Big problems running X1900 in CrossFire

I have a P5WD2-E Premium montherboard with default settings and no overclocking, but when I run 3DMark2006 or Aquamark3 after about 1 minute of running the whole PC restarts. Also I tried disabling crossfire in Catalyst Control Center and it does, then I try 3DMark2006 or Aquamark3 and everything is fine WTF??!! It's only when crossfire is enabled I have this problem. Does anyone know if there's any settings in the BIOS on a ASUS P5WD2-E Premium that I need to set? The Master card is in the blue primary slot and the slave is in the black slot, I check the cables are connected right just like in the pictures everywhere. I heard of people having problems too at this thread http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...sfire+settings

Some had to set the two slots to 8x, but I don't see that option in the BIOS at all. Or is there some settings I should have on in Catalyst Control Center under the 3D stuff?? I read that message about turning Catalyst A.I on when using crossfire and I did that, but still having problems :(
Please is there anyone out there that knows what's going on here?? Thx :(

What power supply?

That OCZ 600W unit.

Then I'm going to guess it's your power supply because according to this graph
http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/a...0152/10671.png
those x1900 draw quite alot of power in cf and that's with an fx57, with a oc p4 it would draw even more.

I'm just making a guess though

Quote:

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Originally Posted by elvicco

Then I'm going to guess it's your power supply because according to this graph
http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/a...0152/10671.png
those x1900 draw quite alot of power in cf and that's with an fx57, with a oc p4 it would draw even more.

I'm just making a guess though

---

Yeah that sounds like it could be that, but this is that good OCZ 600 watt PSU with the SLI logo on it, I figure that be enough right? What's everybody else using with crossfire?

*scratches head*

my enermax liberty 500watt ran two 7800gtx cards just fine in SLI...


I am worried about what is to come.

620watt or 850 is the next question, expensive hobbies suck sometimes

Anyone fancy official modded 5.13 X1900 drivers ? ;)

http://download.hightech.com.hk/driv...28709C-ATI.zip

Perkam

I've heard other people are having problems with The OCZ 600.

Prolly the PSU - running CF on the P5WD2-E without any problems so far - 2 PSUs...

I've had similar problems with Radeon X1800 CrossFire and Radeon X1900 CrossFire. In my opinion the problem is the PSUs with two or more 12V rails.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by perkam

Anyone fancy official modded 5.13 X1900 drivers ? ;)

http://download.hightech.com.hk/driv...28709C-ATI.zip

Perkam

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Thx getting now 50% done :toast:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sampsa

I've had similar problems with Radeon X1800 CrossFire and Radeon X1900 CrossFire. In my opinion the problem is the PSUs with two or more 12V rails.

---

So you saying that one powerfull rail is enough ? Sampsa please tell us more about your PSU. Yeah I know it`s powerfull as hell, but more info would be nice for all those xtreme rig owners :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cooper

So you saying that one powerfull rail is enough ? Sampsa please tell us more about your PSU. Yeah I know it`s powerfull as hell, but more info would be nice for all those xtreme rig owners :)

---

Well, I'm only using the monster 1320W PSU for DI/LN2 overclocking. For regular testing I have here Tagan 480W, Silverstone 560W (one 12V rail), Silverstone 600W (four 12V rails), Antec 550W and few others. In my tests Silverstone 600W didn't handle FX-60 + Radeon X1900 CrossFire @ stock speeds.. I had to change to Silverstone 560W which has only one 12V rail.

I noticed that @ default clocks ATI Radeon X1900 XTX draws 24,5 A according to ATITool.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sampsa

Well, I'm only using the monster 1320W PSU for DI/LN2 overclocking. For regular testing I have here Tagan 480W, Silverstone 560W (one 12V rail), Silverstone 600W (four 12V rails), Antec 550W and few others. In my tests Silverstone 600W didn't handle FX-60 + Radeon X1900 CrossFire @ stock speeds.. I had to change to Silverstone 560W which has only one 12V rail.

I noticed that @ default clocks ATI Radeon X1900 XTX draws 24,5 A according to ATITool.

