Asus HD7850 crossfirex questions

[maclem8223]

Built a new rig about a month ago:
i5 3570k OC 4.5Ghz/1.25V
Asus P8Z-77 V-LK
Thermaltake Smart 750 modular
Asus Radeon Hd 7850 2GB
Corsair H55i
Corsair Graphite Series
Monitor is my 52" Sharp Aquos HDTV 1080p 60hz (I believe).

Long story short I got an extra Asus HD 7850 for basically just shipping from a buddy of mine, just had an extra laying around apparently. So I figured I could play around with crossfirex if for nothing else, a learning experience. Besides the physical installation and driver install there isn't a whole lot out there in regards to actual settings for best performance in different games (I.e.Tombraider, Skyrim). I have the latest CCC and CAPS installed. Tombraider is running ok along with AC 4 Black Flag, although Im getting some Frame Stuttering? Skyrim is a whole other story. It has major issues from the opening cutscene. Unless I'm just not searching for the right keywords, I'm not having much luck through google or other forums. A nudge in the right direction as far as basic Setup would be greatly appreciated if that is possible. I don't mind a single GPU but I would like to see what this setup can do. Thanks in advance and I apologize if I'm missing something obvious but yes crossfirex is enabled in CCC.

 

[kushdawg007]

Have you tried disabling ULPS, easiest way to do that is through Afterburner but there are other ways as well you can google. Are both cards 2 GB, if not itwould be throttling to 1 GB. Also the 7850 are real good overclockers, i have one that I undervolted and running at 1050 core and 1450 mem, runs mostly mix of med-ultra settings @ 60fps on most recent games. Lighting, MSAA/Antialiasing is the major settings you need to lower to get better frames. Hope this helps.

 

[257Tony]

I have that same setup in my family PC. Had major, major problems getting skyrim to work. Try a few different drivers, also most of the newer drivers have the CAPS built in, so don't install them separately. I am currently running Cat 13.9, the newest Beta caused the entire PC to freeze when launching Skyrim.

 

[maclem8223]

I have that same setup in my family PC. Had major, major problems getting skyrim to work. Try a few different drivers, also most of the newer drivers have the CAPS built in, so don't install them separately. I am currently running Cat 13.9, the newest Beta caused the entire PC to freeze when launching Skyrim.

Yeah, I'm having similar issues with Skyrim, the screen just goes crazy on the newest Beta CCC. (13.9 I think as well). So you are recommending I try an older driver for the cards? I will uninstall the CAPS and the newest Beta edition and backtrack a bit on the updates. Thanks for the info on the CAPS I though I had to download them separately.

 

[maclem8223]

Ok so I disabled ULPS through REGEDIT,now to uninstall drivers and CCC and start fresh. I realize crossfire needs some tweaking, but I think I might be in over my head. I know these cards are good for overclocking and I'd love to but I haven't the slightest idea where to begin. There is a ton of info out there so I have a lot of research to do!

 

[257Tony]

Keep working on it, they are pretty impressive for the money once you get it working. Sucks that its such a PITA, but the payoff can be worth it if you find the magical correct settings.

 

[maclem8223]

Yeah I was just looking for some type of baseline settings somewhere to start with and not having any luck. I'll keep working on it today. And I wouldn't think so but could my i5 be a bottleneck with this setup?

 

[257Tony]

Yeah I was just looking for some type of baseline settings somewhere to start with and not having any luck. I'll keep working on it today. And I wouldn't think so but could my i5 be a bottleneck with this setup?

No, that is plenty of cpu for that setup.

 

[maclem8223]

That's what I figured. Anyways I think I have a fairly good setup now, completely uninstalled all AMD and ATI files and uninstalled the GPU drivers. Did a complete fresh install of CCC (not the newest Beta) and things seem to be running much more smoothly simply with Windows picking up the GPUs on reboot and installing. Skyrim is running really smooth now and also Tombraider. Thanks for all the advice, I'm going to keep doing some research to include possibly overclocking these and then testing out BF4. I think I'll need to watch the temps closely though.