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I figured we needed one, and I don't see one floating around on the boards, so here we are.
What is Eyefinity?
See for yourself:
[FSX on 24 screens; pic from http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,...ls-Update-Pictures-of-the-graphics-card/News/]
Some video from AMD's blog post: Debut and some dramatism "I urge you to unleash the excitement!" - Haha
Good articles:Review at [H], o'course
Anandtech
Elitebastards
HotHardware
Google it, there are good ones on most every site really, but the pics are what's worth looking to see.
How does it work?
Easy Mode: Hemlock's new architecture lets it happen on the hardware side; AMD's drivers talk DirectX into thinking all those screens, and outputs, are just 1 "Single Large Surface." It's seamless at the API level.
Hard Mode:Great explanation at EliteBastards look at the first diagram
Look down to Official Word in the [H] review
Background info from Anandtech
Basically, AMD built a new output structure to order for their OEM customers around the new Displayport stuff, and then built Eyefinity on top of the opportunity the new architecture presented. From the diagram at EliteBastards and the Anandtech info, you can see that what's driving Eyefinity is the presence of multiple Displayport channels and multiple display engines to go along with them. Displayport is more compact and less power-hungry than DVI, so you can have more outputs, and more economically too, which is why you'll be able to get 6 outs (albeit Displayports) and drive 6 displays on one card this gen, and it's also more flexible and feature-rich (it's got audio too, in spec, and stuff), as a sidenote.
How is this different from extended desktop or something like that?
Eyefinity makes 1 big screen out of several. Windows essentially sees the setup as one unified display; on the desktop, you're desktop spans the entire setup; in games, as long as the game takes its resolution settings from Windows, they'll treat the Eyefinity the same way, as one huge screen. Other widescreen gaming solutions do similar things, but they don't have the hardware level support (up to 6 display engines, 6 outs) that lets Eyefinity do >3 displays and have the simplicity of implementation (if the game/app you want to use in Eyefinity can handle custom resolutions and aspect ratios, fovs, etc without a problem, it's good in Eyefinity, no extra/specific support required.
Note:If you don't want your desktop to be one continuous mass though, there are options in the drivers.
Alright, enough chatter, what do I need to get one of these setups up and running in multi-screen glory?! (the italics are what's important)
Start off with 5800 series card. Support for the 4800s is being pondered but it's looking gloomy there.
Eyefinity begins at 3 displays; and, all 3 have to run at the same res and have the same aspect ratio and orientation. You can pair a couple 24" 1920x1200s with a 30" running at the same res, but you can't pair two 20" 4:3s in portrait with a 24" widescreen in landscape.
Another hurdle: at least one monitor has to be plugged into Displayport. Why? [Warning: theories, not facts ahead] Look at the red in this diagram:
[Pic from Elitebastards article]
The current cards have 2 display engines and 4 out channels pushing 2 dual link DVIs, an HDMI, and a DP. Fact is, the DP engine-channel can pass on HDMI or DVI signals (it's in the spec!), but HDMI and DVI together doesn't jive. Looking at the top four red channels you can see that it takes four channels to run dual link dvi (since DL-DVI is power-hungry), and since the displayport channels have DVI pass-thru, one can still output to the displayport on the card, but running two dual-link DVIs and an HDMI together isn't possible, because those signals don't mix. It might theoretically be possible to run two single link DVIs with the HDMI, but that's probably hampered by driver limitations or something else in the architecture, or maybe it's something with dual-link DVI.
If none of your monitors have displayport, you need a Displayport to DVI or Displayport to HDMI active (and possibly powered) adapter. The DP out always puts out DP signals (following from the above), so you can't just have a passive adapter, one that's pure wiring, you need an adapter with some actual circuitry in it and a microchip to translate the DP signals to whatever output you actually want. These are active adapters. Now, if you have a giganto 30" running 2560x1600 (you lucky dog), that's a dual-link DVI resolution, and since dual-link sucks power, in addition to translating the signals the adapter will have to contribute some extra juice. These powered adapters usually have a USB dongle to grab that extra juice attached to a box about the size of an iphone.
That's all you need.
Note:Getting a particular game (some are touchy) to look pleasing to the eye in a wonky ultrawide resolution requires some searching for a fix for a resolution/fov hack, etc. Widescreengamingforum.com is good for the fixes usually.
Alright, that's all for now folks, if you have some questions to suggest and/or answers to contribute, go ahead and post. We'll see if this gets to be worth a sticky.
