GB with it's 1GB version (but again the 2GB version lowers it's memory to 1GB)

What about brands ?
Brands don't matter.It's however recommended that the cards have the same amount of memory and speed.

What happens if the cards have different speed
For ATI cards;
One of the cards will raise/lower its clock speeds to reach the other card's speeds.
For Nvidia cards;
Well it "was" like ATI with older drivers, but with new drivers its quite different.If you use 2(or more) Nvidia cards with different clock speeds in SLI mode,none of them will change their clocks and they will perform at their default clock speed.


A Very important note about CrossFire:
Many users ask to use 1 brige or 2 briges when they want to use 2 cards in CrossFire mode.
The answer is that it will work with 1 bridge without any problems but I recommend using both bridges because:
1_You will never lose either of these bridges.
2_Some users have reported a minimal(not noticeable) performance increase.

Do SLI or CrossFire always improve performance ?
Not always.
There are some games that don't benefit from MultiGPU technology(or require a patch in order to utilize it).
For example,Flight simulator X doesn't benefit from either SLI or CrossFire.
Another example is StarCraft2 which barely benefits from more than 1 card
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crossfire-sli-scaling,2742-8.html

What are SLI and CrossFire certified Motherboards?
SLI certified motherboards:
http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_mobo.html
CrossFire certified Motherboards:
http://ati.amd.com/technology/crossfire/buildyourown1.html

What about RAMs ?
RAM's aren't important for SLI/Crossfire.Just make sure you buy something that's compatible with your CPU and Motherboard.

What are the power requirements for SLI or CrossFire ?
For every configuration,the power requirement is different.
Nvidia cards:
http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html
AMD/ATI cards:
http://sites.amd.com/us/game/products/certified/Pages/certified-power-supplies.aspx

There are some Power Supplies which aren't in the List , but they are compatible , you have to check the manufactures sites too.


Is it really necessary to use SLI or CrossFire ?
It all comes down to 2 factors:
1)The games that you play
2)The resolutions that you play on
As mentioned,there are some games that don't benefit from either SLI or Crossfire;also,I recommend using more than 1 card if you play on resolutions like 1080p or higher because on lower resolutions,you can achieve a great performance with a single card.

Is it better to get 2 mid-range cards or 1 high-end card?
It really depends on you.I myself prefer a single high-end card rather than 2 mid-range cards because usually,the single card produces less heat and has less power consumption but it may cost more too.
So it all comes down to personal preference and budget.

Do SLI or CrossFire double the memory ?
No.Adding another card with more memory doesn't double the overall memory of your cards.

Which is better , SLI or CrossFire ?
It again comes to personal preference and the games that you play.
There are some specific games that scale better under SLI and vice-versa.

A note about Motherboards
For 2-way SLI,motherboards either support CrossFire at dual x16,dual x8 or x16x4 speeds.
The first will give you the best performance.
Dual x8 is also good and performs on par with dual x16 in most games.
But x16x4 is kinda different.
On PCI-E 1.0 boards/cards,there is a huge difference between x16x4 and dual x16(and 8x).
On PCI-E 2.0 boards/cards;however,the performance gap isn't as high.(The performance is notable in some games though,especially on high resolutions)
I personally recommend dual x16 or dual x8 for MultiGPU setups.

Here is a good review which compares CrossFire performance between dual x16,dual x8 and x16x4
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crossfire-pci-express,2095.html


List of NVIDIA and AMD/ATI MultiGPU compatible Graphic Cards: (All of them are PCI-EXPRESS cards,MutliGPU technology is for PCI-EXPRESS cards not for AGP cards.)

NVIDIA cards(Desktop models)

Geforce GTX 600 Family:
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680

Geforce GTX 500 Family:
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 590(1 PCB*)
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580(Supports 3-Way SLI too)
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 570(Supprts 3-way SLI too)
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560Ti
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 550Ti
NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 520

Geforce 400 Family:
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 480(Supports 3-Way and 4-Way SLI too)
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 470(Supports 3-Way and 4-Way SLI too)
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 465
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 460
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS 450
NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 440
NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 430

Geforce 200 Family:
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 295
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 285(Supports 3-Way SLI too)
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 280 (Supports 3-Way SLI too)
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 275(Supports 3-Way SLI too)
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 260 Core 216(Supports 3-Way SLI too and also you can it with the Core 192 version.
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 260 Core 192 (Supports 3-Way SLI too)
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 250(Supports 3-Way SLI too and also you can pair it with 9800GTX+ in SLI configuration,however make sure that both cards have the same amount of memory)

Geforce 9 Family:
NVIDIA GEFORCE 9800GX2 (2 PCB's)
NVIDIA GEFORCE 9800GTX+(Supports 3-Way SLI too and also you can pair it with a Nvidia 9800GTX in SLI configuration,but it's recommended to use the 9800GTX+ card in the first PCI-E 16x slot.)
NVIDIA GEFORCE 9800GTX(Supports 3-Way SLI too)
NVIDIA GEFORCE 9800GT
NVIDIA GEFORCE 9600GT
NVIDIA GEFORCE 9600GSO
NVIDIA GEFORCE 9500GT
NVIDIA GEFORCE 9400GT

Geforce 8 Family:
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800ULTRA (Supports 3-Way SLI too)
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800GTX (Supports 3-Way SLI too)
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800GTS 512
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800GT
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800GTS 640
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800GTS 320
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800GS
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8600GTS
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8600GT
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8500GT
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8400GS

