AMD's ATI Radeon Eyefinity Performance Review @ [H]

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AMD's ATI Radeon Eyefinity Performance Review - We’ve covered AMD’s ATI Radeon Eyefinity in terms of the experience provided, and now we will evaluate how Eyefinity actually performs across the entire line of ATI Radeon HD 5000 series video cards. From the Radeon HD 5970 down to the Radeon HD 5750, we review the performance of Eyefinity in some new games and some old.

3dfx SLI brought me 1024x768. Then a few cards brought me 1600x1200 and then 2560x1600. Then Eyefinity brought me 5760x1200 and 3600x1920. Am I saying that Eyefinity is the single most important technology since 3dfx’ SLI? Yes I am. I fully believe that we are only at the tip of the ice berg.
 
awesome read. I'm personally waiting for the samsung monitors that you said are coming, and as soon as they appear i'll grab 3 of them :x
 
Just the review I was looking for... :D

edit: great review! Looks like I will end up getting another 5870 down the road fairly soon.. but oh well, I sorta knew I would. If nothing fails on me I should be up on 3x 24" LCDs this weekend. Maybe sooner..

Eyefinity is the real deal and has done more to enhance our gaming experiences at HardOCP than anything else has in a long time.

great line. :)
 
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kyle i love the article where can i get the display port displays and most importantly is the bezel detection stuff in effect yet?
 
I just found 3000 cards in stock at norway's major e-tailer.
All from XFX bought two 5850 straight away :D

Took a lil longer than it did in usa to see them comming. but they're here now( they sold 4000-5000 in a day) and since i havnt seen them at all until now. Finally :D
 
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when I watched the game footage at the end of the video some games just looked odd. Crysis looks okay but the other games had that crazy fish eye look. :eek:
 
Great review!
"Both GPUs will run at 725MHz and the memory will run at 4GHz. The Radeon HD 5870, for comparison, runs at 850MHz GPU and 4.8GHz memory. The reason for these clock speed differences is quite simple. AMD’s design goal with the Radeon HD 5970 was make it perform within a 300 Watt power envelope. In order to do so, these are the clock speeds it must be at stock. Fear not however, AMD thought of us enthusiasts too. Yes, though AMD designed this video card to operate in a 300W power envelope stock, they gave it room to expand to a 400W envelope by manual tweaking! This is where it gets fun."
Let's see those overclocked performance numbers. I believe your final overclocks were 900MHz/5.4GHz in your November review. Let this big dog stretch his legs and run.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/11/18/amd_ati_radeon_hd_5970_video_card_review/1
 
really great article and thanks for the excellent video. Amazing that one card can power three displays in those examples. Certainly is an attracive propsition....
 
Excellent review. My brother and I got to play with some Eyefinity hardware at the event in Dallas a few weeks ago and we were both thoroughly impressed. I've already got my new power supply and case ready. Just waiting for my tax return to drop a 5850 or 5870 into my rig. :) I won't be running 3x monitors more than likely But may just get crazy one day and decide to add an additional 2 :) So it'll be nice to know the expandability will be there.

A friend of mine bought the 5870 a few weekends ago and loves playing World of Warcraft on it. I haven't had a chance to see this in action myself but as an avid WoW player I can't wait ti give it a spin.

Thanks again for the review Kyle :)

Shane
 
I have been playing the shit out of dirt 2 lately. For a while gaming was just meh after bf2 and bf2142 started to die out for me. After getting a 5850 and two more monitors it was a game changing experience. Old games are better and newer games are great. One game that plays very well with eyefinity is Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising. Are you guys like me and have found eyefinity such a game changer that you have switched your focus of super eyecandy to better overall experience? I feel that, yes I might lose some ultra or high settings, but the surround gaming is more of an experience than what we use to think made pc gaming.
 
