Using two identical graphics cards with AMD Crossfire (HD 7770's)

[MrDukidog]

Hi guys! I'm having trouble using both my graphics cards at once. All my drivers are updated and the graphics cards are both detected and utilized via the AMD crossfire enable option, but i have some very annoying problems. One is that every time i log on it asks me to enable crossfire which i'm sure isn't right. Most importantly when i'm playing my games there is no improved performance and very distorted glitches happen during gampeplay to terrain and mostly HUD elements. Also when playing highly advanced graphics games such as Skyrim my computer eventually crashes and and throws out a black screen with a continuous noise coming from my monitor. Sometimes when i turn on my computer and log in it tells me it couldn't find an operating system. I have tried to figure out the problem via trial and error and have concluded its not the graphics cards or connection to the motherboard. I also have two crossfire cables and i'm pretty sure that both of them wont be faulty. I have only had my PC for a few weeks and this problem began on day one. Thanks for your time! ;)

[Jelly Bean]

Hello and welcome.

 

Firstly check both cards are fully seated in there slots and any cable connections are fully pushed in.

 

Secondly lets check if its an over heating problem.

 

Download and run SpeedFan and post temps at idle and underload please.

 

Could you please post your computer hardware specs for us as this will help us determin what the issue maybe.

 

Here is a simple and quick tool to use: Belarc.Download,install and run,this will give you a list of hardware.Also we need things like what wattage your PSU is as adding two graphics cards to a computer is not as simple as people think especially when it is a branded computer already prebuilt from a manufacturer.We adivise to upgrade the PSU as well as GPU.

 

Not all systems can use dual ATI graphics cards; in order to take advantage of ATI CrossFire technology, you must have the following:

 

 

• A Crossfire-capable motherboard with two PCI-express x16 or x8 lanes
  
• A power supply capable of powering the cards you choose
  
• Two identical ATI CrossFire-capable graphics cards
  
• CrossFire bridge connector
  

 

More things to try is Uninstall the old GPU drivers then download and update the graphic cards hardware drivers.

 

Have you installed the Cross-Fire Bridge?

 

Did you enter BIOS and setup Dual Slot Configuration?

 

Use this link as a basic setup help as a check list: How to Install ATI Crossfire.

 

You say a noise comes from the monitor are you using the monitor as a speaker or do you use sperate speakers?

 

Let me know your specs and try the few things I have listed above and let me know how it goes.

 

Thankyou JB.

[MrDukidog]

file:///C:/Program%20Files%20(x86)/Belarc/BelarcAdvisor/System/tmp/(chris-PC).html Theses are my computer hardware specs.

I have checked all connections and they are fine.

 

When my pc is not running a game or software the gpu temp is 30 degrees or under and when im running a game or software it reaches around the 40-50 mark.

 

I have uninstalled all gpu drivers and installed the more up to date drivers.

 

when it allows me i have set up the crossfire in the bios.

 

The noises came from my monitor because that was the audio format i was using.

 

The problem still persists, i am worried about the slots my graphics cards are inserted into. One of them appears to only contain half the golden pins than the other but when this slot is used my grpahics card works perfectly fine, could this be a problem for crossfiring alone? every slot and graphics card works fine when only one is used. Thanks for the advice:D

[KenB]

Just tried that link to system specs ...............nothing ??

 

One of them appears to only contain half the golden pins than the other

You need 2 identical PCI x 16 slots.

 

Post the make and model number of your motherboard.

[MrDukidog]

Oh sorry, not sure why it didnt work. Ill run down a list:

AMD 8 core 3.6ghz

Two radeon 7770's graphics cards

1 TB memory

ASUS M5A97 Motherboard

750w power cool PSU

windows 7 64-bit

 

Im sure my motherboard is compatible for crossfire its just recently I noticed the difference in the PCI slots

[Helcaraxe]

It does support Crossfire, but the two 16x slots will run at different speeds, with one card fitted the top slot gets 16x bandwidth but with two cards fitted the bottom slot will only run at 4x bandwidth.

 

Full specs here----->http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M5A97/#specifications

[MrDukidog]

Ok, i suppose i can live with that but i still need to sort out all the other problems that don't really make sense. Whats the point in using two cards if it just slows down your pc and makes it have a spaz attack?