Video Demonstration and Closing Thoughts
If you were looking for more benchmark data on this, you are going to have to come back at a later time. This story was really focused on describing the problems and demonstrating that it IS in fact a problem; and a different problem than AMD fixed with the Catalyst 13.8 driver for single screen users.
As is often the case with these kinds of stories there are going to be readers that think we are full of crap. To help alleviate the troll problem we created some videos that clearly show the CrossFire versus SLI scaling difference at 5760×1080 resolutions.
We HIGHLY RECOMMEND you download this video in full rather than using YouTube to view it for the most accurate representation of performance.
Here in Crysis 3 this is one of the extreme cases where cutting the frame rate essentially in half results in a noticeably different experience than you would expected based on presented performance numbers in applications like FRAPS. In the first half of the video there is basically no visible performance delta between the CrossFire and single GPU on-screen animation. There is improvement with the GTX 770 and GTX 770 SLI side-by-side showing us that the issues on CrossFire + Eyefinity are affecting gaming experiences.
Even in games like Bioshock Infinite that see average frame rates in the mid-40s at 5760×1080 with a single Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition you would expect to see 70-80 FPS and as a result a much smoother animation – you just don’t get that with CrossFire + Eyefinity today.
Expectations Moving Forward
I think it’s fair to say that I have laid out the problems that rest before AMD and its driver team pretty directly and without much commentary. These issues are real, tangible and are affecting gamers today that have hardware they purchased in good faith expecting a better solution than is being provided. AMD has already shown a willingness to address these types of issues with the Catalyst 13.8 beta fixes, but these separate issues need to be a focus for the company moving forward.
When I went to AMD with these problems (a few weeks ago) they assured me that they are working on a fix and that it CAN be fixed. Based on my theory of how the interleaving and stepped frames are occurring internally I am very curious if this can even be fixed in software or if a hardware fix is going to be required to fully rectify the situation. If it does require hardware, did AMD’s upcoming Hawaii product have enough time to integrate the solution? A new architecture with the same problems with Eyefinity would be a big disappointment.
Trust me, I still want this to be a thing.
AMD continues to tell me that its “4K story” will be revealed and known to us very soon and that all of our questions will be answered. That very vague statement is meant to address the coming onslaught of stories about 4K gaming that requires the same Eyefinity technology we have been discussing here today in this article. Currently 4K monitors like the ASUS PQ321Q are running two screen Eyefinity / Surround configurations with dual 1920×2160 heads internally. As a result, everything we are seeing in our 5760×1080 testing today does carry over to 4K monitors and gaming.
As I mentioned on a previous page, AMD, as they have previously stated, is committed to fixing these CrossFire + Eyefinity problems for the upcoming generation of products and the current Radeon HD 7000-series of cards. Though much of the discussion is still going to be embargoed until further notice I have renewed confidence that the substantial Frame Rating issues with these configurations will be addressed, I just don’t know exactly when. For gamers that have already invested in this ecosystem of multi-display, multi-GPU hardware that answer isn’t going to appease them but it does make this information presented today easier to accept.
Click to Enlarge
What makes this situation even more unnerving for me is how disparate the situation is for AMD. As a single card, single GPU solution the Radeon HD 7000-series cards continue to offer better performance per dollar than NVIDIA's GeForce cards. They run a little hotter and may lack some sexiness that the GTX 700 cards have created but more often than not they are best of breed when it comes to buying a single card. And the great bundle programs they have created don't hurt either! But for gamers that consider multi-GPU a feature they want to have available at any time, CrossFire isn't standing up well to SLI.
My hope is that AMD will not only fix 4K and Eyefinity for Hawaii users later in the year but will also help gamers that have invested in the HD 7000-series of graphics cards and have already purchased their Eyefinity configurations on the promise of a great experience. AMD was able to push forward with the Catalyst 13.8 beta builds on a mostly reasonable schedule and I am holding out hope that the company will do the same thing for CrossFire + Eyefinity.
The gamers deserve it.
UPDATE: We got an official statement from AMD on the subject of this article. It states:
As AMD has already publicly stated when the frame pacing feature was first introduced with Catalyst 13.8 beta, it does not address resolutions above 2560×1600. At the same time, AMD has also committed to addressing these cases in a future update. Details of the rollout for this solution will become very evident, and made public in the very near future.
