Eyefinity Performance Review at HardOCP

[Rebel44]

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/01/05/amds_ati_radeon_eyefinity_performance_review

I see Radeon 5870 and another 2 24" monitors in my future

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

I instantly got my monitors the moment eyefinity was announced and ready the tech and all. Luckily I enjoy having a lot of displays because I do a lot of productivity work and it comes in handy, otherwise, I'd regret having done that because eyefinity just isn't delivering.

Two huge problems with eyefinity:

1. It's still not working well with (and at all) with multi-GPU. It doesn't work with crossfire at all. Even though they're saying it may be enabled later via drivers. And for the 5970, the benchmarks are showing it very clearly, that eyefinity and dual-GPU is still not working properly. Someone who gets a 5970 ($600+) and plays on 3 displays will not get better performance, or even equal performance, to someone playing the same 3 display game on a 5870 ($400+). Eyefinity is screwed up for multi-GPU right now.

2. Display port. No one has display port. The active adapters are expensive. This is hugely annoying. And they've stated that they're working with others to get cheaper and qualified adapters that will work, but they're not here yet nor any sign of them yet.

I'm patiently waiting for eyefinity to be perfected. Ie, the drivers corrected to enable eyefinity to work properly with scaling multiple GPUs, ie, crossfire and dual-GPU boards. I can live with the blunder that is display port. But it adds $70~$100 to the investment to get that adapter. I'm not buying a bunch of display port monitors when I already have perfectly good 1080p displays.

Very best,

 

[Zstream]

Heya,

I instantly got my monitors the moment eyefinity was announced and ready the tech and all. Luckily I enjoy having a lot of displays because I do a lot of productivity work and it comes in handy, otherwise, I'd regret having done that because eyefinity just isn't delivering.

Two huge problems with eyefinity:

1. It's still not working well with (and at all) with multi-GPU. It doesn't work with crossfire at all. Even though they're saying it may be enabled later via drivers. And for the 5970, the benchmarks are showing it very clearly, that eyefinity and dual-GPU is still not working properly. Someone who gets a 5970 ($600+) and plays on 3 displays will not get better performance, or even equal performance, to someone playing the same 3 display game on a 5870 ($400+). Eyefinity is screwed up for multi-GPU right now.

2. Display port. No one has display port. The active adapters are expensive. This is hugely annoying. And they've stated that they're working with others to get cheaper and qualified adapters that will work, but they're not here yet nor any sign of them yet.

I'm patiently waiting for eyefinity to be perfected. Ie, the drivers corrected to enable eyefinity to work properly with scaling multiple GPUs, ie, crossfire and dual-GPU boards. I can live with the blunder that is display port. But it adds $70~$100 to the investment to get that adapter. I'm not buying a bunch of display port monitors when I already have perfectly good 1080p displays.

Very best,

So you purchased a bunch of monitors for Eyefinity but did not bother to figure out they used display ports?

 

[happy medium]

To be honest, The display port adapters being exspensive was news to me weeks after the release of the cards. Thats not something I would think would ever cost 70/100$.

Edit: Seems a gpu intensive game like Crysis is a waste on those cards and Eyefinity.
Makes me wonder what new games will do? The other games LFD2,NFS,Flight simulator x, are not gpu intensive.

 

[aka1nas]

To be honest, The display port adapters being exspensive was news to me weeks after the release of the cards. Thats not something I would think would ever cost 70/100$.

Edit: Seems a gpu intensive game like Crysis is a waste on those cards and Eyefinity.
Makes me wonder what new games will do? The other games LFD2,NFS,Flight simulator x, are not gpu intensive.

Pretty much everything but CryEngine 2 has to scale down enough to run on a console, so I'd imagine that you have some room to play with.

FWIW, Fallout 3 and X3:Terran Conflict are both decent-looking games and were playable on triple screens even with SoftTH. With the actual hardware support in EyeFinity, I'd imagine that performance is great.

 

[MalVeauX]

So you purchased a bunch of monitors for Eyefinity but did not bother to figure out they used display ports?

Heya,

It was understood what they needed; the cost of the adapter was not. But as stated, I can live with buying an adapater, even at the high price as it is.

