Displayport - active cables and Eyefinity...?

[vorpel]

Hello. I've got a unique situation with my computer setup. My computers are in a closet and I have the USB, audio, and DVI cables run from the closet to where my desk is - approx 25 feet.

Currently I've got high quality 25 foot DVI-D cables from my 3 computers to my 3 monitors on my desk and do not have any issues.

I purchased an ATI 7970 and would like to get my main computer setup to control all 3 of my monitors on 1 set of inputs, and have my 2nd and 3rd computers connected to the left and right monitors on a second input (so I can do Eyefinity when I want, but at other times be able to just do 3 computers x 3 displays).

In order to do Eyefinity - I need to use the Displayport - correct? If so, the max length for normal displayport cables is 3m. According to the displayport wiki, rev 1.2 of displayport provides support for active cables that can be as long as 33m.

Any idea where I can find active displayport cables around 8-10m long? I've seen tons of adapters, but I'm not sure if that will work (I will need to use 3 connections off the 7970 for the Eyefinity and the card has 2 dp, 1 hdmi, and 1 DVI)

Any help finding longer cables would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

-DC

 

[vorpel]

Okay, maybe I made this too complicated...

Does anyone know where to buy an active display port cable to get beyond the 15' length?

Thanks

 

[Sublym3]

Why can't you use an adapter?

It sounds like getting a DisplayPort to DVI adapter would be the easy thing to do.

Not sure if they need to active adapters with the 7970 though.

 

[vorpel]

Honestly I don't know a lot about the specifics of Eyefinity, so I wasn't sure how that would work.

My hope is to have 3 monitors (27" or 30" with either 2560x1440 or 2560x1600 resultion) with dual connections (combo of any DVI/HDMI/DP). I'd have 3 computers - one hooked up to each monitor. I'd have the primary computer with the 7970 hooked up to the 2nd input for the two other monitors (left and right). This would enable me to do Eyefinity when I wanted, but continue with what I normally do which is run 3 computers on their own displays and use Multiplicity Pro to control all three with 1 mouse/keyboard.

Looks like I'll need to see if Eyefinity works with DP/DVI adapters.

Thanks for the help!

-DC

 

[Neon01]

Hello. I've got a unique situation with my computer setup. My computers are in a closet and I have the USB, audio, and DVI cables run from the closet to where my desk is - approx 25 feet.

Currently I've got high quality 25 foot DVI-D cables from my 3 computers to my 3 monitors on my desk and do not have any issues.

I purchased an ATI 7970 and would like to get my main computer setup to control all 3 of my monitors on 1 set of inputs, and have my 2nd and 3rd computers connected to the left and right monitors on a second input (so I can do Eyefinity when I want, but at other times be able to just do 3 computers x 3 displays).

In order to do Eyefinity - I need to use the Displayport - correct? If so, the max length for normal displayport cables is 3m. According to the displayport wiki, rev 1.2 of displayport provides support for active cables that can be as long as 33m.

Any idea where I can find active displayport cables around 8-10m long? I've seen tons of adapters, but I'm not sure if that will work (I will need to use 3 connections off the 7970 for the Eyefinity and the card has 2 dp, 1 hdmi, and 1 DVI)

Any help finding longer cables would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

-DC

Well yes, you have to use at least 1 displayport, as all eyefinity cards only support up to two legacy connections. And by legacy, they mean anything prior to DP - DVI, HDMI.

As the other poster mentioned, what you can do if you don't want to run really long DP cables is to just buy an active mini DP to DVI or HDMI adapter. Like this:

http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=gqAdT9_sHsGpgwevi7D7Cw&ved=0CE8Q8wIwAg

I have that very one, if I'm not mistaken, and it works great. I have an HDTV (via native HDMI), a Dell U3011 (via native displayport), and three Dell 2007fp hooked up to my Radeon 6950. Two of the 2007fps via native DVI and the last one uses the miniDP to DVI active adapter and DVI cable. It all works great. Now I'm screwed though, since the new 7970 cards don't have 5 ports - they have 4.

Anyway, I digressed a bit there, but yeah, just use the native DVI for one display, use an HDMI to DVI passive adapter for another, and use an active miniDP to DVI adapter for the third display. That way you can just use the three 25' DVI cables you already have.

 

[vorpel]

Neon01,

Thank you so much for spelling that out for me! I'll look up that active adapter.

Now to just figure out what monitors I want to get...!

-DC

 

[chieftex]

Hey guys. I signed up here to help you both out, because I think I can!

