No Crossfire option

[Campbell]

Hi,

I have a Dell XPS710 which comes with the X1950 Crossfire Edition and
the X1950 Crossfire Series. I've loaded the latest drivers and Catalyst
(8.33, 7.1) yet I don't have a Crossfire option within Catalyst.

I've tried connecting the cable from the VHDCI port on the Edition to a
DVI port on the Series card, and the other end to my monitor, but it
doesn't display anything. Within Displays Manager I have 4 screens - is
this normal? Shouldn't 2 of these be 'merged' if I'm using Crossfire?

I'm running XP Home.

Can anyone suggest what might be wrong here?

Thanks,
Campbell

 

[Custom Computers]

Hi,

I have a Dell XPS710 which comes with the X1950 Crossfire Edition and
the X1950 Crossfire Series. I've loaded the latest drivers and Catalyst
(8.33, 7.1) yet I don't have a Crossfire option within Catalyst.

I've tried connecting the cable from the VHDCI port on the Edition to a
DVI port on the Series card, and the other end to my monitor, but it
doesn't display anything. Within Displays Manager I have 4 screens - is
this normal? Shouldn't 2 of these be 'merged' if I'm using Crossfire?

I'm running XP Home.

Can anyone suggest what might be wrong here?

Thanks,
Campbell

First, yes it is normal to see 4 screens listed in the Display
Manager. Now when you connected Cable from the Master card to the
slave which DVI connector did you use? The proper connection would be
to the DVI connector closest to the motherboard on the slave card. As
I understand it you won't have the option to enable crossfire if the
cable isn't connected correctly.

 

[Campbell]

First, yes it is normal to see 4 screens listed in the Display
Manager. Now when you connected Cable from the Master card to the
slave which DVI connector did you use? The proper connection would be
to the DVI connector closest to the motherboard on the slave card. As
I understand it you won't have the option to enable crossfire if the
cable isn't connected correctly.

Hi, thanks for responding.

Yes, I've connected the cable to the DVI port nearest the motherboard.
According the Display Manager, this is the Secondary output on the
Series card.

Incidentally, should I be able to get any output from the VHDCI port if
I haven't plugged the other end into the slave DVI port?

I've double-checked the connection of the cable, completely removing and
re-inserting it and making sure the screws are in tightly.

Should I not even have the CrossFire option in the menu tree within
Catalyst, even if it thinks it is unavailable?

Thanks,
Campbell

 

[First of One]

Incidentally, should I be able to get any output from the VHDCI port if I
haven't plugged the other end into the slave DVI port?

Yes. The VHDCI port is physically just two DVI ports crammed into the space
of one. One DVI port is used for input from the slave card, the other used
for output to the monitor. The cable itself is just a "dumb" adapter; it
doesn't do any signal processing, multiplexing, etc.

Should I not even have the CrossFire option in the menu tree within
Catalyst, even if it thinks it is unavailable?

To complicate matters, Catalyst 6.11 and later drivers introduced
"cable-free" Crossfire across any combination of X1900/1950 XT/XTX cards. As
such, *if everything is working correctly*, you should see a functional
Crossfire option regardless of whether the cable is plugged in, the only
difference being that cable-free mode is slightly slower.

If you are not seeing the Crossfire option in Catalyst Control Center (CCC),
something is wrong. Obviously, make sure you are running CCC in "advanced"
mode. Remove the monitor entry from Device Manager, shut down (not reboot),
plug the monitor into the dongle cable, and restart. This should allow your
monitor to be re-detected.

 

[JamesH]

You of course have the Crossfire Edition plugged into the Master PCIe slot,
right. You also of course have the power connectors plugged into each card?
I just added a X1950 CF card to my system and soon as I can rob a bank I'll
get a x1950xtx to go with it. My His 1950 has same timings as the XTX. One
more things, instructions say to make sure to check your BIOS to see if
there is an option to enable the second PCIe slot. Still another thought,
you did uninstall CCC and then reinstall it after adding the second card? If
you did not uninstall all the ATI software and drivers, you need to do that
now and start over.

 

[Campbell]

I've just opened my machine (it came fully assembled with both cards
from Dell) and verified that the Crossfire Edition card is in the
Primary PCIe slot. I installed the latest CCC when everything is in
place. In fact I have uninstalled and reinstalled to check that, but no
joy. :-(

I'm guessing the second card is fine as I can get output from both DVI
ports independently. I just don't seem to get any output from the VHDCI
port.

 

[Campbell]

Yes. The VHDCI port is physically just two DVI ports crammed into the space
of one. One DVI port is used for input from the slave card, the other used
for output to the monitor. The cable itself is just a "dumb" adapter; it
doesn't do any signal processing, multiplexing, etc.

