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   I am not sure whether to post this in the mining forum or this..I figured the technical support one would fit more. Anyway...so I find out today that my motherboard, Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3, does not work with 2x 5970s. I have tried everything to get them to work; from clearing the cmos, switching the psu cables, switching the gpus between slots, using the most recent mobo bios update..and an older version, multi-gpu link cable and no link cable. I have tried everything.

I have a 1000 watt raidmax psu so I am fairly confident it is not the source of the problem. I believe the bios just doesn't support dual 5970s for some reason, although this mobo worked fine with a single 5970 and a 5770.


Any suggestions?

I'm not using more than 1 card per machine, but can you tell more ?
OS ?  Are they recognized on the device level ?

What happens when you have 2 in the system? Does your system see both cards or does it not boot?
 
I'm running 2x5970 on a Asus P6T SE with a XION 1250w PSU.

It boots up I suppose. This is with 2x 5970s. Fans start up, I can tell the hard drive is working, everything seems normal except the "no video signal" from all 4 DVI ports.

Apparently I do not have a powerful enough PSU. I am pretty sure I need a 1200 watt instead of 1000 one. I'll update this thread when I get the chance to try a 1200 watt.

Does each work separately in each PCIe slots?


If it's not a crappy defective PSU, it should be more than enough. I run two 5970s on 850W PSU and there is still some headroom (the system draws 660W from the outlet which is less than 600W on the DC).

The expensive way get one of those Quad-SLI/CrossFire Certified Mobos, an 11 backslots(rare) case and liquid cooling.

The economic way: http://blog.zorinaq.com/ (http://blog.zorinaq.com/)

It is an 80 gold certified PSU. I am not sure what you mean if they work separately in each slots. I have tried one card at a time in each slot, to determine if I have a faulty card, but they both work that way; just not together, link cable or not. I am thinking it is a mobo bios issue.



edit: Alright. Take a look at this "certified crossfire PSU" which is 1000 watt. http://support.amd.com/us/certified/power-supplies/Pages/details.aspx?item=44

It can support 2 5970s.


Now look at this PSU: http://support.amd.com/us/certified/power-supplies/Pages/details.aspx?item=108

Only one supported.


So, I am confused because my PSU is not even on this list http://support.amd.com/us/certified/power-supplies/Pages/listing.aspx

I have a Corsair 850W and it works fine with two 5970s so 1000W should work, too. If each card works alone, it might be a BIOS issue.

Could it be that I am trying to pull too much power from this single wall socket? I have my 2 monitors, my audio equipment, and my rig on a powerstrip plugged into one socket.

Nope, it isn't that.

I have given up. I bought a 1200 watt PSU and a MSI 890FXA-GD70 motherboard. I'll update the thread if it works.

Did you try plugging into the onboard DVI connector? 

No, but I don't think that would help. When my mobo posts, it makes a beep noise. If I put in both 5970s, there is no beep or video signal. So, I assume, that for some reason the two 5970s are causing some kind of crash to happen within the bios, or I just do not have a supported PSU.

It is quite common that some motherboards are buggy and don't support certain PCI / PCIE setups.

For example, my motherboard does not support my soundcard, when it is inserted in the first PCI slot.

From what you have said I am 95% certain, that the mobo is at fault.

The new motherboard I ordered came in today (used by http://blog.zorinaq.com/ so I know it can work) along with my 1200 watt crossfire certified psu which can supposedly support 2 5970s according to this: http://support.amd.com/us/certified/power-supplies/Pages/details.aspx?item=519

Are you going to try the old mobo with the new PSU?  I'm curious to find out what the problem actually was.

Yes, I will try that out. The computer's going under the knife now, I'll let you know how it goes.

I guess that if Bitcoin becomes more popular, then AMD GPU selling will skyrocket.

So, I tried the new PSU on the old mobo, same thing happens as before...no video signal. Tried the new mobo with new PSU and I now have 3x 5970s running, but poclbm is only seeing one card, I think. I reinstalled the video card drivers and now am reinstalling Steam SDK 2.3.

CCC says every card except the one is disabled.

Definately a weird shit. Probably one of the weirdest i have seen yet.

Yeah, its probably some weird bug in their bios which will most likely be fixed in a couple months now that I've started a thread on their forums about it and what not.

I presume you are running Linux based on your avatar.  Did you set the DISPLAY=:0 environment variable?