---

SO this OCZ 600w PSU can't run my system? It only has 20A on but 12v rails so thats to low I guess, cuz running just one X1900 XTX work perfect, only when I enable crossfire I get major problems. Thanks for all the help everyone, I learned alot now. So now I should shop for a PSU with 600W or higher with one big 12v rail with 50A?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by perkam

Anyone fancy official modded 5.13 X1900 drivers ? ;)

http://download.hightech.com.hk/driv...28709C-ATI.zip

Perkam

---

Hmm I'm using the new cat 6.1 drivers and it recognizes both X1900's in the display window, but I hear people saying cat 6.1 doesnt support the X1900's?:confused:

you need pcp&c 820w or 1kw

Quote:

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Originally Posted by leviathan18

you need pcp&c 820w or 1kw

---

You know anyone that has one of those PSU's and runs a dual core cpu and a X1900 crossfire setup? Got a link to buy, cuz I'm really mad at this OCZ 600W unit and I just want one that will work...

Hey Sampsa or anyone else that knows this, but I think I saw a red LED turn on the X1900 slave card right next where you plug the power cable at. It was on for a little bit when the system crashed, this probably means the lack of amps on the 12v rail right?

with your exact system i dont know you can buy them in newegg

brand: pc power and cooling

they are top of the top THG tested the 820 @ full load for days and they were 100% stable you can do a search.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by leviathan18

with your exact system i dont know you can buy them in newegg

brand: pc power and cooling

they are top of the top THG tested the 820 @ full load for days and they were 100% stable you can do a search.

---

Awesome thanks alot man, I'm looking for a site that sells it right now, I don't even care what price it is I just wanna get it ASAP.

I found it at Newegg.com http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703003
But why do they say only 16A on each 12V rails, so giving it a total of 32A?
I checked the manufacturer's site and they show it as 66A and 70A peak on the 12V rails together. I guessing the Manufacturer's Site specs are correct and not Newegg.com?

some ppl says you can get them faster in their site.. and cheaper i really dont know

i can tell you for sure the 820w or 1kw is going to hold your systems easily they are very efficient and top PSU and expensive too xD

Its says 12V1 16A, 12V2 16A and 12V3 36A - so its (16+16+36) 68A total..

One of these will do nicely too. :)
Runs 3.5GHz FX60 and X1900XT CF (OCed and increased voltage) smoothly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by macci

Its says 12V1 16A, 12V2 16A and 12V3 36A - so its (16+16+36) 68A total..

One of these will do nicely too. :)
Runs 3.5GHz FX60 and X1900XT CF (OCed and increased voltage) smoothly.

---

Sorry, I'm a mess here I didn't see the 3rd 12V rail.
Yeah I'm looking at that FX700-GLN 700Watts unit your talking about and it looks very good as it has a total of 60A on 12V! It's so much cheaper then the pcp&c 850W PSU, $170 vs. $450 damn lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OC_newbie

SO this OCZ 600w PSU can't run my system? It only has 20A on but 12v rails so thats to low I guess, cuz running just one X1900 XTX work perfect, only when I enable crossfire I get major problems. Thanks for all the help everyone, I learned alot now. So now I should shop for a PSU with 600W or higher with one big 12v rail with 50A?

---

I'm pretty sure it's the PSU which is causing you problems with CrossFire.

PS. Single Radeon X1800 XT shows 38,2 A GPU current draw regarding ATITool... I'm not so sure if this value is the true :)

Im showing a draw of 8.2A in ATI tool on my XTX in 2D

The X1800 XT/XT PE voltages are higher by default than the X1900XT/XTX.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by macci

Its says 12V1 16A, 12V2 16A and 12V3 36A - so its (16+16+36) 68A total..

One of these will do nicely too. :)
Runs 3.5GHz FX60 and X1900XT CF (OCed and increased voltage) smoothly.

---

That looks like 4 +12v rails 15-15-15-15 to me. :confused: The 3.3v rail has 36A on it...

Guys

Something to look out for, just because a manufacturer quotes OCP per rail does not mean you can draw that much over all 4 rails and be totally stable. The figures you see are just the OCP max per that line, nothing more.

OCZ are working on new PSU's, we have a new unit testing now and will be looking at a new enthusiast driven model shortly there after.

Quote:

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OCZ are working on new PSU's, we have a new unit testing now and will be looking at a new enthusiast driven model shortly there after.

