Best Setup to drive 4+ Monitors for Non-Gaming Applications

[aviat72]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_AMD_graphics_processing_units#Evergreen_series

Was comparing the 5750/5770 and the 5870 Eyefinity editions.

The 5870 is about 2x of what the 5770 does in almost all stats. So in theory 2 5770s have the same power as a 5870 Eyefinity.

I wanted to get a sense of how the amount of RAM on the graphic card affects performance (512MB v 1024MB on the 57xx).
Found this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-ram-4870,2428-10.html

And how does Double Precision Floating Point help? My guess is that DPFP will be useful in engineering/3D type applications where more precise calculations and make things smoother.

 

[aviat72]

The HD5450 Gigabyte card seems to be an interesting option. Wiki shows its GFLOPS rating for HD5450 as 104. I will have to get HDMI to DVI-D cables for those since two of my monitors only have DVI-D ports.

In contrast I currently drive four 24" monitors using a pair of GEForce 8400GSrev2 (33 GFLOPS) and an 8600 GTS (113 GLFOPS). Will the HD5450 be good enough to drive three monitors each (2 24" and 1 23")? Or are these GFLOPS irrelevant when it comes to non-gaming applications?

The advantage of the HD5670 based cards is the 6x raw GFLOPS which should provide some oomph, if I ever decide to use them for gaming. However they do run hotter, and cost 2x. The rebates help but I wish they had a limit of 2 instead of 1; it is the logical thing for Crossfire capable cards.

I also noticed that there is absolutely on discussion about NVIDIA cards. Have they completely exited the entry level enthusiast market?

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Let's get this out before we move on. If you intend to game occasionally, then at the price and performance you're looking at you would be best to game on a single monitor and not attempt gaming on multi-monitors.

So basically...

multi monitors = non gaming and productivity
single monitor = gaming

In contrast I currently drive four 24" monitors using a pair of GEForce 8400GSrev2 (33 GFLOPS) and an 8600 GTS (113 GLFOPS). Will the HD5450 be good enough to drive three monitors each (2 24" and 1 23")? Or are these GFLOPS irrelevant when it comes to non-gaming applications?

A 5450 should do drive three monitors so long as it has the proper connections (displayport is required), but like I said don't expect to game across three monitors with this card. Even with a single monitor the HD5450 is not going to handle most games.

That Gigabyte 5450 looks like it should drive three monitors:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125358

The advantage of the HD5670 based cards is the 6x raw GFLOPS which should provide some oomph, if I ever decide to use them for gaming. However they do run hotter, and cost 2x; the rebates help but I wish they had a limit of 2 instead of 1; it is the logical thing for Crossfire capable cards.

The 5670 is indeed much faster than the 5450. In fact it's much faster than even two 5450s in Crossfire. For single monitor gaming, a single 5670 should provide an acceptable experience. Now more powerful and expensive cards like the 5750, 5770, and 6850 will give you better performance (thus better IQ), but the 5670 should allow you to play any game. Two 5670s in Crossfire should be similar to a 5750/5770 in performance, just like two 5770s are similar to a single 5870.

You could get two cards made by different manufacturers to get your rebates. They would still work in Crossfire.

I also noticed that there is absolutely on discussion about NVIDIA cards. Have they completely exited the entry level enthusiast market?

For gaming on a single monitor, no they haven't left the entry level. However AMD basically and currently only offers an answer to your request for the possibility to drive six displays with two video cards. Nvidia cards, as well as AMD cards without DisplayPort, can only drive two monitors max each.

There's a third solution, 2x ultra cheap PCIE cards driving 2 monitors, and an ultra cheap PCI card driving another 2 monitors. 3 Cards FTW ?

OP do this, it's easy. Don't listen to the others suggesting you waste your money on some eyefinity card.

That is even more clumsy, IMO, especially considering the OP has DisplayPort-ready monitors.

And there are cheap Eyefinity cards available.

And 2x ultra ultra cheap cards like you mentioned basically rule out the possibility of gaming.

IMO that wouldn't be the best option for him.

 

[aviat72]

Let's get this out before we move on. If you intend to game occasionally, then at the price and performance you're looking at you would be best to game on a single monitor and not attempt gaming on multi-monitors.

So basically...

multi monitors = non gaming and productivity
single monitor = gaming


A 5450 should do drive three monitors so long as it has the proper connections (displayport is required), but like I said don't expect to game across three monitors with this card. Even with a single monitor the HD5450 is not going to handle most games.

That Gigabyte 5450 looks like it should drive three monitors:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125358



The 5670 is indeed much faster than the 5450. In fact it's much faster than even two 5450s in Crossfire. For single monitor gaming, a single 5670 should provide an acceptable experience. Now more powerful and expensive cards like the 5750, 5770, and 6850 will give you better performance (thus better IQ), but the 5670 should allow you to play any game. Two 5670s in Crossfire should be similar to a 5750/5770 in performance, just like two 5770s are similar to a single 5870.

You could get two cards made by different manufacturers to get your rebates. They would still work in Crossfire.

Thanks for the info.

I realize that if and when we game, I do not think we will use 6 monitors. At the most it is going to be 3 monitors.

Some options I am considering:

1. Two 5670 cards: Can Crossfire be activated and deactivated in software/BIOS or do I need to physically remove the cables to go from the gaming setup to the work setup? I plan to make it a dual boot if we ever go into gaming with separate environments.

2. One 5670 (or higher) card and one 5640 card: This will allow me some gaming capability to the monitors connected to the 5670+ card, while in work mode I will be fine.

