Screen Tearing Eyefinity

[Kirota]

I am getting screen tearing on my far left monitor. Running at 5760x1080. cant figure out whats causing it or how to fix it.

I have a Saphire FLEX 6950. So the typical screen tearing problem shouldnt be there because I have all 3 monitors connected via DVI.

It seems to do it kind of randomly. After I launched and exited out of Skyrim it goes away(meaning that this should be fixable), but when i first start my computer it always does it.

 

[destrekor]

I am getting screen tearing on my far left monitor. Running at 5760x1080. cant figure out whats causing it or how to fix it.

I have a Saphire FLEX 6950. So the typical screen tearing problem shouldnt be there because I have all 3 monitors connected via DVI.

It seems to do it kind of randomly. After I launched and exited out of Skyrim it goes away(meaning that this should be fixable), but when i first start my computer it always does it.

Do you have vsync enabled?

 

[Kirota]

how do i turn that on in the catalyst control center? i thought that was only needed for games...

i should have specified that it is happening only on my desktop. not in games

 

[destrekor]

how do i turn that on in the catalyst control center? i thought that was only needed for games...

i should have specified that it is happening only on my desktop. not in games

:hmm:

I figured it was for games.

Not sure if vsync is an option for the desktop, and I'm not familiar with the Catalyst drivers.

 

[busydude]

Have you enabled aero?

 

[Kirota]

lol uh. what is aero? how do i enable it? thanks

 

[BrightCandle]

I see screen tears with flash heavy websites sometimes still. I used to see this problem a lot before I did a voltage and frequency tweak. For me it was to do with the power saving clock speed reduction causing severe performance problems in Windows. When you do a Windows Performance centre run does the Desktop performance come out lower about 0.5 lower than gaming graphics? If so you might have the same problem.

It might be worth doing a similar tweak with the Radeon bios editor by bumping up the minimum frequency and voltage. I think I bumped mine to 500Mhz and +0.1V from defaults but you could just validate by setting it to full speed and voltage to begin with and then work down from there to save power.

 

[iCyborg]

I am getting screen tearing on my far left monitor. Running at 5760x1080. cant figure out whats causing it or how to fix it.

I have a Saphire FLEX 6950. So the typical screen tearing problem shouldnt be there because I have all 3 monitors connected via DVI.

Eyefinity requires at least one DisplayPort connection out of GPU, I don't think there's even an ATI card with 3 DVI. Are you using some sort of dongle/adapter? Does it happen only on DP?

It sounds like power-saving features are lowering the clocks too low. You could also try seeing if older/newer drivers fix the issue.

 

[notty22]

Eyefinity requires at least one DisplayPort connection out of GPU, I don't think there's even an ATI card with 3 DVI. Are you using some sort of dongle/adapter? Does it happen only on DP?

It sounds like power-saving features are lowering the clocks too low. You could also try seeing if older/newer drivers fix the issue.

The Saphire 'Flex' series have a onboard chip that acts like a active adapter to the AMD driver/software. It runs through a supplied hdmi to DVI dongle.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...pk=flex%206950

Now the highest performing card in Sapphire FleX family, the SAPPHIRE HD 6950 FleX supports three DVI monitors in AMD Eyefinity mode and deliver a true SLS (Single Large Surface) work area without the need for costly DisplayPort monitors or Active adapters. The first two monitors are connected to the two DVI ports and the third to an HDMI to DVI cable (supplied) with no extra hardware required. Up to five simultaneous, independent monitors can be connected if you choose to include the use of DisplayPort monitor or active adapter.

 

[NoQuarter]

I actually get the same thing. Apparently the problem is, if using mixed connections (some DVI, some DP), one of them will not be able to be v-synced. The ATI CCC actually has an option for which Eyefinity monitor you want to be the 'primary' and get the best quality (ie guaranteed v-sync).

The Flex with 3 DVI ports actually uses an onboard DP->DVI convertor so you are technically using 2 DVI and 1 DP.

