Radeon® X1950 Pro CrossFire™ Getting Started Guide P/N 137-41210-10
ii Copyright © 2006, ATI Technologies Inc. All rights reserved. ATI, the ATI logo, and ATI product and product-feature names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ATI Technologies Inc. All other company and/or product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Features, performance and specifications are subject to change without notice. Product may not be exactly as shown in diagrams.
iii L IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS • • • • • • • • • Read Instructions - All the safety and operating instructions should be read before the product is operated. Retain Instructions - The safety and operating instructions should be retained for future reference. Heed Warnings - All warnings on the product and the operating instructions should be adhered to.
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v Table of Contents Installing CrossFire Graphics Cards . . . . . . . . . . 1 ™ Installing the CrossFire Bridge Interconnects Display Configurations ™ 3 4 Installing Software and Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Windows New Hardware Found Installing the Catalyst Software Suite 5 5 ® ™ Enabling CrossFire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 ™ Launching Catalyst Control Center Using the Start Menu Other Quick Launch Access Points ™ 7 7 Welcome to CrossFire . . . . . . . . . . .
vi Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1 CHAPTER 1: Getting Started Congratulations on the purchase of your Radeon® X1950 Pro card. The CrossFire™ Getting Started Guide will help you to successfully install your new graphics card and associated software, and enable CrossFire™.
2 System Requirements Hardware • • • Operating System Monitor • Specialized PCI Express® 450 watt or greater power supply recommended. Consult your computer system manual to ensure the power supply is designed to accommodate a high-end graphics card with a peak dissipation above 75 watts. • Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2). • Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition. • Windows® 2000. • Windows® Vista Ready.
3 Uninstall Previous Graphics Card Drivers To ensure the successful installation of your new Radeon® X1950 Pro card, you must uninstall the drivers for the existing graphics card before removing it from your computer. To uninstall previous drivers With your current graphics card still in your computer: 1 Close all applications that are currently running. 2 Navigate to the Control Panel and select Add/Remove Programs. 3 Select your current graphics card drivers and select Add/Remove.
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5 CHAPTER 2: Installing CrossFire™ Graphics Cards The following set of instructions assumes that one Radeon® X1950 Pro graphics card has already been successfully installed in the primary slot (slot zero), and that the secondary slot (slot one) is empty. If you have not already done so, see the Getting Started Guide that came with the graphics card for installation instructions. L Consult your system builder or OEM to ensure that your system has an adequate power supply.
6 1 450 Watt (or greater) Power Supply 2 Radeon® X1950 Pro Graphics Card 3 Radeon® X1950 Pro Graphics Card 4 2 CrossFire™-Bridge Interconnects WARNING:Always handle the CrossFire™ Bridge Interconnects by the connector only. Do not push or pull on the flexible circuit cable.
7 1 Turn off the computer, monitor, and other peripheral devices. 2 Unplug the computer’s power cord and disconnect all cables from the back of your computer. L 3 WARNING - Wait approximately 20 seconds after unplugging the power cord before disconnecting a peripheral or removing a component from the motherboard to avoid possible damage to the motherboard. Remove the computer cover. If necessary, consult your computer’s manual for help in removing the cover.
8 2 Press one end of the CrossFire™ Bridge Interconnect onto one of the connections on one of the graphics cards. 3 Press the opposite end of the CrossFire™ bridge interconnect onto corresponding connection of the second graphics card. Repeat the above steps to connect the second CrossFire™ Bridge Interconnect to the graphics cards. 4 Screw in or fasten the graphics card securely.
Windows® New Hardware Found 9 CHAPTER 3: Installing Software and Drivers This chapter will guide you through the installation of the drivers and software associated with your Radeon® X1950 Pro graphics card. Windows® New Hardware Found Windows® may start the Add New Hardware Wizard to install the Standard VGA Driver. To correctly install your new hardware: • Cancel the Wizard if you are using Windows® XP, and proceed to Installing the Catalyst™ Software Suite.
10 Installing the Catalyst™ Software Suite To install the Catalyst™ software suite Note: Optical drive refers to any drive capable of reading CD-ROM media. 1 Insert the ATI Installation CD-ROM into your optical drive. If Windows® runs the CD-ROM automatically, proceed to step 5. 2 Click Start > Run. 3 Type the following: D:\ATISETUP (If D is not your optical drive, substitute the correct drive letter.) 4 Click OK. 5 Click Install under Software Install.
11 CHAPTER 4: Enabling CrossFire™ To take full advantage of running dual graphics cards, you must enable CrossFire™ and configure it in the Catalyst™ Control Center.
12 Launching Catalyst™ Control Center Using Hot Keys • You can press the predefined combination of keys Ctrl+Alt+C to launch Catalyst™ Control Center, or you can define your own hot key sequence by using the Catalyst™ Control Center’s Hotkey Manager. Enable CrossFire™ 1 From the Tree View pane, click CrossFire™ in Advanced View. 2 Click Enable CrossFire™. When CrossFire™ is successfully enabled all display devices, except the one used by CrossFire™, will be disabled.
