more n more xfire problems

[Mtemel]

hi guys,

im having real trouble with setting this up,

ive had problems such as ulps screwing things up, flicking screens, lines in games, random shut downs, crossfire disabling itself via ccc and ccc chaning fan speeds i set in AB and general CCC weird doing its own thing troubles ....

so having installed uninstalled reinstalled etc driver upon driver i finally thought i got it stable 100% oced to a resonable 950 core 1200 mem i played bf2bc2 and crysis and benmarked til my heart was content for 2 weeks!

well after having thought id finally gotten my 5850's stable in crossfire i get this weird problem start happening.

im sitting here looking at this site reading stuff and pc just shuts off no BSOD or nothing just like someone pulled the plug shutting down :/, it wont reboot unless i totaly unpower it by switching off power, after this i reboot all seems ok again.
so i run bc2 to see if all was ok, pc shuts down again. :/ i tried all day to fix this, try many different things but to no avail.

so i test cards individually and i have no issues what so ever, i can clock both cards to their max and run benches play games with out a hitch.

i have no idea what to try next as i ve tried the uninstall drivers reinstall, then tried changing to 10.2,10,2b,10.3beta,10.3b etc etc but the pc keeps shutting down even with stock clocks (although i did complete some runs of vantage but mostly it shuts down too)

if anyone has any idea what could cause this id be really greatful

muz

[damha]

Complete instant shutdown = Thermal protection kicking in.

Check the temps on your CPU, reduce clocks/voltage for testing.

[Titan7171]

Well if the system shut down like someone just pulled the plug......Id check the PSU........Also just a thought but how many other things you have plugged into that same outlet the computer is plugged into?

[Chickenfeed]

Yeah I'd agree with the suggestions so far, overdrawn circuit ( no plugging in 1000watt vaccums to the PC outlet ) thermal shutdown ( not as likely although possible ) or PSU issue ( they do degrade, even though that PSU should be enough for that setup, depending on the clockspeeds, voltage, other components and the PSUs capacitor age, it may no longer cut the snuff )

[Mtemel]

thanks for the suggestions!

i checked my cpu (im pretty sure this wasnt the problem) the tepms are really low 30C cpu temp and 42C at load, cpu is at a low speed setting to so im pretty sure i can rule this out.
i ve npw plugged in my power into a seperate socket (it was in a gang with 6 others before and quite alot of power leads mixed into it so im sure i would be a great idea to just move it to its own single socket even if this isnt the cure its a good idea anyways
now the PSU is what i suspected all along.... but i do find it strange that it has been working fine for 2 weeks with overclocked settings all day long with out a glitch, but im still thinking it s the PSU as it is 7 years old now! is there a way i can test it somehow for stablility ? is there anyway of checking it all all?

the last thought is maybe its the new card i got as i never had any problems with my 1st card what so ever, ive had the pc shut down like the plug s been pulled the 1st day i got the card running on its own, it just shut down pc like power had been pulled. it did this a couple of times but then it seemed ok. it also grey sceen the 1st few benchies i put it through but i considered this normal as my 1st card grey screened a couple of times when 1st run(but it didnt ever shut down pc)

after its 1st few runs the card seemed to stablilise itself so i thought no more of it, but now this is happening i can only think it maybe its the new card, but i cannot be sure.

so ive had the new card running on its own now to test it and it has shut down 1 time from windows with nothing running and again it was as if power was pulled, gonna keep testing this cards stability today then try my 1st card and see if it happens to this 1 too

im just guessing here though :/ seems like a really irritating fault to find :<

oh i forgot to mention the ocz powerstream 700w psu has adjustable rails for all 3 volts, i ve turned them all up very slightly, i m thinking maybe this will help? or not?

[Serpentarius]

7 years PSU!!!

that's really something .... i cant recall if PSU lasts longer than 5 years

[Mtemel]

7 years PSU!!!

that's really something .... i cant recall if PSU lasts longer than 5 years

well it seemed to be ok last 2 weeks running 2x5850's oced to 950core 1250 mem, it wouldnt just stop being sufficeint overnight? would it? :o and is there a way of testing checking you PSU in anyway?