---

any other tip tony about these psus??????:D

Quote:

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PS. Single Radeon X1800 XT shows 38,2 A GPU current draw regarding ATITool... I'm not so sure if this value is the true

---

38.2A at Vgpu is a bit over 50W which sounds about right.

I always tought that my Thermaltake 680W PurePower will do me good even in crossfire. It has 3x +12v rails totaling 52A of +12v power. I am guessing thats why its Crossfire certified.

http://thermaltake.com/2005/purepower/w0049/w0049.htm

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NinjaWreck

I would have to say the PC P & Cooling PSU's are a little better made than OCZ. Has anyone heard of crossfire killing a 510 SLI or is this all speculation?

---

Thanks for proving my point ;)

The Zippy 6701 has a 45A single 12v rail, but I'm not sure it supports sli.....I guess there's always the option of 2 x Zippy 6701's = 90A total :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 5-Clicks

That looks like 4 +12v rails 15-15-15-15 to me. :confused: The 3.3v rail has 36A on it...

---

Yes the Fortron/Source 700W PSU has those values.
The numbers I mentioned at the beginning of my post were for the 1kW PC Power&Cooling PSU, which was linked earlier in this thread.

Ahh ok my bad :) Didn't pick up that you were answering the post above that one of yours :toast:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by macci

Yes the Fortron/Source 700W PSU has those values.
The numbers I mentioned at the beginning of my post were for the 1kW PC Power&Cooling PSU, which was linked earlier in this thread.

---

seems like the seasonic s12 is under-rated :confused: those things could most probably take the intel + cf rig.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gnome

seems like the seasonic s12 is under-rated :confused: those things could most probably take the intel + cf rig.

---

According to their website it provides only 36A (18+18) for 12V?
I have seen 600W Enermax (35A at 12V) and OCZ 600W (38A at 12V) shut down with stock F60+X1900XT CF (Enermax completes 3DMark05 with CPU at 2.2GHz 1.2V max, OCZ at 2.4GHz 1.25V max).
But then again I guess it also depends on how realistically they rate those power supplies.
For instance the 550W Coolermaster is rated for only 30A but it will run the mentioned setup nicely thru 3DMark05..

Thanks macci, that's good info to know. It would seem that CoolerMaster is underrated in the PSU department, no?

Hey macci,

Whats the difference in current draw between X1800 CF & X1900 CF? I think I remember reading somewhere around 10-15 watts more per card.

An OCZ 520 ran my 3.7Ghz FX & X1800 CF 830/940 no problems. Do you think PCP & P 510 SLI is adequate?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by G H Z

Hey macci,

Whats the difference in current draw between X1800 CF & X1900 CF? I think I remember reading somewhere around 10-15 watts more per card.

An OCZ 520 ran my 3.7Ghz FX & X1800 CF 830/940 no problems. Do you think PCP & P 510 SLI is adequate?

---

With a peak output of 650 watts I'd say the 510 SLI is fine.

Ok everyone I bought the Fortron/Source 700W PSU with 60A, if Newegg.com ships it today I'll get it tomorrow! :banana:
I'll keep you all updated on what happens... btw I really wanted the pcp&c PSU's, but I didn't really wanna spend that much right now, maybe in a few months as I really like that 1k watt unit with almost 70A.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NinjaWreck

With a peak output of 650 watts I'd say the 510 SLI is fine.

---

I don't think we're talking about wattage, more about the +12v amperage. The OCZ 600W has a peak of 700W, but the reason it's not holding up the X1900's CF is because of the +12v amps.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 5-Clicks

I don't think we're talking about wattage, more about the +12v amperage. The OCZ 600W has a peak of 700W, but the reason it's not holding up the X1900's CF is because of the +12v amps.

---

I would have to say the PC P & Cooling PSU's are a little better made than OCZ. Has anyone heard of crossfire killing a 510 SLI or is this all speculation?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 5-Clicks

I don't think we're talking about wattage, more about the +12v amperage. The OCZ 600W has a peak of 700W, but the reason it's not holding up the X1900's CF is because of the +12v amps.