What I cannot live with, nor will, is Eyefinity not working with multiple GPU's, ie, not with crossfire and not with the 5970 dualGPU card. This makes no sense. Current games can be played, sure, on three displays at high resolution and with good settings. But tomorrow's games are another problem. One that a multi-GPU system could handle. But not if Eyefinity isn't working with multiple GPU's. It's irritating that they've said they're working to get this to work, because it's like saying, "We can do it. We just rushed to get it out because the market was right." And they were correct to get their cards out fast. They're selling like hot cakes. But, I didn't bite the bullet on the new card. Eyefinity wasn't perfect.

As I said, I got more displays because I was going to use them regardless of Eyefinity; it was just one more reason to enjoy more displays. I simply made sure that three of them were identical for the setup, along with my other display and HDTV that are all plugged into one system.

So I patiently await the ability for Eyefinity to be used with crossfire or at least a single dualGPU card. That's when I'll buy a 5000 series card. Until then, nope. I still enjoy my displays regardless.

Very best,

 

[Rebel44]

Heya,

It was understood what they needed; the cost of the adapter was not. But as stated, I can live with buying an adapater, even at the high price as it is.

What I cannot live with, nor will, is Eyefinity not working with multiple GPU's, ie, not with crossfire and not with the 5970 dualGPU card. This makes no sense. Current games can be played, sure, on three displays at high resolution and with good settings. But tomorrow's games are another problem. One that a multi-GPU system could handle. But not if Eyefinity isn't working with multiple GPU's. It's irritating that they've said they're working to get this to work, because it's like saying, "We can do it. We just rushed to get it out because the market was right." And they were correct to get their cards out fast. They're selling like hot cakes. But, I didn't bite the bullet on the new card. Eyefinity wasn't perfect.

As I said, I got more displays because I was going to use them regardless of Eyefinity; it was just one more reason to enjoy more displays. I simply made sure that three of them were identical for the setup, along with my other display and HDTV that are all plugged into one system.

So I patiently await the ability for Eyefinity to be used with crossfire or at least a single dualGPU card. That's when I'll buy a 5000 series card. Until then, nope. I still enjoy my displays regardless.

Very best,

EF work with 5890 - just look at link in OP.

 

[gorobei]

so the OP is an article detailing eyefinity performance and benchmarks showing it working, and you decide to talk about driver issues being resolved now and the lack of third party aftermarket devices.

all the issues will be solved by time and other developments.

1) i have dell 2408s like the hardOP setup, so displayport is a non-issue. even if i didn't, the nec e-IPS monitors out now would be the obvious solution for anyone contemplating a full effect 3 monitor eyefinity. all without the need for the dp->dvi adapter.
a budget setup with TN panels will have to get an adapter, as few TN have dport input. but that will change. given that dport is the future of pc monitors it is only a matter of time bringing prices down. all the monitor makers will switch to dport if not for the better performance and control, then for the fact that it allows them to eliminate redundant circuitry and lower costs. either way, some OEM will come out with a $20 adapter and this too will be a non issue.

2) as far as crossfire, drivers will come out eventually. AMD would be stupid to miss out on the opportunity to sell multiple cards.

3) as far as games go. we are still carrying the anchor of DX9 and a ton of legacy equipment(i.e. pentium4 and gf6600). even dirt2 which is promoted as a DX11 game only uses a fraction of the function calls. they are all DX9 games with a sprinkle of tesselate or ssao. as soon as someone comes out with a true DX11(10) game that uses instancing and vertex processing, optimized for sm4, and has no DX9 baggage; games will run far better than the hybrid compromises that are out now.

 

[gorobei]

for those who didnt read the OP link:

summary: eyefinity works for a good selection of games at (19x12) x 3. the card determining how much eye candy you can get.

5970- full candy in most games but only marginally better than 5870 in a few games. may get better with drivers.
5870- slightly less than full candy, no aa in most cases, but very stable
5850- medium candy with dips into lagville
5770- not viable at 19x12. might do better with lower res monitors.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

Suffice to say, it's not perfect, it's not scaling well yet. When the 5950 is released, perhaps a better driver will be out that will allow crossfire and eyefinity. I patiently await to play DragonAge on three 1080p displays.

Very best,

 

[yacoub]

So you purchased a bunch of monitors for Eyefinity but did not bother to figure out they used display ports?

