How to verify if CrossFire is working or not

CreepieDeCrapper

Senior member
May 22, 2006
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I'm wondering if there's a way to verify for sure whether or not CrossFire is working while gaming. I have an x1900 and x1900xt and, to be honest, I seem to get the same framerates whether or not the CCC 'Enable CrossFire' checkbox is checked or not.

I'm playing Oblivion @ 1920x1200 with (very/ultra?) high settings and some visual enhancement mods (CapnKills textures, Natural Environments, etc) and seem to get between the 20-30 FPS averages, with spikes to 50-60 and dips down to the high-teens. HDR and 4xAA are also running.

According to the benchmarks I've researched, this FPS is what I should be getting with my CrossFire setup - so that makes me think that CF is working fine. I find it strange, though, that my performance is pretty much the same even with CrossFire NOT enabled. I wonder if both cards are working even with that box unchecked.

CPU: E6400 (not-OC'd)
RAM: 2gb
 

TheRyuu

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2005
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Run 3dmark06. There should be a pretty big difference between one card and two.

(as long as the CPU is the same, and everything else is the same, you can compare the two scores)

After you run them, post them up here and make sure to separate the CPU from 3d (SM2 and SM3) ones.

For me (as an example), when I have SLIed enabled, I come pretty close to 10k in 3dmark06 (~9,500). Without SLI, my score is significanly lower. Never tried it without SLI, but I'd like to see a 7900GT (OCed) get 10k in 06 or anywere near that by itself)
 

CreepieDeCrapper

Senior member
May 22, 2006
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I'm downloading it now, thanks for the suggestion. I'm not familiar with running 3dmark but I'm assuming it's fairly self-explanatory and that there shouldn't be any adverse affects on my hardware?
 

LittleNemoNES

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2005
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Use The Warcats 6.6 w/chuck patch. They're THE best Crossfire Oblivion Drivers. Trust me...I OBSESS over Crossfire Drivers.
Actually, they're not up for download anymore...so I'll host it for you...coming soon
 

CreepieDeCrapper

Senior member
May 22, 2006
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Thanks gersson... much obliged :)

I'm currently running the ATI Chuck Patch/Drivers 6.9 so I imagine I'll need to do the full-meal-deal uninstall (with some Driver Cleaner) before I load these up?
 

TheRyuu

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2005
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Originally posted by: CreepieDeCrapper
What about this page? I noticed there are newer WarCat drivers available. Any input on them?

http://www.tweaksrus.com/index.php?opti..._docman&task=cat_view&gid=158&Itemid=1

There great and all, but gersson is right, the 6.6's and (for me) the 6.7's are the better drivers.

(read previos post, you post too fast ;))

How to install them (assuming you have DCP):
-Uninstall the sh!t you got :p (in device manager, all video cards) and run Cat uninstaller
-Reboot into SAFE MODE (F8)
-Run driver cleaner pro with ATI and ATICCC profiles
-Reboot
-Install new drivers
-Reboot
-Config
-???
-profit

:)
 

CreepieDeCrapper

Senior member
May 22, 2006
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Great information guys, I do appreciate it. It's also good to know that I've been uninstalling and reinstalling my vid drivers appropriately (been doing it according to your instructions, wizboy).

I will definitely give the 6.6 set a shot and see how they perform. Oblivion is my main (if not only) game of interest so it's worth optimizing my system for it as much as possible. First, though, I think I'll 3dmark my current driver config (Chuck @ 6.9) so I can compare apples to apples as much as possible.
 

josh6079

Diamond Member
Mar 17, 2006
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Originally posted by: gersson
Here you go: WarCat 6.6+chuck
Best ATI drivers, IMO.

Fixed. :)

CrossFire or not, I have yet to see any other drivers that perform as well as they do with the stability they have. Everything after that has just been about making AFR .exe renamings automatic (and official) and incorporating the Chuck patch into it automatically without regard to how well the driver performs.

Basically, they made the drivers more user-friendly and automatic at the cost for quality.
 