---

I thought the OCZ was rated @ 600W peak? I can see how it may not be able to maintain a cf setup if that rating is in fact peak power. You have to factor in the psu's efficiency and then derive how many amps the rest of your system comsumes @ load and then you'll find if it can support the cf setup. That's maybe why the Coolermaster is able to handle the load since they're not rating the psu @ peak. Wattage is related to amperage in the sense that Amps X Volts = Watts...soooooo....

@ Ghz: Although I don't run anything close to CF or SLI, from what I gather from the info from Macci and others here - IF the 1900's draw an extra 10-15 watts per card, you'd be looking at an extra 2-3 Amp draw from the 12V rail. IMO, single 12v railed psu's function a lot better with the A64's that the ones with multiple rails. That's why those 520W OCZ psu's probably had less issues with A64's than the 600W versions. IIRC, the 520 uses a single 12v vs. the 600's dual 12v........

Quote:

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Originally Posted by s7e9h3n

I thought the OCZ was rated @ 600W peak?

---

420W = 520W Peak
520W = 620W Peak
600W = 700W Peak

Page 2 here: http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...owerStream.pdf

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RyderOCZ

420W = 520W Peak
520W = 620W Peak
600W = 700W Peak

Page 2 here: http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...owerStream.pdf

---

Ahhh....thx...I was looking for that :p:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by macci

Yes the Fortron/Source 700W PSU has those values.
The numbers I mentioned at the beginning of my post were for the 1kW PC Power&Cooling PSU, which was linked earlier in this thread.

---

I love Fortron/Source...probably the only company out there I can say I'm a fanboy of...heh. Always underrated and wonderfully priced. Looks like I found my next PSU.

Athena 850W

Output: +3.3@30A,+5V@55A,+12@48A,-12V@0.8A,-5@0.5A,+5VSB@2A

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104126

You can combine or split the 12v rail.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FUGGER

Athena 850W

Output: +3.3@30A,+5V@55A,+12@48A,-12V@0.8A,-5@0.5A,+5VSB@2A

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104126

You can combine or split the 12v rail.

---

Have you tried one of those psu's? It looks like a good psu on paper, but the packaging makes it look like one of those cheapo-not-performing to spec-psu's.....

I am running X1900 Crossfire. Antec 550 WATT True Power just said no way and shut down on 3DMark06. I swopped for 700 WATT AOpen and now it runs OK.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sheik

I am running X1900 Crossfire. Antec 550 WATT True Power just said no way and shut down on 3DMark06. I shopped for 700 WATT AOpen and now it runs OK.

---

Antec 550 TP = ?A on the 12V rail? I know that the Antec 550 EPS = 36A 12V and IIRC, the TP version has less amperage.....

Yes, I have the Athena 850W here. The finish is nicer than the images show. The unwrapped cables are a bit much as there is plenty of power connectors and length. Three extra power connectors for fans are standard 12v and ground leads wired to the power supply.

The image on the outside of the box does not show split/combined rail selection switch but it is on the PSU.

Antec 550 WATT TP is +12v = 19A ; +12v = 19A

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sheik

Antec 550 WATT TP is +12v = 19A ; +12v = 19A

---

Is it V2?


Thx fugger......I'll have to check it out ;)

Yes True Power 2.0

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sheik

Yes True Power 2.0

---

Ok...I was referring to the v1 in my original post...glad to see they fixed that then....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by s7e9h3n

Ok...I was referring to the v1 in my original post...glad to see they fixed that then....

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ehh not quite.. i have the TPII 550w... and i have had the same "poof" shutdown with 2 256GTX's in SLi.

this is with 4 HDD's and 1.6vcore 2.7vdimm but i've seen it happen now 3 times.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bullet2urbrain

ehh not quite.. i have the TPII 550w... and i have had the same "poof" shutdown with 2 256GTX's in SLi.

this is with 4 HDD's and 1.6vcore 2.7vdimm but i've seen it happen now 3 times.

---

No, what I meant was the fact that their TP version had less amps on the 12v rail than the EPS version...

The tagan easycon (modular) / 2force 580W has 2x 12V rails of 20A but can be combined with a switch for 35A. Very cheap. There is only one review available.. bad results. But I believe Tagan is a good bang for the buck though, has anyone tried it?

