a few questions m17x r2

I recently downloaded age of conan on my computer. This game doesn't work properly in xfire mode so i disabled it and now the game runs smoothly. The fps is still the same as before maybe even better and the strange artifacts i was getting are now cleared up.
Anyway this lead me to wonder, whats the point of 2 gpu's if they are not in xfire or sli mode. Do you still get a performance boost?

Also is it safe to use my ati 5870's with the latest AMD drivers, that is not the official dell drivers. I find the newer drivers to have more features but have not updated due to the fact that they are not Dell's drivers.

 

There is one positive of having amd cards.

Within 2 months you will be a pro at removing, and reinstalling the Catalyst program for the amd cards. You'll see why.

 

*snicker *

 

You need to have the latest driver from AMD. There is a significant performance improvement from the 11.5 Dell drivers. But before you go trying out the latest driver you need to flash your cards with the newer vbios from dell if you haven't done so. I've posted up some instructions here if you need help.

Do not be skeptical about using the AMD reference drivers, Dell gave us the new vbios for just that purpose

Also you need to install the latest Catalyst Application Profiles (CAP) as this software is built for Xfire setups and optimizes performance settings on a game to game basis. Some games do not scale well with Xfire so this application applies a driver profile specific to a game in order for it to work optimally in Xfire.

The great thing about AMD is that they are now releasing a new driver with performance enhancements and optimizations every month. You don't have to update if you're happy with your system but from an enthusiast point of view you're on the bleeding edge all the time, if not, just wait a month

 

Install the AMD driver + the latest CAP profile.
I believe Age of Conan supports SLI and Crossfire; maybe you just have driver problems.

 

i see. thanks nospheratu for the detailed info. +rep. and eleven, i suppose it would be driver issue on my part since xfire only causes strange artifacts all over my screen. Ill update my drivers and see how the game plays afterwards.

edit: wait how do i know if i already have the latest vbios? I'm assuming i do since, i think the current dell drivers that i have state that they require the newest vbios. Also i got my computer when the r3 was already released so i think it should've came pre-flashed. but i could be wrong, just dont wanna do extra work haha

 

You're welcome

Download GPU-Z, run it and check which BIOS version if you have currently. If the version number is 012.020.000.027.037640 you're on the latest version and you can skip the flashing.

Check that both cards have the latest vbios by using the drop down box at the bottom of the GPU-Z screen to select a card.

Edit: The latest driver for us from Dell works on both versions of the vbios. Its sort of a bridge between the two vbios's. You HAVE to be on that driver if your vbios is the old one and you're going to flash. Nothing will be damaged, its just that windows will blue screen if you're running an older driver than the latest dell one. It was designed that way for the sole purpose of the vbios transition to accept amd reference drivers.