Step by Step Guide To Set Up AMD Crossfire

AMD crossfire X is a feature provided by AMD to let its users run two GPUs at the same time. This combines the power of both graphic cards and ultimately delivering the best results.  Having a Multi GPU setup is not only effective for games but it also plays a vital role in boosting performance when you are using them for rendering purposes.

The most important question that arises is, how to setup AMD Crossfire X? This is not a problem now because in this guide we will cover every aspect to help you set your Multi-GPU accordingly.

Check Compatibility

This step is very important before you move to set up your cards. It can be possible that the GPU you are trying to pair are not compatible with each other. Here are steps to check the compatibility of your AMD GPU to know if they are ready to go with this.

AMD Crossfire compatibility chart
  • The graphics cards must be of the same family. For example that you cannot pair an RX 560 with R9 370. This can only work if you are having the same E.G 2X R 570 or 2x R9 390.
  • The AMD R9 and R7 200 series requires the AMD crossfire bridge to be connected in most cases. So make sure you are having one.
  • The minimum PSU (Power Supply Unit.) must be 750 watts. Although you can still check the exact requirement from the official AMD site.
  • Your motherboard must be Crossfire supported. You can simply check this by searching for your motherboard model on Google. If you don’t get your desired results, you can simply navigate over to AMD’s official website which will help you to check the compatibility of your system.

If your graphics card and motherboard are compatible enough to support the AMD crossfire X technology then you should proceed with this guide because now we will be explaining how to set up AMD crossfire quickly.

Installing the Graphics Card on Motherboard

After you are done checking the compatibility and found that your PC is compatible with Crossfire, and then follow these steps to Install the Dual AMD graphics on your motherboard.

Installing AMD crossfire graphics card

There are several motherboards that do not support the AMD crossfire feature, but do support the NVIDIA SLI. So look up your motherboard on Google to confirm if AMD crossfire is supported.

  • Step 1: Lookup for the PCI-E slots on your motherboard and install both graphics cards with care.
  • Step 2:  After you are done with this, connect you both graphics card with each other with the use of the AMD Crossfire Bridge.
  • Step 3: Turn on your system and once it boots successfully follow the next steps to configure these cards.

Note: If you are having problems in starting your system after installing the Dual Graphics cards, then you should check your PSU. Mostly this issue occurs when the power supply is not much powerful to handle multiple GPUs.

Configuring the AMD Crossfire GPUs

Now, this is the most important step in setting up AMD Crossfire, after this, you would be able to use your dual GPU’s and get the most out of them. There are many ways to configure these GPU’s and we are going to tell you the best of all. Before you start make sure you have a good internet connection which will be required to download the necessary drivers.

  • Step 1: Uninstall all Drivers. Hover over to the control panel and click on “Uninstall a program”. Look for the “AMD Catalyst Manager” and Uninstall it. This will remove all the old settings and drivers which you used for a single graphics card.
  • Step 2: Reboot your system to properly remove the graphics card drivers and programs.
  • Step 3: Go to AMD’s official website and download the driver installer program. The application will automatically detect the graphics components on your system and will install all the necessary drivers.
  • Step 4:  Rick click on your desktop and look for the “AMD Radeon Software”. Click on it, and you will open the AMD control panel.
  • Step 5: Lookup for the “Graphics” menu in the control panel and click on it.
Graphics Menu in AMD control Panel (1)
  • Step 6: After entering the graphics menu click on the “Advanced” option and after that, you will the “AMD Crossfire” option there. Click on it and open it.
  • Step 7: By default, the AMD crossfire option would be disabled. Click on “Enable” and after that click on the “ok” button when prompted.
AMD CrossFire Configuration
  • Step 8: Your screen may flicker for a while and after that, you would be able to run your Multi GPU setup as you wish.

Possible errors and fixes while setting up AMD crossfire

error message

It is not an easy task to the setup of the Dual GPU’s, whether it be NVIDIA’s SLI or AMD’s crossfire, there is a proper way which needs to be followed to avoid future problems. In this guide, we talked about how we can configure the AMD crossfire and install it successfully.

Some users may face several problems like GPU not showing, Black screen or Crossfire not supported, For this, we have mentioned below the possible errors and their solutions while configuring the AMD Crossfire Setup.

1. Crossfire not supported.

This is the most common issue faced by AMD users while going for the AMD crossfire setup. The possibility can be that your GPU should not be supported.

Below are the reasons for this error.

  • This error occurs when you try to pair 2 GPUs of different families. As we have told before you can only pair graphics cards of the same series. If you are trying to pair with different series then it is not possible.
  • Check your crossfire bridge. Sometimes a weak or OLD crossfire bridge leads to this error, try to change it and hopefully, this will fix your issue.
  • Check for the compatibility of your GPU from AMD’s official website. For Example the Radeon RX 5000 series is not compatible with the Crossfire technology, so you should check first before going for this.

2. Crossfire Mode Turns Screen Black – Issue

The black screen issue often occurs when there is a problem with the drivers of the GPU. Have a look at the below-mentioned solution to this error.

  • Uninstall all your drivers completely.
  • Download Drivers from the AMD official Website, or use the auto-detect feature.
  • After the drivers would be installed this would fix this issue.

If the issue is still not fixed, then we would advise you to get your GPU to a professional before doing any major harm to it.

Conclusion

There are mixed reviews about using the Dual GPU setup. Using a Dual GPU setup for gaming is never preferred because this is an expensive way to boost the performance. If we take a look over the latest Graphics cards offering by AMD or NVIDIA we can see that the single GPU like AMD RX 6000 series or the NVIDIA RTX 3000 like RTX 3070, 3080 and 3090 GPUs are capable enough to get hold of almost every new titles on Ultra settings in 1080p resolution. These cards are relatively cheaper and are also simple to install.

Dual GPU’s are best when used for professional purposes, like Rendering or graphics work. The Single GPU will fail to deliver the performance in professional work and thus the Crossfire or SLI is used by more professionals than gamers.

That’s it for today, we hope that this guide would have helped you successfully install and configure your Dual graphics card setup. If you are having any problems, then feel free to reach out to us by commenting in the comments section below.

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Mathew Bradford

Hey! Mathew Bradford Here, A proud member of GamingExpert Team. I love playing games with new gaming gadgets. Our team is here to help you find the best gaming products, reviews of videos games and to help you decide which one is best for your. You can contact me if you need further assistance.