TheRyuu

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2005
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Originally posted by: gersson
ok, man. should be about 6k, I think.

With his setup, should it be more near 8k-9k?
With a C2D and CF'ed XT's? At default settings I think it should be higher then 6k.
 

CreepieDeCrapper

Senior member
May 22, 2006
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I'm have some trouble getting 3dmark06 to run. The install went fine, then on first run of the program it gives me the splash screen with "Please wait while 3dmark inspects your system config, this can take up to a minute and your PC will be unresponsive."

Well I waited for 10 minutes, and had to use Task Manager to kill 3dmark. Then no programs would open so I had to use Task Manager to restart my PC. I tried to open 3dmark again, and the same thing happened. Any ideas?
 

LittleNemoNES

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2005
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Originally posted by: wizboy11
Originally posted by: gersson
ok, man. should be about 6k, I think.

With his setup, should it be more near 8k-9k?
With a C2D and CF'ed XT's? At default settings I think it should be higher then 6k.

My brain is rotting. I forgot he's using crossfire >_>
 

CreepieDeCrapper

Senior member
May 22, 2006
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Just installed WarCat 6.6 w/Chuck. No AA+HDR and I can't open CCC anymore. I'm starting to get a little upset. First 3dmark fails, now this. I'm going back to the ATI 6.9 Chuck's for now, at least it worked.
 

TheRyuu

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2005
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Originally posted by: CreepieDeCrapper
Just installed WarCat 6.6 w/Chuck. No AA+HDR and I can't open CCC anymore. I'm starting to get a little upset. First 3dmark fails, now this. I'm going back to the ATI 6.9 Chuck's for now, at least it worked.

Did you install the chuck fix too?
Was there 2 files in the download gersson gave you?
It should have been WarCat 6.6 then the WarCat 6.6 Chuck fix file.
 

CreepieDeCrapper

Senior member
May 22, 2006
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Yes there were two files in the WarCat download. I followed the readme instructions exactly. The only thing I can think is that before I installed the drivers, I only uninstalled my other drivers but not the CCC. So when I went to install the WarCat drivers, I unchecked the CCC option. Maybe the WarCat version of CCC is required with those drivers? Anyway, I switched back to the ATI Chuck 6.9 set and everything is working as expected. If I have time later maybe I'll try the WarCat's again, but will I really get significantly better FPS? I average mid-20's now (outdoors I mean) using ATI's with HDR+AA.
 

CreepieDeCrapper

Senior member
May 22, 2006
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Originally posted by: Matt2
This is exactly why I haven't bought my Crossfire card yet.

Don't be scared off by troubleshooting threads like this. I'm sure I did something wrong when trying the WarCat's. I can tell you that using the ATI drivers things do work as intended.
 

LittleNemoNES

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2005
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If you follow the instructions perfectly, it should work. However, if you need me to clarify something, I will. I KNOW for a fact that you will get piss poor performance with crossfire and anything other than 6.6 w/ Oblivion

I just thought of something: I will re-pack the download to make it way easier (all you have to do is press setup).
 

TheRyuu

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2005
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Originally posted by: CreepieDeCrapper
Yes there were two files in the WarCat download. I followed the readme instructions exactly. The only thing I can think is that before I installed the drivers, I only uninstalled my other drivers but not the CCC. So when I went to install the WarCat drivers, I unchecked the CCC option. Maybe the WarCat version of CCC is required with those drivers? Anyway, I switched back to the ATI Chuck 6.9 set and everything is working as expected. If I have time later maybe I'll try the WarCat's again, but will I really get significantly better FPS? I average mid-20's now (outdoors I mean) using ATI's with HDR+AA.

Uninstall EVERYTHING. CCC, the drivers, EVERYTHING.
Then try it.
(so uninstall the drivers in device manager, then uninstall the CCC from Add/Remove programs, then follow the directions on the previos page., also not a bad idea to use the Cat Uninstaller)

Rolling back, the older CCC might be different and thats why it's not working.