Geforce 7 Family:
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7950GX2 (2 PCB's)
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7900GTX
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7950GT
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7900GT
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7900GS
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7800GTX 512
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7800GTX 256
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7800GT
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7600GT
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7600GS
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7300GT
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7300GS
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7300LE

Geforce 6 Family:
NVIDIA GEFORCE 6800ULTRA
NVIDIA GEFORCE 6800GT
NVIDIA GEFORCE 6800GS
NVIDIA GEFORCE 6800
NVIDIA GEFORCE 6800LE
NVIDIA GEFORCE 6600GT
NVIDIA GEFORCE 6600
NVIDIA GEFORCE 6600LE



NVIDIA cards(Notebook models)



Geforce 400M Family:
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 485M
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 480M
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 470M
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 460M



Geforce 200M Family:
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 280M
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 260M

Geforce 100M series:
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS 160M
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS 150M
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS 130M

Geforce 9 Family:
NVIDIA GEFORCE 9800MGTX
NVIDIA GEFORCE 9800MGT
NVIDIA GEFORCE 9800MGTS

Geforce 8 Family:
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800MGTX
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8700MGT
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8600MGT

Geforce 7 Family:
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7950GTX
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7900GTX
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7800GTX


AMD/ATI cards(Desktop models)

AMD/ATI HD 7xxx Family:
AMD/ATI HD 7970
AMD/ATI HD 7950
AMD/ATI HD 7870
AMD/ATI HD 7850
AMD/ATI HD 7770
AMD/ATI HD 7750


AMD/ATI HD 6xxx Family:
AMD/ATI HD 6990(1 PCB)
AMD/ATI HD 6970
AMD/ATI HD 6950
AMD/ATI HD 6870
AMD/ATI HD 6850
AMD/ATI HD 6670
AMD/ATI HD 6570

AMD/ATI HD 5xxx Family:
AMD/ATI HD 5970
AMD/ATI HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 edition(Can be used in CrossFire with the non-Eyefinity 6 version)
AMD/ATI HD 5870
AMD/ATI HD 5850
AMD/ATI HD 5830
AMD/ATI HD 5770
AMD/ATI HD 5750
AMD/ATI HD 5670
AMD/ATI HD 5570
AMD/ATI HD 5550
AMD/ATI HD 5450

AMD/ATI HD 4xxx Family:
AMD/ATI HD 4890
AMD/ATI HD 4870X2(1 PCB)
AMD/ATI HD 4870
AMD/ATI HD 4850
AMD/ATI HD 4830
AMD/ATI HD 4770
AMD/ATI HD 4750
AMD/ATI HD 4670
AMD/ATI HD 4650
AMD/ATI HD 4550
AMD/ATI HD 4350

AMD/ATI HD 3xxx Family:
AMD/ATI HD 3870X2(Read the extra information about HD 5970,its the same for HD 3870X2)
AMD/ATI HD3870
AMD/ATI HD 3850
AMD/ATI HD 3830
AMD/ATI HD 3650
AMD/ATI HD 3470
AMD/AT HD 3450

AMD/ATI HD 2xxx Family:
AMD/ATI HD 2900XT
AMD/ATI HD 2900PRO
AMD/ATI HD 2900GT
AMD/ATI HD 2600XT
AMD/ATI HD 2600 PRO
AMD/ATI HD 2400XT
AMD/ATI HD 2400 PRO

AMD/ATI X19xx Family:
AMD/ATI X1950XTX
AMD/ATI X1950PRO
AMD/ATI X1900XTX
AMD/ATI X1900XT
AMD/ATI X1900GT(Unlike X1900XT and 1900XTX which require a Master card to run in CrossFire,this card can be paired with another X1900GT card)

AMD/ATI X1xxx Family:
AMD/ATI X1800XT
AMD/ATI X1800GTO
AMD/ATI X1800XL
AMD/ATI X1650 PRO
AMD/ATI X1650XT
AMD/ATI X1600XT
AMD/ATI X1600PRO
AMD/ATI X1550
AMD/ATI X1300XT
AMD/ATI X1300PRO
AMD/ATI X1300

AMD/ATI X850 Family:
AMD/ATI X850XT-PE
AMD/ATI X850XT
AMD/ATI X850 PRO



AMD/ATI Cards(Notebook models)

AMD/ATI HD Family

AMD/ATI HH 6xxx Family:
AMD/ATI HD 6970M

AMD/ATI HD 5xx Family:
AMD/ATI HD 5870M

AMD/ATI HD 4xxx Family:
AMD/ATI HD 4870M

AMD/ATI HD 3xxx Family:
AMD/ATI HD 3870M


* PCB stands for Printed Circuit Board, its the hard "plastic-like" colored part in a graphics card/motherboard.


So,I hope reading this guide helps you understand MultiGPU technology better.I've kept this topic opened so that you can ask your questions and post your suggestions about the guide.
Special thanks to emp,4745454b,alias_the_​jester and MouseMonkey for helping me on this guide.

Correction ..
Different cards can be run on different speeds in CrossfireX setups.

 

[Maziar]

Correction ..
Different cards can be run on different speeds in CrossfireX setups.

There maybe expectations but ,generally,one of them downclocks/raise it's clock to match the other card.

 

[cristybinny]

any sucess stories of amd a8 3870k + asus hd6670 crossfired on asus F1A75-M LE mainboard.... please help

 

[tehhijack]

Very informative, i have two GTX 550 ti in sli

 

[antonice22]

999th reply passes by...

 

[antonice22]

1000th REPLY PASSING BY!

 

[Dropz]

1001 is not good ?