• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

What a wombat I feel, what DP - DVI do I need

spookunderdog

spookunderdog

spookunderdog

Associate
Joined
19 Oct 2014
Posts
11
Hi Guys,

I have done some searching but cannot find anywhere that will tell me what connectors I need for a GTX 970. I currently run 3 monitors on my old HD6950, with 2 on DVI & one on an active mini-dp to dvi.

I am about to order an MSI GTX970, but wondered what display port adapters you guys are running to go triple screen. I do recall I had a heck of a job to get a working min-dp on my old 6950.

Sorry if this is a very easy question, but I've looked and cannot see anything, either that or I am blind lol. feel free to throw newbie abuse, but also if you can let me know the answer too ;-)

Cheers, Wombat
 
spookunderdog said:
Hi Guys,

I have done some searching but cannot find anywhere that will tell me what connectors I need for a GTX 970. I currently run 3 monitors on my old HD6950, with 2 on DVI & one on an active mini-dp to dvi.

I am about to order an MSI GTX970, but wondered what display port adapters you guys are running to go triple screen. I do recall I had a heck of a job to get a working min-dp on my old 6950.

Sorry if this is a very easy question, but I've looked and cannot see anything, either that or I am blind lol. feel free to throw newbie abuse, but also if you can let me know the answer too ;-)

Cheers, Wombat
Click to expand...

In theory should just need a Passive Display Port to DVI or HDMI to DVI adaptor. I say in theory, but can't find any specific info on the 970, but most cards can now natively do 3 screens with passive adapters.

It only tends to be when you go to 4 Screens or older cards where you need active adapters - something to do with how many clock generators the card has, whereas the active adapters include their own, and thus cost more.
 
Armageus said:
It only tends to be when you go to 4 Screens or older cards where you need active adapters - something to do with how many clock generators the card has, whereas the active adapters include their own, and thus cost more.
Click to expand...

Yup, that's the gist of it.
 
spookunderdog said:
Do we reckon the adapter to my active mini-dp to DVI will work, or will having the card and the adapter being a clock generator confuse matters?

Just asking
Click to expand...

the mini-dp to dvi should be fine - and active adapters shouldn't cause any issue even if an active adapter isn't actually needed.
 
OK,

Going to be a thick newbie here :-( All this talk of dvi-d, dvi etc, what the heck does it mean. I know people mention dual-link dvi, but is this just a fancy way of saying it can drive 2 dvi monitors on 2 separate ports? I have had a look for a dummies guide, but cant find one. I can't be the only bod to not figure out what it means lol

A reply to another post, the guy had put "There is one DVI-D Dual link and one HDMI port. How many do you need?" Is he actually meaning the dual link port is just 2 separate dvi's, (although classed as one) I am just confusing myself now lol

I have older LG W2442PE's which give me a refresh rate of either 59 or 60 in windows.

Cheers guru's, me!
 
DVI (more properly termed DVI-I) is a standard for carrying both analogue and digital video.

Each port has the potential for up to 2 digital "TMDS" (DVI-D) links, and 1 analogue link (DVI-A).

This is why DVI to VGA adaptors are cheap, the VGA/Analogue signal is already there, it's just a different shape socket.

This is also why DVI to HDMI adaptors are cheap, the Digtal Signal is also already there, along with a 2nd digital, and an analogue signal. The adaptor just takes the pins for the first digital signal and puts them in a different shape.

You'll find putting a HDMI->DVI->VGA adaptor together won't work, because they are different pins.

Some devices aren't full DVI-I, and won't accept all three of the listed signals. (2xD 1xA).

It's not uncommon for modern GPUs to only output the analogue on some of the DVI ports. This means they are DVI-D (for digital) not DVI-I.

As mentioned, there are two digital links in the socket. A single link is equivalent to HDMI and can drive 1920x1200@60hz. 2560x1600@60hz and 2560x1440@60hz monitors (or indeed 1920x1080@120hz) exceed the bandwidth of a single digital link, so need two. Luckily there are two in the socket, but you need a dual link cable (these are thicker and have all pins connected).

There are some GPUs with DVI ports that only have a single digital link, these cannot drive such a display.

Effectively DVI-D Dual link is two digital links in one cable. In theory, the standard allows you to drive such a monitor over two single link cables, but I don't think anyone ever did this.

HDMI achieves higher resolutions a different way. It doesn't have a 2nd digital link sat there waiting, so they just increased the clock speed of the existing link for HDMI 2.
 
Last edited:
Wow,

Cheers for taking the time to write that out, all makes sense.

So, I can either use my existing active mini dp - dvi adapter & go with the one mentioned above,

or

I can just get this - http://goo.gl/yM3xDM which will mean I run my dvi monitor straight from this lead, (my mini-dp is starting to look a little frayed so if I can junk it that would help)

Thanks again matey
 
spookunderdog said:
Wow,

Cheers for taking the time to write that out, all makes sense.

So, I can either use my existing active mini dp - dvi adapter & go with the one mentioned above,

or

I can just get this - http://goo.gl/yM3xDM which will mean I run my dvi monitor straight from this lead, (my mini-dp is starting to look a little frayed so if I can junk it that would help)

Thanks again matey
Click to expand...

Yep! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom