3870 crossfire fun begins

[harleybro]

Well due to the low price I picked up a pair of 3870's. I must say installation of the drivers and CCC was a real pain. After about 2-3hours I finally got it up and running so had to try some benches. The 01 run was done with no LOD adjustments so I still need to play around. I didn't find max yet on each and already had close to 274k on AM3 but paint insisted on closing each time I tried to save it. :irk: This is water on the cpu and stock cooling and no vmods on the gpu's

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/harleybro/272x.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/harleybro/78162.jpg

[Just Learnin']

Most impressive HB, Don't understand how paint can crash a PC after going through something like that then lil ol' paint takes er down. :coocoo:

[blwest]

Call me a fanboi, but this is why I like nvidia. Drivers are always easy to use and they listen to community input on their forum. ATI does make some nice hardware though.

I must say installation of the drivers and CCC was a real pain.

[boshuter]

Very nice harley :thumbs: I've been seeing some good numbers from those cards.


Are you closing all the other open apps before you open paint?

[harleybro]

I think it was more of an OC issue. Not enough voltage. I am having issues installing 03 and 05 so I don't have runs with them yet. For some reason 05 errors on installing it and 03 is constant texture erros once the second test starts. I have tried everything re-installing OS new drivers and all.

As for paint it was weird. I opened paint and it allowed me to paste the first time. I opened all of the other apps. and pulled the SS. I pasted and all was good. When I went to save it windows would error and close paint. I downclocked and tried again. Everything worked except the save. None if crashed the PC or caused a re-boot.

[harleybro]

Played some more and finally got 03 and 05 installed. I am not too happy with the 03 run. I think the killer is running p35 instead of x38 which offers 2x 16 lanes.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/harleybro/278k.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/harleybro/29115.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/harleybro/57587.jpg

[RyderOCZ]

Nice Harley....no extreme cooling or a quad here....but I have 2 of those on the way :D

[harleybro]

Nice Harley....no extreme cooling or a quad here....but I have 2 of those on the way :D

You will enjoy them I am sure. :thumb: The cards still have the stock coolers on them and no vmod. The only thing to do is flash to the unlocked bios otherwise core ocing stops at 856. With the fan set to 100% the core temp. hit maybe 50c max. as for the quad all of those runs done on 2 cores and just ice water. :)

[OnYX]

talking quads... I'm curious harleybro: you didn't get/were not interested in a QX9650 ES or you got a good deal on a retail chip?

[harleybro]

Actually I chose not to go with ES. Of coarse if it where free I would have. As of lately the retail chips have seemed to OC better then the ES's. When I puchased my OEM QX9650 it was $100 less then retail at the time and it was a definate (at first the retails had been very hard to come by and mostly needed to be pre-order) I was told by a very respected OC'er to expect 4300-4500 on water. Since I have had mine up to 4600 on ice water (4 core enabled) (4700-4800 with 2 cores) I am very impressed. I think it does in the area of 4450-4550 on ambient water. From what I see to gain the last 50-100mhz. you have to really scale up on the voltage which adds alot of heat. I am using an Apogee water block which I am not impressed with. Ice water with salt at all stock settings runs 6c in the bios. My Dtek fuzion used to bring my Q6600 closer to 0C.

[Killer Munkey]

Hope you have more luck with those drivers. I'd get angry with hardware if it takes me more than 30 minutes to get the software for the hardware working.

[boshuter]

Looking good harley...... how much of a boost in scores do you think x38 would make?

[OnYX]

Looking good harley...... how much of a boost in scores do you think x38 would make?

you mean X48? :)


Actually I chose not to go with ES. Of coarse if it where free I would have. As of lately the retail chips have seemed to OC better then the ES's. When I puchased my OEM QX9650 it was $100 less then retail at the time and it was a definate (at first the retails had been very hard to come by and mostly needed to be pre-order) I was told by a very respected OC'er to expect 4300-4500 on water. Since I have had mine up to 4600 on ice water (4 core enabled) (4700-4800 with 2 cores) I am very impressed. I think it does in the area of 4450-4550 on ambient water. From what I see to gain the last 50-100mhz. you have to really scale up on the voltage which adds alot of heat. I am using an Apogee water block which I am not impressed with. Ice water with salt at all stock settings runs 6c in the bios. My Dtek fuzion used to bring my Q6600 closer to 0C.

thanks for the info harleybro.