You presume incorrectly :) Win 7 64bit until I take the time to decrypt this 1.5TB drive, which is 36-48 hours or something crazy. Then I shall dual-boot or get rid of Win 7 completely.

edit: Just checked the most recent drivers: they are 11-1 while I still have the 10-12 preview drivers. Going to try them out.

Ok so I am assuming since this PSU is "certified" for only 2 5970s, that is why having 3 wouldn't work. I took one out and the 2 show up in poclbm now. :)

Perhaps you should try powering one machine using 2 PSUs.
However you need to connect the "ground" wire from each of the PSUs together first, as otherwise it won't work.

There are easy schematics on the web about how to do that.

EDIT:
Oh, it seems there is even some vid on youtube explaining how to do that...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BviJjNYsIag

Yes, I have thought of that before. Going from this blog post: http://blog.zorinaq.com/?e=42

You can either do all of that fun stuff, or just buy one of these:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5637/cpa-167/Lian_Li_Dual_Power_Supply_Adapter_Cable.html

for $14 USD

I will take a look at what you are talking about though. It can't be too difficult.

I had something similar with an older ASUS A8N32-SLI where it would not recognize 2 5970's.  Then I realized that CCC was only showing one enabled that I had plugged the monitor into.  Thus, I would plug the monitor into one 5970 and start the program for device=0 and device=1 and that 5970 would work.  Then I'd unplug the monitor from the first 5970 and plug it into the second one and which point I'd rerun the program for device=0 and device=1 again.  That's the only way I could get it working in four DOS windows on Win7 x64.  My newer MSI Big Bang mobo runs all four in SLI mode with the SLI cable connected on Win7 x64.

You may try plugging your 3rd card in, get the first two working then plug the monitor into the third (check in CCC to see if it went active) then try running the program on the third board.  Could work.

And just FYI for people coming to this thread, bear in mind that PSU rating vary wildly.  Certain 1000Watt PSUs will NOT power 2 5970's, while other 750's certainly will.  I have personal recent experience with this.  If you want the short advice, read whether the PSU is peak rated or constant rated and even then it's a crap shoot.  Better yet, just stick with Corsair.  WalMart has a 1000 Watt Corsair for $219.82 delivered to your local WalMart.  http://www.walmart.com/ip/Corsair-HX-Series-80-Plus-1000-Watt-Certified-Power-Supply-CMPSU-1000HX/12457257  Can't beat it on price or performance for this particular task.

Yeah, I figured something like this would work, as it did when I had just one 5970 and a 5770 together. But, I tried it out to no avail. With 4 5970s, which PSU are you using? I assume the 1200 corsair I have only supports 2 because not only does it say on that ATI website I previously posted that it only supports 2, but I have tried using it with 4 and 3 5970s and it didn't work.

I'm using the Corsair 1000 that I posted a link to and an Antec 850 in two different machines running Win7 x64 in each with 2 5970's.  Both good power supplies after trying about five of them total.  Keep an eye out for the fact that some lines, such as Thermaltake  I think, actually have different lines of PSU that they release under the same wattages.  That alone should be an indicator that an 850 Watt PSU may not put out 850 Watts, even when comparing to the same brand.  Check online and find comparisons and reviews especially if it's something you are buying online and can't try out and easily return to the store.  I am an extreme cheapo when it comes to components but this is one area where you cannot just compare Watts and price.  Trust me.

I guess this is the case. I have tried researching a PSU that supports x4 5970s but haven't really found anything that is conclusive. There just isn't any info out there.

If I had to toss a coin, I'd say that a 1200 Watt Corsair or Antec might do it.  Might.  However, it appears you are using the MSI 890FXA-GD70 motherboard.  Though it has five PCI-E, they appear stacked right next to eachother.  I tried TWO right next to eachother in my MSI Big Bang, which has as many or more slots, and found that putting cards in two adjacent slots caused the heat to go WAY up, perhaps 10-15 degrees on each card, causing malfuncitions.  The clearance between the cards is minimal, so I have no idea whether aftermarket cooling is an option.  I had to space the cards out enough that I don't think I could get a third one in there without more spacing between the slots.  If you get 4 cards in one box working reliably, please say what the trick is.  I noticed about 91 degrees is about where my 315khash begins to fall apart on each core.  Also, I did find that things run well at 99% GPU, but when I get to 100% GPU it falls to about 200khash/second momentarily until it drops to 99% again.  This is due to the increased heat just a couple of degrees above 91 C.  If I turn the clock DOWN, the GPU will cool, stay at 98-99% and give me a consistent 315khash again.  If you get higher numbers, let me know your settings.

