[num1son]

Those of running too many cards for our own good have to deal with a lot of issues "normal" users don't. I figured why not start a thread where we can post what is working for us and try to help others to keep their set-ups running as well.

 

[num1son]

Using Windows 8 I can't seem to get anything newer than 310.7 WHQL to run games. How about you guys?

 

[wermad]

Bump for a great idea of a thread!

I managed to sort my quads out with the right drivers (301.42 amd 310.70). But i have been reading on win8 issues with beyond 2 cards. Well, i should be getting a new setup soon. Debating on quad sli 690s or 4-way 680s.

I think win7 is in order for you.

Btw, on single screen (1080), my old quad 480s had at most ~60-70% usage in the most demanding games. A quad setup really needs higher resolutions to push them to the max. Keep the quadies if you plan to go 1440 Surround

Edit: Here are my quads:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 

[num1son]

Thank you!

Windows 8 as it turns out is the devil

! I think I will burn it with fire after all that.

All my issues are essentially resolved going back to Win7. I can say that 314.07 works fairly well with Quads. There is some dip in utilization on Crysis 3 but over all all four hang around 95-99%. I will continue testing it and report.

BTW That set up is (or should I say was) very very pretty!

 

[tsm106]

I have a feeling werm's gonna be in this thread a bit in the future.

 

[num1son]

He does seem to love having multiple cards and that means driver issues!

 

[wermad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsm106

I have a feeling werm's gonna be in this thread a bit in the future.

If stick with amd

Once you go quad, its hard not going back.

Seriously, i think Numi's issue was win8. I hear plenty of issues in the Surround thread with win8.

edit: just read his post, he found the issue! Haha, I'm sticking with win7 for now

. Only issue I had with my quads was the driver 306.xx and a known voltage issue with 580s with some games.

Amd (shakes head) is never gonna get their stuff straight. That's why I'm not too concerned with selling off my Tahitis. I'll pay the premium (and the restrictions) with Kepler. At least I won't have issues like screen tearing (or drivers crapping previous fixes),

 

[tsm106]

I think you should be more patient cuz there are issues on both sides. Hence the existence of this thread, ya know?

 

[wermad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsm106

I think you should be more patient cuz there are issues on both sides. Hence the existence of this thread, ya know?

God no. Amd does make good hardware. So that's why its so hard to not dismiss them. I didn't have a lick of issues with the triplet 6970 Lightnings other then one deciding to take a crap and die. I know amd can fix their crap. But it takes a long time, a long, long time. We'll see what happens when i get my Keplers (if, lol). Anyways, Titans huge price tag may not affect Keplers resale value, so if my keplers don't make me happy, I can sell them! The two 670 4gb I had were pretty decent in Surround, but they lacked grunt to really push em pixels. Usually, i stick with one Nvidia driver for a while and just wait out newer versions. I stuck with 285.xx for a while when i had the 480s, 560/570 448s, and the air 560 448s.

Amd Eyefinity is a sweety to set up. I still hate Nvidia's Surround setup utility. It always tends to mix up my monitors

Now, wheres that damn MST hub?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

[tsm106]

I found one but it was 1.1 only. We need the 1.2 MST hubs for fat resolutions.

Have you bought your new cards yet?

 

[wermad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsm106

I found one but it was 1.1 only. We need the 1.2 MST hubs for fat resolutions.

Have you bought your new cards yet?

I'm still waiting. I have a few avenues but Kepler is still my route. Damn, that 7970 lightning is so tempting.....5x1 eyefinity is so:



Anyways, i rma'd my motherboard since the on-board video didn't work. I only had a few days with amazon and since they are super speedy and excellent with returns, I didn't want to miss out on that window. I bought another sniper for slightly less so I'm just gonna get my money back

. So I can't even run the single 670 I have left.

 

[tsm106]

Er, you can't do 5x1 with the Lightning w/o a hub with big panels. Stupid MSI brainfarted and didn't stick on a DL DVI lol.

You can do 5x1 with a DC2/Matrix with big panels..

You shoulda went x79 bro.

 

[wermad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsm106

Er, you can't do 5x1 with the Lightning w/o a hub with big panels. Stupid MSI brainfarted and didn't stick on a DL DVI lol.

You can do 5x1 with a DC2/Matrix with big panels..

You shoulda went x79 bro.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1290624/my-watercooled-quadfire-7970-lightning-3770k-build-for-my-5x1-eyefinity-array

He's using 120hz so that should take care of the tearing issue. But you can clearly see the graying out of the left panel. We need 120hz IPS monitors. We need em hubs. Btw, he's running a sniper3 like moi

I had the RIVE, didn't find any difference. Isnt there an issue with x79 and Nvidia pcie 3.0 (without doing a hack)? I was tempted to get an Asrock Champion since the onboard is pretty decent like the Sniper3. I know lga1155 is at its end, so x79 maybe be an option soon. I should have some money left if I go with a couple of 690s (can stick a sound card somewhere in there w/ two 690s).

Sorry for the delay replies. My 3 week old is not wanting to get his sleep

 

[King4x4]

Well not to turn this thread into Eyefinity Vs Surround thread.... Eyefinity plain and simple... Sucks. Period. Tearing, DP issues to name a few.

Two days after replacing my quad 7950s with TWO I mean TWO 680s (Huge performance downgrade) and I am actually happy... I am playing games now! not fiddling with drivers and radeonpro to get things up and running.

So to sum it up:
Normal dude with 1080/1440 => Crossfire 7950 or Crossfire 7970 = Best Bang Per Buck.

Multi-Monitor Dude => Go Nvidia or you gonna get burned... don't touch the cards 2GB though you lose in the vram.

 

[wermad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by King4x4

Well not to turn this thread into Eyefinity Vs Surround thread.... Eyefinity plain and simple... Sucks. Period. Tearing, DP issues to name a few.

Two days after replacing my quad 7950s with TWO I mean TWO 680s (Huge performance downgrade) and I am actually happy... I am playing games now! not fiddling with drivers and radeonpro to get things up and running.

So to sum it up:
Normal dude with 1080/1440 => Crossfire 7950 or Crossfire 7970 = Best Bang Per Buck.

Multi-Monitor Dude => Go Nvidia or you gonna get burned... don't touch the cards 2GB though you lose in the vram 1440 >.

fixed

The consensus says 2gb is good for 1080 Surround. Imho, 2 or < gpu, +2gb is better. 3 or > gpu, 2gb in 1080 Surround will do fine.

 

[King4x4]

bump for more experience!

 

[num1son]

I'd add something, but I got rid of my quad 580's like they were the plague. Too much effort not enough gaming time to run a quad SLI setup. Though I believe Wermad had better results with his SLI 690's?

 

[wermad]

Some games do perfectly fine (BF3), some games are a bit picky (C3). Drivers are getting a bit more finicky to uninstall (nv installer "clean install option" checked). Resorting to driver sweeper. 314..09 seems to be good so far. Will be trying 314.22 tonight