Those of you who are buying the Asus 7970 DCII, what are you doing about ports?

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Neon01

[H]ard|Gawd
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My entire setup is currently adapted for MiniDP - as it seems all cards but this one use - so this having full size DP outputs kind of screws with me. It's easy enough to just add three DP (male to MiniDP (female) adapters, but DP -> miniDP -> DP seems silly and a possible place for interference and signal loss. I've already got an active mini-dp to DVI out, which certainly isn't inexpensive, so I really want to use at least that one. But I'm trying to decide whether to rebuy all my cables and do it that way, or just use the redundant adapters.

Here's a product I found that will do what is needed...if it works:

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-...DTKY/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1328118697&sr=8-7

Any other ideas? I've got 3 DVI (eyefinity), 1 HDMI, and 1 DP displays I'm hooking up - though the 3 DVI (one with active MiniDP to DVI adapter) and 1 HDMI are mutually exclusive.

This $600 card is going to end up costing me $650 to use... :mad:
 
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Yeah. Monoprice works, though you do have to factor shipping into cost, and I think you kind of have to live with white.

Alternatively, I wonder what extra goodies the DCII comes with?
 
That was my plan for the one native DP display I have. As for the other 4 though...
 
If there's a reason their DP to DVI cables for your DVI monitors won't work, then I dunno. :(

I don't know how well multiple adapters work, but I usually just buy regular cables instead. If only for their simplicity... one less thing that could fail I guess, though I've only ever had a few cables or adapters that didn't work.
 
I have three DP monitors, just using full sized DP cables. Not a fan of adapters.
 
Shocked said:
If there's a reason their DP to DVI cables for your DVI monitors won't work, then I dunno. :(

I don't know how well multiple adapters work, but I usually just buy regular cables instead. If only for their simplicity... one less thing that could fail I guess, though I've only ever had a few cables or adapters that didn't work.
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The problem is with the video card - it won't output to more than 2 legacy displays at the same time. Unfortunately I have three (3 DVI), so I have to use an active adapter, to adapt one of the DP outputs to a DVI signal, so the video card thinks it's seeing only 2 DVI outputs.

So I can't just use the DP to DVI cable since I need an active adapter in there. I can either adapt the DP to MiniDP and use the active miniDP to DVI adapter I already have, or see if there exists an active DP to DVI adapter and replace my existing one. Though active adapters are generally a bit of money.

I guess I'll give an adapter from Amazon and see if it works.
 
I will be using my DP to miniDP adapter since my monitor only has a miniDP port and nothing else.
 
Now that's a 7970 worth owning... wish it didn't take up 3 slots though. Especially since they skimped on the DVI again, only one of the 2 is dual-link.

DL-DVI + 4x mini DP, in 2 slots, would be the optimal configuration.

And I'd just buy DP cables, probably from monoprice. Haven't made a monoprice order in almost a year, I'm sure I can think of other cables I need to make the shipping less of an issue.
 
Only 1 of the 2 is dual-link? So it can't drive two 2560x1600 monitors via dvi? Bogus.
 
This card looks sick back plate and all. If Kepler is outrageous expensive and not that impressive I will be grabbing one of these.
 
stewartjm said:
Now that's a 7970 worth owning... wish it didn't take up 3 slots though. Especially since they skimped on the DVI again, only one of the 2 is dual-link.
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AFAIK that's an AMD limit; not something Asus could have fixed short of embedding a DP-DVI adapter on the board itself.
 
I'm at the opposite end of this. I currently neeeeed DP for my 120hz goodness, and would not like to continue adapting from miniDP>DP just to use it. That's what makes these DCIIs so attractive to me other than the fact that they are themselves very attractive. ;) I've been purposefully holding out on a 7970 for full DP, and it looks like the time is nigh.
 
Rhyme said:
Only 1 of the 2 is dual-link? So it can't drive two 2560x1600 monitors via dvi? Bogus.
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I don't believe that's strictly true. What you could do is use one of the DP ports and an active adapter (actually, I think even a passive adapter may work as long as you don't have both DVI ports used) to get another DL-DVI signal.

I think, but don't quote me on that. I know DP (obviously) has the bandwidth to cover the DL-DVI ouptut, but I'm not sure if all of that "makes it through" the adapter, so to speak.
 
