Widescreen Gaming Forum

Hi guys.

Have made several posts including in HardForum but without any good answers.

I have been using 10.5 cats because they are the only one that work with my Eyefinity. If I upgrade to 10.6 or later the Display monitor will not get detected after each reboot and also my HDMI monitors will have no native resolution, To fix all this i have to manually replug my DP monitor and WOW the monitor gets detected and all my screens get the right resolution until reboot. Then it is all over again.


XFX Radeon 5970 Black Edition Cat 10.5
Windows 7 x64bit

3xBenq2200LED connected as follows,
2xDVI - > HDMI
1xMiniDVI to VGA (Apple passive dongle)

But again all these problems above only exist in 10.6 or later. Reason i want have later release is because I want some nice performance in both Starcraft 2 and BFBC2

I have been in contact with AMD support and he is telling it is the dongle. BUT how can it be possible when as fast as I install the Catalyst 10.5 drivers my issues are gone? Makes no sense :evil:

Best Regards
Commander

Hey there,

Cat 10.6 were pretty unstable drivers IMO.

I had exactly the same problems with DP monitor going to sleep/flickering with any drivers after Cat 10.3.

Unplugging then reconnecting would give back a signal.

The dongle/active display port adapter I was using was AMD certified including updated firmware. I shipped 2 from the US with shipping at $130 a pop.

I believe you are correct in saying that it is not the adapter itself.

Possible solutions to fix/minimise these issues:

1. Use a wall mounted USB charger (1A/5V)
2. Update the bios on the 5970. BE CAREFUL NOT TO BRICK YOUR CARD. I took mine to Sapphire.
3. Try using Cat 10.7, 10.7 Hotfix or Cat 10.8.

TBH, I gave up with constant issues with my dual 5970 Eyefinity setup. Since December 2009, I spent more time/money trying fixes/hacks/mods to get it working than actual game time.

In the end, I sold my cards and got 3 x EVGA GTX 480 Superclocked.

INSTALLED DRIVERS AND WORKED FIRST GO.

PERFORMANCE IS BETTER-FASTER, MORE STABLE, MINIMAL MICROSTUTTER.

If AMD weren't going to support their hardware with PROPER software, then I vote with my wallet.

I will NEVER buy an AMD product again.

Good luck. Sorry for the rant.

_________________
Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z : i7 2600K @ 4.6 : G Skill DDR3 12800 RipJaws 16Gb : 2 x Vertex 3 120Gb : 4 x Seagate Barracuda XT 2Tb : Galaxy GTX 480 Tri SLI : SilverStone Stider ST1500 : Corsair Obsidian 800D : 3 x Dell U2711 : Windows 7 Ultimate x64 : Koolance WC CPU/GPU

Hi thank you for your reply.

I do not have the high-end DP converters or adapters etc. I just bought the Apple dongle 15$ that does miniDP to VGA. Also I already tried to flash my XFX card and for some reason it did brick itself. I did flash it correctly with XFX script however for some reason it would not get image after flash. Had to put in my GTX260 and re-flash it to the old BIOS.

Hm, will try to flash it again sometime when I get back my reply from AMD support. He is blaming the dongle however I do not understand if it works up to 10.5 and all after that just breaks how come it is the dongle? Does not make sense.

I cant use Cats later than 10.5 because after each reboot my DP monitor does not get detected and i have to replug it each time. and 10.7/10.8 adds not only dp monitor failure but also underscan issues.

The last drivers from AMD has been crap really, I do not understand how such a big company can fail in driver support for their cards. They need more manpower or better programmers because if this will go on i will end up giving up on AMD, I do not want another Creative card in my build that does not do its job just sits there.

Best Regards
Commander

Hey there,

I TOTALLY understand your situation. I thought the miniDP>VGA adapters solved the issue for users.....

I had tried on numerous occasions to rectify this with AMD Tech Support.

They blamed it on :

1. Drivers ("Will be rectified in future driver releases." It took them from Cat 9.12 hotfix to Cat 10.7-8 MONTHS to even acknowledge quadfinity issues),
2. Other hardware conflicts (It "worked" with drivers up to Cat 10.3),
3. Displayport adapter (I was using hardware CERTIFIED by AMD).
4. "We cannot replicate the issue."

Go figure?

For a company that has sold more than 11 million 5xxx series GPUs, you would think they would have a competent driver team.

Likewise, Cat 10.4 onwards and the issue would appear.

I can't see further support in the future due to release of 6xxx series cards. From experience, they will be putting their eggs in this basket. Kind of like how 4870x2 users were neglected until Cat 10.8b hotfix was released.

Also, they released a new DP adapter which is around the $40 mark I believe.

Seriously, people complain about power consumption/heat issues with 4xx series cards. TBH, the heat is manageable and not much higher than my 5970s.

I truly hope you rectify this.

Good luck.

_________________
Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z : i7 2600K @ 4.6 : G Skill DDR3 12800 RipJaws 16Gb : 2 x Vertex 3 120Gb : 4 x Seagate Barracuda XT 2Tb : Galaxy GTX 480 Tri SLI : SilverStone Stider ST1500 : Corsair Obsidian 800D : 3 x Dell U2711 : Windows 7 Ultimate x64 : Koolance WC CPU/GPU

Installed 10.9a hotfix driver and gues what. DP -> VGA monitor will not get detected on reboot without any proper "replug" of it.
Have ordered an Active DP to single link DVI (http://legitreviews.com/images/news/2010/DisplayPort-to-DVI-Adapter.jpg) made by powercolor that is certified by AMD.

Will connect it by "minDP" -> "DP" -> "DVI" -> "HDMI" -> Monitor. The DVI to HDMI will be a cheap adaptor since it is already digital signal so no work is needed.

If this wont work I will bring hell for the support guy that I mailed and that he blamed about the Apple dongle I use.
Will report findings if I get the active dongle on Monday.

I am off to my little baby Celica Twincam 87 that is freshly painted and getting a new car audio installed into it to get my ehm rage out of me.

Yet another case, when DP->DVI doesn't work. Luckily I have DP->VGA and no issues at all. :)

If you notice you will see that I use DP to VGA (apple dongle)


My monitors only have VGA / HDMI

Got the Powercolor DP -> DVI

Now my 3 monitors are connected as follows. (3xBenq 2200LED HDMI)
Mon1 Left, DVI -> HDMI
Mon2 Middle Powercolor DP -> DVI -> HDMI (standard dvi to hdmi cable)
Mon3 Right DVI -> HDMI

So after buying that Powercolor _Active_ DP to DVI it finaly works good with the new drivers and well colors are a bit better because of the Digital signal instead of the VGA that I used with the apple dongle. To bad I had to buy the damn overpriced clicktronik DVI to HDMI but nothing was in store. (poor Sweden without any cheap display cables)

So this upgrade cost me 600kr for the powercolor active dongle and about 300kr for the damn branded 5m DVI to HDMI.

(Swedish kronor) so thats about 90$ for the DVI dongle and DVI to HDMI cable.

Bottom line, Apple MiniDP to VGA does not work anymore so my final word is do not buy it or you will loose about 20$ for nothing.

Best Regards
Commander