Just wanted to update everyone about my major power issues using an OCZ 600watt psu with X1900 CF... Well everything runs perfect with the Fortron/Source 700W PSU with 60A on 12v total! :D System doesn't shut down anymore when running 3D in CrossFire like it did with the OCZ 600w, I'm really disappointed with OCZ now... Anyways Macci thanks for recommending the Fortron/Source 700W PSU to me and confirming it runs X1900 CF with no problems, and to top it off it cost $40 less then that crappy OCZ 600w lol. Hope this thread helps anyone else out that has problems running CrossFire.

cool, thanks for the update OC_newbie

How do you guys think an OCZ 520 will hold up with a 920 at 4.0 Ghz and a mild OC on the X1900's??? Just curious because my Crossfire card will be here this week.

With the 33A 12V rail and it's ability to peak at 625W, I'm think I should be OK. Any ideas???

Just to say thanks to the OC Newbie et al, as after many many hours of research this thread was the final one that persuaded me to opt for the Fortron Epsilon. I will get the 600W version as that will be fine for my needs (not going CF or SLI).

It was a toss up between that and the Seasonic S12 600W. The Fortron can be also had for £82 ($143) here in the U.K, which is £20 cheaper than the S12, which made the choice easier.

Thanks again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by M Diddy

How do you guys think an OCZ 520 will hold up with a 920 at 4.0 Ghz and a mild OC on the X1900's??? Just curious because my Crossfire card will be here this week.

With the 33A 12V rail and it's ability to peak at 625W, I'm think I should be OK. Any ideas???

---

No that OCZ wont be able to handle a X1900 CF setup and a dual core as I found out with the OCZ 600W unit...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wam7

Just to say thanks to the OC Newbie et al, as after many many hours of research this thread was the final one that persuaded me to opt for the Fortron Epsilon. I will get the 600W version as that will be fine for my needs (not going CF or SLI).

It was a toss up between that and the Seasonic S12 600W. The Fortron can be also had for £82 ($143) here in the U.K, which is £20 cheaper than the S12, which made the choice easier.

Thanks again.

---

No problem man just happy this thread is helping others... Anyways yeah good choice the Fortron/Source PSU's are awesome and so is the price! :D

I hate to say "I told you so" but.... ;)

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...ighlight=power

#64 actually the 520 is a stronger unit IIRC because it doesnt have those dual rails, he should be fine.

I had problems in 2x X1900 with the Antec TrueControl 2.0, CoolerMaster 600w and OCZ 600w. No problems with only one 12v line PSU, even with PSU that had less amperage (A TP I).

This was the answer my ATI representant forwarded me from ATI Support....

Quote:

---

#1 The short answer is that there is a list of CrossFire certified power
supplies on ati.com, and the ones the reviewer was having issues with are
not on that list, so we can't guarantee that they will work. That said, I'm
still trying to find out the reasons why they aren't on the list.

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Why not admit CF has issues with most dual rail PSUs?

Seasonic S12 600W has been great for me. System specs: Opteron 165 OC'ed to 3GHz, 7800GTX 512 SLI, 2 x 1G OCZ Titanium. The rest are usuall stuff - 2 x Raptors, Audizy 2 ZS, some fans, etc.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sampsa

I'm pretty sure it's the PSU which is causing you problems with CrossFire.

PS. Single Radeon X1800 XT shows 38,2 A GPU current draw regarding ATITool... I'm not so sure if this value is the true :)

---

My Enermax 660W with multiple 12V just went kaput with FX60 and single 1900XTX overclocked:(

Some interesting info I recieved from a FSP tech guy in relation to the Epsilon 600w.

Quote:

---

If you are planning to upgrade to X1900XT CrossFire, I think you made the right choice for having Epsilon then.

An extra piece of info for your reference, I was talking to our PM in Taiwan these 2 days regarding the max amp for 12V on Epsilon. It shows max 15A at the moment but they have updated and passed the safety certificates on 18A already. The OCP is actually 20A.

---

Hmm, that's probably why this PSU seems to succeed where other notable ones apparently fail.

I can confirm this, talking to FSP I got this reply,
FSP Epsilon

"What I mentioned applies to the present Epsilon 600/ 700.

Yes, the present ones have been reclassified. Even though it says 15A, it's actually 18A (with Over Current Protection of 20A).