[brian y]

You will enjoy them I am sure. :thumb: The cards still have the stock coolers on them and no vmod. The only thing to do is flash to the unlocked bios otherwise core ocing stops at 856. With the fan set to 100% the core temp. hit maybe 50c max. as for the quad all of those runs done on 2 cores and just ice water. :)
What was the reason for disabling two cores harley?

[harleybro]

briany: Two cores are easier for me to OC higher. The reason on this chip as like many others the #3 core always seems the least OCable. So on quad ocing running wprime while raising fsb and vcore the third core is the first to drop out. I have heard it's fairly common on QX9650's that the third is the weakest. I have seen one example where the #2 was weakest and in this case disableing cores won't make a differance.

onyx: x48 looks very promising from initial testing I have seen. ;)

Boshuter: Well it might not be as much as I thought. As I said I haven't done dual cards in the past few years. I just realized why more scores where low last night. The reason being all my runs where with only one oced card. :o:rolleyes: I started running again last night and saw a big improvement in my 01 run and close to 800 pts. more almost 30k for 05. The 05 I didn't save and my 01 crashed on car low. :irk: I had to back down on my cpu OC due to the 500W psu I am using. :lol: Today I am picking up a Thermaltake 250watt psu designed just to run gpu's for the cards. :D

[boshuter]

Do you think 250w is enough to run both cards oc'd?

[harleybro]

Do you think 250w is enough to run both cards oc'd?

I think it will do it easily. I don't plan on vmods for awhile if at all. The good thing about the 3700 series is low power consumption. ;)

[RyderOCZ]

Ok...here are my early attempts, now that I have card clocking working:

http://www.ryderocz.info/x38ds4/3d03_71873.jpg
http://www.ryderocz.info/x38ds4/3d06_15909.jpg

[harleybro]

Nice Ryder. :thumb: I am working on a new ISo for xp install now. Seems there was a problem with mine as to why I was having issues with installs. I only have one update for now and that's 01. Mind if I ask which bios version you used?

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/harleybro/80885.jpg

[OnYX]

sorry for repeatedly threadcrapping harley but I MUST ask this question...


Nice Harley....no extreme cooling or a quad here....but I have 2 of those on the way :D

Ryder, do OCZ reps get those beasts for free? Say no or I have to kill you :lol: :D :beat:

[harleybro]

sorry for repeatedly threadcrapping harley but I MUST ask this question...



Ryder, do OCZ reps get those beasts for free? Say no or I have to kill you :lol: :D :beat:

No problem but if you look at the subvendor id it's His. ;)

[RyderOCZ]

Ryder, do OCZ reps get those beasts for free? Say no or I have to kill you :lol: :D :beat:No way...have the receipt to prove it.

[RyderOCZ]

Hey Harley....something I wanted to ask.

1 Crossfire Bridge or 2?

2 makes 06 lock up at the same clocks it passes with 1, am I losing something with 1?

[harleybro]

Hey Harley....something I wanted to ask.

1 Crossfire Bridge or 2?

2 makes 06 lock up at the same clocks it passes with 1, am I losing something with 1?

Actually this is really the second time I tried crossfire. The first time was X850Xt and you used a special splitter that connected two vga's with one output to monitor. :o I have been using two but you are on X38 while I am on P35. Also I haven't been able to get 06 to install due to the windows version I am using. I am working on getting an X48 this weekend to try tri or guad results. :chit:

[RyderOCZ]

Was mostly hoping maybe you had a tip from someone..been trying all over XS to get info.
Couple threads going but they are like 8 pages+ and who knows what post might have the little tidbit you need, so you have to read them all.