Also, PSU's jump in price as you get towards the highest wattages.  And you need more and better cooling in your box.  You may be able to pick up an old ASUS A8N32-sli (what I use) w/ cpu and memory for $200 or so on ebay.  Weigh the few hundred extra against the time and trouble spent trying to do it all in one box.  At current prices, you'll make it back in the week lost trying to get it working in a single box.  Let us know if you get it working though.  Very interested.

What I have done when I tried 3x 5970s was to not screw them into the case, and stick pieces of a plastic drinking straw in between the gpus in order to create room for airflow. http://blog.zorinaq.com/images/quick-and-dirty-4x5970-cooling.jpgThis is from blog.zorinaq.com. Sorry for the insanely big picture.  :D

OMG, this is devastating o_O.

Three disadvantages:

1. When you will be mining like for few months/years, PCIE slots will loosen and get damaged (because the cards are not properly inserted into the slots, they're bent). You will have to buy new motherboard then.
2. The slots will loosen even faster, if you make the case stand vertically. You have to put this horizontally to work.
3. When you start mining, this setup will overheat with 99,9% probability. This is not for serious solutions.

If you want this to really work and cool off, you should consider flooding entire PC (except hard & dvd-drives of course) with oil and adding some pump, as they did here:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/565060/mineral_oil_submerged_computer/

(You will probably need to add another oil circuit going through a car radiator if you want this to properly cool off)

However the disadvantage of this solution is that you probably can't properly clean the cards after, so warranty void.

I don't use that solution anymore  ;D. Only 2x 5970s per mobo for me.

I'm pretty sure there is little stress put on the connectors, though. There is room for them to swivel inside the pcie slot, and not bend.

Doesn't matter. If they are not attached to casing, they will loosen because of higher work temperature.
You have to place them perfectly straight, or there will be troubles.

 ;D Hi There !

I'm from France, and i have the same problem that Dingus !

I have bought the M4A89GTD-Pro not USB3.0, and i bought two Ati HD5970 cards, and i have a no signal screen the two cards are on the motherboard.
I have a certified 1200W PSU, the Corsair AX1200W.

Please read here i let a post on the official forum too.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20110211072855742&board_id=1&model=M4A89GTD+PRO%2fUSB3&page=1&SLanguage=en-us (http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20110211072855742&board_id=1&model=M4A89GTD+PRO%2fUSB3&page=1&SLanguage=en-us)

Man, you want to be careful with that. I had a problem with one 5970 once (the fan wouldn't work) so I started moving it left and right within the slot (I thought there was a loose connection) - next thing I saw (and heard) was a BAM! - one of the condensers on the motherboard blew up! The motherboard is damaged now (even though it seems to be working, the information written on the disk is always corrupt), unable to install any OS on it.

Dingus; With your new Mobo do you have to do the monitor swap trick to get the second card running or does it detect it as another thread? Whats your hash rates? Im getting some random dropouts and all my temps are pretty reasonable.

http://stashbox.org/1071306/Untitled-1s.jpg

http://stashbox.org/1071308/Untitled-2s.jpg

http://stashbox.org/1071309/gpuz.gif

The air intake port is on the other end of the cards, so you don't need to put spacers on this end. that will relieve some stress on the PCI-E slots.

It's not a power supply issue...I'm having the same problem with the same mobo and I have a 1200W PSU.  I've seen others on the asus forums with the same issue too.

What brand and model?

I have the Antec 1200W.

How have you managed to get your temps so low on such a high clock/vcore? I'm guessing your not running the stock cooler...

No, it does not overheat. GPU temps are between 65 and 85C. Throttling doesn't happen until ~100C. Shortly after posting this picture I slightly changed my setup by putting the spacers near the end of the card where the fans are, for more efficient cooling, and slightly less pressure on the PCIe slots. This machine has been mining for 2+ months 24/7.

-mrb

Dual 5970's on the P55-GD80 motherboard. I get the same temps as this with a 900Mhz clock, but my pc has it's side panel off, facing an open window with a desk fan blowing into it. You should lower your memory clocks to 500Mhz, this will save you a little bit of power and maybe 1-2c temp.

i have the 890fxa-gd70 board also.

I am using an x3 1000 watt psu. I can run 2 x 5970 and 1 x 5870 no problem. if i take out the 5870 and replace it with a 5970 the motherboard does not recognise all cards.