Can I do this and kill two birds with one stone?

balane

Senior member
Dec 15, 2006
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I've added a second LCD to my system using an HD 5870. I get the 2nd LCD flickering and absolutely can not fix it. I've tried it all, even flashing the BIOS with different clocks and it just will not go away. I have honestly explored just about every avenue I could find and have had no luck getting rid of the flicker. (The monitor does not flicker when I run it alone.)

So I thought i would run a second video card for the 2nd monitor. And I thought while I was doing this what a great time to get PhysX running.

The 2nd LCD uses a 15 pin D-Sub connector but I have a DVI adapter so it doesn't really matter what the output on the 2nd video card is.

The 2nd card will not be used for gaming at all as my primary 28" LCD will continue to run off of the 5870.

So, I need to,

1.) Select a cheap nvidia Card that supports PhysX.
2.) Install it in one of my other PCIE slots.
3.) Install some specific older driver that allows PhysX to run on both monitors.

If the above three items are correct I have two questions;

Which driver do I need to download? (I assume I can find it on Google.)

Is there a cheap PCIE nVidia card you can recommend? It will be running a 18.5" 1366x768 LCD in portrait, Windows 7 only, no games. Would like it to be quiet, small, cool, cheap, low power and hopefully require no power connectors.

Maybe I'm asking too much.

Thakns for any help.
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
Adding a nvidia card might cause you more problems. And physx does not work with a 5870 installed.

If you really can't get your 5870 to display on 2 displays correctly, you have 2 choices wait for a fix or sell the card and buy a Nvidia card.

Sorry.:(
 

balane

Senior member
Dec 15, 2006
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0
76
Oh wow, I had no idea about that. Is it just the 5870 you can't slave an nVidia card off of and use it for PhysX?
 

notty22

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2010
3,375
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There is a way to fix this.
People have set up custom profiles in CCC to set 2d clocks.
They just don't go as low and often which causes the flickering.
Memory speeds in specific.
I don't have specific directions but I've read them before.
You can do this in msi afterburner 2.0
Go to the profiles tab in settings.
Go to automatic profile management
there is a 2d tab
choose a setting that you have made in front screen.
Choose something like 250/600
You can experiment and lower either settings for power management.
You can leave 3d profile not assigned and nothing automatic will effect 3d clocks at startup
 

Dark Shroud

Golden Member
Mar 26, 2010
1,576
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Oh wow, I had no idea about that. Is it just the 5870 you can't slave an nVidia card off of and use it for PhysX?

Nvidia's software scans your system's hardware. If it detects an ATI/AMD card present it will disable/block/prevent PhysX from running on Nvidia GPUs. You'll be limited to CPU PhysX only.
 

balane

Senior member
Dec 15, 2006
666
0
76
Tried all the clock speeds imaginable notty, nothing works. Spent over a week on this now and it isn't going away. But thanks for the tip.

I guess I misunderstood about PhysX. I thought one driver leaked out at some point for the nVidia card which would allow it to run PhysX with an ATI card installed.

This isn't so? I honestly remember reading about this at some point.

I'm still not against adding a 2nd card though, not as xfire but just to run the 2nd monitor because hopefully my primary card will run cooler (It heated up quite a bit with the addition of a 2nd LCD.) and also maybe stop the flickering. If the PhysX thing doesn't work out then maybe I'll look at a low cost ATI card for it.
 

Idontcare

Elite Member
Oct 10, 1999
21,118
58
91
balane, there are really two separate issues here.

First, your video card appears to be borked. Sure it works fine if you limit how you use it, but when you try and use it in a way that you should be able to use it then you have issues.

If I were in your shoes I'd be rma'ing that card. Who knows what else is wrong with it.

Second issue is "can I get phsyx working with my AMD card"...there are lots of threads on this in the forums, nothing wrong with making a new one to talk about it but I just mention it because if you search around a bit you'll get a lot of info about it a lot faster than waiting for it to be posted in your thread again.
 

balane

Senior member
Dec 15, 2006
666
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I would RMA it if I could but I'm stuck with it. It works great with everything but the occasional flash of a black line on the 2nd monitor. No problems at all when just one monitor is used. If I can add a 2nd video card that eliminates the problems entirely AND gives me PhysX then everything would be great.

As far as searching for answers I have tried but as you can see, the first two replies to my post state that what I'm asking to do is impossible, there is a lot of conflicting information out there and I'm just trying to get to the bottom of it all.