That's who Eyefinity is made for - people with lots of disposable income and not enough patience to wait and see it's a gimmick at this stage, and it's not really practical for gaming anyway because moving your head side-to-side physically is much less efficient than simply moving your mouse.

 

[Corsairs]

That's who Eyefinity is made for - people with lots of disposable income and not enough patience to wait and see it's a gimmick at this stage, and it's not really practical for gaming anyway because moving your head side-to-side physically is much less efficient than simply moving your mouse.

I think the idea is not to turn your head side-to-side but rather to keep your focus forward as you would with a single-monitor setup and allow your peripheral vision to work in conjunction with the side monitors.

 

[SlowSpyder]

That's who Eyefinity is made for - people with lots of disposable income and not enough patience to wait and see it's a gimmick at this stage, and it's not really practical for gaming anyway because moving your head side-to-side physically is much less efficient than simply moving your mouse.

I think a lot of people like it for non-gaming uses as well. I wouldn't call it a gimmick that doens't work, but more of a feature that's still very new. It's not something I'd be interested in at all, but I can see how others could be.

 

[Udgnim]

1. It's still not working well with (and at all) with multi-GPU. It doesn't work with crossfire at all. Even though they're saying it may be enabled later via drivers. And for the 5970, the benchmarks are showing it very clearly, that eyefinity and dual-GPU is still not working properly. Someone who gets a 5970 ($600+) and plays on 3 displays will not get better performance, or even equal performance, to someone playing the same 3 display game on a 5870 ($400+). Eyefinity is screwed up for multi-GPU right now.

reread the HardOCP review more carefully. they show FPS values for what they consider the max playable settings on a video card. crossfire is working for eyefinity.

 

[MalVeauX]

I think a lot of people like it for non-gaming uses as well. I wouldn't call it a gimmick that doens't work, but more of a feature that's still very new. It's not something I'd be interested in at all, but I can see how others could be.

Precisely,

I was going to have 6 monitors (1 being an HDTV) on my main machine regardless. Eyefinity was just a neat thing to grab 3 that were identical when doing so, so that they could be grouped as a single display in CC and be used for some fun gaming on the side when not working. Right now, I work on 5 displays. Less cards, more displays, always good; even better when its a card capable of real GPU work for games (otherwise, would have been using a matrox already).

reread the HardOCP review more carefully. they show FPS values for what they consider the max playable settings on a video card. crossfire is working for eyefinity.

I've read it. And others. Crossfire is not working properly for Eyefinity. Find an example of two 5850's in crossfire using Eyefinity. The only `crossfire' that works is currently the 5970, a dualGPU card, and it's not even fully realized. Lots of other benchmarks show the 2nd GPU not working in all games--this shows that eyefinity and crossfire is not even made perfect for the 5970 yet. I'm not basing all this on the single HardOCP. I'm basing it off all the benchmarks of eyefinity since they hit the net, which are numerous, plus a lot of leg work done over on Overclock.net by someone with two 5970's testing it out. Crossfire simply isn't working properly yet.

Very best,

 

[aka1nas]

That's who Eyefinity is made for - people with lots of disposable income and not enough patience to wait and see it's a gimmick at this stage, and it's not really practical for gaming anyway because moving your head side-to-side physically is much less efficient than simply moving your mouse.

You missed the point of the technology. It provides a wider field of view to give you peripheral vision, which increases immersion.

 

[MalVeauX]

You missed the point of the technology. It provides a wider field of view to give you peripheral vision, which increases immersion.

Exactly,

Most games don't offer more to actually see when you use Eyefinity. In a lot of games, you just get a bunch of `wall space.' The point is immersion. In very `open' games, like WoW for example, it does increase your visual field. You can glance with your eyes to see something rather than turning around in the game.

And it's not some huge thing only for people with ridiculous disposable income. If you have a PS3, Xbox, Computer and an HDTV, you already have too much disposable income by this statement. 20+" 1080p displays are $140~200 and you already have one at least since you're on a computer. Picking up two more and a card to power them is hardly some kind of `only the idiots who can afford it' type thing. You're posting on the internet, fat and content, while others starve and don't even know that you can email words to other people or look at photographs of nebula. It's folly to claim some kind of difference between someone who perhaps spent an extra $800 on a machine for this, compared to someone who already spent more than that on an Xbox, PS3, games, and a TV.

Very best,