Grace
__________________
FSP Group - www.FSPgroup.co.uk "

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freecableguy

I hate to say "I told you so" but.... ;)

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...ighlight=power

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I strongly suspect you have a defective pcp&C 510, as that load isn't quite what I've got. My HTPC runs off it with the following specs

Silverstone LaScala LC18
AMD fx-60 @ 3.0ghz
DFI SLI Expert
4GB OCZ memory
4x Raptor 150GB
300GB seagate
250GB Maxtor
160GB WD
120GB WD
80GB Maxtor
2x XFX 7800GTX 512MB @ 600/1850
1x DVD burner
2x 120mm fans
2x 80MM fans
Coolermaster Aerogate fan controller
7in Touchscreen on front of case

And it powers it fine. In fact, I blew out a silenx 600w unit on it, popped my ppc&c in and its been running great ever since. Actually, I wonder if you have the pcp&c unit with the slower 44CFM fan, mine is the EARLY revision with the 55CFM fan. I suspect they changed fans to try to address criticism for their noise and lost power doing so. All I know is that my current one barely gets warm powering the above.

hi just wanna ask i am currently using the fortron 700w psu but i got an offer on the ocz powerstream 600w non sli offer, i m gonna run 7900gt sli on the system....should i change it to the powerstream one or keep the fortron 700w instead??? the powerstream looks so nice !!! :P

:( :( :(

I was hoping to use my OCZ 600w. I have a Crossfire Edition card coming. Turning into quite the sad camper all over an exotic gpu setup. Should be happy days instead. Soon I have to buy the DFI even though it's resale will be murdered by AM2 and Conroe while I use it for 8 months or so. Now a psu. Top it off, to be ready for Conroe, I was going to get a stacker because my prometia lian li setup is dumping heat and it's getting warmer in the house. Stacker can hold two psu's, may be a way out of more uber money?

Kidney's for sale!!!!

Should I even try this? Shouldn't be so woefully underpowered to make things go pop? I don't even have the SLI version, but I was going to use the two shielded VGA molexes into the adapters. All about the power I suppose, I dont think the adapter changes much. I'll have to check if there are diffedrences on the rails. Dual core Opty should make my power requirements a little lesser than OPs. *cries*

Maybe all is not lost for me, I know it's the inq but:

"Despite we have two 600+ W PSU we are back at the spot where we need to get a new PSU for the lab to test those power hungry rigs. Asus A8R-32 MVP Deluxe board powered with RD580 chipset can even work with multi rail OCZ 600 W or Akasa 650W PSU as we guess it is distributing the power better than the previous one."

Think I'm going CFX3200. edit: Now I'm confused again. Bit tech has it running on RDX200 Asus but the new 32x one.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...r32-mvp/6.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by texuspete00

Kidney's for sale!!!!

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+1
:bsod:

AMD FX60
Asus A8R32 MVP Deluxe motherboard with default settings
Creative SB X-FI Xtrem Music
2GB Corsair (2x1GB) DDR400 CL3 Kit
300GB Maxtor Diamond 10 x2 (Windows XP Home, XP 64 Bit, Vista)
SiverStone ST60F (600W) Power Supply (http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-60f.htm)
Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XTX (Master) and Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 CrossFire Edition (each card was connected to the specific Dual 6 pin PCI Express power connectors.
A Dell 30 inch LCD
Setting up the system was fun, at the point of purchase it was the fastest and baldest system around. Installation of the OS was a breeze . Running runoff the mill applications such as MS word and Excel , no problems. I installed World of Warcarft, Oblivian and Age of Empires III, that’s when things started happening! Running these games without the crossfire boxed check had no issue, the games ran well at 2560 by 1600. After activating crossfire, running the above graphic intensive applications, the applications will run for less than 60 seconds resulting in the power supply abruptly shutting down! I had to remove the power supply cable to the power supply for 15 seconds before the computer would boot again. I would uncheck the crossfire box, run the application and had no problem running the application, in fact running World of Warcarft for 12 hours straight has no issues what so ever!
My First phone call to solve this issue was to the people who sold me the system , Cybermind computer house (Singapore) to a guy called Jack who sold me the system. He told that I was the first to use such a system and that the vast majority of people were using Nvidia SLI with no issue. This was the first time he had heard of such a thing. He suggested that I email either Sapphire or ATI, which I did.
ATI’s response:
Greetings! Based on our experience, games issues are usually due to improper system configurations, driver issues, faulty hardware or a known issue with the game and the hardware or drivers that you are using. First ensure your system meets the minimum requirements of the game and that you have any patches from the game vendor installed. If your computer meets all of the system requirements, please check our Knowledge Base and the release notes of the driver you are using to s ee if there are any known issues or solutions for the game you are playing. If you are unable to find information on the specific problem you are having in our Knowledge Base, please check with the software vendor for any known issues or problems. If the problem persists, review the full details for trouble shooting game related issues at the link provided below: http://www.ati.com/online/customerc...mesrevised.html
If these suggestions don't help to resolve your issues, please respond to the ticket and one of our qualified support representatives will assist you. To respond to this ticket you must visit http://support.ati.com and login to My Support. Thank you for choosing ATI! Status: Resolved
Sapphire response:
You power supply is already enough. Have you tried the latest driver Catalyst 6.5? Also, please sure that the PCI-E is set to 16x in the motherboard BIOS.To post a response please go to the link below.

