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Hello All,
This is my first post. As some have noted, there is quite a bit of information spread across a lot of threads and the Internets. I have decided to attempt to gather all i have found into this thread.
This information is as of December 29 2009
Here is what I've come up after spending about ~15 hours reading up on EyeFinity across these forums and various other forums:
Eyefinity (EF)
- Only Works on Windows 7. TripleScreen (No EF OR EF) does NOT work in windows xp - as reported by another member in the Q&A Thread.
- Currently requires Three screens with Identical resolutions. Only works in 3x Portrait (P) or 3x Landscape (L) right now. So PLP Does not work (Example of this would be 20”, 30”, 20”. Support for this type of setup is low on the priority list.
- Requires the use of the Displayport. There are only two Clockgens for DVI/HDMI/VGA Signals.
- Displayport has two standards, DP and DP+. DP+ is the only one that can use passive adapters to convert to DVI/HDMI and still work. DP can not pass these signals through. The Displayport on the HD5k series are technically DP+, but uses one of the clockgens if a passive adapter is used.
- Active adapter: Bizlink/Acell/Dell have Active DP-> DVI Adapters. Can be found for ~100$. Sapphire has Announced their own adapter.
- Most DP -> Vga are active and there have been reports of it working.
- Combinations that will work (in theory):
(Note: Displayport is counted as Native Displayport monitor, or Actively converted Displayport to DVI OR VGA)
DVI + DVI + Displayport
DVI + HDMI + Displayport
DVI + VGA + Displayport
VGA + VGA + Displayport
Problems:
- Displayport signal cuts out, depending on the setup, regardless of eyefinity or not, Active DP -> DVI or DP -> VGA or Native DP LCD (Very rare for native DP Screen)
Screens Plugged into DVI Will Flicker/Artifact regardless in triplescreen extended, but not in eyefinity.
- On two DVI LCD Plugged in, one of the two will Flicker/Artifact.
- Loss of Colour (black and white /Grayscale screen) on one or more screens.
- Signal loss on Sleep/Monitor resolution change.
- Hotkeying or shortcuts to switch in and out of eyefinity/Triplescreen extended does not work as intended/Screen positioning isn’t preserved properly.
In EyeFinity, Only 60Hz refresh rates are supported. No 120Hz Goodies. Ove rthe DP To VGA Adapters, only 60Hz Max is supported, so CRT EF might be less than ideal, but the CRT Bezels are Large, so this should be less of an issue.
Potential Solutions to the problems:
DP Signal loss and screen Flickering:
On Active DP -> DVI, Unplugging the USB power and re-plugging it usually restores the signal. Powering the adapter from the motherboard USB ports OR (Better) from a USB Wall Socket adapter (providing possibly more than 5V 500mA) Can help alleviate the signal loss/Screen flickering problem.
Possible cause(artifacts):
ATI Powerplay Frequencies are wrong, causing the artifacting seen in eyefinity/triplescreen extended modes. Disabling the Overdrive might solve it.
Possible cause (Signal loss): Displayport signal not powerful enough:
Bios Flash (Might Void Warranty) – Works for most people so far read one report of it not helping. Solved most DP -> DVI and DP -> VGA issues. Apparently boosts the Displayport signal strenght. Some of the Active Dell/Acell/Bizlink adapters appear more sensitive than others to this. Also, those that lose signal appear to work fine at reoslutions of 1280x1024, but not anything higher. Some have reported that RMA-ing the adapter fault for another one solved their problems (only adapter was changed).
Using Third party applications, like MSI’s tool or ASUS's tool to raise core voltages slightly (Might also void warranty).
Disabling the HDMI audio output in device manager or uninstalling this altogether.
Loss of colour:
Using system restore to restore to an earlier system state, or fresh windows install.
Last but not least:
Of course, there is always newer drivers which could solve these problems as well. (which appear to be in the pipe for the Hotkey/Shortcut switchingbetween modes)
Additional notes:
PhysX
For those owning an Nvidia card or who have owned Nvidia cards and wondered if physx would work with ATI, or even 3D Vision, the answer is:
I Have personally managed to get PhysX Working with a HD 5870 and 8800GT with eyefinity. There is also a youtube video of it working on Triple wide eyefinity. Requires hacking Nvidia Drivers. Its Do-Able, but requires time and effort.
There is also a patch to get Physx Working on ATI Cards. I have not tested it, some have reported it working. Google can help on this subject.
3D Vision
Nvidia 3d vision does not work. No hacks available yet. Very much a random Gimmick at this point. Eyefinity is far more impressive than 3d vision to me.
Hope This has been Helpful to Some!
Of course, there are other points that i haven't touched/found answers to. Examples: Color Profiles for displays in Eyefinity, Triplehead 2 go on 5870, etc.
I don't know everything and am just trying to help.
Personally, I REALLY want an Eyefinity setup, already have 3x Samsung 2443BW Height adjusteable stands and pivot, but havent made the plunge because of these issues i've read about. I Personally managed to borrow a HD5870 from sapphire for 24 hours, which is how i tested PhysX in Eyefinity Dual screen mode. I Immediately ran into the screen artifacting problem in non eyefinity mode. This research was done after the card was returned. i did not have any active dp to vga or dvi at the time, and could not test triple Eyefinity mode. I'd love to hear of anybody who has gotten EF 3x screen working flawlessly on 3x Samsung 2443BW, and how they did it.
Thats all for my first post!
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