VGA+DVI+HDMI = Tri Monitor setup or fail?

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 8:27 am

Hi all!

I couldn't find definitive answer, since I cannot find anything cheap card with either 2x display ports and DVI or 2x DVI's + Display port (cheapest beijgn 5750 / 5770 ) and it would probably go waiste such huge horse power and frankly I want to know if its Doable without card that requires PCI-E power plug.

So can I make combination: DVI+VGA and HDMI with HDMI-> DVI adapter and make it Tri Monitor Set-up work fully (one desk top stretched all monitors) or partially or should I focus finding one card with Display ports and DVI connections? I am not sure how the VGA port which is analog can handle these things.

Or are there actually budget class cards that can do tri monitor set-up? I need one that doesn't need extra power and only expansion slots are: 1x PCI-E 16x 2x PCI 2.0 and 1x PCI-E 1x

And no I don't need this for home, I need this for work. I already have several applications running in both windows as I have dual monitor set-up based on 7300 LE with two DVI's and last thrusday I received extra Samsung 17" flat screen when group space was turned into office space ditching 4computers and 2 Flat screens in my post. One of the two screens is same model that I am using in dual set-up and extra 17" would help me keep stuff organized in my work space.

BlackWhizz · Post by **BlackWhizz** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 8:49 am

I think it will work because normal 5770 can do it too.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 8:57 am

Nice, then I should look cheapest card with ati eyefinity... HD 5450 sounds nice candidate... and would fit nicely into my boss' concept of medorately priced VGA card... (which I think 5770 is not... especially with new PSU)

BlackWhizz · Post by **BlackWhizz** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:04 am

Post your experience when you got the card!

ces · Post by **ces** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:46 am

Eyefinity uses special connectors. I blieve you need special monitors to use them. Samsung and Dell I believe make such monitors.

It may be that your card needs to have one connector per monitor. There is one card out there that sports 6 such connectors. It must do so for some purpose.

It's really strange that none of the reviews I have read bother to explain such unimportant details - sheesh.

swivelguy2 · Post by **swivelguy2** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:29 am

Read this page for several concerns and limitations of Eyefinity on the 5450:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/rad ... 549-3.html

mczak · Post by **mczak** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 4:31 pm

ces wrote:Eyefinity uses special connectors.

Those aren't really "special connectors", they are mini display port connectors!
Granted they aren't too common.
But for all HD5xxx cards you can only ever have 2 connections out of VGA/HDMI/DVI.
For 3 monitors you need (one) display port. Either you get a DP monitor or some (active!) DP adapter. Cheapest would be DP->VGA, the active DP->DVI adapters are still quite expensive last I checked.

ces · Post by **ces** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 4:44 pm

mczak wrote:
ces wrote:Eyefinity uses special connectors.
Those... are mini display port connectors!
But for all HD5xxx cards you can only ever have 2 connections out of VGA/HDMI/DVI. For 3 monitors you need (one) display port. Either you get a DP monitor or some (active!) DP adapter. Cheapest would be DP->VGA, the active DP->DVI adapters are still quite expensive last I checked.

If you have three monitors, each being driven by a different kind of port, you are almost assured of having some kind of anomalies.

Are you saying that the 5000 series of cards are set up assuming that you are going to have one VGA monitor, one DVI monitor and one Eyefinity monitor?

swivelguy2 · Post by **swivelguy2** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 8:52 pm

ces wrote:Are you saying that the 5000 series of cards are set up assuming that you are going to have one VGA monitor, one DVI monitor and one Eyefinity monitor?

The single-slot 5xxx cards have 1 VGA, 1 DVI, and 1 DisplayPort connector. They likely expect you to use one VGA-attached monitor, 1 DVI-attached monitor, and 1 monitor attached by either a DP->VGA or DP->DVI dongle (the former being much cheaper). You can probably also use a DVI->VGA adapter for the second monitor, and then you could have 3 identical monitors, all connected by VGA.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 11:17 pm

Alright, the limitations are what they are for HD 5450. I will probably try to get twice the expensive XFX HD 5670 with DVI, DP and HDMI. With three digital output there should be no problem putting all three SyncMaster 913tm's into triple monitor system.

I already have DP->DVI converter at my work spot so only things needed is HD 5670 from XFX and HDMI->DVI converter.

swivelguy2 · Post by **swivelguy2** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 5:04 am

thejamppa wrote:Alright, the limitations are what they are for HD 5450. I will probably try to get twice the expensive XFX HD 5670 with DVI, DP and HDMI. With three digital output there should be no problem putting all three SyncMaster 913tm's into triple monitor system.

I already have DP->DVI converter at my work spot so only things needed is HD 5670 from XFX and HDMI->DVI converter.

I would just make sure that your DP->DVI converter is active, rather than passive, and is on ATI's validated list (although even if it isn't, it might still work):

http://support.amd.com/us/eyefinity/Pag ... ngles.aspx

nomoon · Post by **nomoon** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 6:43 am

Do you have an extra slot? I ended up getting a $21 Asus ATI 4350 card to add to my fanless 5750 card in order to get four monitors. I originally tried to get 5 monitors working, but gave up. I am currently running 4 monitors in XP using a fanless 5750 and fanless 4350.

Eyefinity requires Windows7 or Vista.
A DP-DVI adapter must be active. These are about $100. It's cheaper to buy a second card.
The HD5xxx cards can use a passive DP-VGA adapter (~$25), but they are quirky. I don't have the link, but apparently AMD didn't clean up this feature in time for the release. It's not officially supported, but many do get it to work. Some don't. I was able to get it to work after lots of fiddling and reboots, but it quit working as soon as I added the second card. For what it's worth, I'm running XP.

Jason

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 8:06 am

Only avalable slots are PCI-E 1x and 2x PCI's. So in theory hitting something with PCI-E1x compatible might be working.

Edit: Wohoo! I found answer: I got now nVidia 7300 LE with Duald DVI. Since I got one PCI-E 1x available, I can throw Club 3D's GF 8400 GS PCI-E 1x card into system. I don't need to upgrade the drivers and Vista Enterprise 32-bit should be able to run well the 3 monitor system.