Eyefinity.. Please Help!!!!

[CJBronco II]

Preferrably for Christmas I was hoping to have 3x23inch IPS setup for Eyefinity but that dream is now dead, however I got one of these for Christmas from an in-law

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...9&sku=320-9331


Atleast it has a square stand, sharp corners, small bezels and its LED, I'm getting 2 more of these and wanted to know what you all think about these monitors for a 3 monitor setup/eyefinity? Will they suffice?? Please advise.

 

[El Barto]

Your link is jacked up. Get a real link and we can provide some help

 

[CJBronco II]

Your link is jacked up. Get a real link and we can provide some help

Here, try this one -

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...dellSearch&baynote_bnrank=0&baynote_irrank=13


just in case it doesn't work either, its the Dell IN2020M LED Monitor... Thanks for your help.

 

[Ducman69]

Nope, none of those monitors have the still quite rare displayport input.

Here, read this thread:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1567742

I was mind raped by Eyefinity dreams, which have crushed my very soul leaving me but a shell of the man I once was. I highly recommend either getting one large center monitor with displayport connectivity and two smaller ones in portrait mode, or giving up on this now as if you're anything like me it'll be one disappointment after another once the reality of HUDs on extreme corners, massive FoV issues, adapter shenanigans, bezel compensation failing, resolutions off, and more start to make themselves known. If I can save just one soul, it will all have been worthwhile. Please, learn from my sacrifice and save yourself while there is still time.

 

[CJBronco II]

Damn dude...... hmmm.

I know they don't have the display port, but thats what the adapter is for.. I will want to get this.....

 

[Ducman69]

The adapters have high failure rates and other niggles though. People seem to have a lot better experience when using a real displayport monitor rather than using a "cheap" adapter.

Are you familiar with FoV issues w/ games? They were really only designed for resolutions up to a certain width. When you go extra-wide, they tend to look severely distorted on the outside monitors.

Your HUDs that you often have to at minimum look at and other times actually click on, will usually be stretched to the far extremes of your outside monitors. This becomes very tedious. Likewise if your game is designed for mouselook by dragging to the edges of the screen, you end up having to pickup and drag your mouse five times just to get from one left corner to the right corner.

These are the compatible games, but even with most of them there are issues, hence the gold or silver status: http://support.amd.com/us/eyefinity/Pages/eyefinity-software.aspx

With most others, you'll be spending a lot of time w/ FoV calculators, HUD hacks, and messing w/ INIs and what not trying to get things working. Its not plug and play.

With Adobe Premiere and Photoshop, GPU acceleration is disabled w/ eyefinity desktop enabled, and I get off flickering now and then w/ flash videos, but that could be a crossfire driver issue. Many also have issues switching between extended desktop profile and eyefinity if using an adapter.

So thats why I would recommend if going this route to get one big center monitor (say a 30") with native displayport functionality, and then get two small side monitors in portrait, so you get the wrap around without extreme stretch, and watching movies and the like and non-compatible games isn't much of a loss, and HUD issues would be minimized.

Or just get a single large display and call it a day.

Eyefinity is like that hot bimbo that looks great from a distance, but up close you realize has big scars from a bad boob job, an alcohol addiction, and severe daddy issues that just kill the fun for all but those that don't mind investing the time in therapy trying to iron out the issues that crop up and are hopeful that things will get better in time (pure denial IMO).

 

[CJBronco II]

The adapters have high failure rates and other niggles though. People seem to have a lot better experience when using a real displayport monitor rather than using a "cheap" adapter.

Are you familiar with FoV issues w/ games? They were really only designed for resolutions up to a certain width. When you go extra-wide, they tend to look severely distorted on the outside monitors.

Your HUDs that you often have to at minimum look at and other times actually click on, will usually be stretched to the far extremes of your outside monitors. This becomes very tedious. Likewise if your game is designed for mouselook by dragging to the edges of the screen, you end up having to pickup and drag your mouse five times just to get from one left corner to the right corner.