3. Two 5640 cards: Assuming that they can be crossfired I can then game on one set of monitors or just one monitor.

Some Crossfire related questions: Are the setups ATI standard or does each vendor has its own custom bridge/cables to setup Crossfire?
Do the GPUs have to be the same or can any 5xxx GPU Crossfire with any other 5xxx GPU?

 

[betasub]

Some Crossfire related questions

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/technology/Pages/crossfirex.aspx

 

[lsv]

XFX and Saphire 5670 based cards

Will these two cards work together? Can not buy two of the same because of the mail in rebate issue.



Would prefer digital ports and all these cards have a VGA port.
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desk...d-5450-overview/Pages/hd-5450-overview.aspx#2
I can not find a card without the VGA port and a DP in place. Everything is DVI/HDMI/VGA.
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I am a bit curious about how the gaming performance of 5xxx compares with the 6port Radeon on sale? I have ample space on this chasis, and could dedicate a completely independent OS install for "FUN" on the weekend.

Yes those will work, and run 3x monitors. If you can find cheaper 5 series cards with digital outs go for them. You'd save a bit of $. But if no dice and you're all for digital then get that

 

[aviat72]

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/technology/Pages/crossfirex.aspx

Thanks for the link. It was interesting to know that some cards do not even require a physical connection (eg. 5450 http://sites.amd.com/PublishingImag.../WebBannerJPEG/AMD_CrossfireX_Chart_1618W.jpg)

I also reviewed the Catalyst Software and it seems to have controls to enable or disable CrossFire. So in principle, I could have my six monitor setup and then convert it into a 3 monitor (or 1 monitor) CrossFire Setup with a click of a button?

How does Catalyst decide which one is the primary card and will drive the monitors and which one is secondary?

Also any recommendation on which manufacturer to get (Sapphire, XFX, powercolor, ASUS, MSI, HSI etc.)

 

[betasub]

^ AFAIK, switching between Crossfire and "separate card"-mode requires a re-boot to complete a re-set of the drivers. (Maybe this has changed with Win7 & recent driver releases?)

The primary card is normally determined by its physical position i.e. occupying the primary PCIe slot.

Re: manufacturer, this usually comes down to price, bundled extras, warranty etc. How you weight these depend on personal needs/preference. XFX are an overclocker's favorite & have good feed-back on warranty terms. Sapphire and Powercolor are long-term ATI partners with solid reference cards. ASUS & MSI are big tier-one companies with a diverse range and extra software support... but graphics are only a small part of their portfolio. And so on

 

[aviat72]

^ AFAIK, switching between Crossfire and "separate card"-mode requires a re-boot to complete a re-set of the drivers. (Maybe this has changed with Win7 & recent driver releases?)

The primary card is normally determined by its physical position i.e. occupying the primary PCIe slot.

So if I maintain two separate OS installs, one for work and one for play, I should not face any problems right? Nothing to be changed in BIOS and no hardware tinkering (Crossfire Bridge). Or does the Crossfire Bridge have to be removed for the non-Crossfire mode to work?

Re: manufacturer, this usually comes down to price, bundled extras, warranty etc. How you weight these depend on personal needs/preference. XFX are an overclocker's favorite & have good feed-back on warranty terms. Sapphire and Powercolor are long-term ATI partners with solid reference cards. ASUS & MSI are big tier-one companies with a diverse range and extra software support... but graphics are only a small part of their portfolio. And so on

I am interested in reliability and good warranty support. Do not care too much for frame rates/OC etc. Stability is very important. The only reason I am even considering the gaming aspect is because of the very small price difference between the most basic card with digital I/O and the lower end gaming cards. If something breaksdown, I want the company to stand behind their products and be responsive to problems. I also want the product to be designed towards a focus on reliability than pushing the performance envelope.

Looking at the reviews, it seems GIGABYTE is getting decent number of eggs. Most comments about Sapphire Support are not good. That is surprising because it seems Sapphire is just an arm of ASUS (the rebate on Sapphire at Amazon is titled Asus Rebate). XFX seems to have an emphasis on support. I am especially interested in HIS since their RMA center is located very close.

 

[happy medium]

I was just told in another thread that you can use 6 monitors with the 6850 series.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

So if I maintain two separate OS installs, one for work and one for play, I should not face any problems right? Nothing to be changed in BIOS and no hardware tinkering (Crossfire Bridge). Or does the Crossfire Bridge have to be removed for the non-Crossfire mode to work?

Right. For two separate installs one can be Crossfire and the other non-Crossfire. All you do is change the Catalyst settings.

The 5670 doesn't require a Crossfire Bridge; but even then you don't have to remove it.

I was just told in another thread that you can use 6 monitors with the 6850 series.

...

I've already went over this issue in this very thread. To drive 6 monitors from a single 6850 you need a special MST hub, as the Anandtech review states. These hubs aren't even available yet, as far as I know.

 

[aviat72]

I was just told in another thread that you can use 6 monitors with the 6850 series.

They require an MST hub or monitors supporting daisy-chaining. Both of them are still not in commercial production.

 

[aviat72]

Right. For two separate installs one can be Crossfire and the other non-Crossfire. All you do is change the Catalyst settings.

The 5670 doesn't require a Crossfire Bridge; but even then you don't have to remove it.

Well my SandyBridge just arrived and out popped the free download of Civilization V coupon. I have not played a game on a PC for more than 12 years! And I am so tempted to get a gaming card...

One part of me tells me to get 2 HD-5670s and be done with it. Another says HD 5770 + HD 5450. And another says 2x HD 5770.

I think the two HD-5670s require the bridge when working together

However the review here suggests otherwise

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5670-review-test-crossfire/1

Also noticed that 2x5670 in Crossfire are quite good and close enough to a 5770. So I think that is the way I am going...