Keep the faith, Ryan and co.
Keep the faith, Ryan and co. Just continue to call it like you see it and let the chips fall where they may.
Hopefully AMD will get its stuff together otherwise they are going to lose a few folks.
I sincerely admire your
I sincerely admire your journalistic integrity Ryan… as well everyone else at the PCper team!
-Stewart Graham
what a difference in AMD
what a difference in AMD graft, they improved on there driver.
Is this so with an APU + Graphic card. Good job Ryan.
Well currently rolling with
Well currently rolling with 2×7970’s on a 1920×1200 triple display setup. Can’t say I ever really been personally bothered the various issues raised in the article in regards to the frame interlieaving and stepped tearing enough to stop playing, though I trust the guys over at PCPer to give it to me straight. I noticed the stuttering with crossfire more than anything else you guys brought up with your new testing methodology. I think most of us gamers at least gained a better understanding about the various issues involved. Sometimes my benchmarking applcation(be it FRAPS or Dxtory) would say I was getting a certain frame amount but the game just felt too jittery, whereas if I disabled crossfire the game felt more smooth even with a lower framerate.
That is not to say I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed my 7970’s/Eyefinity setup. When I’ve been been able to play at Eyefinity resolutions I’ve done so, when I haven’t I’ve just adjusted my quality or resolution settings until I could get a smooth enough playing experience.
Do I hope that AMD is able to smooth out those circumstances where I can’t play at a give resolution/quality due to micro-stuttering with crossfire, yeah that would be awesome. I think a lot of us out here still don’t have a full appreciation for the phenomena due to not having been able to test multi-GPU solutions side by side, so it just comes down to “the game doesn’t feel fluid enough at my current settings so I’ll dial them down until it does”, which I’m sure people have different sensitivities to. Keep up the good work PCPer crew.
what about this
what about this ryan?
http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2013/9/18/nvidia-launches-amd-has-issues-marketing-offensive-ahead-of-hawaii-launch.aspx#.Ujo-ScnFMsU.twitter
why use 2 hdmi cables when
why use 2 hdmi cables when you can use a single displayport cable and the problem does not exist with displayport ?
At first I thought this
At first I thought this article may have been over egging the problem with eyefinity + crossfire. Having now disconnected my second HD 7970 and played a few games in eyefinity I have seen that I is not. Radeon Pro may tell me that I’m getting half the FPS that I was but my eyes see the same low FPS experience.
Not impressed AMD, I feel like a chump for spending £300 on a card whose only additional effect to my system has been extra heat and noise.
Still at least I can go back and play Farcry 3 now with out the giant oversized HUD problem.
Thanks For the good article and thanks for bending AMD’s ear.
A damned good read thanks
A damned good read thanks Ryan. AMD owners should be pleased that these issues are highlighted and making sure AMD keep on their toes. Like the FCAT article, it was good to see AMD address the issue and get it fixed and again, it was PCper who made AMD aware of the issues (like they didn’t already know!)and forced them into sorting that out for their users.
I think a lot of hardware
I think a lot of hardware maker define CPU differently then Microsoft.you can ask I wrote a bug report to and today 13.10 beta.if I recall message signal interrupt and its extended variant were implemented in vista for consumer?ROFL we know how vista was received so this might be one overlooked good thing.my case?in regedit MSI was enabled (sad was not for some reason ,can’t enable it)but no amount of MSI set!(if it isn’t set isn’t it defaulting to one msi / socket?but I have 4 CPU in my i5 2500k(ya only physical CPU ms say)so imagine amd 8 core fx lol stuck with 1 MSI / msix.I think this is the cause.sadly on my system none were set . I normally tweak but from what I saw on ms it isn’t a case of 0 or 1.and ms recommend hex value.Rolf a bit too complex for my knowledge.but you guys know a lot of hardcore tweaker . if I’m right ? I would be like what the eck am I the only one that used vista ?
PS:what I wrote is for w8 64
PS:what I wrote is for w8 64 bit!But I suspect a lot of hardware maker default to 1 (probably easier to implement)since socket come fro 2 to 12) detecting might be entertaining.
2.1.4.1. Resolution,
2.1.4.1. Resolution, Granularity, and Accuracy of System Time
http://www.windowstimestamp.com/description
Bottom line?I hate compromise!