Widescreen Gaming Forum

Ok,

decided to ditch my nvidia GFX cards and move over to ATI.

I need something explaining please.

I currently use the THTG setup via DVIs to 3 24" dell monitors.

Question is someone told me that the 5870 series cards dont have need for the THTG unit?

also they have said the card has only 2 outputs therefore only 2 monitors can be used?...

Is this correct?, do I need my THTG unit?

help! :?

What models are the Dell panels?

hi,

they are dell e248wfp

hi,

they are dell e248wfp

Unfortunatly those monitors only have DVI and VGA connectors. The Eyefinity 5870 (and the 5850, 5700 series) cards have only two DVI connectors, one Displayport connector and one HDMI connector. To get all three monitors running in Eyefinity (which equates roughly to TH2Go) you will need an "Active" Displayport to DVI adapter (about 100.00). If your monitors had native Displayport support (a Displayport..er...port) you would not need the additional 'active' displayport adapter.

I am putting "'s around the word active because the much cheaper passive Displayport to DVI adapters will not work. Read through the threads here, this question is anwered adnauseum and far better than I can with my limited understanding of the electronics involved ;)

Hope this helps

also they have said the card has only 2 outputs therefore only 2 monitors can be used?...

Is this correct?, do I need my THTG unit?

help! :?

The cards out on the market now have three outputs. Unfortunately, one of the outputs MUST use displayport. So you've got two options:

DVI+HDMI+Displayport
DVI+DVI+Displayport

Either case, you need to use the displayport so if your monitor doesn't have it, then you need to get an ACTIVE displayport to dual DVI converter. These are around $100.

Problem is nobody has any in stock. Dell keeps delaying my order and Amazon has a two to four week wait on a similar unit. My solution was to buy the Apple version of it, which seems to be in stock just about everywhere. Problem with this is you also need a mini-displayport female to regular-displayport male adapter. Sounds complicated but this is the only solution that you can buy right now.

If you don't mind running one of your screens in VGA, the DP to VGA adapters are considerably cheaper than the active DP to Dual Link DVI. $35-40 or so, IIRC.

I've tried this with some Viewsonic 16x10 displays (running two of them via DVI, and the third one on a DP to VGA adapter) and it worked out pretty well.

Converting digital to analog and then back to digital isn't exactly desirable, but the IQ didn't seem to suffer too much.

If you don't mind running one of your screens in VGA, the DP to VGA adapters are considerably cheaper than the active DP to Dual Link DVI. $35-40 or so, IIRC.

I've tried this with some Viewsonic 16x10 displays (running two of them via DVI, and the third one on a DP to VGA adapter) and it worked out pretty well.

Converting digital to analog and then back to digital isn't exactly desirable, but the IQ didn't seem to suffer too much.

this wont work as the Displayport port on the 5870 dosn't have the ability to make a timing signal that all other standards require.

_________________
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this wont work as the Displayport port on the 5870 dosn't have the ability to make a timing signal that all other standards require.

Actually it works just fine.

All of the DP to VGA adapters contain active circuitry - they have to, since the signals are completely incompatible otherwise.

Some are probably better quality than others, some may be better at passing EDID info from the screen back to the graphics adapter, but they all have the basic guts required to make this go.

You'll notice that the DP to VGA adapters cost about $35-40 too - that's quite a lot more than you would spend for a passive DP to DVI adapter (the kind that doesn't work for this purpose).

[quote]this wont work as the Displayport port on the 5870 dosn't have the ability to make a timing signal that all other standards require.

Actually it works just fine.

All of the DP to VGA adapters contain active circuitry - they have to, since the signals are completely incompatible otherwise.

Some are probably better quality than others, some may be better at passing EDID info from the screen back to the graphics adapter, but they all have the basic guts required to make this go.

You'll notice that the DP to VGA adapters cost about $35-40 too - that's quite a lot more than you would spend for a passive DP to DVI adapter (the kind that doesn't work for this purpose).

Do you know this by experience and can show us pictures of it running or are you just guessing it will work without real world experimentation? Just guessing is what caused all the original passive DP adapter fiasco.

_________________
Brad Hawthorne
Product Manager
Nthusim Pty. Ltd. | www.nthusim.com

Do you know this by experience and can show us pictures of it running or are you just guessing it will work without real world experimentation? Just guessing is what caused all the original passive DP adapter fiasco.

Yes, by experience; I'm not guessing.

I can't speak to the quality of all of the brands of adapter - there is likely a considerable range of quality and functionality out there, as I mentioned already.

It's not what I would call an ideal solution, but it certainly opens the door to those who don't mind running VGA.

Heck, you even could run three CRT's if you really wanted to - the DVI outs on the 5xxx boards should be able to drive a CRT through a standard DVI-I to VGA adapter. Some of the board vendors might even include those in the box. I've never tried CRT's, though. Only panels. And never 3 x VGA, only 2 x DVI + 1 x VGA. 5040x1050 in total.

Sorry, it never occurred to me to take pictures.

If I happen to get that system put back together with the same screens, I'll shoot a few pics and post them. Right now it's running 2 x DVI and 1 x DP on Dell 2408's.