6950 Eyefinity Screen Tearing

JohnleMVP

Supreme [H]ardness
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So I have 3 x Dell U2311H's connected to an 6950 in eyefinity. I am currently using 2 DVI + 1 DP to connect the monitors. I noticed what looks like screen tearing or a slow refresh line when gaming. From googling the issue I found that the issue is caused by using different connection types DVI and DP in combination. As long as I make one of the DVI monitors the primary the problem will only occur on the DP monitor. So for now thats what I did and I made it one of my side monitors so the issue is less noticeable. However is there a way to connect all my monitors by DP? The 6950's have 2 x DP 1.2, 2 x DVI, and 1 HDMI (Disabled if both DVI in use, I believe). DP 1.2 supports multimonitor/daisy chaining, but is there a cable that can be split out or does this require monitors that have a DP in and out? Also buying another 6950 isn't an option.
 
You have exactly two options and two options only to get rid of the screen tear. Get rid of the current card and buy a "Eyefinity 6" edition when they are released so you can connect via all the same connection types or wait for the MST Dispayport hubs.

I am surprised AMD decided to go with something like a worthless HDMI port versus a third Displayport knowing full well this screen tear Eyefinity problem would be there permanently.
 
Yeah its a frustrating situation. This is a major fail in my book. The MST hubs don't sound like they will be cheap (est $150) or out soon, another card would be another $280, and eyefinity 6 would probably be a 6970 and not cheap either. If I go dual cards I'd probably prefer SLI. It will be a couple months though before I do a complete PC upgrade.

Thanks for the help.
 
At least when the hub comes out there will be some type of option... I agree though this was a really bad move from ATI.
 
Yeah its a frustrating situation. This is a major fail in my book. The MST hubs don't sound like they will be cheap (est $150) or out soon, another card would be another $280, and eyefinity 6 would probably be a 6970 and not cheap either. If I go dual cards I'd probably prefer SLI. It will be a couple months though before I do a complete PC upgrade.

Thanks for the help.

Be aware if you go dual cards and enable crossfire it will disable the ports on the 2nd card anyway.
 
At this resolution you will be at if you want to go second card, I'd recommend 2x 580's or 570's if you want to save a bit of money. The 1.5GB VRAM isn't as much of a hindrance on 3x 23/24" screens as it is on 3x 30". Surround also works perfect with 3x DVI-D with no tearing.
 
Thats good to hear about NV surround.

Kenji, thanks for telling me that about cf.
 
I plan on having the OP's exact configuration (same monitors, video cards, connection), will I have the same problem? What if I were to use a displayport->dvi cable?
 
Damnit - I feel bad having 2x 6950's on the way now. I want to cancel and order 570's :(
 
So I have 3 x Dell U2311H's connected to an 6950 in eyefinity. I am currently using 2 DVI + 1 DP to connect the monitors. I noticed what looks like screen tearing or a slow refresh line when gaming. From googling the issue I found that the issue is caused by using different connection types DVI and DP in combination. As long as I make one of the DVI monitors the primary the problem will only occur on the DP monitor. So for now thats what I did and I made it one of my side monitors so the issue is less noticeable. However is there a way to connect all my monitors by DP? The 6950's have 2 x DP 1.2, 2 x DVI, and 1 HDMI (Disabled if both DVI in use, I believe). DP 1.2 supports multimonitor/daisy chaining, but is there a cable that can be split out or does this require monitors that have a DP in and out? Also buying another 6950 isn't an option.
ble

I don't notice any issues with DP to DVI monitor. If there is any screen tearing go on it's noticeable. Perhaps you should try an adapter. The only thing I notice is a draw delay when moving a window that is split across the DP to DVI monitor and a DVI monitor. I onl notice it when dragging windows.
 
Wait, so what is the solution if you have 3x Dell U2311H's and 2x 6950's?

1x DP <-> DP, and 2x DP <-> DVI?
 
doesn't matter, I would go 2xdvi 1 display port, assuming you are going portrait, from what other users have experienced, tearing is a lot more noticeable in portrait vs landscape.