These are the compatible games, but even with most of them there are issues, hence the gold or silver status: http://support.amd.com/us/eyefinity/Pages/eyefinity-software.aspx

With most others, you'll be spending a lot of time w/ FoV calculators, HUD hacks, and messing w/ INIs and what not trying to get things working. Its not plug and play.

With Adobe Premiere and Photoshop, GPU acceleration is disabled w/ eyefinity desktop enabled, and I get off flickering now and then w/ flash videos, but that could be a crossfire driver issue. Many also have issues switching between extended desktop profile and eyefinity if using an adapter.

So thats why I would recommend if going this route to get one big center monitor (say a 30") with native displayport functionality, and then get two small side monitors in portrait, so you get the wrap around without extreme stretch, and watching movies and the like and non-compatible games isn't much of a loss, and HUD issues would be minimized.

Or just get a single large display and call it a day.

I see. Thanks for the heads up.. The only problem is my wife would kill me if I spent money on a monitor with the display port. The Dell U2410 is my wet dream monitor,

its an IPS Panel with a display port, but its also 599.99. I'm on a budget here so I cannot blow my wallet as I would like. I really wanted the U2311 but that did not work out so my wife told me if I could make the IN2020M my MIL got me work, she said she's ok if I got 2 more so thats pretty much going to be it.. either 3xIN2020M or 1xIN2020M and nothing else...

 

[Ducman69]

I'd go to a friend's house w/ a working eyefinity setup first and try it on for size in your favorite games. If you can find one, and thats the problem, its such a niche which is why little time is invested into it with developers.

With the ultra-high resolutions, you will also put significant strain on most GPUs, so consider that added expense. With my setup, 5760x1200 was clearly pretty hardcore for it even w/ a pretty fast system and two 6850s in crossfire.

For people on a budget, I would recommend just watching slickdeals for a nice HDTV with low input lag and just hook it up w/ an HDMI cable to your computer. You can wallmount say a 1080P 37" LED-LCD and have a nice clean desktop, still be very immersive w/ such a big screen, put settings maxed out even w/o the latest and greatest ueber GPU, and deal w/ a lot less issues since this is very mainstream. Its crazy how far prices have fallen for those.

 

[CJBronco II]

I'd go to a friend's house w/ a working eyefinity setup first and try it on for size in your favorite games. If you can find one, and thats the problem, its such a niche which is why little time is invested into it with developers.

With the ultra-high resolutions, you will also put significant strain on most GPUs, so consider that added expense. With my setup, 5760x1200 was clearly pretty hardcore for it even w/ a pretty fast system and two 6850s in crossfire.

For people on a budget, I would recommend just watching slickdeals for a nice HDTV with low input lag and just hook it up w/ an HDMI cable to your computer. You can wallmount say a 1080P 37" LED-LCD and have a nice clean desktop, still be very immersive w/ such a big screen, put settings maxed out even w/o the latest and greatest ueber GPU, and deal w/ a lot less issues since this is very mainstream. Its crazy how far prices have fallen for those.

I will keep that in mind, but I seriously doubt I can get a FP that low. 2 more IN2020Ms will cost me below 200.00 and my wife is ok with that. another problem is all of m co-workers who seriously game are Nvidia fanboys so I can even ask them.

IF I get the other 2, would buying another EAH5870 v2 help with eyefinity?

I currently have 1xAsus EAH5870.

 

[notarat]

Preferrably for Christmas I was hoping to have 3x23inch IPS setup for Eyefinity but that dream is now dead, however I got one of these for Christmas from an in-law

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...9&sku=320-9331


Atleast it has a square stand, sharp corners, small bezels and its LED, I'm getting 2 more of these and wanted to know what you all think about these monitors for a 3 monitor setup/eyefinity? Will they suffice?? Please advise.

Ducman is just discouraged because he went cheap on his setup, then tried to cobble together a portrait mode setup only to have it all come crashing down, literally, breaking his monitor...

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1574959

Speaking as someone who has been using Eyefinity for a long time, it's easy to set up and well worth it.

