Triple monitor question

[tj_jokestar]

I just got a xfx 6870 and was wondering if its possible for a third monitor (using 2 dvi's and 1 hdmi)
thanks trevor

 

[wahdangun]

no, you can't unless you buy miniDP to HDMI adapater (its around $30).

 

[maddie]

I just got a xfx 6870 and was wondering if its possible for a third monitor (using 2 dvi's and 1 hdmi)
thanks trevor

AFAIK, only Sapphire has a card capable of this. Flex edition.

 

[grohl]

I saw your topic and made me think of this...I have X68 chipset with onboard video. 6950 card has 2 DVI outs. Can I use these 3 DVI outs to run 3 monitors?

 

[wahdangun]

yes but if i was you i will just buy DPtoDVI adapter, its not worth the hassle and after the fact that intel driver is pretty much horrible, so you will maybe get tons of problem and with eyefinity you actually have more feature and you can game with triple monitor (believe me playing FSX with triple screen is such breathtaking and awsome)

 

[KingFatty]

Make sure you get the active displayport adapter, so it will be around $30. If you see a super cheap adapter, it's probably not an active adapter. Note that there are more expensive active displayport adapters for like $100, but those are meant for dual-link connections and use a separate power source.

The $30 adapter does not need its own power source, it's active display port, and it's single link. Should be fine for resolutions up to around 1920x1200.

 

[corinthos]

you plan to use eyefinity and I want to avoid tearing you may need to use the display port connections or 3 dvi connection rather than mixed...
can you have 3 display port connections for the video card and 3 dvi connections on a monitor and resolve the tearing issue? or do connections on each end have to be the same? Maybe someone else can answer that question?

Make sure you get the active displayport adapter, so it will be around $30. If you see a super cheap adapter, it's probably not an active adapter. Note that there are more expensive active displayport adapters for like $100, but those are meant for dual-link connections and use a separate power source.

The $30 adapter does not need its own power source, it's active display port, and it's single link. Should be fine for resolutions up to around 1920x1200.

 

[KingFatty]

you plan to use eyefinity and I want to avoid tearing you may need to use the display port connections or 3 dvi connection rather than mixed...
can you have 3 display port connections for the video card and 3 dvi connections on a monitor and resolve the tearing issue? or do connections on each end have to be the same? Maybe someone else can answer that question?

"Tearing" is a specific term of art for displays that describes a specific situation, but I'm not sure how you are using that word or if you mean it in the traditional sense. Typically I've heard "tearing" used to describe a situation with only one monitor, but how are you using it here?

What do you mean about using 3 dvi connections rather than mixed? On a typical video card that supports eyefinity, you can't use more than two ports simultaneously if you aren't using a displayport. So, if you want to use 3 displays simultaneously, you need to use displayport. That can be achieved in several ways: 1) get a displayport adapter to use a standard DVI monitor, 2) get a displayport monitor and plug it directly to the displayport of the video card, or 3) get a videocard that has a built-in displayport adapater inside of it so that the displayport info is output to a DVI port on the video card so that the video card provides simultaneous output to three DVI ports (there is a name for this type of card, the flex edition. However, I don't see any value for it, because it will cost more to get a flex edition than it would to just get a typical card and buy a separate displayport adapter to effectively convert the typical card to a wanna-be flex edition).

 

[Ieat]

"Tearing" is a specific term of art for displays that describes a specific situation, but I'm not sure how you are using that word or if you mean it in the traditional sense. Typically I've heard "tearing" used to describe a situation with only one monitor, but how are you using it here?

Eyefinity screen tearing happens when people use mixed outputs like 2 dvi and 1 displayport or displayport with adapter. Not everyone experiences it and that probably has something to do with the monitors being used. Also the tearing became much more common with the 6xxx series cards. For example I didn't get any tearing with a hd 5850 but experienced it when I tried using a 6950 for eyefinity. Here' a link to a youtube video showing it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saG2mr6qM_8

 

[corinthos]

Well, I am looking to get a 5 mini-display port 6770 XFX card and was wondering whether I should get 3 same-model monitors that have DisplayPorts or 3 cheaper ones that only have DVI. If the former, I can use mini-DP to DP cables for each connection; if the latter, I can use mini-DP to DVI cables for each connection.

The savings to go w/ the cheaper all same-model monitors that have only DVI is considerable, so if possible, I would like to go this route. But I'm not sure if it's going to be guaranteed to avoid the tearing problem. It may be best to play it safe and go all DP connections on both ends from gfx card to monitors.

There's a 6770 or 5770 FLEX card for the same price but I hear some people still encounter the tearing issue even with FLEX cards, so I've opted not to go that route.

What is uncear to me is whether the "all same connector" requirement to avoid tearing applies to both the gfx card connectors and the monitor connections, or just the gfx card connector ends or the monitor connector ends?

Anyone know?

"Tearing" is a specific term of art for displays that describes a specific situation, but I'm not sure how you are using that word or if you mean it in the traditional sense. Typically I've heard "tearing" used to describe a situation with only one monitor, but how are you using it here?

What do you mean about using 3 dvi connections rather than mixed? On a typical video card that supports eyefinity, you can't use more than two ports simultaneously if you aren't using a displayport. So, if you want to use 3 displays simultaneously, you need to use displayport. That can be achieved in several ways: 1) get a displayport adapter to use a standard DVI monitor, 2) get a displayport monitor and plug it directly to the displayport of the video card, or 3) get a videocard that has a built-in displayport adapater inside of it so that the displayport info is output to a DVI port on the video card so that the video card provides simultaneous output to three DVI ports (there is a name for this type of card, the flex edition. However, I don't see any value for it, because it will cost more to get a flex edition than it would to just get a typical card and buy a separate displayport adapter to effectively convert the typical card to a wanna-be flex edition).