Going thru Sapphire forum I found the following :
http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/forum...ead.php?t=1005
http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/forum...ead.php?t=4440
http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/forum...ead.php?t=4180
Going thru ATI I found the following :
https://support.ati.com/ics/support/...estionID=21794
Owners of a RADEON X1900 series graphics card may encounter difficulties installing or getting the graphics card to run stable. This may be caused by a low power or current drawn into the graphics card. Sharing the same power connection with other PC peripheral devices may also cause this problem. If you encounter such difficulties please review the following information:
1. Review the power supply specifications.
o 450 Watt capacity with 30A on a +/- 12 volt rail (connection) for single graphics configuration
o 550 Watt capacity with 38A on a +/- 12 volt rail (connection) for dual graphics configuration such as CrossFire
2. Ensure that enough power is drawn into each graphics card. Connect the power cable from the power supply directly into the graphics card and no other device.
After reading http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...ad.php?t=87790 and http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=29940 and after a week of sleepless nights, I suspected that it was a power supply issue, I went to ATI crossfire certified vendors page ( http://www.ati.com/technology/crossf...dyourown2.html ), my power supply SiverStone ST60F (600W) was not listed. But, my second computer which is running a Nvidia SLI was using a Antec Truepower 2.0 (TPII-550) was crossfire certified. I exchanged the power supply on the 2 machines, and held my breath. The same issue arose! By this time I was pulling all my hair out. The next day another call to Cybermind computer house and spoke to Jack. After imparting what happened he became defensive, stated that all system sold were SLI and that I was the odd man out. I stated that saying such things will not resolve my issue. To cut a long story, the guy was no help at all!
I was at wits end when I decided to go the power supply manufactures site http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-60f.htm and found http://www.silverstonetek.com/QA-POWER.htm on the Q&A page. Newly revised ST65ZF(released in summer 2005)and all ST60F are capable of supporting fully loaded Multi-GPU systems running 7800GTX 512MB or X1900XTX cards if 4pin to 6pin PCI-E adapter is used on one of the cards. These can be easily identified from the original ST65ZF by its surface coating, they have a flat, black paint finish as opposed to galvanized coating.
After following the instruction on the power supply manufacture page, instead of plugging in both of the the 6 pin PCI Express power connectors, I pluged in only one to the Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 CrossFire Edition. Then I used a 4pin to 6pin PCI-E adapter to power Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XTX (Master). And guess what, the system runs like a dream! After burning in the system and running tall the games listed and running quamark3 I had no issue at all.
In short, the ATI Radeon X1900 CrossFire and ATI Radeon X1900 XTX (Master) consume a lot of power, and the 12 V rail on the power supply did not have the amps to power both cards at the same time at 100% load. The work around was to put the load on other then the 12 V rail.

I accidentally came across this thread and after reading throoug it some I can relate. I had very similar issues and after re-assessing everything I decided to balance everything relative to what I had connected to which rail and my problems disappeared.

I did not read all of this thread so if someone has already come up with this I apologize for any redundancy. I know this thread is old but perhaps the originator never resolved the problem.

J

Dude, it's like almost a year old. I hate you for reviving this thread.