googled and researched. ATI 5770 or other 5xxx cards and 3 monitor setups ????

[ModestGamer]

I have 3 monitors

one hanspree hf237 and 2 princeton 19 flat panles lcds. I have the needed cables and adapter.

DisplayPort to HDMI Hanspree Passive adapter and listed as working by ATI themselves

DVI to DVI Princeton
DVI to DVI Princeton

and I also have a DVI to VGA and a DVI to HDMI etc an nuaseum.

I cannot get eye finity to work in games or even 3 display mode for that matter. Tried on Vista and Win 7. In fact Vista and win 7 try to use the mode and the card rejects the settings every time. This smells like driver trouble.

The idiots "for lack of a better term " at ATI claim the DP adapter does not have enough power to run the monitor ? Which is BS becuase it runs the monitor just fine so long as only 2 monitors are enabled.

On the face of this argument I am left wondering how such a thing could be true. First off the DP cable itself could only need a few milliamps of current at best to send the digital signal as well as the DVI ports. It has its own 100watt feed from my 750watt sli certified power supply.

So to me that sounds like total BS and I know BS when I hear it.

I have read of others using various adapters to go from DP to VGA " but my 23 inch does not support vga" so thats a no go and it also has to be the highest resolution monitor in the set " which the 23 is".

SO exactly what is broken with the hardware or the drivers as I am contemplating returning this card and purchasing another brand. I know BS when I hear it and the crap I heard on the phone was pretty unbeliveable.

Not enough power to drive the display port ? Really ? its a freakin low level TTL signal at best.

So has anybody gotten this working ?

 

[Will Robinson]

I thought you had to have all display port connections however the 3rd one can be via a powered adapter to DVI?

 

[NoQuarter]

I have 3 monitors

one hanspree hf237 and 2 princeton 19 flat panles lcds. I have the needed cables and adapter.

DisplayPort to HDMI Hanspree Passive adapter and listed as working by ATI themselves

DVI to DVI Princeton
DVI to DVI Princeton

and I also have a DVI to VGA and a DVI to HDMI etc an nuaseum.

I cannot get eye finity to work in games or even 3 display mode for that matter. Tried on Vista and Win 7. In fact Vista and win 7 try to use the mode and the card rejects the settings every time. This smells like driver trouble.

The idiots "for lack of a better term " at ATI claim the DP adapter does not have enough power to run the monitor ? Which is BS becuase it runs the monitor just fine so long as only 2 monitors are enabled.

On the face of this argument I am left wondering how such a thing could be true. First off the DP cable itself could only need a few milliamps of current at best to send the digital signal as well as the DVI ports. It has its own 100watt feed from my 750watt sli certified power supply.

So to me that sounds like total BS and I know BS when I hear it.

I have read of others using various adapters to go from DP to VGA " but my 23 inch does not support vga" so thats a no go and it also has to be the highest resolution monitor in the set " which the 23 is".

SO exactly what is broken with the hardware or the drivers as I am contemplating returning this card and purchasing another brand. I know BS when I hear it and the crap I heard on the phone was pretty unbeliveable.

Not enough power to drive the display port ? Really ? its a freakin low level TTL signal at best.

So has anybody gotten this working ?

The DP->HDMI adapter *must* be active for 3 monitors. I don't actually know of a DP->HDMI active adapter so you would have to use DP->DVI active, then DVI->HDMI if necessary.

When you look at their adapter list where you verified your passive adapter you have to make sure to read the first paragraph:
http://support.amd.com/us/eyefinity/Pages/eyefinity-dongles.aspx

Connectivity Requirements: ATI Eyefinity technology is supported by graphics cards in the ATI Radeon™ HD 5400 series and higher. These cards can support up to six monitors (depending on the model), subject to the following restrictions:
• A maximum of 2 legacy monitors (VGA, DVI or HDMI) can be enabled simultaneously, provided that each monitor is connected either directly or via a “passive” DisplayPort™ adapter/dongle. “Passive” adapters/dongles will NOT support more than 2 legacy monitors.
• To enable support for more than 2 monitors, “active” DisplayPort™ adapters/dongles are required (or monitors with direct DisplayPort™ connectivity must be used).
• Approved “active” adapters have no general connectivity restrictions with ATI Eyefinity technology.

The active adapter needs power because it actually has a processor inside it that unpacks the DisplayPort data stream, converts it to a TDMS stream along with generating a clock signal to sync up with. Passive adapters do nothing but rely on the video card to send the appropriate video signal after rearranging the wires for it, and the video card cannot send 3 DVI/HDMI signals at once.