If you're going to stay in Landscape Mode, get 2 more of those monitors like you wanted and pick up a well-reviewed active Display Port to DVI adapter and you'll be fine.

 

[Nickbaldwin86]

Don't worry Eyefinity sucks anyways

 

[Ducman69]

Speaking as someone who has been using Eyefinity for a long time, it's easy to set up and well worth it.

If you're going to stay in Landscape Mode, get 2 more of those monitors like you wanted and pick up a well-reviewed active Display Port to DVI adapter and you'll be fine.

Three 24" 1920x1200 monitors w/ a 3.6ghz quadcore and crossfire ATI 6850s isn't that "cheap" unless you're very elitist, and yes that thread was already linked as it is funny (and sad).

So when you play games, your side monitors are not ridiculously stretched in landscape eyefinity? What are your top five favorite games?

When you play games its plug and play and you aren't calculating FoVs and researching adjusting INI's and HUD fixes and picking up and dragging your mouse over and over to pan the camera in some games?

You're using an adapter and have no problems or have ever heard of anyone experiencing adapter related issues?

When you're maximizing a window its not stretching across three monitors, and when you switch profiles to extended desktop the order and resolutions are always correct?

Here's a screen of CoD for example:
http://img707.imageshack.us/f/cod4mw21.jpg/

Now it actually doesn't look as bad on that screenshot as it does in real life, when its stretched onto an angled monitor on your left and right and everyone is sideways and fat and the truly usable screen is your center one. That is why I recommend portrait mode, as the wider you go, the more extreme the... well... fishbowl suckage.

 

[Ducman69]

Yeah, that is true, a nice LED-LCD 37" on sale will still run about $500.

Here's a 42" (I wouldn't go bigger than that since it will appear very large up close) for $600 on sale right now: http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/447...rp-aquos-lc42le620ut-1080p-120hz-led-lcd-hdtv edit: and another 42" non-LED for $500: http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/44811/amazon.com-panasonic-tcl42u25-42-1080p-120-hz-lcd-hdtv

That resolution most likely won't require a GPU upgrade in the near future to run maxed out. Eyefinity most likely will unless you're already running a nice strong setup. So I'd factor that in, and when its "obsolete" you can easily repurpose that and wallmount it in the bedroom, guest room, or garage or sell it. The applications and market for a pair of dinky monitors is pretty low though. Gotta sell her on "total cost of ownership" and "value" heheh! Anyways, best luck either way.

 

[R-Type]

I just set mine up this week and so far am definitely sold. Using 3 16:10 displays in portrait results in a 38'' wide 16:9 display with a resolution substantially higher than a 30'' monitor. The best part? These monitors can be had used for less than $100 a pop and have quality IPS panels.


This weekend I will be removing the plastic bezels and painting the underlying metal black. This should allow me to significantly reduce the bezel size. I should note that the bezel's don't bother me at all in game, but they're a bit annoying in normal desktop use when you have bezel correction enabled because things can hide behind them.

 

[devilmafia11]

the first link is not work , modify it

 

[CJBronco II]

Ducman is just discouraged because he went cheap on his setup, then tried to cobble together a portrait mode setup only to have it all come crashing down, literally, breaking his monitor...

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1574959

Speaking as someone who has been using Eyefinity for a long time, it's easy to set up and well worth it.

If you're going to stay in Landscape Mode, get 2 more of those monitors like you wanted and pick up a well-reviewed active Display Port to DVI adapter and you'll be fine.

LOL!! Damn!! oh my!!


Well, I ordered the other 2 monitors, they are on sale for 109.99 a piece and I chatted with a dell rep and she took off a few more bucks so we shall see.

I saw a site with a list of games thats Eyefinity ready, and its not a bad list at all. However I came across this site www.Widescreenfixer.org and there is a program that will fix the FOV issues with MWII and Black OPs. I also ordered a PowerColor Active display adapter from newegg, crossing my fingers.

 

[CJBronco II]

Yeah, that is true, a nice LED-LCD 37" on sale will still run about $500.