"Around HardOCP, Eyefinity has been responsible for a few of us falling back in love with PC gaming"

"Many folks that have forsaken PC gaming for console will find Eyefinity luring them back"

Obviously someone (brent) like to play on his Wii and Xbox more than the pc (stated in that condescending teacher to pre-school student voice). Maybe it's because I couldnt sleep this morning, but for a second I thought someone teleported me to GamePro or EGM land.

After being a daily visitior on this site for almost (I believe) eleven years, I don't believe I've seen any such sacrilege until now. It's early and all but fuck... You like playing facebreaker and wii fit? Seriously, I don't know if I can read Brent's reviews and such and take them at face value. Fuck, maybe we could hang out and play Donkey Kong Jungle Beat together.

For fucks sake, just tell me that Kyle and Steve aren't included in those two comments you made...
 
I, myself, wonder why you guys use GTA IV for a benchmark. That steaming pile of crap has to be one of the worst coded ports of all time. Its the only Grand Theft Auto I haven't finished.
 
I believe there's a typo in the second-to-last paragraph:
most hardware and gaming enthusiasts do not want anything less than a Radeon HD 5850 with a resolution as large as 5760x1600.
Should that be 5760x1200? My bad! - Fixed. - Kyle

A good read, and some good benchmark numbers for choosing hardware and games. Has anyone tried this out with TF2 or HL2(+ep1+ep2)?
 
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I believe there's a typo in the second-to-last paragraph: Should that be 5760x1200?

A good read, and some good benchmark numbers for choosing hardware and games. Has anyone tried this out with TF2 or HL2(+ep1+ep2)?

I play both of them all the time with no problem running at the highest level. If others are like me, benchmarks come second to playing games now.
 
I, myself, wonder why you guys use GTA IV for a benchmark. That steaming pile of crap has to be one of the worst coded ports of all time. Its the only Grand Theft Auto I haven't finished.

Yet it is a game, and a popular one at that. It did very well in game sells, and we used it for quite a while here. We also explained in the article why it was used. It is a game that does benefit from Eyefinity quite well, it improves the visual experience for sure. It is also an older game, and proves that Eyefinity benefits older games, as well as newer games. It was also a CPU dependent game, at low resolutions, and with Eyefinity now we can make it much more GPU dependent. It also shows us that at those high resolutions it is demanding a very powerful video card. It shows us that at those resolutions really only the 5970 is needed to make it enjoyable, no lesser cards will do at Eyefinity resolutions.
 
I would really like to see how the 5750 stacks up with the 20-22" monitor range. I know that is more in line with the budget that card is aimed at. $450 for three 22" screens and 5040x1050 seems like something that card might be able to handle a little better.
 
Great write up, it’s good to see some numbers when/if I plan to use eyefinity. So many LCDs at home but none are the same model/size.

Kyle any idea how Crossfire works with eyefinity, for example two 5770 in CF?
 
so, i'm confused as how 1 video card can power 16 LCD displays, is there a fan-out connector or do you really need like 4x video cards w/SLI, i think that's only 8 displays if each card has 2 outputs... but if each card has 3 outputs that's still 12...

am i missing somn?
 
when I watched the game footage at the end of the video some games just looked odd. Crysis looks okay but the other games had that crazy fish eye look. :eek:

yeah, I have noticed that also.. it's like the side screens have some stretch on them to make them look more "peripheral".. mostly towards the end points of the panel.. I think if you sit there and stare at it you'll see it but once you're flying along in the game you won't notice it at all.. the intention here is to keep your eyes on the main center screen most of the time, but while being aware of the side screens but not directly staring at them for more than a second if something catches your attention.. for the total immersion effect.

I have to say, I agree with the sentiments of the conclusion in that, for me personally, this is one of the most exciting things to come along in PC gaming for a long time.. I hope it does bring people back to PC gaming.. I don't want it to keep fading out.
 