[harleybro]

Maybe it has something to do with the bios being locked. Although I think clocking to 877 at all means your are good. Also your bios version is similliar to mine. That's in the 14+ page thread here. (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=166334) :lol:

[traveler]

Thanks harleybro for testing and posting the info on the two HD3870's in CrossFire. :thumb:

My original plan was to do two HD3870's in CrossFire but I haven't been able to figure out which brand to get. Now it looks like I'll go with the HD3800X2 instead of two HD3870's in CrossFire. Still will need to solve the "which brand" question.

How close do you think a HD3800X2 will perform compared to a pair of CrossFire HD3870's?


:cool:

[harleybro]

Well finally got 06 to run. :D I think on X38 the score would easily be 1-2k more judging by other scores.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/harleybro/20k.jpg

[RyderOCZ]

WTH?

Why does it say Crossfire enabled (1GPU)?????

My runs all say 2 :scratch:

Should be all setup here, cold day on Sunday, high of 12F :D Looking forward to it. Cards converted to water, just have to flash the bios so I can clock higher than the 877 limit of Overdrive.

[harleybro]

WTH?

Why does it say Crossfire enabled (1GPU)?????

My runs all say 2 :scratch:

Should be all setup here, cold day on Sunday, high of 12F :D Looking forward to it. Cards converted to water, just have to flash the bios so I can clock higher than the 877 limit of Overdrive.

Ryder I think you have the new bios. The limit had been 857 I believe. Try using rivatuner and see if you can go higher. That crossfire enabled thing I believe is due to it being P35 and the x4 second lane. Looking forward to Sunday here also. I think high of 20F so I want to go for some sick air runs. :mischeif:

[RyderOCZ]

The bios that came with the cards is fixed for the 860 whatever limit, yes, but Overdrive only goes to 885, a different bios (with 830 or 860 for default clocks) raises that limit.

I can't overclock the second card in Rivatuner...just resets to stock every time you move the slider....are you seeing different? 1st card sets 900+ no problem...but even trying 789 from the stock 776 on the second card, the slider just snaps back to stock and confirmed with GPU-z, the second card remains stock.

[harleybro]

Hmm gonna have to check that. I adjusted rivatuner once and it allowed me high clocks via ccc but need to confirm it.


Edit #1
I checked and I was wrong. What do you use to edit ati bioses? Also will locking higher settings affect the unlocked bios?

Edit #2
Well I flashed and used the premade 860bios on techpower up and all seems well. I also dl'd ATI tool beta 27b4 which also allows higher clocks. I haven't tried clocking the second card but at least the first gives me a full range of adjustment.

[harleybro]

A quick single card run still on stock air coolers proved interesting. )6 graphics tests done at 945 core. :D:mischeif:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/harleybro/945.jpg

[RyderOCZ]

Stock core or pencil mod?

Nice...starting to have trouble around 904 here (stock volts).

Any tips on PCI-e speed with these cards? 119 is about the limit on this Gigabyte board before SATA goes flaky....although working my way around 105 - 110 right now....seeing better results (well....more stable is what I mean)

[harleybro]

Straight vmod. :D Only problem is I need to find software to give me good readings. The meter I have here floats between 1.4 and 1.5. As for PCI-e ditch the sata. I am running IDE and I am good to around 125-128. :yup: I have a P5K-3.

[harleybro]

A quick run on 06 with cards crossfired need to play with voltages but the P35 is still the hold back. Nayone lookin for a P35 DDR3 mobo feel free to pm me lol.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/harleybro/21404.jpg

[harleybro]

CPU at stock and stock cooler on 985 core 06. Max gpu temp. 63 and avg of 45.3. :mischeif::D

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/harleybro/985.jpg

[RyderOCZ]

2 bridges or one Harley?

I am going to have to volt mod mine...I can tell.

[harleybro]

2 bridges :yup:
Two runs this morning now that the cold weather hit. 972 core was best I could hit for 06 but 985 through 01 and I am still working at 999. :D

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/harleybro/21630.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/harleybro/81617.jpg

[harleybro]

15537 06 single card and 999 core on air :yikes:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/harleybro/15537.jpg

[boshuter]

awesome stuff harley..... those cards are nice, especially for the price :D It's good to see some hardware that can be fun to oc without having to take out a loan. :yup:

[harleybro]

Well finally starting to learn the mobo. There's soooo many settings to play with :mischeif:. A run at over 50mhz less on gpu and I have already gained close to 1500pts. in 06. :D

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/harleybro/23013.jpg

[Chimaira]

Hi everyone. I've been searching the net ALL DAY LONG to find a good 3870 crossfire thread! And here it is!

