Official XS 7950GX2 Guide - Your Questions Answered

[Anemone]

If SLI worked at the same time as a 2nd card so I could have both SLI and 2 monitors I'd probably have bought one of these.

I'm just far, far more attached to dual monitors... Mind you I do understand that you need the 2gpu's to drive a SLI. That's ok. But if you get another card for a 975, just to drive a 2nd monitor, SLI shouldn't shut that off

[Philly_Boy]

I just got a pair of 7950 GX2's thru the EVGA step up program. I do not see my DFI Lanparty NF4 Expert mobo on NVidia's list of recommended mother boards. Does this mean they will not work in Quad SLI with this board or that NVidia hasn't tested them on this mobo yet? Is anyone using these cards with this mobo? Which drivers are the best? The 91.45's still?

[vudoodoodoo]

It should work for you. I have quad on my Ultra D.

[vudoodoodoo]

Check it out. I thought I could lower temps by removing the factory crap TIM and using AS5. They used a giant glob of silver TIM. I replaced it w/ AS5 and put everything back together. I still got high temps. I took it apart again and found this.



Not very good contact. It's like that on all four cards that I have.

[Philly_Boy]

It should work for you. I have quad on my Ultra D.

Yeah, but the Ultra D is on the list published by nVidia as an approved mobo that works with these cards. That is why I am looking for any DFI SLi DR Expert owners who also have 7950 GX2's. I am looking to see if there was anything quirky about adding those cards to this mobo.

I am going to have to see what happens later tonight when I reassemble my rig.

[phelan1777]

Yeah, but the Ultra D is on the list published by nVidia as an approved mobo that works with these cards. That is why I am looking for any DFI SLi DR Expert owners who also have 7950 GX2's. I am looking to see if there was anything quirky about adding those cards to this mobo.

I am going to have to see what happens later tonight when I reassemble my rig.

If the quad works on an Ultra-D, then it definatly should work on an Expert, if you are asking if it will work on the Ultra-D, then more the board more then likely will have to be modded for SLI.

[itznfb]

i have only tested in 3dmark06, i score just under 10K, which is pretty low IMHO. its on a E6600 setup @ 400x8,1:1/450NBCC.

as for telling if its in SLi mode or not, you can just go into the nvidia control panel, there is a menu for Multi-GPU functionality where you can set for dual-monitor, or dual-gpu mode. its set to dual-gpu mode by default.

[Yoxxy]

With CPU at 3.2 ghz high 9,000's to just under 10,000 is quite high for a single GX2... People that have very high scores have much higher clocks than that.

[xpsentity]

Swiftech has come out with a nice spacer kit for the GX2. Can use all kinds of watercooling now, maybe even aftermarket air coolers.

You might want to add to first post. Only 20 bucks too.

Linky!

[syne_24]

There is some problem with this card with the P5W DH, and I'm not sure about other crossfire/conroe board. But it doesnt run in 2 gpu mode sometimes, and appears to be completely random. I test this by running Aquamark randomly and sometimes it would show that both gpus are working but other times it is not. Again this is random, I have no idea how to pernamently make it run the way it's suppose to. The only way to resolve it for me when it does that is to go back into the Nvidia control panel, set to multi-display mode, and then set it back to multi-gpu mode. If anyone has the same setup can confirm this or have a solution would be great.

[vanovich]

anyone running 2x7950gx2 in sli on the new 68i mb? if so ,hows your scores in 3dmarks .is it worth changing from 2x7900gtx?what boosts are you getting in running quad?atm im running sli on badaxe with 2x7900gtx and scoring 11540 in 3d06.i would like to see some 2x7950gx2 scores ,mostly 03 and 06 .my 03 scorer pt is 46400 .anyone?

[icon57]

i would like to know this too ^^^

[Rovtar]

i wanna know if you can control fans on this graphic?

[Ripn929]

As listed below I have both graphic solutions to dink with. The crossfire rig gets 16,200 marks in 3d mark 05, the 7950gx2 gets 14,600. The CF-rig Can't run my 2 favorite games in crossfire (i'll figure it out this winter), the 7950 plays anything right out of the box for 1/2 the price of 2 ATI cards. I think I like simple more than novel.

[easypanic]

i wanna know if you can control fans on this graphic?

Rivatuner?

[berty1425]

Is anyone having any luck w/vista drivers yet? I can not get any of the new drivers to see my second card yet? I've tried the 101.41 and it will not even see the 2nd card at all. I had to reinstall he 100.65 and it's back to the ! on one of the cards

[easypanic]

Too early to use vista :p

[roll45]

does anyone know if the 7950GX2 work with an DFI lanparty UT Nf4 SLI-DR?
Thanks!

[Kin Hell]

does anyone know if the 7950GX2 work with an DFI lanparty UT Nf4 SLI-DR?
Thanks!

My XFX XXX 7950GX2 worked fine. I also ran Quad SLI on that Board with a friends card. FEAR was AWESOME for it!

[tommyshango]

I have a few questions about this card in quad sli. - "The SLI controller is on the inner card, and it can run fine with a passive chipset cooler" what does this mean ? what passive cooler fits? can I use mcw60s for the top card and passive for the bottom? the spacer kit listed does not work with quad sli configs? are there any other solutions besides the 120 dollar kits that do the whole card?

[Kin Hell]

I have a few questions about this card in quad sli. - "The SLI controller is on the inner card, and it can run fine with a passive chipset cooler" what does this mean ? what passive cooler fits? can I use mcw60s for the top card and passive for the bottom? the spacer kit listed does not work with quad sli configs? are there any other solutions besides the 120 dollar kits that do the whole card?

