Dual Graphics is a real pain.

[ShinraCorp]

Alright so I decided to test out dual graphics just to see if they changed a lot since the Liano days. So I got an A10-7850k and a R7 250 1 GB GDDR5 card.

The mobo is an MSI A88XI AC

So here goes:

In the BIOS under the Graphics settings I made sure that the discrete card is the primary and that the Graphics Mode is Dual Graphics, I kept the UMA file to AUTO. Installed the latest beta CCC, no Dual Graphics options are shown in Windows...

So headed back to BIOS changed the UMA to 1 GB since the video card uses 1 GB. Still not showing.

Back to BIOS this time I set the primary adapter to integrated graphics. No show.

Then I read conflicting reports about the frequency of the RAM. Some say it doesn't matter others suggest it's 2100 MHz so I do not know if it's true or not. Right now they're set at 1600 MHz and won't go any higher, hopefully I won't need to go and buy a new set of RAM for it...

But yeah, it's a pain and it'll probably the last time I'm going to touch on it.

Anyone have any suggestions as to why it won't work in Windows? (BTW It's Windows 7)

 

[Coach]

I have a hard time considering what you are doing as a Dual Graphics. Please forgive me, I do intend on being rude. IMHO avoid "a real pain" and get one powerful GPU.

 

[JD]

For starters, I believe the DDR3 model is the recommended one, not the GDDR5.

But it sounds more like a BIOS setting issue. Are you seeing both GPUs in Device Manager?

And to confirm, you're looking at the Crossfire settings correct?

Is Secure Boot enabled? If so, try disabling that. Or I guess disable the whole Windows 8 Feature setting.

 

[FreeKnight]

I have a hard time considering what you are doing as a Dual Graphics. Please forgive me, I do intend on being rude. IMHO avoid "a real pain" and get one powerful GPU.

It's amd's 'Dual Graphics' that they refer to when using one of their FM chips and a GPU in tandem. You're thinking SLI/Crossfire and while this is something completely different. If you look at the FM2+ chip reviews (A10 and A8 were both reviewed IIRC) there's an explanation a few pages in.

Sadly, the consensus is just that the 'dual graphics' performance is pretty lackluster. I had looked into it for an Mitx steambox build, but ended up just going with an Intel CPU/MB and a nvidia card. I was really hoping it would turn out spectacular, but sadly it just seems like it hasn't lived up to AMD's hype.

That being said, if all you're using is integrated graphics, those A10 chips are pretty nice

 

[Coach]

It's amd's 'Dual Graphics' that they refer to when using one of their FM chips and a GPU in tandem.

I do believe I know what the OP is attempting and I should have better explained what I meant. IMHO the gpu part of any APU is "slow" and by trying to xfire it to a comparably slow discrete gpu is "a real pain" and not worth the effort.

However I do wish the OP success.

 

[ShinraCorp]

For starters, I believe the DDR3 model is the recommended one, not the GDDR5.

But it sounds more like a BIOS setting issue. Are you seeing both GPUs in Device Manager?

And to confirm, you're looking at the Crossfire settings correct?

Is Secure Boot enabled? If so, try disabling that. Or I guess disable the whole Windows 8 Feature setting.

Both GPUs are displayed in the Device Manager, heck in CCC it shows, however it shows "Primary Adapter" the discrete card and "Disabled Adapter" the integrated GPU.

Dual Graphics is supposed to appear in the Performance category of CCC however all I found was AMD Overdrive, CPU Overdrive and that's it.

Secure Boot isn't enabled as far as I know (unless it's on by default) since I'm using Windows 7 on it.

 

[dARqSyDE]

You ave to enable the APU graphics as well, then CCC should show an option to enable Dual Graphics. I know it took me a few tries to get my Asus board working properly with Dual Graphics.

Also, it's barely worth it. And only works with anything with a Crossfire profile. And is subject to a fair bit of microstuttering, lost/dropped frames, and other such nonsense.

 

[ShinraCorp]

You ave to enable the APU graphics as well, then CCC should show an option to enable Dual Graphics. I know it took me a few tries to get my Asus board working properly with Dual Graphics.

Also, it's barely worth it. And only works with anything with a Crossfire profile. And is subject to a fair bit of microstuttering, lost/dropped frames, and other such nonsense.

How exactly do I enable it? I mean I did select Dual Graphics in the BIOS so I don't see why it can't be enabled.

 

[sincity]

I've been running dual for years, usually its as simple as linking them and enabling the driver!

You should go Nvidia

 

[clshades]

sincity this is a different kinda dual gfx. Everything is done from the bios with the APU's make sure you are running the newest bios. Keep in mind the gfx card you purchased needs to match the APU gfx. You can't mix a 4xxx series gfx card with a 5xxx apu gfx if that makes any sense. Easiest simplification I can think of. The gfx card and the apu need to be compatible.