The big advantage of that card is that you can use three of the same output and avoid the screen tearing on the mismatched output that the rest of us get with Eyefinity.

So I'd definitely suggest going with three active adapters.

Unless you've got some crazy long cable run, you should be fine with getting miniDP to DP adapters for the active adapters you've already got. It's not like the signal is going to degrade significantly enough to have any noticeable effect.
 
Parja said:
The big advantage of that card is that you can use three of the same output and avoid the screen tearing on the mismatched output that the rest of us get with Eyefinity.

So I'd definitely suggest going with three active adapters.

Unless you've got some crazy long cable run, you should be fine with getting miniDP to DP adapters for the active adapters you've already got. It's not like the signal is going to degrade significantly enough to have any noticeable effect.
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I see what you're saying, but that'd be another $80 in adapters, and then I'd need some kind of DVI to HDMI adapter to plug my HDTV in since all four DP would be used.

I'd really love it if I could find a rough equivalent to my Dell 2007fp monitors only with native DP. That would be ideal...

Yep, looks like I just spent $50 at amazon on cables and adapters to get this to work. Would have gone with the DP/MiniDP (M/F) adapters, since they were pretty cheap, but I can't stand the thought of all those conversions, whether they're benign or not.
 
Neon01 said:
and then I'd need some kind of DVI to HDMI adapter to plug my HDTV in since all four DP would be used.
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Most video cards come with the little DVI to HDMI adapter plug, so that shouldn't be much of an issue. Hell, unless you're new to computers, you should have some sitting around already.
 
I just want it for sale already. I've got 3 DP 120Hz waiting to be eyefinity for me.

Also want my card to downclock properly and avoid tearing... just so many reasons to have one...
 
Parja said:
The big advantage of that card is that you can use three of the same output and avoid the screen tearing on the mismatched output that the rest of us get with Eyefinity.

So I'd definitely suggest going with three active adapters.
Click to expand...

I've thought about this a bit more and I think you've convinced me. Will using active adapters actually give me the benefits of using the DP ports (no tearing, etc)?
 
Neon01 said:
I've thought about this a bit more and I think you've convinced me. Will using active adapters actually give me the benefits of using the DP ports (no tearing, etc)?
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Yup, as long as you're using the active adapters for the 3 monitors you have in Eyefinity, you shouldn't get any of the mismatched output tearing.
 
All my Sapphire graphics cards came with FREE DP to mini DP adapters! Nice bonus including the free HDMI cables!
 
Parja said:
Yup, as long as you're using the active adapters for the 3 monitors you have in Eyefinity, you shouldn't get any of the mismatched output tearing.
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I have an active adapter and I get tearing on my Eyefinity setup if running fullscreen movies or games. No tearing if I run in Windowed mode for videos or games. Is this because I am running DP, HDMI, and DVI?
 
Spare-Flair said:
I have an active adapter and I get tearing on my Eyefinity setup if running fullscreen movies or games. No tearing if I run in Windowed mode for videos or games. Is this because I am running DP, HDMI, and DVI?
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Short answer: yes.

Longer answer: Basically all monitors need to run off the same "timing" from the card to avoid tearing. DP connections use something independent from DVI/HDMI and thus we get tearing when monitors use a mixed config.

That's why this card is appealing to me, 3 DP connections to my 3 monitors relieves me of several annoying issues.
 
Why are so many people against using a DP>miniDP adapter? Is there an actual negative to this? In my experience I haven't noticed anything
 
Hanakuso said:
Why are so many people against using a DP>miniDP adapter? Is there an actual negative to this? In my experience I haven't noticed anything
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My guesses are these: 1) less clutter; 2) fewer parts to diagnose if something goes wrong.

#2 is probably vastly more frustrating for people, especially if you're using eyefinity and you have 3+ adapters/cables/etc. to try and work through to find whatever it is that's wrong when something goes wrong.
 
deyer said:
Is this the first card to offer more than just two display ports?
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Based only on my own scouring for a card with 3+, yes. I've been watching every custom and waiting for this one, since it was teased a couple weeks back.
 
I will admit that I ordered before posting here... but I also didn't think they'd only have... you know... the one.
 
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