W7 & 2 Graphics Cards - Help Plz ?

Hi, been browsing the forums and can see there's a lot of helpful peeps here, so I'm hoping one of you can help me :)

I've dual boxed approx 1 year, 2 monitors off 1 GPU (Radeon 4850), Keyclone - I started to see lots of blue screens (atimkdag.sys) particularly if Keyclone was running and I tried to use ATI Tray Tools to put the GPU into 3D mode.

So, Xmas pressies opened and I now have the new system below
Asus P5Q3 MOBO - E7200 2.53GHz CPU (can clock to 3.2MHz) - 4GHz DDR3 RAM - Windows 7 64bit -
Radeon 4850 (22" 1680*1050) + optional Radeon X1800 for 2nd monitor (19" 1440*900)

My plan is to use Keyclone or IS with a client on each monitor but before that I wanted to check everything worked fine re CPU OC and GPU OC and dual monitors - unfortunately.........

All set up, drivers found (eventually) - one client on the 4850 single monitor runs sweet BUT the GPU does not automatically enter 3D mode - actually it NEVER has, I've always had to manually pick 3D from ATT (only on WOW, other games work)

Based on threads by Zanthor, Sajuuk etc, I thought I'd try the 2nd GPU/monitor - a client on each monitor
both clients FPS were crippled down to 3-25 and very unstable, unplayable

So, should WOW make the GPU move automatically into 3D mode?
Is there a setup I may have missed to use two graphics cards with W7 ?

If anyone can offer advice, I'd be very happy :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LizP

Hi, been browsing the forums and can see there's a lot of helpful peeps here, so I'm hoping one of you can help me

I've dual boxed approx 1 year, 2 monitors off 1 GPU (Radeon 4850), Keyclone - I started to see lots of blue screens (atimkdag.sys) particularly if Keyclone was running and I tried to use ATI Tray Tools to put the GPU into 3D mode.

So, Xmas pressies opened and I now have the new system below
Asus P5Q3 MOBO - E7200 2.53GHz CPU (can clock to 3.2MHz) - 4GHz DDR3 RAM - Windows 7 64bit -
Radeon 4850 (22" 1680*1050) + optional Radeon X1800 for 2nd monitor (19" 1440*900)

My plan is to use Keyclone or IS with a client on each monitor but before that I wanted to check everything worked fine re CPU OC and GPU OC and dual monitors - unfortunately.........

All set up, drivers found (eventually) - one client on the 4850 single monitor runs sweet BUT the GPU does not automatically enter 3D mode - actually it NEVER has, I've always had to manually pick 3D from ATT (only on WOW, other games work)

Based on threads by Zanthor, Sajuuk etc, I thought I'd try the 2nd GPU/monitor - a client on each monitor
both clients FPS were crippled down to 3-25 and very unstable, unplayable

So, should WOW make the GPU move automatically into 3D mode?
Is there a setup I may have missed to use two graphics cards with W7 ?

If anyone can offer advice, I'd be very happy

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Your previously mentioned issue (as stated in the mentioned error message) is a driver issue (did you try uninstalling/reinstalling/updating/using older drivers?)
I mention using older drivers because when I tried the latest drivers for my 5850 I was unable to multibox because wow would use all the resources of my graphics card for the first instance of WoW for some reason. (As far as I could tell, at least. system got very very sluggish and ati overdrive showed 100% GPU usage, so I had to go back to the drivers I had used before. I should test this some more.)

I've never had to mess with putting my card into 3D mode, and until this post I wasn't really aware of it. I was aware that my card throttles its power use based on load, so maybe that's the difference: Low power vs high power states. Clarification welcome.

Either way, what was the difference in performance between forcing it into 3d mode or leaving it in 2d mode? From your post I'd say you shouldn't have to worry about having it in 3D mode. Should the need arise I'd trust the drivers to switch accordingly.

It is not necessary to run one monitor off of each card. With my understanding of how W7/Vista render, by default the primary GPU does all the rendering while the secondary just assists in displaying (unless you use something like IS to move the load to the secondary GPU). So right now your current setup seems redundant. (Unless of course you want to add in another monitor or two for utility usage (Browsing/Movies)


Summary: Is there a real difference in performance in letting your card stay in "2d Mode" and running both monitors off the 4850 vs running both in "3d Mode", aside from the aforementioned bluescreens?

First, thnx for replying Sajuuk - I hope I can clarify things :)

1. Oh yes, I tried many driver versions/uninstalls/reinstalls - no difference. I never experienced any performance problems only the blue screen crashes.

2. 2D/3D - as I understand it ATI Tray Tools indicates the normal desktop mode of my 4850 has clocks of 501:750. Full screen 3D mode is 625:1000. I understand the ATI driver detects full screen 3d mode and switches between the two (but windowed games do not switch). In my case WOW is the only game where fullscreen doesn't trigger the card into 3D mode. ( I have to force it using ATT) (I don't mind doing it manually but thought it might be an indication of an underlying problem) - the brand new install of my machine+wow+drivers also does not switch automatically so maybe this is simply a WOW thing!
3D mode (625:1000) increases FPS by 10-20 and WOW plays noticibly better/smoother

3. I now have both monitors on the 4850 (have removed 2nd GPU)
......running 2 WOWs - 3D mode significantly increases FPS - so far no crashes this way but no dual box s/w installed and have only played a short time.
......Installed Keyclone, running 2 WOWs - 3D mode significantly increases FPS - crashed after 10 mins playtime (not bluescreen however, just noise & black screen)

Summary:
Happy with two monitors off the 4850
Yes, there is a difference between 2D and 3D modes

BUT still get crash when trying to dual box -

Quick update:

I've started the trial of IS Boxer - a little bit harder to get the hang of initially than Keyclone but I love it! Will definitely take it up full time. (thnx to all those posting hints/tricks & guides)

Anyway with IS Boxer, I have OC CPU to 3.2GHz, both monitors on the 4850 AND ATT manually switching the GPU to 680:1010 - not a single crash! :):) Main char on Ultra & getting >60 fps so I'm happy !

So, whether Keyclone had some weird interaction with ATT (how?) I don't know but (touch wood) looks like a year of bluescreens is finally over !

Thnx all for posts on dual GPUs, dual monitors, W7, Keyclone & ISBoxer.

if your using anything to launch your wow's keyclone maximer/is screen layout etc. it is not in fullscreen but windowed mode, with ati series cards 3d acceleration does not automaticaly update in windowed games. You can use 3rd party apps besides ATT such as riva tuner etc to create profiles for your games etc and set up clock speeds based on applications running i.e. wow.exe, which will take your card out of 2d clocks when launched. If you still want to use your secondary car IS has a built in workaround for it, wher eyou build the profile and assign the gpu for it, if you choose not to use IS you can still do it the old fashioned way

1. disable the primary gpu, launch your lower wow
2. enable primary gpu and launch primary wow
a real PITA to be honest with you so using IS is the best bet if your gonna do it.