Brent/Kyle,

I've been following the eyefinity technology coverage at the [H] and am considering diving in. I currently have a 26" lcd tv as my monitor and run it at 1360x768. My questions are:

1. Will eyefinity run on three of these guys at this rez?

2. Would you recommend such a setup?

3. Would I probably be okay with a 5850 for this setup?

Being I already have an investment in this monitor, I would prefer not to purchase three new monitors. Thanks guys for your time
 
I would really like to see how the 5750 stacks up with the 20-22" monitor range. I know that is more in line with the budget that card is aimed at. $450 for three 22" screens and 5040x1050 seems like something that card might be able to handle a little better.

Just check out the 2560x1600 numbers from previous/other reviews - 5750/5770 can't handle that at all well and you're talking about 50% more pixels for 5040x1050. The HD5850 performance at this resolution might be interesting, since it suffered quite a lot compared to the 5870 at the resolution [H] tested. My personal opinion is that 3 22" screens and a HD5870 would be a great combination.
 
Very nice article guys. I have to say this convinced me not to go Eyefinity just yet. I had planned on picking up three new monitors this month, but its pretty obvious my 5850 just won't cut it in everything and I can't afford three new monitors plus a 5970. I'll wait until DP monitors get cheaper and Crossfire support is worked out so I can just pop in a second 5850. Thank you for taking the time to do all of this though, it saved me a lot of money and still kept me very, very interested in the technology itself. Any chance you guys can toss up some screens of Dirt 2, GTAIV, Warhead, and FSX at those resolutions?
 
Great review, I assumed Eyefinity was mostly gimmicks and PR marketing fluff until I read your review.

The only stumbling block for me personally is having to cough up the dough for another two decent LCD monitors (and finding something as good as a Samsung 2233RZ at higher than 1680x1050 resolution). Finding the real estate on my desk will be a whole new challenge to deal with as well.
 
Nice read, much appreciated.

I know it is alot of work, but will you have time to include numbers with these cards overclocked?
 
Anyone know the latest word on which adapter we're supposed use with Eyefinity? Is this Accell adapter working out for everyone?

Best,

Liquid Cool
 
Great Review. Looks like Eyefinity needs a lot of horsepower to run games maxed out. That was my main concern with the technology when it was first revealed last year.


You wouldn't happen to have and screen shots of all the games tested would you?
I'm interested in GTAIV, never seen it at that high of resolution before. I am sure it makes all the aliasing less noticeable.
 
Have you guys considered writing a section on the screen tilt problem? Maybe with more coverage, developers would be more motivated to support it in their games?
 
Great Review. Looks like Eyefinity needs a lot of horsepower to run games maxed out. That was my main concern with the technology when it was first revealed last year.

I think eyecandy has now come second to the gaming experience. I went from a 4870x2 xfired with a 4870 to a single 5850 and have not looked back. Same experience with Kyle... He went from two 4870x2's xfired to a single 5870. Detail is one thing, the experience is another.
 
ok lemme aks again >P

is there a fan-out cable for a single video card to drive 16 LCDs or somn or does 1 require multiple video cards w/2 or 3 outputs each card to make those things work for eyefinity?

i read that the this is basically "unlimited" displays, as much as you are capable of stuffing and stitching all these displays together right >P

so... this means NASA doesn't need custom solutions anymore? ;).

oh and would have to see somn like 16x front projectors stitched together so it's basically "IMAX" and Avatar 3-D IMAX will finally be realized @home ;).

benefit of FP is no bezels ;)
 
Very well done.
I've been using EyeFinity since about release time.
I was fortunate to buy two XFX 5870s for just this purpose. My monitor setup is exactly the same as you use in your review.

I haven't had a bunch of time to devote to multiple games, for comparison's sake; but so far I really like EyeFinity.

I was hoping the new 9.12 Hotfix would be a huge leap, and allow an even better experience.....alas there are some glitches.....I DID see some improvements in SUBJECTIVE gameplay in Borderlands and L4D2 using CrossfireX......my main gripe is that MSIs Afterburner just wont work with the hotfix so I don't have a good way to monitor temp,and GPU useage, or overclock a little bit to see how that affects the gameplay......plus I don't have the time to tinker with RivaTuner......but if AB doesn't work I doubt RT will either.