Hmm, so if I'm not getting any output from the VHDCI port, I wonder if
there's either a problem with that port, or a problem with the AVI cable.

To complicate matters, Catalyst 6.11 and later drivers introduced
"cable-free" Crossfire across any combination of X1900/1950 XT/XTX cards. As
such, *if everything is working correctly*, you should see a functional
Crossfire option regardless of whether the cable is plugged in, the only
difference being that cable-free mode is slightly slower.

If you are not seeing the Crossfire option in Catalyst Control Center (CCC),
something is wrong. Obviously, make sure you are running CCC in "advanced"
mode. Remove the monitor entry from Device Manager, shut down (not reboot),
plug the monitor into the dongle cable, and restart. This should allow your
monitor to be re-detected.

Yep, running advanced mode, have tried uninstalling, reinstalling,
shutting down, moving cables around in different ports. I get output
from all 3 DVI ports, just not the VHDCI one. :-(

 

[JamesH]

What is the rated wattage of your power supply? Should be over 500 watt,
even over 600. Computer makers normally have PS that barely cover their
system. Crossfire is picky on this matter. I had two 1600 series in my
system, and did not have to do anything special to get Crossfire working
other than uninstall all ATI software when I added the second one. Which is
not your case. You do know there is a Dell Newsgroup and you can also get
support directly from Dell. Perhaps your system sustained some damage in
transit. I'd give dell a call if I were you. They are pretty good people to
work with. I too have had a dell in the past.

 

[First of One]

Hmm, so if I'm not getting any output from the VHDCI port, I wonder if
there's either a problem with that port, or a problem with the AVI cable.

Most likely. There's one more thing you can try. If your monitor accepts VGA
inputs, connect it to the dongle cable using a DVI-VGA adapter.

Yep, running advanced mode, have tried uninstalling, reinstalling,
shutting down, moving cables around in different ports. I get output from
all 3 DVI ports, just not the VHDCI one. :-(

If my suggestion above doesn't work, then call up Dell's tech support line,
tell them all the steps you took (hopefully to save some time) and ask for a
replacement dongle cable.

 

[Campbell]

Ok, I have tried what you suggested. I CAN actually drive the monitor
fine by using a DVI to VGA adapter. But if I try connecting directly
with DVI, the display refuses to enable.

Why would that be? The signal would be downgraded, so if anything I'd
have thought it would be even less likely to work.

The monitors are certainly capable, I am using a Dell 3007WFP and Dell
2007FP.

Thanks,
Campbell

 

[First of One]

Well, if you connect directly with DVI, it is using the 24 digital pins in
the cable. If you attach the DVI-VGA adapter, it is using the 4+1 analog
pins (grouped together in a square pattern). Two different signal paths. The
adapter doesn't actually do any conversion; it just re-routes a few wires to
a different shape.

Looks like the culprit is either a defective cable or defective card. The
cable is more susceptible to damage. I suggest you call up Dell's tech
support line, tell them all the steps you took (hopefully to save some time)
and ask to RMA the dongle cable first.

 

[First of One]

Come to think of it, is this the machine you have?
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsdt_710?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

According to Beyond3D, this is actually a Crossfire setup running on an
nForce
590SLI motherboard, which is impossible if built with retail components. As
such, the common ATi Catalyst drivers may not support Crossfire on it. You
may
have to use the drivers that shipped with your Dell, and get future driver
updates from Dell.

 

[Custom Computers]

Come to think of it, is this the machine you have?http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsdt_710?c=...

According to Beyond3D, this is actually a Crossfire setup running on an
nForce
590SLI motherboard, which is impossible if built with retail components. As
such, the common ATi Catalyst drivers may not support Crossfire on it. You
may
have to use the drivers that shipped with your Dell, and get future driver
updates from Dell.

--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."






- Show quoted text -

Well if he's truely running the Dell 710 its not using ATi cards, I
just checked all three models of the 710 and ATi video cards are not
an option for this system.

 

[First of One]

Dell's Crossfire troubleshooting guide clearly shows the XPS 710's "special
edition red" chassis:
http://dsnimg.dell.com/images/external/images/Monitor/overall_dongle_connection_to_cards.jpg

This Beyond3D news article mentions it as well:
http://www.beyond3d.com/#news39105

The Dell link I provided clearly showed X1950 Crossfire as an option, but
only one nForce 590 motherboard choice. However, if you actually go ahead
and try to configure a system, the X1950 no longer appears. It is likely
Dell offered this configuration at some point, but no longer.