Here's a 42" (I wouldn't go bigger than that since it will appear very large up close) for $600 on sale right now: http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/447...rp-aquos-lc42le620ut-1080p-120hz-led-lcd-hdtv

That resolution most likely won't require a GPU upgrade in the near future to run maxed out. Eyefinity most likely will unless you're already running a nice strong setup. So I'd factor that in, and when its "obsolete" you can easily repurpose that and wallmount it in the bedroom, guest room, or garage or sell it. The applications and market for a pair of dinky monitors is pretty low though. Gotta sell her on "total cost of ownership" and "value" heheh! Anyways, best luck either way.

Well in her mind, its the now results, what I am paying right now and right now she's ok with close to less than 200.00

I would love to go the TV route, then mount it later but she's not buying it at all.....unfortunately..

 

[CJBronco II]

I just set mine up this week and so far am definitely sold. Using 3 16:10 displays in portrait results in a 38'' wide 16:9 display with a resolution substantially higher than a 30'' monitor. The best part? These monitors can be had used for less than $100 a pop and have quality IPS panels.


This weekend I will be removing the plastic bezels and painting the underlying metal black. This should allow me to significantly reduce the bezel size. I should note that the bezel's don't bother me at all in game, but they're a bit annoying in normal desktop use when you have bezel correction enabled because things can hide behind them.

Damn.. that looks pretty good... are those IPS Panel monitors?

And to all/anyone, will a 2nd EAH5870 help more with Eyefinity?

 

[R-Type]

Damn.. that looks pretty good... are those IPS Panel monitors?

Yeah, I bought my first 2005FPW during a dell sale back in 2005 for about $400 (they were $850 new). I got the next one used on the H forum for about $200 in 2007 and just picked up the last one for $80 on craigslist. Back at the time of launch, these were one of the only IPS panels with low enough response time to effectively eliminate any ghosting so they still hold up surprisingly well. Aside from them not supporting HDCP, I think they're one of the best options for cheap eyefinity and IIRC the 2007WFP's use the same panel but add HDCP support.

As a bonus, the stands that Dell includes with IPS panels support rotation so you don't need any extra mounting hardware.

 

[CJBronco II]

Yeah, I bought my first 2005FPW during a dell sale back in 2005 for about $400 (they were $850 new). I got the next one used on the H forum for about $200 in 2007 and just picked up the last one for $80 on craigslist. Back at the time of launch, these were one of the only IPS panels with low enough response time to effectively eliminate any ghosting so they still hold up surprisingly well. Aside from them not supporting HDCP, I think they're one of the best options for cheap eyefinity and IIRC the 2007WFP's use the same panel but add HDCP support.

As a bonus, the stands that Dell includes with IPS panels support rotation so you don't need any extra mounting hardware.

And do you know whats sad?? I have a 2007WFP. its a 20.1 ince IPS and I didn't know it was one until about 5 months ago,.. I cannot find them anywhere and the response time on it is 16ms.

 

[Ducman69]

I saw a site with a list of games thats Eyefinity ready, and its not a bad list at all. However I came across this site www.Widescreenfixer.org and there is a program that will fix the FOV issues with MWII and Black OPs. I also ordered a PowerColor Active display adapter from newegg, crossing my fingers.

Which list? I have most games you can imagine on this machine, I can tell you which ones are "compatible" and which ones are actually playable. There were a surprising amount of games that were supposedly eyefinity ready, but all that really meant was that you don't have to go into the INI to get the resolution to work, it doesn't mean the game plays well on it. Civ5, one of my favs is supposedly eyefinity ready, but before the patch the leaders heads were cutoff in diplomacy, and post patch the FoV is fubar and HUDs render it unplayable, and its not adjustable. This is a better link for trying to get your FoV fixed, but again you'll see the issues when you try to start converting all your games: http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/fovcalc.php

The portrait setup there is the way to go, as you avoid the massive fisheye and other issues from three landscape widescreen displays.

The downside of course is that without a wider center monitor, you really can't watch videos and movies on it well, as you have two bezels in the way and if you restrict it to the center monitor, most footage is 16:9 and would look tiny.

