Crossfire question - no performance gain in crysis warhead

[Sunshinewelly]

i have 2 HD4850 GDDR5 crossfire cards and notice a huge performance jump in 3dmark06 when crossfire is enabled - almost a double jump in performance from one card to the 2 crossfired. ie 12500 score to over 18500 when crossfired

however in crysis warhead i see no difference between one card and when the 2 are enabled. fraps shows an identical framerate when using one card or using the 2 together. using the autotest picks the gamer setting when using one or both cards which surely is not right

is there an official crysis warhead bench-test i can use to test these cards.

i have downloaded a benchmark but have no idea how to use it

is there some sort of driver i need to download ?

[EndlessWaves]

Didn't the benchmark come with a readme?

I assume you're using the latest Catalyst drivers?

[Sunshinewelly]

problem solved

[Sunshinewelly]

got an average 31 fps with crossfire on the enthausiastic settings and 20 fps with crossfire turned off

[EndlessWaves]

Originally Posted by FGEvans1

problem solved

What was the solution?

[Razor]

Probably enabling Catalyst AI.

[Sunshinewelly]

it was odd but running fraps seemed to ruin the performance. Fraps was giving a frame rate of less than 15 fps whether one or both cards were enabled

i got the benchmarking software to run and found that there was at least a 50% increase when crossfire was on.

I am very impressed with these HD4850 cards with the GDDR5 memory.

However due to the size of the heat sinks on them the cards sit very close to each other and as a result on card is noticably hotter than the other ie one card is at 65 degrees when at load whilst the primary card is at 85 degrees at load. Is that too hot for a graphics card these days

[Razor]

If thats full load speed then its ok. You should install riva tunner and monitor your temps whilst playing a game to see how hot your cards get. I think the shut off point is 105c or 110c.

What are you using to record temps at load? If your simply alt+tabing out of a game and looking at catalyst then this isn't accurate. By the time you get to look at catalyst your temps would of dropped by a fair bit.

Depending on what case you have you might be able to rig up a side fan which will cool your graphics cards down. Let me know if you need any help mate.


BTW ATI cards are renowned for their poor coolers which doesn't help with temps or noise at all.

[Sunshinewelly]

thats what i am doing ie using alt - delete etc and monitoring ATI catalyst.

i will check out the temps with the method you suggested and see what the result is.

they are sonic palit cards which do not have a stock cooler etc.

one of the cards is obviously taking the heat from the other card and hence is running hotter. (they are very close together in my Mother board).

i also have everest - i assume that will monitor the card temps for me

[Razor]

Originally Posted by FGEvans1

thats what i am doing ie using alt - delete etc and monitoring ATI catalyst.

i will check out the temps with the method you suggested and see what the result is.

they are sonic palit cards which do not have a stock cooler etc.

one of the cards is obviously taking the heat from the other card and hence is running hotter. (they are very close together in my Mother board).

i also have everest - i assume that will monitor the card temps for me

You will probably find that the temps you are getting by doing this method could be upto 20c out.

Once you install riva tuner launch the monitoring mode and it will list both cards separately and displays gpu memory temps, gpu temp, fan speed, clock speed etc.... Its a very good app. Everest should also do what you need.

This is one draw back of going crossfire or SLI unless your mobo has the pci-e spacings really far apart (normally on top end mobos). The cards end up being too close together and one card runs allot hotter than the other. What you dont want is one card to get throttled back due to heat whilst the other card is working away as normal.

You could add a bracket like this with a 120mm fan on pointing down ontop of your two cards to help with the temps. Its a cheap but effective mod.

Zalman BR123 and FANFIX1

[EndlessWaves]

Originally Posted by FGEvans1

However due to the size of the heat sinks on them the cards sit very close to each other and as a result on card is noticably hotter than the other ie one card is at 65 degrees when at load whilst the primary card is at 85 degrees at load. Is that too hot for a graphics card these days

85°C is fine, the 4850 runs hot and the stock cooler makes it idle at just over 80°C.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by EndlessWaves

85°C is fine, the 4850 runs hot and the stock cooler makes it idle at just over 80°C.

85c isnt good for idle temps. My 4870X2 in a small htpc case in a semi enclosed av rack used to idle at 74-78c with the stock cooler on. The 4870x2 is a hot card as it has 2 x 4870 gpus on one card.

My 4850 in another small htpc case idles at 50c with a custom HIS cooler on.

I would say a 65-70c idle speed is right for a stock ATI cooler on a 4850. FGEvans1 hasnt got a stock cooling on his card and I would of thought that 60c would be around the right temp with an aftermarket cooler on.

[Sunshinewelly]

cheers razor for the advice on the fan - i think i will get one of them. my mate suggested trying to put a small wedge between the cards to allow more air to flow - he thinks that the connectors should have enough flexibility in them to allow that - i am not convinced of this though

best wishes sunshinewelly

[Razor]

Originally Posted by FGEvans1

cheers razor for the advice on the fan - i think i will get one of them. my mate suggested trying to put a small wedge between the cards to allow more air to flow - he thinks that the connectors should have enough flexibility in them to allow that - i am not convinced of this though

best wishes sunshinewelly

My pleasure mate. Let me know how you get on.

I wouldnt wedge my cards apart it could damage the mobo. Also the graphics cards are screwed to the pc case. Not a great idea.