Question about having 3 monitors

[Vasya]

XFX HD 5850 XXX Edition 1GB Dual DVI HDMI Display Port Out PCI-E Graphics Card

I already have dual 2x 19" monitors that i always used. Apparently this graphics card can support up to 3 monitors. So my plan was to buy 24" monitor put it in the middle and use my 19" monitors on sides. But i dont quite understand how i am going to connect all of them to one graphics card ? when its only got 2x DVI connectors at the back. Is there some sort of adapters ? any one know ?

[Drew@PSU]

What you need is a Display Port -> DVI adapter, here (http://www.amd.com/us/Documents/Display_Connectivity.pdf) (PDF Warning) is the relevant documentation from ATI/AMD. You can pick one up from Monoprice for about $10 + shipping. A la this (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10246&cs_id=1024608&p_id=6014&seq=1&format=2) one. Do throw us a pic, a 3 monitor setup would rock :)
-Drew

[bda1967]

I think you need an active DP to DVI/VGA adapter. Here's a link that will explain better. http://www.amd.com/US/PRODUCTS/TECHNOLOGIES/EYEFINITY/TIPS-AND-TOOLS/Pages/tips-and-tools.aspx

[Xymurgy]

I can tell you that 2xDVI and 1xDP connection will not allow all 3 monitors to work simultaneously. All three monitors are detected, but a third can not be activated unless another is disabled. The DP adapter I have won't allow me to fit an HDMI plug in the card, so I can't test any other configuration.

[Vasya]

i am still a bit confused about this

i have two Samsung 19 monitors ( both about 3 years oldd )

and i want to buy this one > http://www.ebuyer.com/product/174175http://www.ebuyer.com/product/174175

[Mikef1r3]

i am currently using a 3 monitor setup. 2 DVI monitors and a DP monitor. you cannot use the hdmi cable as it is just an internal adaptor for one of the dvi slots or vice versa. you would need an active display port to DVI adaptor or a native dp monitor. A $10 adaptor wont. See me gaming below.

Problem is i have different sized monitors but its not even a problem for me. My performance has still gone up when playing fps's.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e379/Mikef1r/CIMG2388.jpg

[Vasya]

i am currently using a 3 monitor setup. 2 DVI monitors and a DP monitor. you cannot use the hdmi cable as it is just an internal adaptor for one of the dvi slots or vice versa. you would need an active display port to DVI adaptor or a native dp monitor. A $10 adaptor wont. See me gaming below.

Problem is i have different sized monitors but its not even a problem for me. My performance has still gone up when playing fps's.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e379/Mikef1r/CIMG2388.jpg

i didnt realy wanted to streatch my game on 2 screens, i just wanted to have my start menu icons and game on my middle screen and use other 2 for something else

will that work ?


btw nice set up

[Xymurgy]

i didnt realy wanted to streatch my game on 2 screens, i just wanted to have my start menu icons and game on my middle screen and use other 2 for something else

will that work ?


btw nice set up

It looks like he's using Eyefinity, which is something completely different (it treats all monitors as one big megadisplay). Eyefinity would be a great option, but you can't mix portrait/landscape modes across the 3 displays (maybe in the future?).

[Mikef1r3]

i didnt realy wanted to streatch my game on 2 screens, i just wanted to have my start menu icons and game on my middle screen and use other 2 for something else

will that work ?


btw nice set up

I forget to be honest with you i will turn off my eyefinity and try it out i know that before getting my third monitor I could only game on my main monitor while the second was just for whatever

[Mikef1r3]

yea i just turned off my eyefinity and all three monitors were recognized by windows as extensions of the main. Remember that you have to use the DP or else a third monitor wont work like i said before in my prev posting the HDMI plug is connected to one of the dvi ports so if you try and connect 3 monitors via 2 dvi and 1 hdmi it wont work

[DocLiv]

I would like to add that you don't need spend $100 on an active DP adapter. I use this one (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042801&p_id=5135&seq=1&format=2) and it works great.

There is one way I know where you could get what you want. Setup eyefinity, make the middle monitor your primary display. Whenever you play a game just play in a window instead of full screen. You'll be playing on the center monitor and the other will be open to do whatever. I've done that before and it works.

[Vasya]

I would like to add that you don't need spend $100 on an active DP adapter. I use this one (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042801&p_id=5135&seq=1&format=2) and it works great.