The DP->DVI active adapters are ~$100 and the DP->VGA active adapters are ~$20, those are you *only* two ways to do this. I wish AMD's adapter list was organized differently to be clear about which adapters actually work for 3 monitors and which only for 2 or less.

 

[ModestGamer]

So if I had a active adapter I would/could to connect 3 monitors to that adapter or are there other connection arrangmenets. BTW I combed their documentation and did not find any of the things you just posted.

where did you find that ?

I geuss I really don't understnad WHY I need the adapter as the display port drives my monitor fine right now. Why do I need a active adapter to accomplish what is already being done passively ? Thats the part that makes no sense. Unless I must drive 2 of the monitors from the display port. That would make sense or AMD hooched the pouch and screwed up the hardware in one way or another.

Not really understanding how the monitor works now without the active adapter but it can't with the active adapter. if the display port is truly a seperate connection as they insist.

 

[busydude]

So if I had a active adapter I would/could to connect 3 monitors to that adapter or are there other connection arrangmenets.

No, It doesn't work like that. Of the 3 monitors, atleast 1 should be driven by the DP( By atleast 1 I mean only 1, AFAIK you can drive only 1 monitor using active adapter).
Use that active adapter to convert it to HDMI or DVI.

Also, you cannot use the 2 DVI ports at the same time so, 2nd and 3rd monitors must be driven using the DVI and HDMI ports.

So, DP -> DVI active adapter 1st 19"
DVI -> DVI 2nd 19"
HDMI -> HDMI hf237

 

[ModestGamer]

No, It doesn't work like that. Of the 3 monitors, atleast 1 should be driven by the DP.
Use that active adapter to convert it to HDMI or DVI.

Also, you cannot use the 2 DVI ports at the same time so, 2nd and 3rd monitors must be driven using the DVI and HDMI ports.

So, DP -> DVI active port 1st 19"
DVI -> DVI 2nd 19"
HDMI -> HDMI hf237

OK I can already connect my HDMI or DVI capable monitor to the DP port with the current adapter. Monitor works all is good.

dp->HDMI functional works fine.
DVI 1 to DVI -> functional
DVI/HDMI 2 "Share internal connection from random searchs" -> functional can connect any which way. tried both BTW.

So why can I only enable 2 monitors at a time ?

I can enable any 2. They all talk and work correclty. I can enable 1 DVI and the DP or the DVI and the other DVI/HDMI or the DVI/HDMI and the DP

but not all 3. this is a software isue. BIOS problem. My brain screams it.

 

[oRdchaos]

http://support.amd.com/us/eyefinity/Pages/eyefinity-dongles.aspx

The video card can only output to two legacy monitors at the same time. They don't have the output circuitry on the card to drive a third monitor over DVI/HDMI/VGA. So it's a hardware issue keeping you from doing what you want. You want three non-display port monitors, and that's un-supported, as that support page makes reasonably clear.

An active adapter looks just like a display port monitor to the video card, so it works. Or getting a display port monitor works as well.

 

[gorobei]

It is a hardware problem. You need to read up on TMDS and dvi/hdmi.

most multi display cards(nv or ati) only have 2 60hz signal generators for TMDS, this allows dvi/hdmi video data stream to be synched and read by the monitor. Displayport doesnt use 60hz synch but rather its own bus timing. In order to convert dPort to tmds for your 3rd monitor, you need another signal generator.

The PASSIVE adapter you have is using one of the 2 tmds generators, so you will never be able to run the 3rd monitor once the 2 dvi ports are filled.

 

[NoQuarter]

DVI and HDMI both use the same type of signal, called a TDMS signal. The GPU is only capable of outputting 2 TDMS signals at a time (because there are only 2 clock generators on board). VGA actually uses these same clock generators for its timing also. This means only 2 DVI/HDMI/VGA ports can be active at once, doesn't matter which. This is true on *any* modern nVidia/ATI consumer level card regardless of how many ports they stick on the back.

DisplayPort is not limited by this restriction, the GPU can output as many DisplayPort signals as you can fit DisplayPort outputs on the backplate (but most 5xxx cards only have 1 DisplayPort output).

Possible configurations for 3 total outputs:
DVI + DVI + DP
DVI + HDMI + DP
HDMI + HDMI + DP


When you put a *passive* adapter on the DisplayPort all it does is ask the GPU to send a TDMS signal over the DisplayPort output thus it does not actually satisfy the DP requirement. The GPU can still only send 2 of these TDMS signals at once so by putting the passive adapter that you have on there it cuts out one of your other DVI/HDMI ports.

When you put an active adapter on the DisplayPort the GPU sends a DisplayPort signal to the adapter and the adapter converts it to a TDMS or analog VGA signal itself. This leaves the GPU free to send 2 other TDMS signals to your other DVI/HDMI ports, for a total of 3 monitors.

