AMD Eyefinity multiscreen flight simming

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veryshort

81 posts

Master Geek

#104648 19-Jun-2012 14:02

Hi Guys and Gals ,
I have some questions relating to AMD's Eyefinity cards .Im trying to set up a multiscreen enviroment mainly for flight simming { I will only use FS9 as X/flight dont really work as well for me } so Im wanting a screen layout as follows

3x 20" Del DVI monitors across the top to act as my external view { landscape }

2x 20" Dell DVI Monitors below , one will be used for a gauge display and the other for other open windows and add-ons { landscape}

what I cant seem to find is anyone who has run 5 monitors in the configuration im wanting to do , Im unsure if eyefinity will allow me to set up the screen in that config I have played around with it but only having 2 monitors makes it hard ,I have run my flight sim spanned acrossed both monitors but really need 3 for a good external model .

here are my current PC specs ...

AMD 1090T BE 3.2ghz chip
Antec Sealed water cooler
Asrock 970 Extreme 4 MB
Kingston 1600mhz 8 gig Ram
silverstone 550Watt PSU
Sapphire 6870 GFX card with 2 DVI outs 1x HDMI output and 2x Mini HDMI outputs
2x Dell 20" monitors .
Windows 7 64

Im open to other idea of how to achive what im wanting to do .

Thank all for your help
Cheers
Andrew W

richms

28198 posts

Uber Geek

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Lifetime subscriber

#643210 19-Jun-2012 14:38

Well I know that 3 projectors and a 1920x1200 screen for an instrument panel works in xplane, but that was with 2 nvidia cards not ATI.

Richard rich.ms

veryshort

81 posts

Master Geek

#643211 19-Jun-2012 14:43

richms: Well I know that 3 projectors and a 1920x1200 screen for an instrument panel works in xplane, but that was with 2 nvidia cards not ATI.

very cool .. unfortunatly space might be a problem ...... I was thinking maybe a 40-50" LCD TV with my two 20" either side but I know eyefinity takes the smallest res and applies that to the whole view .

KevinL

656 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#643218 19-Jun-2012 14:49

According to the Eyefinity configurator on the ATI website it should be possible with a 3x1 primary eyefinity group + 2 extended.

Make sure you get active HDMI to DVI and mini-displayport to DVI converters - the card may not necessarily recognise your monitor with a passive adapter.

veryshort

81 posts

Master Geek

#643221 19-Jun-2012 14:53

KevinL: According to the Eyefinity configurator on the ATI website it should be possible with a 3x1 primary eyefinity group + 2 extended.

Make sure you get active HDMI to DVI and mini-displayport to DVI converters - the card may not necessarily recognise your monitor with a passive adapter.

Hi Kevin , yes thanks for the info about active adapters I knew I would have to get these and I had also read it will support a 3x1 config with 2 extended I just didnt feel that keen to shell out the $$$ only to find it didnt work and was hoping someone else might have already tried it .... I dont mind getting the display adapters but all the hardware and monitors was pushing it .

KevinL

656 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#643227 19-Jun-2012 15:00

You may want to double check that your video card is able to drive 5 monitors - there are some suggestions that only the "Flex" edition of the Sapphire card can drive 5 displays and the standard version can only do Eyefinity 3.

veryshort

81 posts

Master Geek

#643230 19-Jun-2012 15:05

KevinL: You may want to double check that your video card is able to drive 5 monitors - there are some suggestions that only the "Flex" edition of the Sapphire card can drive 5 displays and the standard version can only do Eyefinity 3.

interesting I have checked the back of it and I have the following connectors ...

2x DVI
1x Standard HDMI
2x Mini Display port now i have seen a video from AMD showing you can run a third monitor off just the HDMI connector without needing an active adapter ...which would be great as I wont need as many active adapters given they are around $45ea from accent .Im trying to keep all my monitors the same make and model this should reduce any risk of not getting them to match up properly.

KevinL

656 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#643251 19-Jun-2012 15:27

veryshort:
KevinL: You may want to double check that your video card is able to drive 5 monitors - there are some suggestions that only the "Flex" edition of the Sapphire card can drive 5 displays and the standard version can only do Eyefinity 3.

interesting I have checked the back of it and I have the following connectors ...

2x DVI
1x Standard HDMI
2x Mini Display port now i have seen a video from AMD showing you can run a third monitor off just the HDMI connector without needing an active adapter ...which would be great as I wont need as many active adapters given they are around $45ea from accent .Im trying to keep all my monitors the same make and model this should reduce any risk of not getting them to match up properly.

You can probably disregard my previous comment re: number of displays - it's hard to find a definate answer but I think the point is you can only run a maximum of 3 monitors unless you use active adapters; the Flex edition removes that requirement allowing you to use passive adapters.

For what it's worth, IT Express are a bit cheaper on the active mini-displayport adapters: http://www.itexpress.co.nz/epages/shop.sf/en_NZ/?ObjectPath=/Shops/itexpress/Products/GR7009 (I purchased one yesterday for my HD 7850 and Dell 2005FPW, arrived this morning). Even cheaper from Dealextreme (http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mini-displayport-male-to-dvi-female-adapter-1080p-27602?item=2) if you're not in a hurry.