What is Eyefinity?
See for yourself:
[FSX on 24 screens; pic from http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,...ls-Update-Pictures-of-the-graphics-card/News/]
Some video from AMD's blog post: Debut and some dramatism "I urge you to unleash the excitement!" - Haha
Good articles:Review at [H], o'course
Anandtech
Elitebastards
HotHardware
Google it, there are good ones on most every site really, but the pics are what's worth looking to see.
How does it work?
Easy Mode: Hemlock's new architecture lets it happen on the hardware side; AMD's drivers talk DirectX into thinking all those screens, and outputs, are just 1 "Single Large Surface." It's seamless at the API level.
Hard Mode:Great explanation at EliteBastards look at the first diagram
Look down to Official Word in the [H] review
Background info from Anandtech
Basically, AMD built a new output structure to order for their OEM customers around the new Displayport stuff, and then built Eyefinity on top of the opportunity the new architecture presented. From the diagram at EliteBastards and the Anandtech info, you can see that what's driving Eyefinity is the presence of multiple Displayport channels and multiple display engines to go along with them. Displayport is more compact and less power-hungry than DVI, so you can have more outputs, and more economically too, which is why you'll be able to get 6 outs (albeit Displayports) and drive 6 displays on one card this gen, and it's also more flexible and feature-rich (it's got audio too, in spec, and stuff), as a sidenote.
How is this different from extended desktop or something like that?
Eyefinity makes 1 big screen out of several. Windows essentially sees the setup as one unified display; on the desktop, you're desktop spans the entire setup; in games, as long as the game takes its resolution settings from Windows, they'll treat the Eyefinity the same way, as one huge screen. Other widescreen gaming solutions do similar things, but they don't have the hardware level support (up to 6 display engines, 6 outs) that lets Eyefinity do >3 displays and have the simplicity of implementation (if the game/app you want to use in Eyefinity can handle custom resolutions and aspect ratios, fovs, etc without a problem, it's good in Eyefinity, no extra/specific support required.
Note:If you don't want your desktop to be one continuous mass though, there are options in the drivers.
Alright, enough chatter, what do I need to get one of these setups up and running in multi-screen glory?! (the italics are what's important)
Start off with 5800 series card. Support for the 4800s is being pondered but it's looking gloomy there.
Eyefinity begins at 3 displays; and, all 3 have to run at the same res and have the same aspect ratio and orientation. You can pair a couple 24" 1920x1200s with a 30" running at the same res, but you can't pair two 20" 4:3s in portrait with a 24" widescreen in landscape.
Another hurdle: at least one monitor has to be plugged into Displayport. Why? [Warning: theories, not facts ahead] Look at the red in this diagram:
[Pic from Elitebastards article]
The current cards have 2 display engines and 4 out channels pushing 2 dual link DVIs, an HDMI, and a DP. Fact is, the DP engine-channel can pass on HDMI or DVI signals (it's in the spec!), but HDMI and DVI together doesn't jive. Looking at the top four red channels you can see that it takes four channels to run dual link dvi (since DL-DVI is power-hungry), and since the displayport channels have DVI pass-thru, one can still output to the displayport on the card, but running two dual-link DVIs and an HDMI together isn't possible, because those signals don't mix. It might theoretically be possible to run two single link DVIs with the HDMI, but that's probably hampered by driver limitations or something else in the architecture, or maybe it's something with dual-link DVI.
If none of your monitors have displayport, you need a Displayport to DVI or Displayport to HDMI active (and possibly powered) adapter. The DP out always puts out DP signals (following from the above), so you can't just have a passive adapter, one that's pure wiring, you need an adapter with some actual circuitry in it and a microchip to translate the DP signals to whatever output you actually want. These are active adapters. Now, if you have a giganto 30" running 2560x1600 (you lucky dog), that's a dual-link DVI resolution, and since dual-link sucks power, in addition to translating the signals the adapter will have to contribute some extra juice. These powered adapters usually have a USB dongle to grab that extra juice attached to a box about the size of an iphone.
That's all you need.
Note:Getting a particular game (some are touchy) to look pleasing to the eye in a wonky ultrawide resolution requires some searching for a fix for a resolution/fov hack, etc. Widescreengamingforum.com is good for the fixes usually.
Alright, that's all for now folks
, if you have some questions to suggest and/or answers to contribute, go ahead and post. We'll see if this gets to be worth a sticky.