Some help with crossfire please!

[eUphoria]

Just bought some new goodies from scan and set them up including dfi p45 mobo and 2 4850's with the intention of running them in crossfire.

firstly - the only bridge between the graphics card was supplied with the mobo, but there are 2 points on the top of the gfx cards where it could potentially attach - i've linked the 2 cards using the connectors nearest the fixing brackets and case (does this make any sense?). Do i need 2? why are there 2 connectors on each card?

secondly - how can i test that the crossfire is actually working? I know that the system knows the cards are there under device manager bu i want to check that they are actaully working in crossfre mode (the ccc is checked to enable crossfire)

lastly - arrrrgh the fans!!! I've got 2 palit cards - i bought them because the coolers looked big and i assumed the fans would be quieter than reference - doh! Come on - whats the solution, surely they dont need to run that fast in windows!!!! gpu temp is supposedly 39 degs

cheers!

[Webby]

Right a few questions all with relatively easy answers.

First they have multiple crossfire fingers because you can connect upto 4 cards in crossfireX it doesn't matter which one you use as far as I am aware.

Next have you installed the latest drivers 8.10? If not then get them from the ATI site http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx install them as well as catalyst control centre and then open the control centre up and select advanced (rather than basic view) if you go to the ATI Overdrive section I believe the is fan control settings there, new to this release of the drivers.

I'm sure the must be a way of seeing if you have crossfire enabled in catalyst but since I don't have it the option may not be there for me so if you can't see it get a copy of GPU-Z and run that the bottom box is crossfire it should say enabled!

You can get GPU-Z from here http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

[eUphoria]

Thanks webby! I've the latest catalyst but weirdly all the overdrive options are greyed out

[Webby]

You will need to clock the little padlock at the top of the Overdrive window to unlock them

[confusingcircle]

You need to press the padlock icon at the top left of the overdrive tab, this will 'unlock' everything and allow you to change settings if you need to.

Edit: Doh... just beaten to it!

[eUphoria]

Thanks - found the padlock! But the fan control only goes down to 20% wich perversely has made the fans spin faster and noisier - solution: going to order 2 x zalman vf1000's i think

[Webby]

Hmm have you tried each card individually? Are they both jet engines or is it just one? I only ask because I put a Pailt 9800GT in somebodies machine a month or so ago and it was a jet engine no fan speed control and as you experienced turning the fan speed down actually put it up! So I unplugged the fan and attached a quiet 92mm fan on top and everything was fine, I just assumed the fan noise was normal (although the fan speed increase with controller reduction did throw me a bit).

Subsequently other people have said that the cooler on the 4850 was fine as in not a jet engine so I thought maybe its just the 9800GT's that have the problem, now you are having the same problem with 4850's! So if it is a single card making the racket send it back for a replacement if its both perhaps contact Palit and find out if the noise and fan control is normal behaviour if it is that is a pain, oh and if you remove the coolers you will void the cards warranty (sticker over the screws).

If you have had them for less than 7 working days then you could always return them under the distance selling regulations and get some alternative cards with better coolers (or at least quieter ones!) worth contacting the retailer and or Palit first to see if this is actually a fault they are aware of if it is then they should replace them for you anyway.

[eUphoria]

I dont think that either of the fans are 'faulty' per se - just a bit cheap and noisy. They're not jet engine full on noise, just a lot louder than i was expecting. I had a similar problem when i bought my last gpu (a 7800gt!) and the stock cooler was too noisy so i replaced it with a zalman, which was superb. I'm not sure that I can honestly claim that these are faulty - just not as quiet as i was hoping.