I haven't really experienced it yet
 
Wait, so what is the solution if you have 3x Dell U2311H's and 2x 6950's?

1x DP <-> DP, and 2x DP <-> DVI?


Be aware if you go dual cards and enable crossfire it will disable the ports on the 2nd card anyway.

Its the same if you have 2x 6950's or just 1.

You are screwed until a MST hub comes out. DP to DVI adapter might work, but someone reported that it didn't for them.
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showpost.php?p=1336460111&postcount=11
 
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doesn't matter, I would go 2xdvi 1 display port, assuming you are going portrait, from what other users have experienced, tearing is a lot more noticeable in portrait vs landscape.

I haven't really experienced it yet
You haven't experienced any tearing? You're on 30" monitors too!
 
Awesome. Hope we can get more people figuring out a solution to this since the 6950 cards seem to be pretty popular and with the recent Dell u2311h sale.

I'll likely be connecting one monitor up via DP (both in/output), and the other two via DVI (both in/output) for now I suppose
 
Its the same if you have 2x 6950's or just 1.

You are screwed until a MST hub comes out. DP to DVI adapter might work, but someone reported that it didn't for them.
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showpost.php?p=1336460111&postcount=11

DP to DVI-D adapters do not fix the issue! The signal comes problematic from the card and the adapters cannot fix the tearing issue. All monitors have to be connected through the same display connection type which the 69xx series cannot do until the 6990 or "Eyefinity 6" cards are released.

The only saving grace for current 69xx series Eyefinity users is to buy a MST hub when they are available between now and 2018 for over the cost of half your graphics card. :D

If AMD wasn't retards and went with 3x DP instead of the worthless HDMI port we wouldn't be having these problems.
 
Vega would you suggest I cancel my 2x 6950 shipment now and order 2x GTX 570's?

Are you adverse to purchasing a MST hub for around ~$150 when they come out? Can you live with the screen tear? Some people are more sensitive to it than others.
 
I don't even know when a MST hub is coming out so that pisses me off already.

I notice things visually very quickly. I'm probably going to notice the screen tear... I'm worried that the memory on the 2x GTX 570 won't handle 3x 24 1200p and 1x 2560x1600... compared to 2gb on the 2x 6950's
 
The memory on the 570s is definitely not sufficient. Can't recommend 480s due to heat and noise, and 580s are too expensive. Use 2xDP 1xDVI or 2xDVI 1xDP and have one of the 2 common screens as your center monitor.
 
Yeah I got 1x DP->DVI and 2x DVI planning to hookup...

Well I guess I'll let everyone know around Monday how it goes. Still waiting for shipment.
 
when I ran a similar setup w/ 2xDVI and 1 Displayport, I didn't really experience too much tearing unless I had the AA cranked all the way up.

I hope to get my 3rd display on Monday or Tuesday, so I will see if I receive any tearing running 2xDP and 1xDVI
 
when I ran a similar setup w/ 2xDVI and 1 Displayport, I didn't really experience too much tearing unless I had the AA cranked all the way up.

I hope to get my 3rd display on Monday or Tuesday, so I will see if I receive any tearing running 2xDP and 1xDVI
Good to know... thanks!
 
and it was in NFS Hot Pursuit, love that game! but it would be when there was a 6 car chase, explosions etc...
 
the only game I played a lot w/ your similar setup was SC2 and didn't notice any @ all, and CSS which is such an old game that I had everything cranked up w/ almost 200fps =P
 
The only saving grace for current 69xx series Eyefinity users is to buy a MST hub when they are available between now and 2018 for over the cost of half your graphics card. :D

If AMD wasn't retards and went with 3x DP instead of the worthless HDMI port we wouldn't be having these problems.

