do i need 2GB vram for eyefinity 4240x1024 total res?

[milkkart_]

im looking at upgrading my graphics card because my old 8800gts isn't holding out too well any more. has to be ati because i need eyefinity for multi-monitor. don't want to chuck loads of cash at a card with southern islands and bulldozer coming out next year though.

current options are a 5870 1/2gb (has dual DVI-I which is good because i don't need to faff about with displayport adaptors), a 6950 1gb or a 2g reference to flash to 6970 (sapphire toxic could be good for that).

the rest of my setup is of similar vintage to the 8800, e6600, ga-965p-DQ6, 4gb kingston hyperX ddr2-800. given the 6600 can be OCed i don't think any of that will be limiting but im not sure?

so what will be the cheapest option to comfortably run eyefinity with a 4240x1024 total resolution (1680x1050 main, 2x 1280x1024 side monitors)?

thanks.

 

[Flashheart]

6970 / flashed 6950 all the way. You'll be thankful for the extra ram with AA

 

[Surveyor]

If you actually want to play games over 3 screens, rather than just have an extended desktop, then all 3 monitors have to run at the same resolution.

I think I've seen someone post a way to fudge around this but I don't know how well it works.

And I'm not sure why you think a HD 5870 with dual DVI-I's (if such a thing exists) means you won't have to "faff about with displayport adaptors".

 

[milkkart_]

6970 / flashed 6950 all the way. You'll be thankful for the extra ram with AA

Ok, ta.

Btw is it ok to run 69xx cards off a PSU which only has 6pin PCI-E power connectors with a 6 to 8 pin adaptor, are the 8pin ones rated for more power or anything? i've got a 700w PSU with 20A per 12v rail, not sure how the PCI-e connectors are arranged on the rails though.

If you actually want to play games over 3 screens, rather than just have an extended desktop, then all 3 monitors have to run at the same resolution.

I think I've seen someone post a way to fudge around this but I don't know how well it works.

And I'm not sure why you think a HD 5870 with dual DVI-I's (if such a thing exists) means you won't have to "faff about with displayport adaptors".

Damn, softTH is what i use at the minute and that can handle mixed resolutions. I think it can be run on one card which would still make it it way faster than running it through the pcie bus to a second card for the third monitor like I do now. spectacular work there though ATI, make a surround monitor solution less effective than something free a guy hacked together on his spare time.

Thanks for letting me know though, would have been pretty annoyed if I bought the card then found out.

My side monitors use analogue VGA connectors so on a 6950/70 with one DVI-I port, one DVI-D, an HDMI and a displayport Id need to connect one side monitor with a passive DVI-I to VGA adaptor, one to either the DVI-D, HDMI or displayport with an active VGA converter and the main monitor to either the HDMI or DVI-D port.

with a 5870 with two DVI-I ports and one HDMI i can connect the analogue monitors to the DVI-Is and the main to the HDMI all with passive adaptors.

 

[Orcvader]

As Surveyor said, all monitors need to be the same resolution.

However it seems some people with PLP setups have found a little trick to make games play across all three screens with the same vertical res: http://futuremark.yougamers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=126196

And for the third screen you must use Displayport, no matter how many DVI/HDMI/VGA connection it has, unless it's a Sapphire FLEX card. So in the end you need to buy an active Displayport to DVI/VGA adapter.

 

[Surveyor]

It would seem you are correct that a HD 5870 has 2 DVI-I connectors.

You can't use the 2 DVI-I's and the HDMI at the same time though.

You're going to have to use an active DisplayPort adapter for at least one connection.

 

[milkkart_]

As Surveyor said, all monitors need to be the same resolution.

However it seems some people with PLP setups have found a little trick to make games play across all three screens with the same vertical res: http://futuremark.yougamers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=126196

And for the third screen you must use Displayport, no matter how many DVI/HDMI/VGA connection it has, unless it's a Sapphire FLEX card. So in the end you need to buy an active Displayport to DVI/VGA adapter.

Ah, this eyefinity business really isn't as easy as the hype on AMDs site made it sound, My own fault for not checking properly though. the guy in that thread says he's getting a decent framerate with a an OCed 6970 at 4960x1600 windowed so i guess it should work for me.

edit:
By the way, has anyone else had an HD6950/70 running on a 965p chipset? I know pcie2.0 is supposed to be backwards compatible to 1.0a but apparently it can sometimes be a bit iffy.

ta

 

[bigjimmyauk]

Ah, this eyefinity business really isn't as easy as the hype on AMDs site made it sound, My own fault for not checking properly though. the guy in that thread says he's getting a decent framerate with a an OCed 6970 at 4960x1600 windowed so i guess it should work for me.

edit:
By the way, has anyone else had an HD6950/70 running on a 965p chipset? I know pcie2.0 is supposed to be backwards compatible to 1.0a but apparently it can sometimes be a bit iffy.

ta

I had this problem a long time ago when i upgraded to a 5770 it would simply not work on my old nforce board, basically it wasn't backwards compatible with the board. checked and rechecked everything tried card in other 1.0a boards and it worked fine others didn't. It's really hit and miss

this was the board btw http://www.msi.com/product/mb/K8NGM2-FID--IL--L.html
mine was the fid with the nforce 430 chipset