Tri/Quadfire + Eyefinity

[Ulysses 31]

I've been using 2x 5970 for a while now with eyefinity and the following issues still plague CrossfireX+Eyefinity:

V-sync capping fps at 120 while I use 60 Hrz monitors causing extra stuttering, still shows tearing
Stuttering even when fps is high
Performance lower with 3 or 4 GPUs than 2 GPUs

I'm still using 8.74-100406a-098262E-ATI beta drives because 10.6 "WHQL" won't load certain games anymore.

I found out that the stuttering doesn't happen in DX9 mode, Crysis Warhead and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games play wonderfully in 6038x1080 with full details(Warhead with 4xAA). Switching to DX10 or DX11 and the images don't flow smoothly anymore even with high fps. Performance IS higher with CrossFireX checked, in a certain area in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. I was getting around 70 fps, with CFX on it shot up to ~120. In Fallout 3 I wasn't getting higher fps but gpu usage was spread over all 4 gpus.

OpenGL games(Riddick Assault on Dark Athena) also showed higher fps with CFX+EF on and there was no stuttering.

There was a 8.74-100517a-100911E-ATI beta driver that capped v-sync fps at 60 with CFX+EF but it just seemed like a hard cap and frames weren't synced to the monitor's refresh rate, so there was still some tearing and images didn't flow smoothly either. Also using v-sync in some games crashed them and drivers had to be reinstalled to fix this.

So in short:
Tri/Quadfire does work in DX9 mode, OpenGL games in Eyefinity. For DX10/11 you'll have to switch back to single monitor res to make full use of 3/4 GPUs at this time.

AMD needs to fix this so it also works in DX10 and DX11 and with v-sync working properly! :twisted:

It's quite pathetic AMD/ATI still haven't acknowledged the Tri/Quadfire + Eyefinity issue and that there is still no PC hardware enthusiast site that has benchmarked Tri/Quadfire + Eyefinity performance scaling.

My pc specs:

Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition 2x Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 4GB TOXIC CrossFireX 8.74 drivers 8 GB Corsair Dominator GT DDR3@1800 Mhz Asus Crosshair IV Formula 3x Samsung 2494HM Eyefinity Logitech G9 Mouse Logitech G19 Keyboard Creative GigaWorks S750 7.1 2x OCZ Vertex 2 200 RAID 0 2x Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB RAID 0 Corsair Obsidian 800D Thermaltake Toughpower CM 1200 Watt Windows 7 Ultimate x64

[hunuok]

I agree totally.

This has been going on for 7 months and there is still no word from AMD/ATI about this.

Cat 10.3 WHQL seems most stable but eyefinity performance is woeful.

Cat 10.4, 10.5 and 10.6 I get the DP adapter flickering. Roll back to 10.3 and it disappears.

A guy on another forum actually sent his 5970s from England to ATI at the their request.

I believe they said they didn't have any 5970s lying around to test. Go figure.

My enquiries to ATI have resulted in the "driver issue" spool. How many WHQLs, pres, betas and hotfixes have been released since 9.12s?

Either way, I find it unacceptable that I have spent more time trying to "fix" the endless problems than the time I have spent gaming.

AMD should scrap the once a month driver releases, combine driver teams and work on drivers that consistently work.

My $0.02.

[Ulysses 31]

I agree totally.

This has been going on for 7 months and there is still no word from AMD/ATI about this.

Cat 10.3 WHQL seems most stable but eyefinity performance is woeful.

Cat 10.4, 10.5 and 10.6 I get the DP adapter flickering. Roll back to 10.3 and it disappears.

A guy on another forum actually sent his 5970s from England to ATI at the their request.

I believe they said they didn't have any 5970s lying around to test. Go figure.

My enquiries to ATI have resulted in the "driver issue" spool. How many WHQLs, pres, betas and hotfixes have been released since 9.12s?

Either way, I find it unacceptable that I have spent more time trying to "fix" the endless problems than the time I have spent gaming.

AMD should scrap the once a month driver releases, combine driver teams and work on drivers that consistently work.

My $0.02.

I was getting DP adapter flickering as well with anything newer than 10.3b drivers when I was using normal sapphire 5970 2GBs and 5870 Eyefinity6 cards but since getting 5970 TOXICs the flickering has being a whole lot less(once every 4 hours or so).

I did play some Crysis Warhead levels in 6036x1080 DX9 4xAA and it's quite a feat. Tri/Quadfire is not totally useless if you can handle playing in DX9 till that's fixed(if ever).

[tepescovir]

i'm afraid you are imagining all this. I have been back and forth to ati and sapphire customer support for the last few months over the exact same issues and they have both repeatably informed me that no one else has reported these problems so they arnt going to be fixed as its an isolated incident. and then thet just close the support tickets with the generic " wait for the next drivers to see what happens" response.

Sarcasm dosent really work on text, does it.

I have given up all hope that this will ever be fixed. ati cards for some reason have been plaged with vsync issues for years, and it just dosent be to be a consideration at all for them to fix it.
as for crossfire? how can they try to fix it if ati dosent have 2 5970's to test it on? But we sent them 2 so we know that they have.

[hunuok]

Hey there Ulysses,

Playing titles in DX9 on a DX11 platform is just wrong.