 

[kashwashwa]

I had this problem until I realized my card was overclocked. Once I set it back to factory speed all tearing went away.

 

[iCyborg]

The Flex with 3 DVI ports actually uses an onboard DP->DVI convertor so you are technically using 2 DVI and 1 DP.

Ah, that makes more sense.
I believe the description on newegg is incorrect - you can't have 2xDVI + HDMI->DVI to run 3 screens, it's gotta be DP->DVI.

 

[notty22]

Ah, that makes more sense.
I believe the description on newegg is incorrect - you can't have 2xDVI + HDMI->DVI to run 3 screens, it's gotta be DP->DVI.

You can on those 'Flex' series of cards. They have a chip, on board, that is acting as a active display port- that terminates out of the card as a hdmi connector.
Which can then be used directly or with a hdmi-dvi adapter they include.

You are internally using a display port. I'm not sure how the drivers, control panel see this. For a 20 dollar premium, the FLex series is easier to set up for some users.
SAPPHIRE Officially Launches HD 6950 FleX, Simplifies Eyefinity ...

 

[Zargon]

afaik its a known issue and i had it all the time with my 6950 when doing web stuff with flash(like youtube)

 

[Kirota]

I am only getting the tearing on my primary, far left monitor. the one with my start menu on it. is there some kind of setting in the CCC to force vsync on it?

any solutions. thanks for all the replies.

 

[tweakboy]

Just go to CCC and turn on vsync.... and turn on triple buffering as well. gl

 

[BrightCandle]

You could swap the ports the monitors are plugged into if you would prefer another monitor to be the one that occasional flashes. The port that far left monitor is in has to be the one that is DP so mixing them around should move the problem successfully.

 

[NoQuarter]

You should only get the screen tearing if you are in Eyefinity mode. If you are in extended desktop mode, you shouldn't get tearing on any of them.

If you are in Eyefinity mode, you can go into CCC -> Desktop Management, then at the bottom of that page it should have your 3 monitors listed. You can right click on one and choose 'Set Preferred'. This will prevent screen tearing on that monitor and any monitors that are on the same connection type.

For example, if I set my DP monitor as preferred, both my DVI monitors tear. If I set one of my DVI monitors as preferred, only the DP monitor tears.

Basically what you have going on is, your middle and right monitor are connected to the true DVI outputs on your card. Your left monitor is connected to the internal DP->DVI (or HDMI) connection. This means your left monitor is actually on the DP channel so it can't share v-sync with the other 2 monitors when you group them into a single monitor.

 

[houe]

I am only getting the tearing on my primary, far left monitor. the one with my start menu on it. is there some kind of setting in the CCC to force vsync on it?

any solutions. thanks for all the replies.

Sorry to give you the bad news but there is little you can do to remedy this problem. This is a hardware limitation (and in my opinion a fairly large flaw) in the design. I bought a 6950 myself but returned it after discovering this very annoying flaw. The problem stems from using more than 1 type of connector for your monitors. The two displays on the same style connector will act the same (either have tearing or not). For this purpose HDMI and DVI will be considered the same style connector. Unfortunately you can't use both DVI and the HDMI connectors at the same time - you are limited to using 2 of those and then a 3rd one from a displayport. There is a 6950 from Asus where you could drive all the monitors from displayports, but unless your monitors natively accept displayport its going to cost you a bit in adapters. The only other AMD cards to have enough displayports are the 6990 cards.

There is a device you can buy so you can drive multiple DVI monitors from a single displayport. Supposedly this can solve the issue as well, however its pricey at over 100 bucks.

 

[Kirota]

You should only get the screen tearing if you are in Eyefinity mode. If you are in extended desktop mode, you shouldn't get tearing on any of them.

If you are in Eyefinity mode, you can go into CCC -> Desktop Management, then at the bottom of that page it should have your 3 monitors listed. You can right click on one and choose 'Set Preferred'. This will prevent screen tearing on that monitor and any monitors that are on the same connection type.