LOL, thats the sad truth, at an estimated $150 the MST hub is too expensive. Makes more sense to get 2 x 570, but then theres the ram limitation. :(

AMD was retarded, but HDMI isn't worthless. The HDMI port and one of the DVI's are the same device so its not really stealing anything from the card. HDMI makes it easy to run a/v to a receiver or TV and is a good selling point. Its great for thoses who want a loss less digital 5.1+ connection. They should have made the card 3 x HDMI since its easily converted to DVI with a simple $2 passive adapter and one DP 1.2 since the MST hub will allow the DP 1.2 to break out into multiple connections.
 
LOL, thats the sad truth, at an estimated $150 the MST hub is too expensive. Makes more sense to get 2 x 570, but then theres the ram limitation. :(

AMD was retarded, but HDMI isn't worthless. The HDMI port and one of the DVI's are the same device so its not really stealing anything from the card. HDMI makes it easy to run a/v to a receiver or TV and is a good selling point. Its great for thoses who want a loss less digital 5.1+ connection. They should have made the card 3 x HDMI since its easily converted to DVI with a simple $2 passive adapter and one DP 1.2 since the MST hub will allow the DP 1.2 to break out into multiple connections.
Yeah, I hope I don't regret the 2x 6950's. I'm so tempted to cancel the shipment and get 570's but VRAM limitation will probably be just as much as a bitch as tearing.
 
Yeah, I hope I don't regret the 2x 6950's. I'm so tempted to cancel the shipment and get 570's but VRAM limitation will probably be just as much as a bitch as tearing.

I'm sure we will be comparing notes next week, great timing as I start vacation next weekend :D
 
I'm sure we will be comparing notes next week, great timing as I start vacation next weekend :D
Yeah, definitely... next weekend I should have all my parts in so I'll be up and running. I'll let you know what I find. You're only running one 6970 though right? I think there's more tearing with CF...
 
when I ran a similar setup w/ 2xDVI and 1 Displayport, I didn't really experience too much tearing unless I had the AA cranked all the way up.

I hope to get my 3rd display on Monday or Tuesday, so I will see if I receive any tearing running 2xDP and 1xDVI

When you say that you ran it with 2xDVI, did you run DVI (Dell) to DVI (6950) or DP (Dell) to DVI (6950)?

I'm planning on:

DP (Dell #1) to DP (6950)
DVI (Dell#2) to DVI (6950)
DVI (Dell#3) to DVI (6950)
 
When you say that you ran it with 2xDVI, did you run DVI (Dell) to DVI (6950) or DP (Dell) to DVI (6950)?

I'm planning on:

DP (Dell #1) to DP (6950)
DVI (Dell#2) to DVI (6950)
DVI (Dell#3) to DVI (6950)

That was w. My 3x2007fp 2 on dvi and 1 w. Active adapter
 
Yeah, definitely... next weekend I should have all my parts in so I'll be up and running. I'll let you know what I find. You're only running one 6970 though right? I think there's more tearing with CF...

Crossfire has no effect on Eyefinity screen tear.
 
They should have made the card 3 x HDMI since its easily converted to DVI with a simple $2 passive adapter and one DP 1.2 since the MST hub will allow the DP 1.2 to break out into multiple connections.

No card has more than 2 RAMDACs, so you have to use DP for any displays over that. 3x HDMI would be useless because you could never use more than 2 of them. Honestly ATI never should have put in 2x DVI ports because HDMI can be converted so easily to DVI. ATI should have done 1x DP, 2x mDP, 1x DVI, 1x HDMI and bundled a $.50 HDMI -> DVI adapter. Live and learn?
 
No card has more than 2 RAMDACs, so you have to use DP for any displays over that. 3x HDMI would be useless because you could never use more than 2 of them. Honestly ATI never should have put in 2x DVI ports because HDMI can be converted so easily to DVI. ATI should have done 1x DP, 2x mDP, 1x DVI, 1x HDMI and bundled a $.50 HDMI -> DVI adapter. Live and learn?

Yup, AMD really dropped the ball on their current 69xx output choices. Provide a single link DVI port and an HDMI port in addition to a DVI-D port and forgo 3x DP? Stupid.
 
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