Eyefinity and my rig

[Hav0k99]

Can my rig run 3 Dell P2210's in an Eyefinity config? I already have one and am thinking about getting 2 more cheap. Please see my sig.

 

[96Firebird]

For gaming, or just for general use?

 

[Hav0k99]

Gaming yes... Games like BF3, BFBC2, MW3

 

[Via]

A single 6870 probably won't make it. Since you're buying 2 more monitors can you get another 6870 as well?

Something else to check out - I don't play online shooters, but I've heard that they don't allow increased FoV.

 

[Skurge]

A single 6870 probably won't make it. Since you're buying 2 more monitors can you get another 6870 as well?

Something else to check out - I don't play online shooters, but I've heard that they don't allow increased FoV.

BF3 does allow to change the FOV

 

[Hav0k99]

Why would I need 2 GPU Cards?

 

[96Firebird]

One 6870 isn't enough to push those games at eyefinity resolutions, unless you want to seriously turn down the eye-candy. Even then it will struggle. That is why the second card was recommended. But either way, your motherboard only has 1 PCI-E 2.0 slot...

So, I wouldn't recommend getting the monitors if you want to game at eyefinity resolutions with just the one 6870. You'd either have to get a completely new card (even a single 6970 will struggle with settings turned up), or get a new motherboard and a second 6870.

 

[Puppies04]

Why would I need 2 GPU Cards?

Because instead of the 1680 x 1050 pixels your GPU is working on now it will have 5040 x 1050. Does it not make sense that 3 times more pixels requires 3 times more GPU power?

 

[Bill Brasky]

And because your motherboard only has 1 pci-e 2.0 x16 slot, you can't run crossfire or SLI properly. Thus, people are recommending a dual gpu card to give you the graphics horsepower to run eyefinity satisfactorily. Or stick with what you've got if you're ok with 10 fps.

 

[ss284]

The problem is that micro-stuttering makes a crossfire+eyefinity combo kind of unplayable. Plus, 6870s in SLI are still limited to 1GB of VRAM. Single overclocked HD6970 with some settings turned down is really the best you can do.

 

[blastingcap]

Does it not make sense that 3 times more pixels requires 3 times more GPU power?

It doesn't scale linearly like that. Your frame rate will not be 33% of what it was before, more like 40-50% depending on the game. Not sure why, probably has something to do with hitting one set of bottlenecks with one monitor, vs hitting another set of bottlenecks with 3. Then there are extreme examples like a system that is CPU-limited in a game, in which case you may not see any difference in framerates at all, if that CPU limitation is strong enough.

 

[Hav0k99]

Ok I got the 3 monitor set up. 2 on DVI and one on mini dp to dp -> dp to dvi. I am using the mini dp adapter that came with the Saphire video card. The dp to dvi is a dell part and works fine on dell PC's. CC detects the 3rd monitor but will not let me add it in the Eyefinity config. Windows 7 see's the 3rd monitor but is great out and will not let me use it to extend.

I am using Catalyst 11.11c. What can I do?

 

[NoQuarter]

Ok I got the 3 monitor set up. 2 on DVI and one on mini dp to dp -> dp to dvi. I am using the mini dp adapter that came with the Saphire video card. The dp to dvi is a dell part and works fine on dell PC's. CC detects the 3rd monitor but will not let me add it in the Eyefinity config. Windows 7 see's the 3rd monitor but is great out and will not let me use it to extend.

I am using Catalyst 11.11c. What can I do?

It needs to be an Active DP->DVI adapter. Not sure which one you have. But if it's passive it won't cut it. The GPU can only send 2 DVI/HDMI signals at once, the rest have to be native DisplayPort, so you need an active adapter that can take a DP signal and convert it to DVI. A passive one just relies on the GPU to send a DVI signal over the DP but the GPU is already sending its limit over your actual DVI connectors.

Since the Dell p2210 has native DP connection on the back you should just use a DisplayPort cable instead of messing with DVI though.

 

[Hav0k99]

It needs to be an Active DP->DVI adapter. Not sure which one you have. But if it's passive it won't cut it. The GPU can only send 2 DVI/HDMI signals at once, the rest have to be native DisplayPort, so you need an active adapter that can take a DP signal and convert it to DVI. A passive one just relies on the GPU to send a DVI signal over the DP but the GPU is already sending its limit over your actual DVI connectors.

Since the Dell p2210 has native DP connection on the back you should just use a DisplayPort cable instead of messing with DVI though.

So if I get rid of the dp to dvi adapter and use a dp cable it should work?

 

[Hav0k99]

Oh I also ordered this to see if it would help:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814999033

 

[bryanW1995]

The problem is that micro-stuttering makes a crossfire+eyefinity combo kind of unplayable. Plus, 6870s in SLI are still limited to 1GB of VRAM. Single overclocked HD6970 with some settings turned down is really the best you can do.

Eyefinity isn't the reason you get microstutter, it's always there. However, MS is much more noticeable at lower frame rates, and even 1680x1050 has 29% more pixels than a single 30 inch monitor. 2x6870 would be pretty good for 5040x1050, especially when you look at an Anandtech Bench comparison of 6870 xfire vs a single gtx 580. As mentioned, MS will come into play at low-ish framerates, but generally your frames will be high enough than your overall experience will be far better than it would be if you were using a single gtx 580 or 6970.

 

[NoQuarter]

So if I get rid of the dp to dvi adapter and use a dp cable it should work?

Correct. Just use a DisplayPort cable.

Also the adapter you ordered from Newegg doesn't look like an Active adapter. It should say Active on it if it is, and it should cost $25-$30 for a single link active adapter. If you still can, you should cancel that order, and order a DisplayPort cable instead.

 

[Hav0k99]

Ok so I ordered this :

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-6-Fee...82/ref=lh_ni_t