Please help me now! Hehe... Your scores are amazing but my question is why is my crossfire score only in the 12300-12400 range? Once I realized there was something horribly wrong I began my research. So far I've installed 2-3 hot fixes for vista 32bit that would supposedly fix it. I've gone through my BIOS, reinstalled drviers, done combinations of bridges, used all 4 DVI ports and made sure CCC enabled crossfire. GPU Z always says crossfire is disabled. I called up my friend and he said GPU Z said crossfire was enabled. We have the same systems except he is on XP and cat 7.12's, I'm on 8.1. But when he ran 3dmark06 his first test he had the same FPS as me (I never got his final score he had to leave for work) but it seems like he might have a low score like me as well. Any suggestions?

DFI LANparty UT 790fx-mr2
AMD Black Ed. 3.2ghz Dual Core
Mushkin HP-6400 996587 DDR2 800
WD Raptor 74GB + WD2500KS 250GB SATA
Crossfire ATI HD3870 512mb
ASUS 20x DVD-r w/ Lightscribe
OCZ GameXstream 700w PSU
Doublesight 24in Samsung s-pva true 8bit 1920x1200
Vista Home Premium 32-bit

[harleybro]

I would be curious to see how your friends score is. All in all your score does look good. Quad core is a big improvement for 06. I just did a search on futuremark for vista, 3870, amd X2 dual core. The highest score I found was 10,700. If you can next time you run do a screenshot at the end and include cpu-z and gpu-z along with the 06 results sm2, sm3, and cpu.

[harleybro]

Well a quick 03 run with much lower cpu clocks got me an over 10k improvement in 03. The P35 extremely hampers performance compared to X38 in this bench.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/harleybro/76038.jpg

[Chimaira]

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/TheJakeyl88/3dmark.jpgOk, I have been testing things all day long. I guess it is working. I didn't know the quad core could make such a difference. I took a SS with CPU-Z slightly overclocked but this is my systems sweet spot.

OK I just ran prime with those settings and failed after about 1 minute .5 came back and it expected .4 error... Ah, I've never had Prime run for me. I just went back to stock speeds and voltages and its on the 3rd test now. I'm assuming it will just run forever and be fine unless my hardware is shot. I believe its my RAM, I can't even get into windows @ anything above 218mhz FSB. Its probably my x16 multiplier now that I'm thinking about it. I'll play around. If I could get some decent overclocks I bet I could hit 14,000+ with my system. What do you think, looking at my specs, could be holding me back on the FSB. I have everything I do not need disabled in my BIOS, I've been overclocking since the k6-2 days so I'm fairly confident in what I'm doing. I'm going to say its a RAM/multiplier issue. I'm going to lower my HTT as well, I bet its best to run 800-1000mhz than over 1000. How are you doing on your benchmarks as well? You seem to be hitting some some very nice scores even if you do have that nice quad core. I'm just still amazed by the fact that you hit 15k with a single card and I'm struggling to get 14k OC'd. I'm starting to think my buddy was right and I should have jumped to Intel. I just spent 2500.00 on a complete new system I built and a great gaming monitor with a samsung s-pva 8 bit panel. My games run perfect right now and there isn't a need to be OC'ing but its in my blood.

[harleybro]

I haven't run AMD and DDR2 last AMD I ran was the FX57. As for my benchmarks I have sort of moved my thread here. (http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35090) I decided to do an actual comparison of P35 to X38. I am using the stock cooler but for anything over 864 you need a modded bios for the cards. From there it should be close to 877-900 on stock volts but I am also benching in front of an open window and it's between 20-30f outside here. Anything over those gpu clocks required a voltage mod. :thumb:

[harleybro]

Have decided to make the change again and I have a 3870X2 Enroute. :D:mischeif: Curious to see how it stacks against the crossfired 3870's