 

[notarat]

Three 24" 1920x1200 monitors w/ a 3.6ghz quadcore and crossfire ATI 6850s isn't that "cheap" unless you're very elitist, and yes that thread was already linked as it is funny (and sad).

So when you play games, your side monitors are not ridiculously stretched in landscape eyefinity? What are your top five favorite games?

When you play games its plug and play and you aren't calculating FoVs and researching adjusting INI's and HUD fixes and picking up and dragging your mouse over and over to pan the camera in some games?

You're using an adapter and have no problems or have ever heard of anyone experiencing adapter related issues?

When you're maximizing a window its not stretching across three monitors, and when you switch profiles to extended desktop the order and resolutions are always correct?

Here's a screen of CoD for example:
http://img707.imageshack.us/f/cod4mw21.jpg/

Now it actually doesn't look as bad on that screenshot as it does in real life, when its stretched onto an angled monitor on your left and right and everyone is sideways and fat and the truly usable screen is your center one. That is why I recommend portrait mode, as the wider you go, the more extreme the... well... fishbowl suckage.

Ducky...don't be putting words in my mouth, k?

I told him to get 3 of the monitors he was looking at...not three U2410s like mine...He's looking at 20" wide screens, which are FAR less expensive and not "elitest" in any sense of the word. For shame, dude...

If you're going to take out your frustration on someone, go look in the mirror and blame that guy for the "ghetto portrait mode" fiasco, not me.

I've never, EVER used my Eyefinity setup in Landscape Mode, nor have I ever recommended it.

Using Portrait Mode Eyefinity keeps the aspect ratio far closer so the picture is great.*
(*unless you're the one running portrait mode with rubber bands, twine, and chewing gum holding your monitors together)

(here's a screenshot from my ragon Age game. Does it look like walleye vision? Nope.)
Note: This is a full size image so no complaining
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/3148/knifeears.jpg

As far as setup goes, I've had to modify a couple of my bethesda games...and that takes all of about 3 minutes if you can type reasonably well. longer if you bust your monitor, lol.

As far as setting up my eyefinity goes...Here's the steps I took.

I removed my 4 Western Digital Caviar Black SATA 3 Drives (Matrix RAID that I moved to my other system).
I installed my two SATA6 Caviar Black 1TB HDDs
I installed my Western Digital 2TB SATA3 Drive
I installed my HVR1600
I removed my 5870.
I installed my 6970.
I installed my second 6970.
I connected both Xfire bridges
I reloaded windows 7
I used the driver package I posted about here in at least 3 different posts.
I applied my OS patches
I then connected the 2 monitors on DVI #2 and DP
CCC said "WTF Cupcake?! You wanna run these bitches in Eyefinity?
I said "cool."
CCC said pick the monitor with the blue colored screen.
I did
CCC said pick the other monitor with the blue colored screen.
I did.
CCC asked if I want Bezel compensation.
I said Sure let's roll like that.
CCC said "Ya know...haters just gonna hate. be prepared..."
I said "no worries...I didn't cheap out and use Dollar General brand Velcro to hold my shit together..."

Oh...and for CJBronco...

Here's the background I'm currently using on mine.
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/1050/echo.jpg

 

[R-Type]

Ducky...don't be putting words in my mouth, k?

I told him to get 3 of the monitors he was looking at...not three U2410s like mine...He's looking at 20" wide screens, which are FAR less expensive and not "elitest" in any sense of the word. For shame, dude...

If you're going to take out your frustration on someone, go look in the mirror and blame that guy for the "ghetto portrait mode" fiasco, not me.

I've never, EVER used my Eyefinity setup in Landscape Mode, nor have I ever recommended it.

Using Portrait Mode Eyefinity keeps the aspect ratio far closer so the picture is great.*
(*unless you're the one running portrait mode with rubber bands, twine, and chewing gum holding your monitors together)

(here's a screenshot from my ragon Age game. Does it look like walleye vision? Nope.)
Note: This is a full size image so no complaining
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/3148/knifeears.jpg

As far as setup goes, I've had to modify a couple of my bethesda games...and that takes all of about 3 minutes if you can type reasonably well. longer if you bust your monitor, lol.

