SH4 and Crossfire

[Fincuan]

Since the NVidia folks have their own SLI thread, I thought us Crossfire users need one too. After some fiddling I finally managed to enable Crossfire in SH4, and immediately noticed why Ati doesn't want us to do it Please, read on to find out more.

How to enable Crossfire AFR(alternate frame rendering) mode in SH4

1. Rename "sh4.exe" to "AFR-FriendlyD3D.exe"(without " " obviously)
2. Make sure you have "Enable Crossfire" ticked in Catalyst Control Center/Ati Tray Tools/whatever you use
3. Make sure you have set Catalyst AI to either "Normal" or "Advanced"("Low" and "High" in Ati Tray tools)

Why would I do it?

• Noticeable increase in framerate

Why not and other weird things

• Vertical sync definitely does not like Crossfire. With vertical sync enabled from SH4 gfx menu you get considerably higher and more stable framerates, but also some annoying glitches when viewing the nav map. Note that SH4 needs to be restarted after changing this setting.
• Altering gfx settings via both SH4 and/or CCC/ATT does not always make a difference. Sometimes Alt+Tabbing out of SH4 and back is enough, sometimes(as in the case of vertical sync above) SH4 needs to be restarted, other times the whole computer. I've also had to reload the SH4 3D profile a few times(I'm using Ati Tray tools) for the settings to take effect.
• Catalyst AI "Low" vs. "High" doesn't seem to make any difference

So far I have mixed feelings on SH4+Crossfire, but I'm definitely going to continue testing different settings in hopes of ironing out the kinks listed above. Input from other Crossfire users would be much appreciated, since my testing has been pretty limited. I'd be interested to know if this really works, or if it's just my imagination

My specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
Two Ati Radeon X1950 Pros
MSI 975X Platinum PowerUp Edition
2 gb ram
Windows XP Home Edition SP2

4xAA
4xAF
1280x1024

[bunkerratt]

A. I .should be set to low in xfire mode...as for the game being coded for xfire ..it's not ...in that case the xfire defaults to scissor mode



intel p-4 775 3.4ht em64t oc'd to 3.75 thermaltake big typhoon cpu cooler
asus p5wdh deluxe
twin 100 gb hdd's raid 0 sata 2 hdd coolers
ati x1950pro 256pcie x2 crossfired
creative x-fi extreame music soundcard
enermax 600 watt psu
dvd r=rw
dvd r=rw dl df
floppy
11 in 1 card reader
2 gb pc2 6400 oc'd ocz crossfire memory
1 120 mm front intake fan
1 120mm rear exhaust
1 90 mm top exhaust
logitec 5.1 surround speakers/turtle beach 5.1 surround headset
saitek eclipse keyboard
logitec tracman rollerball mouse cordless
xp pro sp2
20inch viewsonic vx2035wm
thermaltake armour steel case

[Fincuan]

Originally Posted by bunkerratt

A. I .should be set to low in xfire mode...as for the game being coded for xfire ..it's not ...in that case the xfire defaults to scissor mode

Please read my message again, it includes instructions on forcing AFR in SH4(I edited it a bit to make it more clear). Ati recommends Catalyst AI "Low" for Crossfire, but then again they also tell us to set it "High" to force AFR in ANY DirectX game(something which does not work). The game doesn't need to be coded for Crossfire, only the Catalyst drivers, and they lack the CF profile for SH4.

[bunkerratt]

ok..i'll see what results i get after trying a few settings ...

[bunkerratt]

ok...something's going on....after a quick test...framerates have jumped...i did a test with the borneo convoy v snyc enabled sh4 exe renamed ..using ati ccc with omega drivers ..crossfire enabled and overdrive enabled ...aax4 afx4 1680x1050 views through scope ..57-60 with no lag...will continue ...to test...:hmm:

[bunkerratt]

ok....for whatever reason this seems to be working..i ran the tokyo saipan convoy mission...becuse it's graphics heavy...getting about 57-63 fps in scope view...no lag..my gpu cores are running @601 and gpu memory @695 i did have to alt tab ..once ...and it runs fine ..both map views look ok so far...the only graphics mod i'm running for the moment is "warships retextured" on bridge views are running @about 48-53 ...correction ..i'm also using oaks hud and gages and the balao redone int as well as the balao hi res skin...

[Fincuan]

Nice to hear it works!

Your findings coincide pretty well with mine, except for the vertical sync part. I'll have some testing to do to find out why it screws the nav map on my PC. Still it's nice to have a stable framerate and yes, no lag

It's weird that this works, but renaming the sh4.exe to anything else(like fear.exe, which works well with many other "non crossfire" games) does not.

[bunkerratt]

ran a few more single missions ..all ok ..so is career ....going to give it a test in sh3 see what happens ....

[bunkerratt]

NEWS FLASH ..it works in sh3 gwx also....

[Fincuan]

Very nice, although even a single X1950 Pro gives quite a nice framerate in SH3

edit: I also saw that you are spreading the word to the SH3 side and UbiZoo. Good work

[bunkerratt]

thanks....it works...and it makes you wonder how hard it would of been for the allmighty ubi devs to do this?...:hmm:......anyway...this rocks