CrossFire™ Overview 13 CHAPTER 5: Welcome to CrossFire™ ATI CrossFire™ is the ultimate multi-GPU performance gaming platform, using ATI CrossFire™ ready motherboards and ATI graphics cards. CrossFire™ Overview This section provides an overview of the main features and configurations for CrossFire™. These topics will be covered in more detail in other chapters of this manual.
14 CrossFire™ Rendering Modes The first three are performance-oriented modes, while Super Anti-aliasing is a quality-oriented mode. Each mode uses a different method for dividing the workload required to render a 3D image across multiple GPUs. Only one mode can be in operation at any given time. The ATI Catalyst™ display driver will automatically select the best of the three performance modes when a 3D application is started, without requiring user intervention.
15 CHAPTER 6: CrossFire™ FAQ The following are frequently asked questions about CrossFire™. For the latest information, please consult the CrossFire™ Web site at: ati.com/crossfire 1 What combination of products are required to build a working CrossFire™ system based on the Radeon® X1950 Pro? Two components are required: • Two Radeon® X1950 Pro graphics cards. • Two CrossFire™ Bridge Interconnects. • A CrossFire™ Ready motherboard with two PCIe™ x16 slots.
16 2 What motherboards support CrossFire™? Motherboards from other manufactures will be certified as CrossFire™ Ready when they become available. For a comprehensive list of qualified motherboards, please consult the CrossFire™ Web site at: ati.com/crossfire 3 Are there specific CMOS motherboard settings for CrossFire™? On some motherboards, the CMOS may be set by default to support only a single PCI Express® x16 slot. Ensure that both PCIe™ x16 slots are enabled in the CMOS.
17 5 How are the graphics cards connected on a CrossFire™ system? Two Radeon® X1950 Pro cards are connected by two CrossFire™ Bridge Interconnects, connecting the custom DVO ports on each card together. To see where the DVO ports are located on the Radeon® X1950 Pro cards, see the picture of the Radeon® X1950 Pro CrossFire™ implementation. CrossFire™ Bridge Interconnect Cable 6 Which games/applications work with CrossFire™? CrossFire™ works with all 3D games and applications. If Catalyst™ A.I.
18 • Alternate Frame Rendering - the two graphics cards are used to render alternate frames of the display. This configuration increases the detail of the 3D objects each card can render, as each card handles half of the total number of frames. The features above are performance features settings automatically selected by ATI's Catalyst™ Control Center. You can instead enable Super Anti-aliasing, which is a display quality mode selectable using Catalyst™ Control Center.
19 12 How many independent displays can be connected to a CrossFire™ system? While CrossFire™ is designed for optimal use on a single display, it is possible to drive multiple monitors using a CrossFire™ system when CrossFire™ is not enabled. On a standard CrossFire™ system, it is possible to drive four separate sets of monitors and still have one of those displays as a dedicated CrossFire™ display.
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Troubleshooting 21 CHAPTER 7: Reference This chapter provides information on troubleshooting, where to get additional accessories, and how to register your product, plus warranty and compliance information. Troubleshooting The following troubleshooting tips may help if you experience problems. ATI’s documentation contains helpful installation/configuration tips and other valuable feature information. Please contact your dealer for more advanced troubleshooting information.
22 Troubleshooting General Troubleshooting Problem Possible Solution No Display • • • • Screen Defects Appear • • Check that the card is seated properly in its expansion slot. Ensure that the monitor cable is securely fastened to the card. Make sure that the monitor and computer are plugged in and receiving power. Make sure that you selected the appropriate monitor when you installed your enhanced driver.
Troubleshooting 23 CrossFire™-Specific Troubleshooting Problem Possible Solution CrossFire™ is Not Functioning In order for CrossFire™ to function, the CrossFire™ Bridge Interconnects must correctly connect the CrossFire™ graphics cards. 1. Connect one end of the CrossFire™ Bridge Interconnect to the internal VMO connection on one of the cards. 2. Connect the other end of the CrossFire™ Bridge Interconnect to the corresponding internal VMO connection of the other card. 3.
24 Troubleshooting CrossFire™-Specific Troubleshooting Problem Possible Solution Screen Rotation Function Does Not Work or is Unavailable Screen rotation is not an available feature on CrossFire™ systems. Video displays flicker during system startup This is a normal as CrossFire™ starts up. CrossFire™ starts in software mode This is a normal when starting up for the first time after installing two Radeon® X1950 Pro graphics cards if neither card is installed in the primary PCI Express® slot.
Additional Accessories 27 Additional Accessories Additional and replacement cables, installation CD-ROMs, manuals, and other accessories for ATI products can be purchased from the online ATI store at: ati.com/online/accessories Compliance Information This section details the compliance information for this product. FCC Compliance Information This Radeon® product complies with FCC Rules part 15. Operation is subject to the following two conditions • This device may not cause harmful interference.
28 Compliance Information Industry Canada Compliance Statement ICES-003 This Class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003. Cet appareil numérique de la Classe B est conforme à la norme NMB-003 du Canada. For further compliance information: ATI Research Inc. 62 Forest Street.