-Vorpel

As Neon01 says: " all eyefinity cards only support up to two legacy connections. And by legacy, they mean anything prior to DP - DVI, HDMI"

This is the case as I understand it too. This means if you want to use 3 monitors, one of them has to use the mini displayport on the card, then you can use either the 2 dvi ports, or 1 dvi port and the hdmi port. However, since you have a 7970, you only have 1 dvi port, so the decision is made for you

I have heard good things about the Sapphire cable that he linked to, but I myself use the xfx one (probably the same thing really). You can see it here:

http://www.ebuyer.com/245731-xfx-ac...01-nd1k?utm_source=google&utm_medium=products

Note that we are saying which ports to use on the CARD, not the monitors. For example you could use a dvi port on the card, but using a dvi to hdmi cable (or adapter), you could plug it into the hdmi port on your monitor (or vice versa, if you wish).


-Neon01

Since you rightly said you can only use 2 legacy connections, how on earth are you using 5 monitors?! If I read correctly, you are using 2 monitors on the dvi ports of your card, AND 1 on the native hdmi of the card! This shouldn't work! That's 3 legacy connections!

Anyway, you're not screwed if you get a 7970. Yes, it has 4 ports not 5, but you can use this:

http://www.zotac.com/index.php?prod...rtuemart&Itemid=100168&vmcchk=1&Itemid=100168

This will let you have 2 separate displays from one minidisplayport (max of 1920x1080 on each one though).

 

[Neon01]

-Neon01

Since you rightly said you can only use 2 legacy connections, how on earth are you using 5 monitors?! If I read correctly, you are using 2 monitors on the dvi ports of your card, AND 1 on the native hdmi of the card! This shouldn't work! That's 3 legacy connections!

Anyway, you're not screwed if you get a 7970. Yes, it has 4 ports not 5, but you can use this:

http://www.zotac.com/index.php?prod...rtuemart&Itemid=100168&vmcchk=1&Itemid=100168

This will let you have 2 separate displays from one minidisplayport (max of 1920x1080 on each one though).

Thanks for the help! I should have clarified - I wasn't using all of the displays simultaneously. I used the 30" and the three 20" displays for a desktop mode (the three 20" were a group display for eyefinity), OR I used only a single HDTV when I wanted to use the PC from my laz y boy. So yeah, I had three legacy devices hooked up simultaneously, but no more than two were used at the same time.

Thanks for the advice on that dongle. It does look like it could help me, though is it an active adapter? If not, and it counts against my legacy connections, I'm not sure it'll help me. If so, then I could maybe use that. I was thinking I might be able to do the same thing with the Dual-link DVI output split into two single-link DVI signals, but I can't find such a product.

I'll look into that adapter. Thanks again.

 

[chieftex]

though is it an active adapter?.

Well this is the question that needs answering! Official literature says passive, but passive meaning "doesn't need external power". However, you can use 2 displays from the one port using this, and get them to display separately images, not clones. I highly doubt this counts against your legacy quota, but I haven't tried the adapter, so there's only one way to find out!

 

[Sublym3]

Thanks for the help! I should have clarified - I wasn't using all of the displays simultaneously. I used the 30" and the three 20" displays for a desktop mode (the three 20" were a group display for eyefinity), OR I used only a single HDTV when I wanted to use the PC from my laz y boy. So yeah, I had three legacy devices hooked up simultaneously, but no more than two were used at the same time.

Thanks for the advice on that dongle. It does look like it could help me, though is it an active adapter? If not, and it counts against my legacy connections, I'm not sure it'll help me. If so, then I could maybe use that. I was thinking I might be able to do the same thing with the Dual-link DVI output split into two single-link DVI signals, but I can't find such a product.

I'll look into that adapter. Thanks again.

If you're going for the 7970 in the future why not look at some of the non-reference designs like this Asus or wait and see if any of the rumored 7970 6GB cards, that have 6 mini DP ports on them come out?

 

[vorpel]

In regards to connecting up 3 monitors via Eyefinity on my 7970, would the following work:

1. Center monitor connected via dual-link DVI
2. Left monitor connected from 7970 mini-DP adapter to dual-link DVI cable and then connected to DVI to DP connector to connect with monitor?
3. Same as left monitor - using 2 adapters - one on each end with dual-link DVI cable in the middle.

The reason for this is that I need cable runs of approx 25'.

This will help me to either consider the new Samsung S27A970, or if I need to stick with the Dell u3011 monitors since they each have 2 DVI connections.

Thanks!