Guess I'll just order up a GT 220 and hope for the best. Really can't hurt and I'll return it if I can't get it to do what I want.

Thanks for the help.
 

Kenmitch

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
8,505
2,248
136
I think the 257.15 nvidia drivers is what you are after. They are beta but no ATI lockout with them :)

When you flashed the bios what clocks did you try for the 2d and secondly did you try upping the voltage a little bit?
 

Idontcare

Elite Member
Oct 10, 1999
21,118
58
91
I would RMA it if I could but I'm stuck with it. It works great with everything but the occasional flash of a black line on the 2nd monitor. No problems at all when just one monitor is used. If I can add a 2nd video card that eliminates the problems entirely AND gives me PhysX then everything would be great.

Bummer. I'm sure you've said that already and I just completely missed it so I apologize for making you write it twice just for my sake.

Maybe sell it? Sure you won't get full value but there's got to be lots of people out there who only want single-LCD config and would buy the card knowing there is an issue if you hook-up another LCD.

As far as searching for answers I have tried but as you can see, the first two replies to my post state that what I'm asking to do is impossible, there is a lot of conflicting information out there and I'm just trying to get to the bottom of it all.

Yeah the conflicting info is because its not officially supported by neither AMD nor Nvidia but there are ways to make it happen.

So if you want to do it and have it be fully supported, future driver updates won't break it, etc, then the answer is no it can't be done.

But if you are willing to install beta drivers and coddle the situation a little then it can be done.
 

balane

Senior member
Dec 15, 2006
666
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I've tried a ton of different speeds with no luck. Currently they are idling in Windows at 400/1200. I never see them change from this unless I go into a game when they ramp up to 900/1300. I've been doing this through BIOS flashes.

Here's the current flash I have on there. Can you recommend any changes?

gpu.jpg
 

Kenmitch

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
8,505
2,248
136
Clock info 01 or 06 is your idle. Not sure which one forsure.

Did you save original bios?
 

RavenSEAL

Diamond Member
Jan 4, 2010
8,670
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Get another ATI card and crossfire? Only solution i can tell. Or you can you RMA it if it still under warranty.
 

balane

Senior member
Dec 15, 2006
666
0
76
It's clock 01. The stock bios in there now is exactly the same as the one I posted with the exception of 900/1300 being 850/1200

I've monitored my clocks extensively and they never drop below 400/1200 regardless of what I put in the vid bios.
 

jackstar7

Lifer
Jun 26, 2009
11,679
1,944
126
Perhaps you already tried all the troubleshooting, but did you try hooking up the second monitor to each of the available outputs on the card?

Is either of your monitors equipped with DP? Did you eliminate the monitor itself as a possible source of the problem?
 

MangoX

Senior member
Feb 13, 2001
555
43
91
I believe you need to have your idle memory clocks above 400 to completely eliminate any flickering with a dual monitor setup.
 

balane

Senior member
Dec 15, 2006
666
0
76
Yes, I did try swapping the monitors on the outputs, I have tried different cables and different dsub/dvi adapters. ATI overdrive has been unchecked. The only way I was able to eliminate the monitor itself is by the fact that it operates perfectly when used alone. It's a Sapphire card, not a reference card.

I'll go back and put all the clocks to a minimum of 400. I'm not sure why that BIOS is on there with the lower clocks but I did have them at 400 before but I was doing a lot of changes and I must have accidentally put this BIOS back in there at one point. Even when they were at 400 the 2nd monitor still got the flickering though. I'm going to restore the 400 minimum clock BIOS I was using though, just to be sure.

So it seems that most of you don't believe adding a 2nd card, a nVidia card for PhysX and to run the 2nd monitor is not a good idea?
 

MangoX

Senior member
Feb 13, 2001
555
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I'm speaking from experience because as I also have a Eyefinity + dual monitor setup (2007FP portrait and 3007WFP-HC) and at 300 memory clocks the 2nd display would flicker, but setting them to 400 fixes the issue.

PhysX doesn't get a lot of love, especially for those with AMD cards. I still think it's a gimmick. It's wasted money considering the 5870 can out to 3 displays and PhysX on a low end GT220 is probably not a very good idea.
 

balane

Senior member
Dec 15, 2006
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All right, I just flashed this bios to the card. It's only been on a few moments but so far, so good. Do you think I should leave the voltages where they sit? I'm going to start stressing it now and I'll report back.

vbios.jpg