New Radeons -- Triple monitor, no eyefinity possible without DP?

A

akwok

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 19, 2005
Messages
158
Hello,

I'm currently using a triple monitor setup with two older nVidia cards, all DVI. I'm looking to consolidate to one card, and I stumbled upon one of the newer ATi cards with 2x DVI, 1x DP, and an HDMI port. If I don't bother with Eyefinity, can I just use the 2x DVI and an HDMI => DVI cable for a triple monitor setup? Or is DP required regardless for the third monitor?

Thanks!
 
DP is required regardless for a 3rd monitor, at least from a single card.
 
Using the HDMI port makes one of the DVI ports unusable.
 
The first DVI is shared with the HDMI,

1 x DVI / "shared with" HDMI
1 x DVI
1 x Display Port

For eyefinity you can use a active DP to DVI adaptor linked here--->
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814999025

Must be a active adaptor, "adaptor plugs into usb" like the one i linked.

They haven't done crossfire connections for multiple displays, all monitors need to be connected to 1 video card. I believe this is a bandwidth issue, the same pipe work that is limiting quad gpu in eyefinity. The crossfire bridge can't handle the bandwidth of the higher resolutions.
 
You can also use a $30 active DP->VGA adapter if you know how well your monitors look in VGA instead of DVI.
 
noquarter said:
You can also use a $30 active DP->VGA adapter if you know how well your monitors look in VGA instead of DVI.
Click to expand...

If you go that route, just make sure you check out the max resolution of the adapter compared to the monitor you want to use it on.
 
Hm.. I may just go with the DP=>VGA route; my third monitor is only 1200x1600 and it's just a 2007FP.

Thanks for the replies! Time to pick up a cheap triple output card :D

Edit: Oh, do I need an active DP=>VGA adapter, or does it not need to be active?
 
Last edited:
^ only needs to be active if you want eyefinity. The 30$ one on newegg is active and I use it for gaming in eyefinity at 1080p x3
 
Oy, this looks like it'll end up being more of a hassle than going the dual card method...
 
akwok said:
Oy, this looks like it'll end up being more of a hassle than going the dual card method...
Click to expand...

It's up to you. A $20 adapter or $200 for a 2nd card. :)

the VGA adapter gets enough power from the port, it is always active. The active DP adapters are only for the DVI/HDMI versions.
 
Unless you already have 3 identical monitors, why not just get a monitor with native DP? Sure you might or might not pay a little more for such a monitor, but no hassles with dongles or whatever, and it's more futureproof to boot!
 
My monitor setup is 2x 2007FP and 1x 3007WFP-HC, and none of them have anything other than a DVI/VGA :(

A second card (8400 GS) is free, since I already have it!
 
akwok said:
My monitor setup is 2x 2007FP and 1x 3007WFP-HC, and none of them have anything other than a DVI/VGA :(

A second card (8400 GS) is free, since I already have it!
Click to expand...

Then just stick with two cards. Unless you are going with Eyefinity (which doesn't support your layout anyway), I wouldn't bother with the adapters.
 
akwok said:
My monitor setup is 2x 2007FP and 1x 3007WFP-HC, and none of them have anything other than a DVI/VGA :(

A second card (8400 GS) is free, since I already have it!
Click to expand...

Eyefinity doesn't support your layout in gaming. Eyefinity requires all monitors to be the same resolution. You would only be able to use it for 2D Windows.

Use the 8400 GS
 
google would have answered every question you had, there is so many threads about this over the net that its not even a joke.

now to the question, no you need to use the display port adapter to utilize the third display.
 
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