I respect the fact that "it does work" in DX9, but for AMD to sell 11 million DX11 compatable GPUs and have end users resort to DX9 hacks, registry hacks, voltage mods, BIOS flashes, active DP adapters and/or profile mods is unprofessional from AMD's POV.

If I knew I would spend 4k on VGA's and monitors alone to play titles on DX9, I would NEVER have opened this can of worms.

Yep, it's my fault, but at the very least, it should have worked out of the box.

BTW, have you tried a pair of E6 5870s in cf?

Was thinking of going that route-2GPUs, 2Gb VRAM.

[Ulysses 31]

BTW, have you tried a pair of E6 5870s in cf?

Was thinking of going that route-2GPUs, 2Gb VRAM.

I did, worked fine in any DX mode except for v-sync. But it sucks that the latest offical drivers for those is still 10.3b Preview ones. I always installed those first and install 8.74 on top of those to get things working.

Never tried them with 10.6 WHQL ones since those won't load certain games anymore with 5970 TOXICs.

[hunuok]

Thanks Ulysses.

Damn ATI!

Good hardware but crap software.

[dmanna]

They really said its an isolated incident??... that infuriates me. That just tells me that they have a problem that they obviously cant fix because there are to many fucking variables. (pardon my french) I have never been angry at ati's driver team before this whole eyefinity thing. But I cant play half my games I just grabbed off the steam sale because the driver performs terribly in certain games. Splinter cell conviction runs like balls... even with no AA and 2 5870's. And when ever the fps does happen to go high I get gorgeous looking screen tearing :( !!

[CheeWeez777]

Hey there Ulysses,

Playing titles in DX9 on a DX11 platform is just wrong.

I respect the fact that "it does work" in DX9, but for AMD to sell 11 million DX11 compatable GPUs and have end users resort to DX9 hacks, registry hacks, voltage mods, BIOS flashes, active DP adapters and/or profile mods is unprofessional from AMD's POV.

If I knew I would spend 4k on VGA's and monitors alone to play titles on DX9, I would NEVER have opened this can of worms.

Yep, it's my fault, but at the very least, it should have worked out of the box.

BTW, have you tried a pair of E6 5870s in cf?

Was thinking of going that route-2GPUs, 2Gb VRAM.

I just upgraded from a single 5970 to 2 x ASUS ROG 2GB 5870s. I had given up hope of Trifire EVER working correctly in Eyefinity, so I decided it was time to just buy the 2 FASTEST GPUs I could .

Pleased so far, other than to coincide beautifully with my new purchase, I think my SSD Boot drive is going bad, so gotta' get that fixed so I can get back to gaming! (my limited time with them was quite positive... BC2 , for example, saw a slight improvement in performance, but just felt "smoother" overall. )

[hunuok]

@Chee

I was thinking that route too.

However, all this mess has turned me off AMD products TBH.

I don't prefer one camp from another, so I'm NOT starting a flame war.

Like many others, I just want the BEST working product/setup for my budget.

[CheeWeez777]

@Chee

I was thinking that route too.

However, all this mess has turned me off AMD products TBH.

I don't prefer one camp from another, so I'm NOT starting a flame war.

Like many others, I just want the BEST working product/setup for my budget.

I don't fault you for that.

Honestly, if "N Surround" was working and supported already, I probably would have jumped ship by now myself.

I LOVE Eyefinity, and it's a real love/hate relationship with me and ATI at the moment. One the one hand, all this driver nonsense has me going gray, but I just CAN'T go back to single display gaming after being on my Eye rig for the last 6 months. :doh

[hunuok]

I hear ya. :cheers

[Phoenixdancer]

the Op's problem is he/she is useing 2x 5970's

Quad fire gaines like 2% over tri-Fire and sometimes reduces performance by like 15%....

I have a 5850 and 5970 and i canplay most games in eyefinity fine... no stuttering at all on Aprils 8.74 pack

[skyasus]

Hi to all im new in ati
I have 2 x5970 which driver i want to use for them to CF+EF? and i have a Bizlink for EF :?:

[hunuok]

Hey there,

IMO, getting quadfire (ie 2x5970)+eyefinity to work is impossible.

You will probably have to disable one card in eyefinity, and then enable both cards in single screen gaming.

Probably Cat 10.3 or 10.4 is the best stable driver for your setup.

Good luck.

[skyasus]

Thanks for your replay but my be i want to wait until cames out 10.7 or some thing that can do CF+EF :?

[hunuok]

@sky,

By all means.

If I can give you some advice, it's better to wait for drivers that can run your hardware, not the other way around.

There has been no information so far that 10.7 (or future drivers) will fix this issue.

As Chee mentioned, Eyefinity is a real love/hate relationship for tri/quadfire users.

[johnnyvd]

the Op's problem is he/she is useing 2x 5970's

Quad fire gaines like 2% over tri-Fire and sometimes reduces performance by like 15%....

I have a 5850 and 5970 and i canplay most games in eyefinity fine... no stuttering at all on Aprils 8.74 pack

5850? Really? Got any benchmarks? I'm looking also in getting Tri-fired, but getting 2 GTX480 seems to be the more sensible thing to do.. :(

**EDIT** did the not-so-smart thing to do: bought a second 5970, and just because i'm too curious.. :doh
Guess i will have to start my own topic soon!