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Eyefinity / 2 cards setup

T

ThaSpacePope

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 7, 2011
Messages
124
I have 2 6970s and i'm about to buy monitors for eyefinity, but im not sure what I need to set this up right. I cannot seem to find the literature online for it

I want to have 5 monitors available at all time from the 2 cards. Is that possible?

Monitor 1: 1920x1080 (eyefinity monitor 1)
Monitor 2: 1920x1080 (eyefinity monitor 2)
Monitor 3: 1920x1080 (eyefinity monitor 3)
Monitor 4: 1920x1080 via HDMI (46" tv)
Monitor 5: 1280x1024 via DVI or vga (19")

Now i'm told that I WILL need an active display port to DVI adapter to get the 3rd output on one card, as a passive one will NOT work. Is that true?

Also, I need to know what kind of monitor connections or adapters I'll need. Both of my 6970s are eyefinity 6 cards, with 2 DVI, 2 DP, 1 HDMI outs.
 
You can run 5 monitors in eyefinity, but not with crossfire. If you wish to use crossfire in games, you will have to use the three monitors connected to the first card. You can also not feed DVI-VGA, DVI and HDMI at once from the same card - you are limited to two RAMDACS per card, i.e. two non-displayport connections per card. If you wish to run all displays off the master card in crossfire, maybe check out displayport multi-tap technology. At 1920x1080 per display you are not limited by bandwidth constraints that prevent use of this idea, but I'm afraid I have very little experience with it.
 
If you buy DisplayPort monitors, you will not need any adapters.

If you buy non-DisplayPort monitors, you will need 1 single-link DisplayPort-to-DVI adapter.

You can have 5 monitors available at all times unless you enable CrossFire. Until the MST 1.2 hubs come out, you are limited to 4 monitors active when using CrossFire because all the video ports on the second card are disabled in CrossFire mode and only 2 of the 3 non-DisplayPorts can be active at once (as stated above, there are only 2 RAMDACs). You can get 5 monitors running in CrossFire if you own a Sapphire FLEX 6970 (Sapphire installed the circuitry to enable 2 DVI and 1 HDMI simultaneously as well as 2 DisplayPorts). You can get 6 monitors if you get an ASUS EAH6970 DCII (4 DisplayPorts, 2 DVI ports). You don't need *BOTH* cards to be a FLEX or DCII, just the primary card. I have an EAH6950 DCII CrossFire'd with a XFX HD6950 running 6 monitors so I know this setup should work.
 
rtangwai said:
If you buy DisplayPort monitors, you will not need any adapters.

If you buy non-DisplayPort monitors, you will need 1 single-link DisplayPort-to-DVI adapter.

You can have 5 monitors available at all times unless you enable CrossFire. Until the MST 1.2 hubs come out, you are limited to 4 monitors active when using CrossFire because all the video ports on the second card are disabled in CrossFire mode and only 2 of the 3 non-DisplayPorts can be active at once (as stated above, there are only 2 RAMDACs). You can get 5 monitors running in CrossFire if you own a Sapphire FLEX 6970 (Sapphire installed the circuitry to enable 2 DVI and 1 HDMI simultaneously as well as 2 DisplayPorts). You can get 6 monitors if you get an ASUS EAH6970 DCII (4 DisplayPorts, 2 DVI ports). You don't need *BOTH* cards to be a FLEX or DCII, just the primary card. I have an EAH6950 DCII CrossFire'd with a XFX HD6950 running 6 monitors so I know this setup should work.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I Have 2 MSI 6950 reference cards unlocked using 6970 bios. They have 2 DVI, 2 DP and 1 HDMI.

The reason I ask is because at the moment I have 3 monitors, all capable of 1080p. I cannot seem to get a 3rd monitor attached to one card using a PASSIVE DP to dvi connector. Naturally I can't get all 3 going with 2 DVI or HDMI connections. Windows sees the 3rd card but wont load it. Does anyone know what why this is? I can't find literature on this anywhere...

Even if i'm limited to 4 monitors with this card and I have to enable/disable crossfire before going into games, thats ok. However, I WILL need to be able to use an HDMI port on my 4th monitor. Is that possible?
 
ThaSpacePope said:
Thanks for the info. I Have 2 MSI 6950 reference cards unlocked using 6970 bios. They have 2 DVI, 2 DP and 1 HDMI.

The reason I ask is because at the moment I have 3 monitors, all capable of 1080p. I cannot seem to get a 3rd monitor attached to one card using a PASSIVE DP to dvi connector. Naturally I can't get all 3 going with 2 DVI or HDMI connections. Windows sees the 3rd card but wont load it. Does anyone know what why this is? I can't find literature on this anywhere...

Even if i'm limited to 4 monitors with this card and I have to enable/disable crossfire before going into games, thats ok. However, I WILL need to be able to use an HDMI port on my 4th monitor. Is that possible?
Click to expand...

You need an active single-link DisplayPort-to-DVI adapter (about $30CDN) - passive won't do as it needs a RAMDAC. Passive only works if you are using less than 2 RAMDACs on the non-DisplayPort connectors.

It is possible to have HDMI - it will disable one of your DVI ports.

