Eyefinity - confused

[[GSV]Lemming]

I am having soem trouble getting my head around what I need for an eyefinity setup, I assume this is the only way to get games running spanned across 3 monitors? I am running a C2D quad core cpu, I assume this is decent enough to get the results I am after.

I have 2 monitors at 1680x1050, I was planning on getting another one. I am assuming any 3 monitors with DVI connections are fine? HD monitors may be better but I dont want to have to buy 3 of them...

I know I need an ATI card, looking at cost it will probably be a 6970, I assume all of them support eyefinity? Do I also need an "active adaptor"? Can someone post up a link to what I need if so?

Google gives me a lots of groovy details about the end product with videos showcasing, not so much about the kit needed and connections..

Thanks in advance

 

[kristmace]

I don't have eyefinity so I'm going on what I know:

There will be 3 connectors on the back of the GPU - DVI, HDMI and Display Port. One monitor goes into each of these (adapters if necessary).

 

[oweneades]

Assuming you have 3 DVI monitors you will need an active mini DP to DVI adaptor to enable Eyefinity.

I have one by XFX which works perfectly (plug and play essentially). I can't link to it as it supplier by a competitor.

In essence to setup Eyefinity you will need the following:

- 3 monitors of the same resolution connected by DVI/HDMI or DP. You must use DP for at least one of the monitors. The others can be connected via DVI or HDMI.

- Active Mini DP / DP to DVI adaptor for the monitor connected to the DP output on the Graphics card. Whether it is Mini DP or DP will depend on the card model (Reference HD6970 will be Mini DP).

- Any 5 or 6 series GPU from AMD that supports Eyefinity natively (all of them I think). Obviously for gaming you will require a beefy single GPU or preferably crossfire. I run a single HD6970 on 3560x1920 portrait eyefinity. It is enough for medium/high gaming in the latest titles (including BF3) @ ~ 40fps or so.

To setup you merely plug in all of the monitors to the card and set up eyefinity in the AMD CCC. You can then setup profiles which can be switched between by keyboard shortcuts for desktop use / gaming.

If your monitors support it you can also run in mixed Portrait and lanscape mode (I am currently running PLP on my monitors).

 

[[GSV]Lemming]

Thats great, I understand a lot more clearly now, thanks

 

[oweneades]

Thats great, I understand a lot more clearly now, thanks

No probs. If you get stuck drop me a message in trust and I will see if I can help you out

 

[Surveyor]

It's "only" a HD 6950 but this card will run 3 DVI monitors at your resolution without having to buy an active DisplayPort adapter:

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 FLEX 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

You'll have to look into what the performance would be like at 5040x1050 resolution.

Also the new AMD 7xxx series cards will be out over the next few weeks/months.

 

[evilmatt]

The "costly" description of active adapters on there is a bit misleading, an active mini dp to DVI adapter shouldn't be much more than £15 these days.

 

[BaDBoY_uK]

I have a spare HDMI-mini DP active adaptor you could buy

 

[old gamer]

an active mini dp to DVI adapter set me back about £20

 

[MeMeMeMe]

For active adaptor, search for "single link active displayport adaptor".

When active adaptors first came out, they were £70 or more, for dual-link versions. Single-link ones soon came out at much cheaper price points (and that's all you need for monitors of 1920x1200 or less), and these days they are under £20.

That said, if you have the Flex 6950, you dont need a displayport adaptor. It's a custom design, and supports 3 monitors just using the DVI and HDMI outputs.

 

[RedStarRiot]

get the xfx active dp adapter. used to be available via ocuk. cost me 20 bucks and my eyefinity runs sweet