4870 Crossfire problems

J

jonathanm

New Member
Hello,

Just wondering if anyone out there can help me with this problem I've been having since I installed a pair of VisionTek 4870's in Crossfire on my Rampage Formula X48 Motherboard. I have a 750W power supply, so I don't think that's the issue.

Everything was working great with my old Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTS, but I wasn't getting the framerates on my 1920x1200 monitor.

The problem seems to happen when I'm playing games (like Warhammer Online, Mass Effect, or even older ones like Dawn of War 40K) it crashes my system.

I've checked my NB temperatures and they're around 58-60 Celcius (seems a bit hot).

Does anyone know what I might be able to try to fix this instability? I read somewhere that I could increase the PCI-E voltage, but I'm not sure.

Thanks for any help that you can provide.
 

My Computer

System One

It's usually not recommended to up the PCI-E Voltage.. thats a good way to fry your new cards bro. I've been looking into that board and I have some friends that just got it. It's a beast, and it can handle some pretty high temps according to the MFGers.

I know that many many people have been buying a little 40mm fan and strapping it to the NB on those boards. but as long as you stay around 60 or less you should be good. anything above 65 and I'd begin to worry.

Get something like this, there is others, but get a 40 x 40 x 10. as the x20 is to tall. There are others but this is a decent CFM at a low dBA

Newegg.com - EVERCOOL EC4010 40mm Case Fan - Case Fans

Good luck, let us know how it goes.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q9650 E0 4.0 GHz @1.304v
    Motherboard
    eVGA 750i FTW
    Memory
    2x2GB Corsair Dominator PC2-8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA/MSI GTX 260 SLI
    Sound Card
    X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung T240 & 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200 & 1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Seagate Cuda 500GB 32mb Cache SATA 7200.(11) + 500GB Seagate Cuda External eSATA, USB, FW400
    PSU
    PC P&C 750w Silencer PSU
    Case
    CoolerMaster HAF 932 (Water-Cooled)
    Cooling
    Plenty of Fans, and a few 230mm Fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G11
    Mouse
    Logitech MX-518
    Other Info
    ASUS 20x Optical, Bose Companion 3, ATH-AD500 Cans :), Patriot Xporter 16GB Flash Drive (Very Fast), & Sandisk Micro 8GB.

    Nikon D40 DSLR with 18-105mm VR & 55-200mm VR
Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm going to buy a 40mm fan and try strapping it to the northbridge with a plastic tie (it's going to be ugly cause the heatsink on the x48 is so large).

The alternative I've read about is to actually remove the whole heatpipe from the MB and put on decent thermal paste.

Here are some threads about it:
Asus Rampage Formula (X48) Thread - Page 11 - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net

I'll let you know how it goes. I think the temp on the nb is high because of the Crossfire traffic.

Jonathan
 

My Computer

System One

Do not up the voltage or increase the PCI-E bus with an ATI card(s) installed. You can get away with that running an nVidia card, but ATI's don't react well at all to this.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Fumz' Flux-Capacitor
    CPU
    E8400
    Motherboard
    DFI LP DK P35-T2RS
    Memory
    4GB G.Skill PC-1066
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS
    Sound Card
    X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    500GB W.D. RE2 Primary
    1TB W.D. Caviar GP WD10EACS
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
    Case
    Lian Li Lancool K62
    Cooling
    Thermalright Ultima-90/S-Flex 120mm
    Keyboard
    MS Natural Elite 4000 Ergonomic
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Internet Speed
    2.5MB/430
    Other Info
    D-Link DGL 4500
what ya mean you can get away with it with Nvidia.. is there an advantage to that?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q9650 E0 4.0 GHz @1.304v
    Motherboard
    eVGA 750i FTW
    Memory
    2x2GB Corsair Dominator PC2-8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA/MSI GTX 260 SLI
    Sound Card
    X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung T240 & 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200 & 1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Seagate Cuda 500GB 32mb Cache SATA 7200.(11) + 500GB Seagate Cuda External eSATA, USB, FW400
    PSU
    PC P&C 750w Silencer PSU
    Case
    CoolerMaster HAF 932 (Water-Cooled)
    Cooling
    Plenty of Fans, and a few 230mm Fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G11
    Mouse
    Logitech MX-518
    Other Info
    ASUS 20x Optical, Bose Companion 3, ATH-AD500 Cans :), Patriot Xporter 16GB Flash Drive (Very Fast), & Sandisk Micro 8GB.

    Nikon D40 DSLR with 18-105mm VR & 55-200mm VR
there is a myth that boosting the PCI-E bus will net you higher card clocks while OCing

mine is set @ 110mhz 24-7 ..this is my highest stable OC ...pretty good for a GT with no voltmod. so it could of helped

but as fumz says it is VERY HAZARDOUS ....the GPU is an expensive bit of kit to kill i had not heard it was worse on ATI
i knew it was quite bad for Nvidia cards so i would listen to fumz
& leave it stock..:)
 

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My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    ME.....
    CPU
    Q9450 @ 3.6ghz
    Motherboard
    P5K PREMIUM
    Memory
    8GB 1066mhz buffalo firestix
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD 5970
    Monitor(s) Displays
    20'' syncmaster
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    160GB 7200RPM SEAGATE BARRACUDA IDE
    160GB 7200RPM SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA 2
    PSU
    XCILIO 850w
    Case
    unknown ATX
    Cooling
    Arctic cooler pro 775
    Keyboard
    logitech EX110
    Mouse
    logitech cordless optical
    Internet Speed
    2mb
If you have an nVidia card you can get away with increasing the Hz on the PCI-e bus or the AGP bus. There are some benefits to this, but as far as tricks to improve performance go, it's relatively low on the list. 100-110MHz is as high as I'd go on the PCI-e and 68-69Hz is as high as I'd go on the AGP.. but again, only if you have an nVidia card.

ATI's like it best when they're run as spec'd; they get tempermental if not 66Hz on the AGP bus or 100MHz on the PCI-e bus.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Fumz' Flux-Capacitor
    CPU
    E8400
    Motherboard
    DFI LP DK P35-T2RS
    Memory
    4GB G.Skill PC-1066
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS
    Sound Card
    X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    500GB W.D. RE2 Primary
    1TB W.D. Caviar GP WD10EACS
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
    Case
    Lian Li Lancool K62
    Cooling
    Thermalright Ultima-90/S-Flex 120mm
    Keyboard
    MS Natural Elite 4000 Ergonomic
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Internet Speed
    2.5MB/430
    Other Info
    D-Link DGL 4500
Ur sig is amazing. I used to love that video.

cool I will leave that PCI-E bus alone then
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q9650 E0 4.0 GHz @1.304v
    Motherboard
    eVGA 750i FTW
    Memory
    2x2GB Corsair Dominator PC2-8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA/MSI GTX 260 SLI
    Sound Card
    X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung T240 & 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200 & 1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Seagate Cuda 500GB 32mb Cache SATA 7200.(11) + 500GB Seagate Cuda External eSATA, USB, FW400
    PSU
    PC P&C 750w Silencer PSU
    Case
    CoolerMaster HAF 932 (Water-Cooled)
    Cooling
    Plenty of Fans, and a few 230mm Fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G11
    Mouse
    Logitech MX-518
    Other Info
    ASUS 20x Optical, Bose Companion 3, ATH-AD500 Cans :), Patriot Xporter 16GB Flash Drive (Very Fast), & Sandisk Micro 8GB.

    Nikon D40 DSLR with 18-105mm VR & 55-200mm VR
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