Careful about enabling/disabling CrossFire - I've tested that and found it very finicky if you don't reboot before playing games. That's why I use the DCII, I never have to worry about enabling CrossFire as it is on all the time.

I also have a 46" TV near my computer, but it's not hooked up because I use a 30" 2560x1600 monitor as my primary and I prefer pixels over acreage. I plug in the TV to a laptop w/HDMI so that I can use it as a Boxee/BeyondTV client:

5941109179_b8d70a0d80.jpg
 
rtangwai said:
You need an active single-link DisplayPort-to-DVI adapter (about $30CDN) - passive won't do as it needs a RAMDAC. Passive only works if you are using less than 2 RAMDACs on the non-DisplayPort connectors.

It is possible to have HDMI - it will disable one of your DVI ports.

Careful about enabling/disabling CrossFire - I've tested that and found it very finicky if you don't reboot before playing games. That's why I use the DCII, I never have to worry about enabling CrossFire as it is on all the time.

I also have a 46" TV near my computer, but it's not hooked up because I use a 30" 2560x1600 monitor as my primary and I prefer pixels over acreage. I plug in the TV to a laptop w/HDMI so that I can use it as a Boxee/BeyondTV client:

5941109179_b8d70a0d80.jpg
Click to expand...

OK so im still a tad confused. If I get 3 new monitors what connections do they need? What adaptors would I need?

If 4 is the max from 1 card, from what I understand, i'd need the following (please tell me if i'm wrong)

Monitor 1 (eyefinity 1): ACTIVE DP-DVI adapter OR a DP connection on monitor
Monitor 2 (eyefinity 2): ACTIVE DP-DVI adapter OR a DP connection on monitor
Monitor 3 (eyefinity 3): DVI connection
Monitor 4 (46" tv): HDMI port

If that is wrong please let me know. I would rather buy monitors with DP than an active display port adapters. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814999030 Approximately $27 US from newegg, right?

If I used the above configuration, I couldn't just leave it in crossfire mode all the time, either?
 
Last edited:
ThaSpacePope said:
OK so im still a tad confused. If I get 3 new monitors what connections do they need? What adaptors would I need?

If 4 is the max from 1 card, from what I understand, i'd need the following (please tell me if i'm wrong)

Monitor 1 (eyefinity 1): ACTIVE DP-DVI adapter OR a DP connection on monitor
Monitor 2 (eyefinity 2): ACTIVE DP-DVI adapter OR a DP connection on monitor
Monitor 3 (eyefinity 3): DVI connection
Monitor 4 (46" tv): HDMI port

If that is wrong please let me know. I would rather buy monitors with DP than an active display port adapters. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814999030 Approximately $27 US from newegg, right?

If I used the above configuration, I couldn't just leave it in crossfire mode all the time, either?
Click to expand...

Your setup is correct. You definitely want to buy monitors with DP - ideally, you'd get monitors that allow DP daisy-chaining (plug one monitor into another), which if I understand the technology correctly would eliminate the need for MST 1.2 hubs. That means if you bought 3 DP monitors with daisy-chaining you would only need 1 DP connector to run 3 monitors, and in theory still allow your DVI and HDMI connections so you can have your 5 monitors while in CrossFire (none of my monitors are DP which is why I need adapters and a special card).
 
rtangwai said:
Your setup is correct. You definitely want to buy monitors with DP - ideally, you'd get monitors that allow DP daisy-chaining (plug one monitor into another), which if I understand the technology correctly would eliminate the need for MST 1.2 hubs. That means if you bought 3 DP monitors with daisy-chaining you would only need 1 DP connector to run 3 monitors, and in theory still allow your DVI and HDMI connections so you can have your 5 monitors while in CrossFire (none of my monitors are DP which is why I need adapters and a special card).
Click to expand...

Interesting. I'll have to look into that. I wonder if anyone else who is reading this can comment who may have this setup?

But from what I understand, if I buy DP capable monitors, i could DEFINITELY run 4 monitors from one card.. and possibly (with daisy chaining) run 5 monitors from one card? In either instance, I could keep crossfire enabled at all times so I wouldn't have to do the reboot thing?
 
ThaSpacePope said:
Interesting. I'll have to look into that. I wonder if anyone else who is reading this can comment who may have this setup?

But from what I understand, if I buy DP capable monitors, i could DEFINITELY run 4 monitors from one card.. and possibly (with daisy chaining) run 5 monitors from one card? In either instance, I could keep crossfire enabled at all times so I wouldn't have to do the reboot thing?
Click to expand...

Yes, with DP monitors (or 2 active adapters) you could plug in 4 monitors in CrossFire, 5 monitors if 3 of the monitors support DP daisy-chaining, no rebooting required.
 
Keep in mind that one of the dvi connections share the connection with the HDMI so if you get this set up and can't get one of the monitors working, try switching the dvi port your monitor is connecting to on the card. I forget which one is shared with the HDMI port I think it's the single link but I could be wrong.
 
rtangwai said:
Yes, with DP monitors (or 2 active adapters) you could plug in 4 monitors in CrossFire, 5 monitors if 3 of the monitors support DP daisy-chaining, no rebooting required.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for all your help. I'll post here again with what monitors I get and pics with the final setup!
 
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