5970 Quadfire + Eyefinity

[hunuok]

Hey there,

I have been using Eyefinity with my dual 5970 setup with POOR results. Using a single card I am getting good frame rates albeit with lowered settings.

However, when enabling the second card, my frame rates turn into a slide show(<5 FPS ave).

I have tried cat 9.12, 10.1, 10.2 and 10.3 pre with mixed results. 10.3 pre seems to be the best at the moment (~12 FPS ave). Hardly playable!

I have sent ATI a ticket with a recommendation to use 10.2. This defeated the purpose because I was already using 10.2s. On other forums, members have advised to "wait for better drivers" or "thats what you get for for being an early adopter".

My concern is that ATI may adopt a "just" get it working attitude before releasing next generation cards. I felt they did this with my previous 3870 cf and 4870x2 cf setups (I know what youre thinking : once bitten, twice shy).

So, my question is : Should I wait/hope for better drivers OR should I sell one of my cards?

Thanks in advance.

[X3R Kefran]

I am in the same situation (except that I have not yet received my second 5970).
I really hope that 5970 eyefinity-quadfire will be supported soon; Eyefinity nearly being the only configuration where one would need more than a single 5970.

If we do not get some info in the coming weeks regarding eyefinity & Quadfire, I think that I will sell my 5970s and try to get an ASUS ROG (5970 4GB)

I am running 10.3 pre currently and we can see that ATI has greatly improved eyefinity+crossfire support. So, I think that we should remain confident.

[jchome]

Yep, I am in the same boat as well. Eyefinity with two 5970's in crossfire has HORRIBLE performance. Disabling crossfire improves performance... :?

I filed a support ticket with AMD about this yesterday. And I am trying to get a confirmation from them that

1. there is a confirmed bug in 10.2
2. they are working on fixing the problem

If I can't get this confirmation, I will be ditching the whole ATI experiment and go back to NVidia when Fermi shows up.

It's pretty disappointing to see

1. advertise the heck out of eyefinity and crossfire
2. their top of the line cards don't actually work with this combination

Folks who have the money to take this kind of plunge are usually in a position to post early benchmarks and reviews too. I am writing up a blog about this whole experience to steer folks away from buying into eyefinity + crossfire.

[thenjwaslike]

man this sucks, i have another 5970 on the way but i was thinking about gettin a 5970 4gb model when it launches..

[lowdog]

I have 5970 + 5870 trifire and it's the same problem with eyefinity. I think the 5970 4GB model is going to suck so much power and run so hot it won't even be worth the effort owning the card if you already have a current 5970.

[hunuok]

Thanks Guys for your input!

When I sent a ticket to ATI it was initially rejected because of inappropriate language!

The subject of the ticket was as follows:

1. Why advertise/trump up Eyefinity/Crossfire if it doesnt work out of the box? (ATI did mention that SUPPORT will come AFTER release, BUT who does that?)
2. They should put a disclaimer on the box stating "we have have the fastest graphics card on the planet BUT dont ever put two of them together because it will scale like s@#$. we dont know IF or WHEN it will ever work BUT thanks for spending your money"

Its kind of like this : Formula 1 racing is there to test/develop NEW technology that will eventually work its way down to mass production AFTER all the bugs have been ironed out. ATI produce the fastest/best graphics card on the planet but its functions will "just" work AFTER they release "mass production" 5770/5750/5830/5670/5570/5450 cards.

No disrespect to people who purchase these products, BUT if I choose to buy a Ferrari shouldnt I expect ALL cylinders to fire upon delivery? Instead, I have to bring my "sputtering" car back every month in the HOPE that a software upgrade will fix the problem.

Call it ranting/whinging etc, but I'm fast losing patience.

To the members who replied, again THANKS. :D

[01Boxer]

So, my question is : Should I wait/hope for better drivers OR should I sell one of my cards?

Sell one card and donate the money for earthquake victims relief.

