Expecting 2x 7950s

The_Fool

My two 7950s should arrive today. They will be nearly three times as powerful as my current GTX 560Ti, and more when overclocked. I can finally play demanding games at full graphics.

This is my first time doing either SLI or Crossfire. Is there any special order I should install them in or should I just put both in at the same time and install the drivers like a single card? I think I may have read somewhere some time ago that one card must be installed first, the drivers are then installed, then the other card(s) can be installed.

The_Fool · 05-11-2012, 02:24 | posts: 992 | Location: Tiny Town in USA

WTF, no response?

GhostXL · *Last edited by GhostXL; 05-11-2012 at 02:37.*

Just put them both in together at the same time, connect your Xfire Bridge to the cards. You only use ONE for 2-way Crossfire. Make sure you ONLY use ONE.

Just install drivers, Use the April 18th set, they are rock solid for HD 7 series owners.

Honestly that's really all there is to it. If you know how PC's work, you should know to completely uninstall all old drivers, especially if you came from Nvidia. Use a driver cleaner like DriverSweeper which I recommend.

Clean out all old drivers before you make the switch.

Also you should be able to max out AMD Overdrive clocks when you OC if you raise power from 5-10%.

It's worth it. Just make sure you apply this to both cards. Hit the drop down menu and choose each card separately to apply the same values to each card.

campcreekdude · 05-12-2012, 23:05 | posts: 172

Are You recommending Catalyst 12.4?
I have issues with crossfire with Catalyst 12.4....
So if i were you I would install 12.3 just to make sure the gpu's are working... then test 12.4.

What I did was I had one card installed... waited for price to come down... installed second Card... Windows 7 is pretty good at finding the new card and it worked fine with Catalyst 12.3...

Then I updated to Catalyst 12.4.... My second card was unable to leave idle clock speeds... I disabled ulps and thats horrible that I had to tweak to get it working.

BUT im wondering if your computer will have problems with 12.4... I know others are having issues...

automaticman · 05-13-2012, 16:44 | posts: 664 | Location: Orange County, CA

like GhostXL said, just install both cards together and then install the drivers. I've heard a lot of mixed things about 12.4, maybe use 12.3 or try the pre-release 12.5 (thought I heard someone mention that they worked well).

The_Fool · 05-13-2012, 18:02 | posts: 992 | Location: Tiny Town in USA

The 12.5 beta drivers work great for me, although I don't know how they compare to 12.4.

Rich_Guy · 05-15-2012, 17:10 | posts: 6,679 | Location: UK

If the 12.5 beta drivers are working ok, then your best off sticking with them, as they are newer than the 12.4's, and could probably be the only drivers that have working Xfire, as its been broken since the 7970's release.

Krogtheclown · 05-15-2012, 18:26 | posts: 909 | Location: Illinois

Quote:

Originally Posted by GhostXL

Just put them both in together at the same time, connect your Xfire Bridge to the cards. You only use ONE for 2-way Crossfire. Make sure you ONLY use ONE.

Just install drivers, Use the April 18th set, they are rock solid for HD 7 series owners.

Honestly that's really all there is to it. If you know how PC's work, you should know to completely uninstall all old drivers, especially if you came from Nvidia. Use a driver cleaner like DriverSweeper which I recommend.

Clean out all old drivers before you make the switch.

Also you should be able to max out AMD Overdrive clocks when you OC if you raise power from 5-10%.

It's worth it. Just make sure you apply this to both cards. Hit the drop down menu and choose each card separately to apply the same values to each card.

I am Krog the Clown and i approve of this thread!
But really i agree with these comments.

GhostXL · 05-15-2012, 19:38 | posts: 4,923 | Location: PA, USA

Quote:

Originally Posted by campcreekdude

Are You recommending Catalyst 12.4?
I have issues with crossfire with Catalyst 12.4....
So if i were you I would install 12.3 just to make sure the gpu's are working... then test 12.4.

What I did was I had one card installed... waited for price to come down... installed second Card... Windows 7 is pretty good at finding the new card and it worked fine with Catalyst 12.3...

Then I updated to Catalyst 12.4.... My second card was unable to leave idle clock speeds... I disabled ulps and thats horrible that I had to tweak to get it working.

BUT im wondering if your computer will have problems with 12.4... I know others are having issues...

No I did not recommend Cat 12.4, I recommended the April 18th set found here on Guru3d in the AMD/ATI driver section.