There is one way I know where you could get what you want. Setup eyefinity, make the middle monitor your primary display. Whenever you play a game just play in a window instead of full screen. You'll be playing on the center monitor and the other will be open to do whatever. I've done that before and it works.

thanks a lot

[killem2]

According to wide screen viewing, and this product on newegg.com


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814999025&cm_re=displayport_to_dvi-_-14-999-025-_-Product

Also:

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=17637


All of which refer to needing an ACTIVE adapter, also there is a user on the futuremark boards named furyagain who runs a 5970, and confirmed with his three displays that he had to buy an active adapter from dell to make the third monitor work.

[billb]

If all you want to do on one of the monitors is 2D stuff, you can just add a cheap PCI/PCIe video card. Just make sure it will be able to run off of your existing driver, as loading two different drivers can get problematic.

[DocLiv]

According to wide screen viewing, and this product on newegg.com


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814999025&cm_re=displayport_to_dvi-_-14-999-025-_-Product

Also:

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=17637


All of which refer to needing an ACTIVE adapter, also there is a user on the futuremark boards named furyagain who runs a 5970, and confirmed with his three displays that he had to buy an active adapter from dell to make the third monitor work.

I've been running eyefinity for 3 months without any active display port adapter. Many other have also. I notice you posted a link from the widescreen gaming forum. Maybe you failed to see this (http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=17468) thread. Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVclfdKSZnI) is a video of my setup using the $20 adapter. You don't have spend a fortune to use eyefinity. I was using a single 5770 in that video ($160), three 21.5" monitors ($85 each) and the $20 adapter. Eyefinity rocks! :rock:

[killem2]

I've been running eyefinity for 3 months without any active display port adapter. Many other have also. I notice you posted a link from the widescreen gaming forum. Maybe you failed to see this (http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=17468) thread. Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVclfdKSZnI) is a video of my setup using the $20 adapter. You don't have spend a fortune to use eyefinity. I was using a single 5770 in that video ($160), three 21.5" monitors ($85 each) and the $20 adapter. Eyefinity rocks! :rock:

Well hell then.

I wonder where this crap got started LOL.

[DocLiv]

Well hell then.

I wonder where this crap got started LOL.

The $20 adapter has some chip it that makes it work. I guess you could still say it's an active adapter, it just doesn't need to be powered by USB. All I know is it works. The only problem I've encountered with it is that if I reboot from windows the monitor connected to the adapter doesn't come on, the two hooked to the DVI do. So if you let it boot up that way, eyefinty doesn't come up, at least until you unplug and replug the adapter. However, if I shut it down and then restart it, the monitor on the adapter comes on and one of the DVI connected monitors comes on. That way when it boots up and gets to Windows eyefinity comes up fine.

[killem2]

I'm just glad I didn't buy anything yet HAHA.

[Gwiggles]

I would like to add that you don't need spend $100 on an active DP adapter. I use this one (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042801&p_id=5135&seq=1&format=2) and it works great.

There is one way I know where you could get what you want. Setup eyefinity, make the middle monitor your primary display. Whenever you play a game just play in a window instead of full screen. You'll be playing on the center monitor and the other will be open to do whatever. I've done that before and it works.

This is correct, but you HAVE TO HAVE AN ACTIVE DISPLAYPORT TO HDMI/DVI adapter. A passive DP Adapter will NOT work even if your Resolution is below 1080p.
I know because I bought a passive adapter and couldn't get it to work with eyefinity to save my life, but as soon as I bought an active adapter my setup worked perfectly.

Don't be cheap with the active adapter because I didn't splurge on a nice one the first time and of course...It didn't work, though, maybe I was just unlucky considering some of you have gotten them to work. I have since bought the Dell one for 100$ and it works great.

[DocLiv]

Gwiggles, too bad it didn't work for you. Eyefinity still has some bugs to work out, but I love it anyways. It's strange, but some people have problems getting it to work with the $100 active adapters too.

Vasya, if you get a 3rd monitor, I recommend getting one that is the same rez as the other two. If you're going to use eyefinity that is. When I first starting using eyefinity I had two 21.5" 1920x1080 monitors and one 22" 1680x1050 monitor. I did get it to work, but the 22" wasn't running at it's native rez, so it didn't look very sharp.

[killem2]

In my case, I won't be running games over it, I just need three displays. One for my browsing monitor, one for my games, and one for the HDTV

[Gwiggles]

Gwiggles, too bad it didn't work for you. Eyefinity still has some bugs to work out, but I love it anyways. It's strange, but some people have problems getting it to work with the $100 active adapters too.


Yeah, I love it too. The dell adapters seem to be the least problematic.