For example, if I set my DP monitor as preferred, both my DVI monitors tear. If I set one of my DVI monitors as preferred, only the DP monitor tears.

Basically what you have going on is, your middle and right monitor are connected to the true DVI outputs on your card. Your left monitor is connected to the internal DP->DVI (or HDMI) connection. This means your left monitor is actually on the DP channel so it can't share v-sync with the other 2 monitors when you group them into a single monitor.

Lol i did this and it gave me screen tearing on my two left monitors.

 

[Kirota]

Sorry to give you the bad news but there is little you can do to remedy this problem. This is a hardware limitation (and in my opinion a fairly large flaw) in the design. I bought a 6950 myself but returned it after discovering this very annoying flaw. The problem stems from using more than 1 type of connector for your monitors. The two displays on the same style connector will act the same (either have tearing or not). For this purpose HDMI and DVI will be considered the same style connector. Unfortunately you can't use both DVI and the HDMI connectors at the same time - you are limited to using 2 of those and then a 3rd one from a displayport. There is a 6950 from Asus where you could drive all the monitors from displayports, but unless your monitors natively accept displayport its going to cost you a bit in adapters. The only other AMD cards to have enough displayports are the 6990 cards.

There is a device you can buy so you can drive multiple DVI monitors from a single displayport. Supposedly this can solve the issue as well, however its pricey at over 100 bucks.

Yes i had heard of this problem before i bought the card. Thats why i got the FLex edition of the card so that all could be connected through DVI. All three are connected through DVI.

So either i got ripped off and the Flex editions have an onboard converter that doesnt actually fix the issue, or im getting some software glitch.


I cant live with this. It will kill me. I have 30 days to return it to Newegg right? What card would you recommend as a replacement. Probably an Nvidia of course.

 

[houe]

In general you'll need 2 nvidia cards to drive 3 monitors. Their might be a few exceptions however I'm not really in the know as far as what options are available. The new 448 core 560ti looks interesting... When driving monitors at that high a resolution video ram could be a factor so a little research in that department might be worth looking into. I picked up a 580gtx 3GB card. Time will tell if I ever buy a 2nd one and realize the 3 monitor dream lol... I'm hoping nvidia's next generation of cards will be capable of driving 3 monitors natively, however I have no information that says they will.

 

[Kirota]

so basically im completely screwed? I cant afford two nvidia cards.

So is the answer that the Flex editions do not fix the screen tearing issue? I am having the generic unfixable issue like others, and not some other problem?

 

[iCyborg]

You can on those 'Flex' series of cards. They have a chip, on board, that is acting as a active display port- that terminates out of the card as a hdmi connector.
Which can then be used directly or with a hdmi-dvi adapter they include.

You are internally using a display port. I'm not sure how the drivers, control panel see this. For a 20 dollar premium, the FLex series is easier to set up for some users.
SAPPHIRE Officially Launches HD 6950 FleX, Simplifies Eyefinity ...

Ok, got it now. I'd expect drivers to still be aware of active adapters. It'd be interesting to see what CCC reports.

 

[iCyborg]

Yes i had heard of this problem before i bought the card. Thats why i got the FLex edition of the card so that all could be connected through DVI. All three are connected through DVI.

So either i got ripped off and the Flex editions have an onboard converter that doesnt actually fix the issue, or im getting some software glitch.


I cant live with this. It will kill me. I have 30 days to return it to Newegg right? What card would you recommend as a replacement. Probably an Nvidia of course.

They must have DP->DVI converter, it is enforced in the driver that you can have at most 2 non-DP outputs, there's no way Sapphire can go around it. So it is the same issue. You're left with trying to see if a couple different driver versions can help or hope enough people will complain and it gets fixed later. And can you use extended desktop?

Yeah, for nVidia I believe you need 2 cards, possibly GTX 590 might be enough on its own, but that's not exactly a money-saver.