ATI 5450 Series: 3 monitor setup help!

[rookie4002]

Hello Guys,

I've been looking around at the ATI 5450 cards (or any of the 5000 series for that matter) to drive 3 monitors. My 3 monitors have only DVI inputs on them (no VGA). I am NOT interested in Eyefinity, I just want the good old 3 monitor setup with 1 main display and 2 extended (I can already do that with surroundview on my amd rig but I'm looking to upgrade to intel where there's no surroundview).

However, I am unsure of whether this is possible WITHOUT buying a displayport adapter. It seems clear that one needs a displayport monitor or otherwise active dp->dvi adapters to use eyefinity, but what about simply using the screens without the eyefinity modes?

Also, some of the 5450 cards that don't have eyefinity support have 1 dvi, 1 vga, 1 hdmi out, for example

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-339-_-Product

Would it be possible to use the 3 ports of this card SIMULTANEOUSLY? And if it is, does anyone know if a vga -> dvi adapter would let me use vga output to drive the dvi? Is there a single-card alternative on the intel side if this doesn't work?

Thanks for the help!

 

[dguy6789]

Only way is to buy a display port adaptor. I specifically remember reading that the Radeon HD 5000 series can not use DVI, VGA, and HDMI at the same time. One of the monitors has to go through the display port.

 

[jones377]

A 2nd HD5450 should be alot cheaper than a displayport adapter.

edit: I take that back. It seems only Apple charges an arm and a leg for their adapter.

 

[veri745]

A 2nd HD5450 should be alot cheaper than a displayport adapter.

edit: I take that back. It seems only Apple charges an arm and a leg for their adapter.

LOL, sadly this is true. The HD 5xxx series only has two clock driver that can drive HDMI/DVI, which is why you need an active DP->DVI adapter

 

[rookie4002]

Thanks for the help guys. I searched a bit more and found this link with some discussion that confirms that only 2 hdmi/dvi outputs can be used @ once

http://www.techpowerup.com/110927/S...ty_Issue_with_Active_DisplayPort_Adapter.html

I guess I'll stick to AMD for my newbuild since then I can use surroundview
+ 5450 and save me $100 bucks in the cost of the dp adaptor. Plus 890gx should be an ok chipset.