Any kind of Heatsink on it will do. Dont forget, Copper is better than Aluminium. You can either Glue it on or use the Thermal Sticky pad solution to revert back to Stock, to save taking a 9" Angle Grinder to it!

Tbh, the DD Water Block is the BEST value for money/Performance. Mine Idles @ 29 DegC with the highest being 34 on GPU2 under load! Love the silence & the Temps are wicked!

[hahanoclue]

There is some problem with this card with the P5W DH, and I'm not sure about other crossfire/conroe board. But it doesnt run in 2 gpu mode sometimes, and appears to be completely random. I test this by running Aquamark randomly and sometimes it would show that both gpus are working but other times it is not. Again this is random, I have no idea how to pernamently make it run the way it's suppose to. The only way to resolve it for me when it does that is to go back into the Nvidia control panel, set to multi-display mode, and then set it back to multi-gpu mode. If anyone has the same setup can confirm this or have a solution would be great.

i'm having the same problem here, as the card will sometime run in single card mode n sometime in dual... i had to restart my pc in order to get it back to run in dual.. i'm using 1 x 7950gx2 (leadtek winfast).. in months, i've been trying to solve this gc.. it doesn't compatible with a lot of mobo, then it runs hot (no oc), it's underperform in games (need for speed carbon/underground2, gtr2, cs source).. so i tried to use rivatuner monitor to log both cores temp n the result shows that only 1 gpu is loaded.. i tried a few drivers, a few 91.x, 93.71 n now using 93.81.. i can't find patch file for the games to run with this gc.. it'll run perfectly alright with 3dmark05 (i dun have 06) when the pc is fresh from restart but i can't run 3dmark twice without needing to restart to get the 2nd gpu running.. so 1 run of 3dmark then need restart before i can run 3dmark again (coz otherwise 2nd gpu won't load).. i was 7900gtx user, n to be true, 7900gtx is far more easier to deal with.. although, 7950gx2 is a lot faster gc (if i can get both gpu running but i never had them running in all my games).. can someone help us out with these mystery..? also how about fan speed of this gc..? still any clue..? anyway v ca use nbitor (i never use 1 but i'll try if it'll work for the fans) to alter the fans speed..?

thanks..

[Nistomax]

So when i ran 3dmark06 with the clocks listed in my sig, i only got 4850. I'm only using the basic version so its hard to know what did what, but i know i did terrible on the cpu tests. I was surprised however that i never broke 30fps on the graphics ones either.
I'd like to attribute the low scores to the fact that it was running in 1280x1024 but i'm not so sure.
It runs games in 1920x1200 like butter so maybe its just that though...
Anyone have some ideas?

[Kin Hell]

So when i ran 3dmark06 with the clocks listed in my sig, i only got 4850. I'm only using the basic version so its hard to know what did what, but i know i did terrible on the cpu tests. I was surprised however that i never broke 30fps on the graphics ones either.
I'd like to attribute the low scores to the fact that it was running in 1280x1024 but i'm not so sure.
It runs games in 1920x1200 like butter so maybe its just that though...
Anyone have some ideas?

Your CPU is holding you back somewhat. Throw a Dual Core CPU at it & you will see a Big difference. Your Definition of games running as smooth as Butter @ 1920x1200 will appear very Lumpy Butter after you experience a Dual Core chip behind it. Forgeting the Dual Core & switch to an Intel Duo 2.4 clocked to anything over 3Ghz & Games will be like Liquid.

*Edit...If you dont want the Expense of an Intel Duo Rig.....at least chuck a Socket 939 Opteron in & go for one with the Biggest Multiplier you can afford. (If u can still get em)
Equally, if you end up only being able to get an X64 Dual core CPU, get as bigger multiplier as possible for best performance...

With regard to you not breaking 30fps, the reason for this is your current CPU aint up to the job. Rather a large pi$$-take considering GPU based cards were suppose to revolutionise Gaming on PeeCee's and take away all the calculations from the CPU. Here we all are now needing Bigger & Faster CPU's to throw more Data at the GPU's. You gotta laugh or the bast4rds will have you crying!

[Kin Hell]

anyone running 2x7950gx2 in sli on the new 68i mb? if so ,hows your scores in 3dmarks .is it worth changing from 2x7900gtx?what boosts are you getting in running quad?atm im running sli on badaxe with 2x7900gtx and scoring 11540 in 3d06.i would like to see some 2x7950gx2 scores ,mostly 03 and 06 .my 03 scorer pt is 46400 .anyone?

Stay where you are unless you are a Nutter for FPS in F.E.A.R. - This game loves Quad SLI.
Running 2 XFX XXX 7950GX2's in 3DMark 01 gives a Lower Score, about 3,000 points more in '03, 1,000 in '05 & sweet FA difference in '06.
Check my Sig for Rig..I couldnt warrant all that extra money on another XFX XXX just to play FEAR & if the coders at FEAR can manage it, why arn't the rest of the software publishers able to do the same?
Future, the publishers of 3DMark 03, 05 & 06 are shafting the industry alongside nVidia. All those programs do is say to 3DMark, here's the Data u need to run & nVidia hardware load balances it & shares it across the 2 GX2's instead of nVidias hardware saying, I got 4 GPU's & can do it 4 times as fast, ....less a bit for CPU overheads. nVidia's idea of SLI never has been right & not implemented the same way as STB did for Voodoo. I know SLI means "Scaleable Liink Interface" with nVidia and "Scan Line Interleaving" with Voodoo. I just dont understand why nVidia did what they did & can refer to the nVidia GeForce 4 series cards as being a lash up over their predecessors. After GeForce 4 hit the market, they gave better performance for the GPU's being clocked rather than the Ram...It's all been a bit Fubar since then for my money!