As far as setting up my eyefinity goes...Here's the steps I took.

I removed my 4 Western Digital Caviar Black SATA 3 Drives (Matrix RAID that I moved to my other system).
I installed my two SATA6 Caviar Black 1TB HDDs
I installed my Western Digital 2TB SATA3 Drive
I installed my HVR1600
I removed my 5870.
I installed my 6970.
I installed my second 6970.
I connected both Xfire bridges
I reloaded windows 7
I used the driver package I posted about here in at least 3 different posts.
I applied my OS patches
I then connected the 2 monitors on DVI #2 and DP
CCC said "WTF Cupcake?! You wanna run these bitches in Eyefinity?
I said "cool."
CCC said pick the monitor with the blue colored screen.
I did
CCC said pick the other monitor with the blue colored screen.
I did.
CCC asked if I want Bezel compensation.
I said Sure let's roll like that.
CCC said "Ya know...haters just gonna hate. be prepared..."
I said "no worries...I didn't cheap out and use Dollar General brand Velcro to hold my shit together..."

Oh...and for CJBronco...

Here's the background I'm currently using on mine.
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/1050/echo.jpg

Bwahaha, love it.

PS: Did you take that background pic with a webcam for the infinity mirror effect or did you use a series of background shots?

 

[Ducman69]

Ducky...don't be putting words in my mouth, k?

Words comin out o yo mouf:

Ducman is just discouraged because he went cheap on his setup.

I said my setup isn't "cheap" unless you're elitist. Which part of that was confusing? And "discouraged" is not the right word, its called "frustrated by various limitations of eyefinity technology and next to no adoption or development to date".

I've never, EVER used my Eyefinity setup in Landscape Mode, nor have I ever recommended it.

If you're going to take out your frustration on someone, go look in the mirror and blame that guy for the "ghetto portrait mode" fiasco, not me.

My concern was just that you posted that if he just got an active adapter and two more monitors in landscape mode that it would work "fine" (as in decent results). I disagree.

My slip was a comical goof, born of frustrations dealing with the crap that is Eyefinity in landscape mode using crossfire with an active adapter, which is why I shared it. That was just on me, irrelevant to the discussion, but quite funny I thought. The specifics were that I was simply resting one of my Soyos up against the wall for a quick test to see how it would look and if it was just as miserable as landscape before investing time in fabricating a bracket (more unanticipated time investment to have a non-crap result) when it slipped, and it has nothing to do with the limitations of Eyefinity brought up. I already have a 30" U3011 on the way, and may put some cheapo portrait LCDs on the side at some point, but just wanted to warn anyone against trying to use adapters and expecting most games to work w/o considerable effort to be playable in landscape eyefinity, as many people don't realize how unplayable and outright HORRIBLE such wide resolutions look in most games.

Your screenshot doesn't look retarded since you're in portrait mode, as I suggested. But, again, you still have the other issues to take into consideration. As long as they are well known before taking the plunge, I feel I've done my duty and spared someone else from wasting money.

 

[CJBronco II]

Which list? I have most games you can imagine on this machine, I can tell you which ones are "compatible" and which ones are actually playable. There were a surprising amount of games that were supposedly eyefinity ready, but all that really meant was that you don't have to go into the INI to get the resolution to work, it doesn't mean the game plays well on it. Civ5, one of my favs is supposedly eyefinity ready, but before the patch the leaders heads were cutoff in diplomacy, and post patch the FoV is fubar and HUDs render it unplayable, and its not adjustable. This is a better link for trying to get your FoV fixed, but again you'll see the issues when you try to start converting all your games: http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/fovcalc.php

The portrait setup there is the way to go, as you avoid the massive fisheye and other issues from three landscape widescreen displays.

The downside of course is that without a wider center monitor, you really can't watch videos and movies on it well, as you have two bezels in the way and if you restrict it to the center monitor, most footage is 16:9 and would look tiny.

