Sapphie 4870X2 - Games crash in FullScreen Mode but not in Windowed

[Brisos]

Hi,

I have found a ton of threads with people talking about this problem.

The problem: Sapphire 4870 x2 installed and games will not run unless set in windowed mode. I have tested this in WOW, Crysis, Stalker, Counter strike. They run perfectly in Windowed mode. If set to full screen the games will start loading the data. As soon as the game is ready to start, it crashes. By this I mean that the game crashes before showing 1 frame of the game.

My rig:
-Asus P5n-D (bios flashed to the last version - 9002)
-Sapphire 4870 X2 (Most of the threads I read report this issue with the Sapphire. Some have mentionned other brands though)
-2x2GB Corsair RAM (I tried running with 1x2GB to make sure the RAM was not the issue. Tried with both sticks individually)
-PSU = Corsair TX750W (part of the ATI certified PSUs for the 4870 X2)
-I tested another PSU (Seasonic 600W) for the heck of it. That PSU does not meet the 650Watts but it gave identical results. I disconnected the DVD drive and all but one Hard drives. Games ran perfectly in windowed mode. So I am pretty sure the PSU is not the issue.
-8300 Core 2 Duo CPU - not overclocked
-Coolermaster CMStacker case (3 Fans, one right in front of the GPU)
-GPU runs around 51 degrees on idle, according to CCC
-I tried all the drivers I could frind from the 7.11 to the new 8.2
-I tested both PCI E slots on my mobo - same results
-I tested my PC with my old 7800 GTX from nvidia and everything works fine

Now... Like I said I found a ton of reports on this, a lot of discussion, but no solution. The only bit of info I found useful was that the 4870 X2 runs on 1 GPU in Windowed mode. I do not know this for sure, I just read one post from one guy saying this.

I am getting desperate here. Any idea would be very welcome.

I am going to try and find out if I can flash the Video cards bios. I read the original 4870 required this in some cases. I doubt it will help though.

 

[Brisos]

-EDIT- I am running XP pro btw
-EDIT- There are 2 4870 X2 listed in the Device Manager. Both are enabled when looking in their "properties"

I just realized something in the CCC:

Primary Adapter
Graphics Card Manufacturer Powered by ATI
Graphics Chipset ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
Device ID 9441
Vendor 1002

Subsystem ID E89A
Subsystem Vendor ID 174B

Graphics Bus Capability PCI Express 2.0
Maximum Bus Setting PCI Express 2.0 x16

BIOS Version 011.016.000.025
BIOS Part Number 113-AAE89Q-X101
BIOS Date 2008/12/11

Memory Size 1024 MB
Memory Type GDDR5

Core Clock in MHz 750 MHz
Memory Clock in MHz 900 MHz
Total Memory Bandwidth in GByte/s 107 GByte/s


Disabled Adapter
Graphics Card Manufacturer Powered by ATI
Graphics Chipset ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
Device ID 9441
Vendor 1002

Subsystem ID E89A
Subsystem Vendor ID 174B

Graphics Bus Capability PCI Express 2.0
Maximum Bus Setting PCI Express 2.0 x16

BIOS Version 011.016.000.025
BIOS Part Number 113-AAE89A-X201
BIOS Date 2008/12/11

Memory Size 1024 MB
Memory Type GDDR5

Core Clock in MHz 750 MHz
Memory Clock in MHz 900 MHz
Total Memory Bandwidth in GByte/s 107 GByte/s

Erm... Can anyone tell me why the 2nd "adapter" is disabled?

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Have you enabled crossfire? And don't flash the BIOS, I'm pretty sure that would void the warranty.

 

[Brisos]

I have not enabled Crossfire and do not know how to do so. Is that a mobo BIOS setting? Or something in the catalyst drivers?

But I only have one video card. It is one 4870 X2, although it has two GPUs. From what I read the 2nd adapter should be listed as "linked adapter", not disabled.

Do I need to enable crossfire for one 4870 X2 card?

 

[Majic 7]

As long as Catalyst AI is set to standard then crossfire is enabled. You might try disabling AI and see if it makes a difference. This is supposed to disable crossfire on the X2 but I have seen conflicting opinions on this. If disabled AI isn't the problem then I would try reinstalling the drivers.

 

[AzN]

Originally posted by: Majic 7
If disabled AI isn't the problem then I would try reinstalling the drivers.

This is the best advice. Reinstall drivers or try different set of drivers.

 

[Brisos]

I have tried all the ATI drivers from 7.11 to 8.12. I tried to reinstall them several times, using Driver Cleaner. Same results.

 

[Majic 7]

http://forums.guru3d.com/showp...p=2980280&postcount=23 Just found this. Good to know ATI is aware of the problem. Too bad they have no clue as to what it is yet. Later in the thread he says that this months drivers will be delayed, but couldn't say for how long. Maybe they are hoping for a fix. The X2 problem is not universal and it is hard for them to pinpoint what the problem is.

 

[Brisos]

Nice find man, thanks. I wonder if the bug happens even if you change drivers back to 8.XX after installing the 8.12. He is not too clear on this. 8.12 is the first drivers I installed after mounting my X2. All the drivers I installed subsequently showed the same disabled 2nd adapter. I tried 8.11 8.10 7.11 and one or two in between. I used Revo cleaner to clean the drivers each time, so I do not think the 8.12 install would mess up with any of the other. Anyway...

I tried reinstalling all my mobo's chipsets, flashed the bios of the mobo again, did a clean install of the 8.11, changed the power connectors on the graphics card (in case on of the cable was bad)... Still no change. I sent my card back to newegg yesterday. I wonder if they will ship the replacement using UPS 2day air since that's what I had paid for initially. But I doubt it

I will get my butt back here when I have the replacement. My next step is buying a P5Q (just because a friend has a working rig similar to mine with that mobo). After that I'm not sure

And thanks for the replies!