Asus P5E3 Premium WiFi-AP@n: ATI CrossFire™

®

This chapter tells how to install ATI

CrossFire™ graphics cards to avail of

ATI’s Multi-Video Processing technology.

®

ATI

CrossFire™

6

technology support

Chapter summary

6

6.1 Overview ....................................................................................... 6-1

6.2 Installing CrossFire™ graphics cards .......................................

6-2

6.3 Software information ...................................................................

6-5

ASUS P5E3 Premium/WiFi-AP @n

6.1 Overview

®

The motherboard supports the ATI

CrossFire™ technology that allows you to

install multi-graphics processing units (GPU) graphics cards. Follow the installation

procedures in this section.

6.1.1 Requirements

• CrossFire™ Edition graphics card (Master)

• CrossFire™-ready graphics card (Slave)

• CrossFire™-ready motherboard

• Make sure that your power supply unit (PSU) can provide at least the

minimum power required by your system. See 8. ATX power connectors on

page 2-34 for details.

®

• Visit the ATI website or download the Radeon

X850 Crossre™ Edition

User’s Guide from the support CD for detailed hardware requirements and

installation procedures.

• The ATI CrossFire™ technology supports only the following operating

systems:

®

- Windows

XP 32-bit (Home or Professional) with Service

Pack 2 (SP2)

®

- Windows

XP Professional 64-bit Edition.

®

• Make sure that your graphics card driver supports the ATI

CrossFire™

Technology. Download the latest driver from the ATI website (www.ati.com)

• The maximum resolution of Radeon™ X850 CrossFire™ Edition is 1600 x

1200 at 65 MHz when you use DVI output.

6.1.2 Before you begin

Uninstall other graphics card drivers in your system

To uninstall other graphics card drivers:

1. Close all current applications.

2. Go to

Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs.

3. Select your current graphics card driver/s.

4. Select

Add/Remove.

5. Restart your system.

ASUS P5E3 Premium/WiFi-AP @n 6-1

6.2 Installing CrossFire™ graphics cards

Before installing a CrossFire™ system, refer to the user guide that came with

®

the ATI

CrossFire™ Edition graphics card.

To install the graphics cards:

1. Prepare one CrossFire™ Edition (Master) graphics card and one

CrossFire™-ready (Slave) graphics card.

Slave graphics card Master graphics card

2. Insert the CrossFire™ Edition (Master) graphics card into the PCI Express

x16 blue slot. Make sure that the card is properly seated on the slot.

®

6-2 Chapter 6: ATI

MVP technology support

3. Insert the CrossFire™-ready (Slave) graphics card into the PCI Express x16

black slot. Make sure that the card is properly seated on the slot.

4. Connect an auxiliary power source from the power supply to the graphics

cards.

ASUS P5E3 Premium/WiFi-AP @n 6-3

5. Connect one end of the external cable to the Master graphics card.

6. Connect the other end of the external cable to the Slave graphics card.

7. Connect the loose end to the corresponding port on your monitor.

6

7

®

6-4 Chapter 6: ATI

MVP technology support

6.3 Software information

6.3.1 Installing the device drivers

Refer to the documentation that came with your graphics card package to install

the device drivers.

The ATI CrossFire™ technology supports only the following operating systems:

®

• Windows

XP 32-bit (Home or Professional) with Service

Pack 2 (SP2)

®

• Windows

XP Professional 64-bit Edition.

®

• Windows

Vista 32/64 bit Edition. (Will be ready later. Visit the ATI

website (www.ati.com)

1. Turn on your system and log in

with administrator rights.

®

2. Windows

auto-detects the

CrossFire™ graphics cards

and displays the Found New

Hardware Wizard window. Click

Cancel.

3. Place the CrossFire™ installation

CD in your optical drive and install

drivers from the opening menu.

4. Click Next to continue from the

installation window that appears.

5. Read the License Agreement,

then click Yes.

ASUS P5E3 Premium/WiFi-AP @n 6-5