Ducman,

I wish I could go portrait, but I cannot, the monitors I ordered and got for Christmas doesn't allow portrait.. landscape only. That list I was referring to was the list off of AMDs sites of the games either silver or gold for eyefinity.. I will find the link later.

 

[CJBronco II]

Ducky...don't be putting words in my mouth, k?

I told him to get 3 of the monitors he was looking at...not three U2410s like mine...He's looking at 20" wide screens, which are FAR less expensive and not "elitest" in any sense of the word. For shame, dude...

If you're going to take out your frustration on someone, go look in the mirror and blame that guy for the "ghetto portrait mode" fiasco, not me.

I've never, EVER used my Eyefinity setup in Landscape Mode, nor have I ever recommended it.

Using Portrait Mode Eyefinity keeps the aspect ratio far closer so the picture is great.*
(*unless you're the one running portrait mode with rubber bands, twine, and chewing gum holding your monitors together)

(here's a screenshot from my ragon Age game. Does it look like walleye vision? Nope.)
Note: This is a full size image so no complaining
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/3148/knifeears.jpg

As far as setup goes, I've had to modify a couple of my bethesda games...and that takes all of about 3 minutes if you can type reasonably well. longer if you bust your monitor, lol.

As far as setting up my eyefinity goes...Here's the steps I took.

I removed my 4 Western Digital Caviar Black SATA 3 Drives (Matrix RAID that I moved to my other system).
I installed my two SATA6 Caviar Black 1TB HDDs
I installed my Western Digital 2TB SATA3 Drive
I installed my HVR1600
I removed my 5870.
I installed my 6970.
I installed my second 6970.
I connected both Xfire bridges
I reloaded windows 7
I used the driver package I posted about here in at least 3 different posts.
I applied my OS patches
I then connected the 2 monitors on DVI #2 and DP
CCC said "WTF Cupcake?! You wanna run these bitches in Eyefinity?
I said "cool."
CCC said pick the monitor with the blue colored screen.
I did
CCC said pick the other monitor with the blue colored screen.
I did.
CCC asked if I want Bezel compensation.
I said Sure let's roll like that.
CCC said "Ya know...haters just gonna hate. be prepared..."
I said "no worries...I didn't cheap out and use Dollar General brand Velcro to hold my shit together..."

Oh...and for CJBronco...

Here's the background I'm currently using on mine.
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/1050/echo.jpg

Thats an awesome setup.. Nice monitors too. Sad that I could not find 2 more 2007WPS, I currently have 1 right now..

 

[CJBronco II]

Words comin out o yo mouf:

I said my setup isn't "cheap" unless you're elitist. Which part of that was confusing? And "discouraged" is not the right word, its called "frustrated by various limitations of eyefinity technology and next to no adoption or development to date".

My concern was just that you posted that if he just got an active adapter and two more monitors in landscape mode that it would work "fine" (as in decent results). I disagree.

My slip was a comical goof, born of frustrations dealing with the crap that is Eyefinity in landscape mode using crossfire with an active adapter, which is why I shared it. That was just on me, irrelevant to the discussion, but quite funny I thought. The specifics were that I was simply resting one of my Soyos up against the wall for a quick test to see how it would look and if it was just as miserable as landscape before investing time in fabricating a bracket (more unanticipated time investment to have a non-crap result) when it slipped, and it has nothing to do with the limitations of Eyefinity brought up. I already have a 30" U3011 on the way, and may put some cheapo portrait LCDs on the side at some point, but just wanted to warn anyone against trying to use adapters and expecting most games to work w/o considerable effort to be playable in landscape eyefinity, as many people don't realize how unplayable and outright HORRIBLE such wide resolutions look in most games.

Your screenshot doesn't look retarded since you're in portrait mode, as I suggested. But, again, you still have the other issues to take into consideration. As long as they are well known before taking the plunge, I feel I've done my duty and spared someone else from wasting money.