[Titan7171]

One thing I can say is my 5970 at 950/1250 pulls like 67amps off my psu.............now my psu only is rated for 52 amps over 3 rails (Enermax Infiniti 650w)this PSU is only 4 years old.

How many amps is your psu rated for on the 12v rails because I would think its pulling at least 63 amps for 2x 5850 at the sme clocks or maybe even the same amount?

Did PSU even have high amperage rails in 2003? There was no crossfire at that time so I believe the psu just doesnt have the power to run those cards.

I used furmark stability test to see the amps the cards pulled.

[merkk1]

Hi
Looking up your power supply it a mult. rail power supply it has 4 18a +12v rails . With what you are saying it dose i'am ,thinking the power supply is going unstable Do have a friend with a power supply you can check it with ? If you do get a new power supply make sure it a single rail power supply . I try a mult rail 750w power supply with my 9850 CPU when they frist came out that piece of power supply could not run stable worth a . Changing wicth of the 4 power cable for the video cards were used would make it better or worst

[SoulsCollective]

it wouldnt just stop being sufficeint overnight? would it? :o and is there a way of testing checking you PSU in anyway?

It's not usually a matter of sudden death. The components used inside a PSU are not perfectly efficient, and degrade as they age. The efficiency at which a PSU can convert AC to DC power will decrease over time, as will the cleanliness of the power that unit is putting out. This can be exacerbated if you try and run a PSU near the upper limits of its rated load near the end of its life cycle, which you'd be doing with a 5850 Crossfire setup.

Running a PSU older than about five years is just asking for dead hardware, as a dying PSU tends to damage other components in its death throes.

Download and run OCCT, and try the PSU test. While it will produce a software readout which is not nearly as accurate as checking with a DMM, it should give some idea of how your PSU is holding up.

[R3alsp33dy0ne]

One thing I can say is my 5970 at 950/1250 pulls like 67amps off my psu.............now my psu only is rated for 52 amps over 3 rails (Enermax Infiniti 650w)this PSU is only 4 years old.

How many amps is your psu rated for on the 12v rails because I would think its pulling at least 63 amps for 2x 5850 at the sme clocks or maybe even the same amount?

Did PSU even have high amperage rails in 2003? There was no crossfire at that time so I believe the psu just doesnt have the power to run those cards.

I used furmark stability test to see the amps the cards pulled.

Sorry to go off topic here, but I need to clear this up for other readers.

Your vga card DOES NOT pull 67 amps from your 12v rails. That would mean your 5970 is using 800 watts all by itself. You are looking at the current in GPU-Z right? thats 67 amps at about 1.2v which is very different to 67 amps at 12v.

[Razrback16]

Just replace the PSU. 700W for a 5850 Crossfire? Personally, I'd say even with a NEW 700W PSU you're loading it too closely near its rated maximum. Get a 900W+ minimum.

[Titan7171]

Sorry to go off topic here, but I need to clear this up for other readers.

Your vga card DOES NOT pull 67 amps from your 12v rails. That would mean your 5970 is using 800 watts all by itself. You are looking at the current in GPU-Z right? thats 67 amps at about 1.2v which is very different to 67 amps at 12v.

that was in furmark, i tried it several times with similar results depending on the voltsge used I believe it could have been total system usage? but Im not sure as after doing some reading its not possible for software to monitor psu output accurately

gpuz believe was sending that result to furmark!

[damha]

42c load on a phenom is WAY too hot. If the socket reaches 42 one can only imagine what the die temp is...

[Aedubber]

I had the same problems youare having when i purchased a 1000 watt PSU , little did i know it was a garbage PSU.. Comp ran fine etc etc and then i had the SAME symptoms you have.. I went and bought me a nice Corsair 850watt PSU . have my single GTX285 Oced , 6GB mem Oced, and a CPU Oced to 4ghz and it has never failed on me ever since then...Ditch the PSU and get a known name brand PSU with good reviews for sure.