 

[vorpel]

Anyone know if this is possible? This is my last hurdle, and then I will either be waiting for the Samsung S27A970 to come out or I'll just buy the Dell u3011's.

Thanks.

In regards to connecting up 3 monitors via Eyefinity on my 7970, would the following work:

1. Center monitor connected via dual-link DVI
2. Left monitor connected from 7970 mini-DP adapter to dual-link DVI cable and then connected to DVI to DP connector to connect with monitor?
3. Same as left monitor - using 2 adapters - one on each end with dual-link DVI cable in the middle.

The reason for this is that I need cable runs of approx 25'.

This will help me to either consider the new Samsung S27A970, or if I need to stick with the Dell u3011 monitors since they each have 2 DVI connections.

Thanks!

 

[Neon01]

In regards to connecting up 3 monitors via Eyefinity on my 7970, would the following work:

1. Center monitor connected via dual-link DVI
2. Left monitor connected from 7970 mini-DP adapter to dual-link DVI cable and then connected to DVI to DP connector to connect with monitor?
3. Same as left monitor - using 2 adapters - one on each end with dual-link DVI cable in the middle.

The reason for this is that I need cable runs of approx 25'.

This will help me to either consider the new Samsung S27A970, or if I need to stick with the Dell u3011 monitors since they each have 2 DVI connections.

Thanks!

I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to do here. If I read it right, you're trying to convert a miniDP output to feed a display (or two) with DP inputs? So MiniDP->DVI->DP? Yes, this should work as long as you have DL-DVI cable. Though the other thing I don't know about is whether your video card is going to give you trouble since you're using DVI cable in there. If the minidp to DVI adapter is an active adapter, this should be no problem, but if it's not, my concern is that you're essentially using three separate DVI cables.

But if you follow these rules of thumb, then all combinations should be possible (no guarantees).

1. Where the monitors are physically located on your desk is unrelated to which port they're plugged into. CCC will help you set up their virtual location with it's setup tool

2. No more then 2 DVI (DL or SL) or HDMI connections can be used on any eyefinity card UNLESS you use active adapters for them. If you use an active mini-dp adapter to plug into the video card, essentially the video card thinks that whatever you have plugged in there is a DP native display.

You could always buy the stuff from amazon and return it if it doesn't work out...

 

[vorpel]

Thank you for the response! I know my setup is a bit unusual.

The main thing I am fighting is that my computers are tucked away in my closet and I need to use 25ft cables in order to hook things up. This is a challenge, but having a completely quiet office is pretty nice.

I think I will buy one of the Dell u3011 monitors and the two adapters and try this out.

Thanks again!

 

[suiken_2mieu]

This will work just fine. Just make sure you get a good adapter. I.e. don't buy tje apple ones
I have 4 of them and they are complete shite.

 

[bjw122]

My problem is very similar to the one reported by "vorpel" so perhaps he can reply and let me know what he did to resolve his issue.

I have two Dell UltraSharp U2412M monitors, which offer a DisplayPort connection. I have a "GIGABYTE GV-R785OC-1GD Radeon HD 7850" video card that has 2 mini DisplayPort outputs. The screen resolution is 1920x1200.

My PC is in a closet that is about 25' from my monitors. I tried creating a 25' cable by buying a 10' cable and a 15' cable from Monoprice.com along with a mini DisplayPort to mini Displayport in-line-coupler that they sell. This works, but the signal is of very bad quality, I get a lot of flickering, and sometime I lose the signal all together.

According to Wikipedia one advantage of DisplayPort is "Link training with adjustable amplitude and preemphasis adapts to differing cable lengths and signal quality. Reduced bandwidth transmission for 15 meter cable (at least 1920×1080p60, 24?bpp)"

So does anyone have an idea for how I can connect my monitors to my PC at 25' away to obtain better signal quality?

Thank you

 

[deep-cover]

I use 3 dp 35 ft cables, 3 Dell U2211H @ 1920x1080 monitors and a 7970. Works fine. I have my PC in another room, tunnel cut through the wal/closet to route my cables. I use 3 USB hubs, with 30 foot cables as well, to plug everything I need in.

 

[bjw122]

I use 3 dp 35 ft cables, 3 Dell U2211H @ 1920x1080 monitors and a 7970. Works fine. I have my PC in another room, tunnel cut through the wal/closet to route my cables. I use 3 USB hubs, with 30 foot cables as well, to plug everything I need in.

Do you remember what brand of DP cable you bought? As I said, mine were from MonoPrice and they are DP 1.1 rated, whereas 1.1a and 1.2 are out now.