Generally speaking, any setup with more than 2 cards in SLI/Crossfire is not really worth it. The gain in performance is not really worth the extra money and the added complexity creates too much instability.

[CheeWeez777]

I can't help but find it ironic that the place we need the extra horsepower the MOST is with an Eyefinity setup- which is of course where scaling SUCKS.

I know we are a VERY small minority, but wouldn't it behoove them to get this crap working, so that those of us that want to run our extreme "eye" resolutions with all eye-candy on can buy our extra GPUs? (hence they sell more cards...)

I do understand it's not that simple, but it just amazes me this wasn't addressed before released.

In short....I feel your pain. :cry:

[01Boxer]

Early adoption does come with pitfalls: early versions of products may be buggy and/or prone to malfunction (such as the Commodore 64 or Xbox 360) or prematurely obsolete (8 track tapes, Betamax, HD DVD). Furthermore, more efficient, less expensive versions of the product usually appear a few months after the initial release. The trend of new technology costing more at release is colloquially referred to as the "early adopter tax".

[hunuok]

@Big Bad Voodoo Daddy:

I totally agree with you and thanks.

@Riva Las Vegas:

"more efficient, less expensive versions of the product usually appear a few months after the initial release. The trend of new technology costing more at release is colloquially referred to as the "early adopter tax".

As a "tax" payer, arent I entitled to BENEFITS?lol. Also, their flagship (ie 5970) is just that. Their image/brand/product for the world to see.

Your advice is well taken. In the future, I will definitely assess BOTH red and green team products before becoming a guinea pig.

As for now, I think will wait for Cat 10.3, 10.4 and Cat 10.5 before considering scrapping the whole project and going NVIDIA.

I believe being loyal to ATI for 10 years should amount to SOMETHING.

[01Boxer]

It seems that nVIDIA's approach is better: don't give much information, don't have any representatives having a presence on a forum and nobody will criticize you. Genius!

[jchome]

It seems that nVIDIA's approach is better: don't give much information, don't have any representatives having a presence on a forum and nobody will criticize you. Genius!

Actually, yeah. I've been on NVidia's bleeding edge ever since they bought 3dfx. NVidia does not participate much (if at all) in online forums.

Despite this lack of participation, I've been mostly satisfied with their bleeding edge offerings because their stuff actually works when it's advertised as such. Sure, they got their share of bugs but I don't recall having the kind of experience I am having with ATI now.

I don't want to start a flame war on ATI vs NVidia. Like you are saying we are early adopters and should be prepared to take some beating as a result. However, this doesn't mean that we can't file support requests or discuss the issues we are having on an online forum for our own benefit and to warn others.

What I am wondering is - for a person who seem to be so against being an early adopter, what are you doing in an eyefinity section of this forum? Are you just trolling for responses from people who can afford the hardware? :lol:

[hunuok]

I too, noticed that NVIDIA release drivers when they are ready (with the exception of latest drivers) and not release "once a month" drivers . I know its a marketing ploy, BUT if drivers arent ready, is that a sound marketing strategy?

I dont want to start a flame war. If ATI want to fix problems with their drivers, they should take note of people on forums as we are the ones who do the testing it seems.

Ticket responses such as "its in the release notes so it works" or "we havent been able to replicate the problem" just dont cut it. I read that ATI prioritize what they will be addressing in upcoming driver releases. I suppose having a system in the minority doesnt make it a priority for ATI.

However, as more and more people adopt Eyefinity and NOW want to implement Crossfire as well, I hope ATI does something about it sooner rather than later!

[titoray]

what kind of cpu would i need to run a 5970 in quadfire? would a pheonom II 965 work at 3.8 ghz

[lowdog]

what kind of cpu would i need to run a 5970 in quadfire? would a pheonom II 965 work at 3.8 ghz

That should do it yeah :D

[hunuok]

@ titoray:

Being partial to Intel, an i7 920 (D0 stepping) overclocks and performs like a dream. Either way, either should be FINE.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-desktop-cpu-charts-update-1/benchmarks,60.html