So the DisplayPort must be hooked up to a DisplayPort monitor or an active DisplayPort adapter acting as a DisplayPort receiver.

 

[vailr]

Just get one of these:

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=889

 

[ModestGamer]

It is a hardware problem. You need to read up on TMDS and dvi/hdmi.

most multi display cards(nv or ati) only have 2 60hz signal generators for TMDS, this allows dvi/hdmi video data stream to be synched and read by the monitor. Displayport doesnt use 60hz synch but rather its own bus timing. In order to convert dPort to tmds for your 3rd monitor, you need another signal generator.

The PASSIVE adapter you have is using one of the 2 tmds generators, so you will never be able to run the 3rd monitor once the 2 dvi ports are filled.

got ya. So is there a affordable converter that works ? I would almost prefer to buy a different video card but it sounds like that is not a solution.

Why not just fix the freaking hardware ? This was such a stupid direction for these card manufacturers to go.

 

[TheUnk]

I have an Accell adapter.. It works but unfortunately even though all 3 of my monitors are exactly the same, whichever is on the adapter has a different color balance to it that I can't seem to match with the other 2.

 

[ModestGamer]

are these for sale yet ? I didn't see them anywhere.

Just get one of these:

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=889

 

[ModestGamer]

I have an Accell adapter.. It works but unfortunately even though all 3 of my monitors are exactly the same, whichever is on the adapter has a different color balance to it that I can't seem to match with the other 2.

Link and cost ?

 

[busydude]

are these for sale yet ? I didn't see them anywhere.

Yes, they are. Here.

Or you can go for this, a 5770 with 5 mini DP's.

 

[ModestGamer]

Yes, they are. Here.

Or you can go for this, a 5770 with 5 mini DP's.

I geuss I could buy that card and run the current 5770 in CF mode. From what I have seen the cross fire 5770 is a pretty solid performer especially when overclocked with unlocked bios capability.

Time to put some scratch together and change the MB and add a card. Good time to get into ddr3 anyways. Wife will be thrilled with her newly upgraded PC LOL.

 

[busydude]

I geuss I could buy that card and run the current 5770 in CF mode. From what I have seen the cross fire 5770 is a pretty solid performer especially when overclocked with unlocked bios capability. Time to put some scratch together and change the MB and add a card. Good time to get into ddr3 anyways. Wife will be thrilled with her newly upgraded PC LOL.

A word of warning before you buy that card though. For the current setup of 2X19"+ a 23", you cannot play games in eyefinity at the native resolution of your 23" monitor. You will only be able to play games at the resolution of your 19" monitors.

 

[NoQuarter]

I don't know why people are recommending the 5 DisplayPort and 6 DisplayPort cards.. they won't help your setup in anyway. Those 5 and 6 DP cards still only support 2 DVI/HDMI and the rest have to be DisplayPort and that's the problem you have already.

If you don't care about gaming in Eyefinity mode and you just want more displays you can do one of these things:
1) Add a $35 secondary video card for extra display outputs.
2) Use a motherboard with IGP that can remain enabled for an extra display output
3) Use a $20 VGA or $100 DVI active DisplayPort adapter

If you want to play games in 3 monitor Eyefinity mode you must:
1) Use a $20 VGA or $100 DVI active DisplayPort adapter


In Eyefinity gaming mode all the displays must be run off the primary card which means you need the active DP adapter. Have more DP ports isn't gonna get you around the adapter so I don't know why it's being brought up.

 

[ModestGamer]

I don't know why people are recommending the 5 DisplayPort and 6 DisplayPort cards.. they won't help your setup in anyway. Those 5 and 6 DP cards still only support 2 DVI/HDMI and the rest have to be DisplayPort and that's the problem you have already.

If you don't care about gaming in Eyefinity mode and you just want more displays you can do one of these things:
1) Add a $35 secondary video card for extra display outputs.
2) Use a motherboard with IGP that can remain enabled for an extra display output
3) Use a $20 VGA or $100 DVI active DisplayPort adapter

If you want to play games in 3 monitor Eyefinity mode you must:
1) Use a $20 VGA or $100 DVI active DisplayPort adapter


In Eyefinity gaming mode all the displays must be run off the primary card which means you need the active DP adapter. Have more DP ports isn't gonna get you around the adapter so I don't know why it's being brought up.

So buying 2 more 23inch monitors is a good solution plus the other card ? I like it. Wife gets 2 monitors new MB CPU and RAM in her machine.

sounds like a plan to me.Maybe just build a whole new machine around the eyefinity conecpt. It is getting to be close to upgrade time anyways. I think I will wiat till fall/winter and see whats comming out.