x1900 crossfire is disappointing... Or is it just me?

[chibislick]

I got my new x1900xtx from sapphire a week ago, installed it with the asus A8R-MVP.. I was happy. I got around 10500 3dmark05 scores (I know 3dmark shouldn't be a reference for gaming performances, I am using it only to compare). I installed my second x1900 (crossfire edition) and am only getting 11500 3dmark05 scores, barely 1000 more than non-CF setup. In games it's about the same thing, I barely get better fps while playing...

I am disappointed.. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks

 

[fierydemise]

3DMark05 doesn't scale well with SLI or Crossfire. What games and settings are you using?

 

[Killrose]

You did remember to enable Crossfire in the CC Panel right

 

[chibislick]

I did get great results with my GeForce 7800 GTX 256 SLI rig in 3dmark05.. here, scores:

geforce 7800gtx256 single: ~6800
geforce 7800gtx256 sli : ~11500

x1900xtx single : ~10500
x1900xtx+CF : ~11500

It's kind of disturbing.

Now, I only tested Everquest 2 with crossfire. I know it's not the best game benchmark, I'm going to bench FEAR and Quake4..

edit: yes, I did enable it

 

[tuteja1986]

dude :! i can get 11500ish with my x1900xt overclocked :!

 

[chibislick]

I always test my hardware before overclocking it.. Nothing is overclocked in the scores I wrote..

 

[Frostwake]

youre obviously cpu limited, hitting the 11-12 K wall, try testing 3dmark 06 and update us

 

[otispunkmeyer]

05 is cpu limited now......at scores of 9 - 10k.

those x1900's are processing the info faster than the CPU can dish it out, id imagine x1900 in CF can chew through any game with relative ease

 

[Acanthus]

You have to go to 1600x1200 or higher, with FSAA and AF, and high end features like soft shadows or HDR, to see any real benefit to 2 top of the line graphics cards.

 

[chibislick]

cpu limited may seem logical.. I have a amd64 4000+ clocked at default 2.4, so I'm not really sure.

Scores with 3dmark06: (Again, nothing is OCed)

single xtx: 4600
CF : 5200

quake4 benchs (single and CF) seem normal too, given some reviews I have seen. I probably expected too much.. I'm sure I'll see the benefits with higher settings (as Acanthus said.)

thanks,

 

[5150Joker]

You're CPU limited with the A64 4000+. In fact you're even limited with a dual core A64 all the way up to 3.0 GHz.

 

[M0RPH]

Your results are consistent with what they found in this review:

http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/video/cf2.html
(scroll down to the 3Dmark tests)

In 3Dmark05 there was very little gain from CF at lower res without AA/AF. Only about 3% at 1024x768, which of course is the default setting for 3Dmark05. At 1600x1200+AA/AF they saw a 37% gain. I would suggest you give those higher settings a try.

Also they saw more significant gains in 3Dmark06, even at the lower resolutions. You can compare your results with theirs to get an idea whether your CF system is working properly.

 

[Frostwake]

hm...doesnt seem right to me, 4600 single and 5200 cf? shouldnt it be about 7000+?

taking a quick look at the orb look at this guy - http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=122754

his cpu is still lower then yours and although the cards may be clocked higher it wouldnt jump THAT much

 

[nib95]

I think results are slightly improved with the RD580 chipset if Anands latest review is anything to go by.
If I remember correctly, I only glanced through it.

 

[0roo0roo]

did u get a sweet 30" screen?

 

[Aries64]

Originally posted by: chibislick
I did get great results with my GeForce 7800 GTX 256 SLI rig in 3dmark05.. here, scores:

geforce 7800gtx256 single: ~6800
geforce 7800gtx256 sli : ~11500

x1900xtx single : ~10500
x1900xtx+CF : ~11500

It's kind of disturbing.

Now, I only tested Everquest 2 with crossfire. I know it's not the best game benchmark, I'm going to bench FEAR and Quake4..

edit: yes, I did enable it

It appears that your 7800GTX 256MB SLI score (11,500) is exactly the same as your X1900XTX 512MB CF score (11,500). That seems a little odd, as there shouldn't been an exact match in the scores. It's like fingerprints and DNA - no two are ever exactly the same. What drivers are you running? I installed Catalyst 6.2. If you don't have them download them from ATI's web site:

http://www.atitech.com/

However, from what I have read on the net', as Fierydemise said, 3DMark 05 does not scale well in dual GPU configurations, so I wouldn't worry too much about 3DMark scoring, except that my OC'ed VisionTek X1900XT-X got 11,767. I only OC'ed the XT-X for the 3DMark run 690/800MHz). Otherwise, the card runs at the default (650/775MHz). Link to my 3DMark 05 score:

http://service.futuremark.com/orb/proje...s.jsp?projectType=12&projectId=1812174

 

[Elfear]

Like others have said, don't pay much attention to 3DMark as you are severely cpu limited. Unless you game at 1600x1200 and above, you won't see a drastic increase in fps. You really need to be gaming at 1920x1200 w/ 6AA/16AF and above to see the true power of that setup.