Help with Eyefinity connections please!

[casual123]

Hey guys, ive just ordered one of the r9 280x's on sale to crossfire with my 7950 ( yes im aware it will be slowed to to same speed ) and im planning to go eyefinity.

I currently have two Dvi's/1 hdmi/1displayport on my 7950
The r9 280x comes with 1 dvi/1hdmi/2minidisplayports

Ive read that you need to run all 3 monitors from the top card ( im not sure which card to have on top out of the two? maybe the 7950 as it has more connections)

Am i going to need to buy an active displayport adapter? All 3 of my monitors have DVI/VGA.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help an eyefinity noob

 

[casual123]

it won't be slowed.

Another option is sell your 7950 and get 2 R9 280X

why wont it be slowed? i thought the r9 280x was basically a 7970?

 

[casual123]

Old Gamer's right, you will need an Active adapter. You can run 2 screens from the DVI/HDMI ports on either of your cards, but the third screen must be on the Display port output (or mini Displayport) of the same card. As your screens don't have a Displayport input, you'll need an Active Displayport to DVI adapter, or Active mDP to DVI adapter, depending on which card you run as the primary one. If your screens are 1920x1200 or under, a single link adapter is fine, for higher resolutions a pricier dual link adapter is needed.

You could also use an Active DP/mDP to VGA adapter, but as your screens have DVI I'd recommend using that.

my screens are all 1080p will this do the job? Startech DisplayPort to DVI Active Adapter

 

[casual123]

yes the r9 280x is basically a 7970Ghz edition.. if you crossfire a 7950 with a 7970 they will run on their own speeds without clocking down.

7950 Xfire < 7950+7970 < 7970 Xfire (R9 280)

Also yes you can use that adapter, but you don't really need that expensive one.
That one is dual link, you need a single link that will cost less than half that.

the one im looking at is £21.91 and is the cheapest one i can find?

model number B004SUO1GM

EDIT: its the one that confused stu mentioned which is model number DP2DVIS startech, looks like ill go for that one