Widescreen Gaming Forum

Some scary news, even these $100 adapters are flaky;

Active adapters aren't an ideal solution due to the fact that there are still compatibility issues. Even Kyle has said that while using an active adapter, he's having problems getting it to work in games.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1455030&page=4

Guess we will know for sure once these Dell adapters show up for you guys

Thank you Dave, very informative. I do have a question though. I have seen in this thread where 5800 series users have setup a passive adapter and where able to get it work for a single screen, but not in Eyefinity mode. Can you explain why the passive adapter worked for a single screen output mode?

As to the why, I can't explain the in depth stuff- it is to do with the allocation of the TDMS (see below although this is the 6 port one). The current limitations on DP (or active DP adaptor) only apply to when using triple display.

Driver version 8.66 (Catalyst 9.10) or above is required to support ATI Eyefinity technology and to enable a third display you require one panel with a DisplayPort connector.

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Dipping bags at Mach1.9

Well the usage scenarios on the ATi site preclude portrait/landscape mix, maybe it will be enabled in the future?

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Dipping bags at Mach1.9

I was very happy top go back to the green team and support AMD + ATI, my last ATI card was the 9800Pro, it was fantastic, so I threw down my cash right away for the Radeon HD 5870, one of the key reasons being the Eyefinity idea.

But now I feel like a beta tester, and am a little upset a few key features not working out of the box.

- No Crossfire with Eyefinity

- Display Port being a MUST to triple screen game ( how many Gamers have a monitor with DP, not too many, and only the newer Dell's and HP have that connection, which are rather pricey displays, so all the good priced monitors or us with old monitors are left out ? )

- SuperSampling AA being blurry, and a major performance hit

These to me are some big points that should have been addressed before retail cards hit the market, or AMD should have delayed the release to get it working correctly first. I just don;t like the idea of rushing a product to market, only to fix it later after customers paid their hard earned money for the product.

[quote]
You have to use symmetrical resolution and orientations. Can't mix and match like your example. I've seen several people want this option though. Maybe ATI can do something about this in the future with a driver update?

Are you sure about this? I've read that you could, but I may be wrong. Here's some I read:

We also asked AMD if the EyeFinity tech could cope with monitors with different resolutions and sizes, and received an affirmative – which means that you could begin to add monitors as and when you like, including re-using old ones.

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/playback/game_news/hands+ati+eyefinity+review+10+09+09

From what we saw at a press event recently, Eyefinity will provide independent scaling on monitors with differing native resolutions, thereby bringing real multi-monitor support to the fore and making them genuinely handy in the workstation/graphics market.

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=20178

There are many different configuration options offered by AMD's Eyefinity technology, with the ability to mix portrait and landscape orientations, as well as stacking and offset spacing.

http://www.rage3d.com/print.php?article=/articles/vision_eyefinity


Can anyone that got the card test this please? :)

Most of that is hearsay imho. Every example photoed or diagrammed has always shown symmetrical resolution and display orientation. Of all the places, I think WSGF is the most spot on with the current info. I'm sure there a number of people in this thread that can do a test though. I'd like to see them set different non-symmetrical resolutions then try EyeFinity on them, then also try mixing display rotation and also seeing the result. Even the ones with only 2 working displays should be able to preform this test. Something that has not been spoken about yet, anyone with a 4000-series or older card with Catalyst 9.10 installed have EyeFinity capability with 2 displays? Also someone with a 5870 please run dxcapsviewer that I linked several pages back so we know the card specs. :wink:

_________________
Brad Hawthorne
Product Manager
Nthusim Pty. Ltd. | www.nthusim.com

Some scary news, even these $100 adapters are flaky;

Active adapters aren't an ideal solution due to the fact that there are still compatibility issues. Even Kyle has said that while using an active adapter, he's having problems getting it to work in games.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1455030&page=4

Guess we will know for sure once these Dell adapters show up for you guys

ohh man MORE bad news :(

I ordered the Dell adapter last night and it say shipping date 10/6 but knowing dell it will ship earlier.

only way to tell is to wait for it to come...

I really don't want to have ot use a DP monitor as it would cost me $300. while I already got 3x identical monitors..

[quote]Some scary news, even these $100 adapters are flaky;

Active adapters aren't an ideal solution due to the fact that there are still compatibility issues. Even Kyle has said that while using an active adapter, he's having problems getting it to work in games.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1455030&page=4

Guess we will know for sure once these Dell adapters show up for you guys

ohh man MORE bad news :(

I ordered the Dell adapter last night and it say shipping date 10/6 but knowing dell it will ship earlier.

only way to tell is to wait for it to come...

I really don't want to have ot use a DP monitor as it would cost me $300. while I already got 3x identical monitors..

Time will tell. Thats the way [H]ardware geeks like us live, alot of testing and seeing what works and doesn't. I sure hope that $100 Dell adapter does work, otherwise this is BS from AMD/ATI, forcing us to have at least one brand new monitor with Display Port, to allow triple screen gaming with Eyefinity.

Keep me posted and good luck

Active adapters aren't an ideal solution due to the fact that there are still compatibility issues. Even Kyle has said that while using an active adapter, he's having problems getting it to work in games.

That's a bit vague, does anyone know what they mean by "having problems getting it to work in games"?

_________________
Brad Hawthorne
Product Manager
Nthusim Pty. Ltd. | www.nthusim.com

[quote]
Active adapters aren't an ideal solution due to the fact that there are still compatibility issues. Even Kyle has said that while using an active adapter, he's having problems getting it to work in games.

That's a bit vague, does anyone know what they mean by "having problems getting it to work in games"?

"Kyle" is the owner of the [H]ardforums, he is very smart with computer technology, and knows all the big name companies and their people, very well. So if he is having issues, I listen.

I just wish AMD/ATI would tell us when they mean we have a solution for the "near future". I think us paying customers deserve to have an idea what that means. Before a lot of people blow $100 on an adapter that may not even work.

It's looking more and more like I should just hold off till DP+ cards are out.

_________________
Brad Hawthorne
Product Manager
Nthusim Pty. Ltd. | www.nthusim.com