Duc,

thx for all of your suggestions. I appreciate the help and the attempt to help save money and frustration. Sorry to hear how your setup went.. I think the bottomline is, I'm not as lucky as you guys are.. I just have to take what I can get right now and ATM, its 3xIN2020M.. trust me, I wish things were different but thats life!

 

[Pringals]

Anyone know if/when ATI will start supporting PLP modes? (Portrait/Landscape/Portrait) I was excited about eyefinity until i realized I couldn't set it up like that and needed to buy a $100 adaptor to retrofit my 3 non display port screens. I guess one could always do the work-around with window mode stretched to all screens. I think ATI should get on the PLP possibilities ASAP. So many sweet setups with a large center/landscape screen sided by nice portrait screens.

 

[R-Type]

I bought my adapter for $24, you only need the $100 adapters for resolutions over 1920*1200.

And I swear I have seen setups with a Dell 30'' and two 2007FP's in portrait for winglets running eyefinity. This is just about the only setup that would work since you have to match vertical resolution.

 

[CJBronco II]

Ok to all, last question concerning Eyefinity,

I currently have a Asus EAH5870 v2 GPU, would buying another one of these for Xfire help with Eyefinity? as far as FPS and overall smoothness?

 

[Ducman69]

And I swear I have seen setups with a Dell 30'' and two 2007FP's in portrait for winglets running eyefinity. This is just about the only setup that would work since you have to match vertical resolution.

Same here, I had seen all the vids on youtube. I didn't realize they were all using SoftTH (which I had already tried before giving up and picking up some eyefinity capable cards) or hacks.

Beyond just watching vids/movies on a larger center landscape screen so they aren't so tiny, there are some games that simply won't work with eyefinity, and if you have three thin portrait screens, you can't just play on a center one like that.

I currently have a Asus EAH5870 v2 GPU, would buying another one of these for Xfire help with Eyefinity? as far as FPS and overall smoothness?

Something else I just found in a thread discussing that limitation, which may have been one of my problems, is that many games actually perform better in eyefinity if you disable crossfire. *facepalm*

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=311908

Most extreme example is Hawx running at a mere 22FPS with stuttering with crossfire eyefinity, but 201FPS w/ the second card disabled.

 

[notarat]

Bwahaha, love it.

PS: Did you take that background pic with a webcam for the infinity mirror effect or did you use a series of background shots?

Cannon Powershot SX110

Take a pic of monitors. Make it background. Take a pic of the monitors showing the pic. Make that the background. Repeat. Repeat Repeat

 

[notarat]

Ducman,

I wish I could go portrait, but I cannot, the monitors I ordered and got for Christmas doesn't allow portrait.. landscape only. That list I was referring to was the list off of AMDs sites of the games either silver or gold for eyefinity.. I will find the link later.

CJ...you "should" be able to go portrait mode with those monitors if the stand is detachable.

You can buy a 2 monitor stand that will pivot and a 1 monitor stand that pivots.

I've seen a lot of people with those.

They're not all that expensive and you do not need the top of the line stuff unless you are constantly moving your monitors around.

 

[CJBronco II]

Something else I just found in a thread discussing that limitation, which may have been one of my problems, is that many games actually perform better in eyefinity if you disable crossfire. *facepalm*

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=311908

Most extreme example is Hawx running at a mere 22FPS with stuttering with crossfire eyefinity, but 201FPS w/ the second card disabled.

DOH!! so in otherwords either don't worry about Xfiring the 5870 OR get the 6850 or 70 for the 2GB of video RAM and try and sell the 5870???? lol

Ducman, thx for the link. I will read it in a few.

 

[CJBronco II]

CJ...you "should" be able to go portrait mode with those monitors if the stand is detachable.

You can buy a 2 monitor stand that will pivot and a 1 monitor stand that pivots.

I've seen a lot of people with those.

They're not all that expensive and you do not need the top of the line stuff unless you are constantly moving your monitors around.

Notorat,

They do detach from the stand.. thats how they came in the box so I will look into it.

@anybody, pardon my ignorance but what is SoftTH?