Anyway............EyeFinity is the schizzle, and I think it will only improve as the CrossfireX capability is leveraged.:D
 
Thanks for the review! Would a 5870 be bottlenecked with 5760x1200 Eyefinity on a stock clocked QX9650 with 4GB DDR2 of ram? I don't won't to rip out my 3 280s in my main rig because that's still a fast GPU subsystem and it works well and a single 5870 is a step back in overall single monitor performance.
 
Thanks for the review! Would a 5870 be bottlenecked with 5760x1200 Eyefinity on a stock clocked QX9650 with 4GB DDR2 of ram? I don't won't to rip out my 3 280s in my main rig because that's still a fast GPU subsystem and it works well and a single 5870 is a step back in overall single monitor performance.

You would do fine with that cpu. I ran my eyefinity setup on an x3 720 be oc'd to 3.6 before I switched to my i7 920 oc'd 3.8 in which both have ran it just fine. Once you get to 5760x1200, it is more gpu than anything. Yes you will take a step back in terms of performance and eyecandy, but what you gain is a better experience. One thing people really miss out on is they eyefinity is more than just gaming... Multi-tasking is so much better with three screens. Running itunes, firefox, and video editing software each with their own dedicated screen at one time is just too awesome.
 
You would do fine with that cpu. I ran my eyefinity setup on an x3 720 be oc'd to 3.6 before I switched to my i7 920 oc'd 3.8 in which both have ran it just fine. Once you get to 5760x1200, it is more gpu than anything. Yes you will take a step back in terms of performance and eyecandy, but what you gain is a better experience. One thing people really miss out on is they eyefinity is more than just gaming... Multi-tasking is so much better with three screens. Running itunes, firefox, and video editing software each with their own dedicated screen at one time is just too awesome.

Thanks, I figured that at 5760x1200 with a decent CPU most just about everything must but GPU bound with just a single 5870. You don't have to sell me on multiple monitors, I run two now, tried three with my current setup but it was a little quirky with my 3 280s.
 
I too am very interested in 3x 22" lcds at 5040x1050. I am quite surprised and very disappointed that this resolution was not even mentioned. Are we just supposed to guess that running 24% fewer pixels results in 24% faster framerates?
 
ok lemme aks again >P

is there a fan-out cable for a single video card to drive 16 LCDs or somn or does 1 require multiple video cards w/2 or 3 outputs each card to make those things work for eyefinity?

i read that the this is basically "unlimited" displays, as much as you are capable of stuffing and stitching all these displays together right >P

so... this means NASA doesn't need custom solutions anymore? ;).

oh and would have to see somn like 16x front projectors stitched together so it's basically "IMAX" and Avatar 3-D IMAX will finally be realized @home ;).

benefit of FP is no bezels ;)

Where did you get 16 displays from? Eyefinity currently works with *3* displays, with *6* being planed (special 6 port card will be coming).
 
To me.. It seems like hardocp is in ATI's pocket. Eyefinity is not impressive, not interesting, and not the future of electronic gaming, but the author sure says it is. I don't think the site is totally corrupt, but the eyefinity fanboism is pretty meh. I'd like to see more focus on other areas of technology.
 
To me.. It seems like hardocp is in ATI's pocket. Eyefinity is not impressive, not interesting, and not the future of electronic gaming, but the author sure says it is. I don't think the site is totally corrupt, but the eyefinity fanboism is pretty meh. I'd like to see more focus on other areas of technology.

Nice to hear opinions stated as fact. Perhaps you should start your own site or blog.
 
To me.. It seems like hardocp is in ATI's pocket. Eyefinity is not impressive, not interesting, and not the future of electronic gaming, but the author sure says it is. I don't think the site is totally corrupt, but the eyefinity fanboism is pretty meh. I'd like to see more focus on other areas of technology.

Nice troll post. I am not even going to ask if you have tried it as I already know the answer. I have yet to see someone go eyefinity than go back to a single monitor because they were "unimpressed."
 
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