Widescreen Gaming Forum

[quote]I wonder: Has anyone tried a different adapter than the Dell/Bizlink? Seems like we all ordered it based on the initial recommendation made by some dude here. Is it possible (even probable) that simply going with a different adapter would solve all our problems?

I went ahead and ordered the one from Amazon (it's aobut the same price as the one from Dell and looks exactly the same) although it is a different brand than that Bizlink one from Dell. Should be here by Tuesday, so I will see if it gets rid of this problem. Your right though Kondor, ATI really should have anticipated this issue when developing Eyefinity in the first place. Oh well, work with what we got b/c I refuse to go back to my Th2Go unless I absolutely have to.

Here is the link to Amazon, some maker named Accell:

http://www.amazon.com/Accell-UltraAV-B087B-002B-DisplayPort-Dual-Link/dp/B002ISVI3U
You, sir, are my new hero. I certainly hope your pioneering spirit is rewarded!

I've been thinking (always dangerous), and have concluded that it would be a brilliant move if ATI would step up to the plate and come up with their own adapter that definitely works with Eyefinity. I'm sorry - I've done TH2go and it's Ok, but I have no interest in 3x24" when I can already game on 1x50" and it "feels" more immersive. This is one area where the consoles have it. A game is just so much better on a nice big screen.

But without a working DVI (and HDMI would be even better) adapter, we're locked out of the big-screen business. For me (at this stage of my gaming/hardware life), it's 3 big screens or just one. No way am I going back to little 24 inchers where I have to sit at a desk like I'm at work (another problem with PC gaming - psychologically I never want to sit at a damn desk again after a day of work!).

With regard to the BIOS flash, I think I'm still within my 30 day return period! No way would I risk bricking my card outside of that. And while the BIOS was posted, no flash utility ever was. I asked about that, but we never got a reply. Any way we could contact these crazy dudes who flashed their BIOS to see if it really worked?

I've been thinking about this whole DVI adapter mess, and it's led me to really question whether ATI considers Eyefinity as anything more than a gimmick to garner good press from initial reviewers of their 58xx cards. The reason I say this is that there seems to have been little or no real testing of the feature. Consider the worrisome fact that, to play the most popular game on Earth (COD 4 or MW2), you have to use a third-party hack (widescreen fixer) to get the fov and aspect ratio right.

ATI's overall attitude about it's hardware seems to be fundamentally different than Nvidia's (the cards I've owned since 2005). Wherea Nvidia takes the initiative by going out and ensuring their hardware is supported well (TWIMTBP program), ATI seems to have the (delusional) belief that all they should have to do is make the feature available and devs will magically flock to it. On a $400 card that is always out of stock.

Right.

It just seems rather unbelievable to me that no one at ATI thought to a) test an active DVI adapter and b) inform buyers where to get said adapter. This is where I get my suspicion that this feature is meant mainly for reviewers, who presumably have plenty of 30" DP monitors lying about - whereas 90% of consumers (even prosumers such as myself) would surely want the flexibility that the DVI interface allows (in my case, there simply are no 50" DP displays on the planet).

The simple fact is that access to the myriad selection of DVI displays out there is *essential* to Eyefinity being a serious, useable feature - rather than a gimmick targeted at reviewers. While I could certainly get 3 30" displays, I happen not to like them for gaming. Most exhibit serious lag which, while not apparent in Maya or whatever, certainly screws up gaming. And, although the cost involved pales in comparison to the $14k I dropped on a supercharger system, it's still a bit much to swallow for most people out there - excepting the websites that are getting paid to review this stuff.

I know I'm posting a lot, so please forgive me! I had an idea while writing the above post about a possible interim solution. Specifically, what I'm considering is a central 30" display (if I can find one without lag - perhaps impossible) with flanking 32" LCD tvs. You'd have to run the 30" at 1080p during gaming (which worries me because of the aspect ratio difference between 1600p - 16:10 and 1080p - 16:9), but it might be acceptable. It would also leave you with a rather nice central monitor when not gaming (collecting pr0n lol). The actual size difference between the 30" and 32" would probably be small enough to preserve the peripheral vision effect.

Whaddya you guys think?

[quote]I wonder: Has anyone tried a different adapter than the Dell/Bizlink? Seems like we all ordered it based on the initial recommendation made by some dude here. Is it possible (even probable) that simply going with a different adapter would solve all our problems?

I went ahead and ordered the one from Amazon (it's aobut the same price as the one from Dell and looks exactly the same) although it is a different brand than that Bizlink one from Dell. Should be here by Tuesday, so I will see if it gets rid of this problem. Your right though Kondor, ATI really should have anticipated this issue when developing Eyefinity in the first place. Oh well, work with what we got b/c I refuse to go back to my Th2Go unless I absolutely have to.

Here is the link to Amazon, some maker named Accell:

http://www.amazon.com/Accell-UltraAV-B087B-002B-DisplayPort-Dual-Link/dp/B002ISVI3U
Bad news. I googled Accell and Bizlink and it turns out they're the same company: http://www.accellcables.com/press/press_01_03.html

Ok so is everyone having problems with the dell adapter mine isn't here yet but......

Ok so is everyone having problems with the dell adapter mine isn't here yet but......

Well, please come back and let us know if yours works. Thus far, the blanking problem seems endemic at best, and universal at worst.

Bad news. I googled Accell and Bizlink and it turns out they're the same company: http://www.accellcables.com/press/press_01_03.html

I should have known it damnit! Oh well, maybe just a different unit will make the difference. I am having my rep at Dell check to see if I can still get my money back on thier part since it seems they dont do a straight return after 21 days.

I Can confirm that this also happens with the DP to VGA adaptor, im running 3x Dell 2209 monitors, 2 are connected directly with DVI and the other via the DP-VGA adaptor.

The monitor connected to the DP-VGA adaptor, randomly blinks black, for a few seconds then comes back to life, it does not effect the SLS group that is set up. This happens both on the windows desktop and in games (ive only tried at 5040x1050)

I have tried all 3 monitors on the DP-VGA adaptor and ive tried this connected to both of my Gigabyte 5850's all the same.

There for it cant be directly because of the Active DP-DVI adaptor, and more with the firmware that is on the video cards.

This may or may not be related to the issue, but I have noticed a problem with the ATI HDMI sound drivers. When active, but not connected to anything through HDMI, I have noticed that my GFX drivers reset themselves (VPU recovery). This causes freezes and also blanking of screen. By deactivating the ATI sound drivers via device manager, the problem disappear.

Note that it only happens when I run some heavy DX or OpenGL. I have managed to reproduce this error on many driver sets by using furmark running a stability test.

I was thinking that there is a possibility that if this also affects Eyefinity setups, DP connection might be lost during VPU recovery. Worth checking out at least :)

This may or may not be related to the issue, but I have noticed a problem with the ATI HDMI sound drivers. When active, but not connected to anything through HDMI, I have noticed that my GFX drivers reset themselves (VPU recovery). This causes freezes and also blanking of screen. By deactivating the ATI sound drivers via device manager, the problem disappear.

Note that it only happens when I run some heavy DX or OpenGL. I have managed to reproduce this error on many driver sets by using furmark running a stability test.

I was thinking that there is a possibility that if this also affects Eyefinity setups, DP connection might be lost during VPU recovery. Worth checking out at least :)

That's a great tip, and one I'll be sure to try tomorrow. I had disabled those drivers (I have 2 5870s) for other reasons, but when I was struggling with the blanking issue, they were still enabled.

Please God - let it work!