How to display on 3 monitors question

[miker1]

My Sapphire 285 will have 2 DVI, 1 HDMI and 1 Display Port.

I wish to run games like Elite over 3 screens.

Is it as simples as using the 2 DVI and the 1 HDMI?

Or do I have to play with the Display Port [and if so what adaptors are required]?

Ta

 

[Confused Stu]

It should be as simple as connecting the 2 DVI and HDMI and you'll be up and running. Certainly it will be this simple if the monitors are identical makes/models, but they may not be hot-swappable (so you may need all 3 monitors plugged in when you power the PC on).

If your monitors are different makes/models, it should still be OK provided at least two of them are the same.

If each of your monitors are different makes/models, you may have to use a Displayport to DVI/HDMI/VGA Activate Adapter to get the third screen working. I've tended to use StarTech cables over the past few years and always found them to work faultlessly - so I'd be looking for a "DP2DVIS" if your GPU has a full size DisplayPort and your monitor has DVI and is less than 1920x1200.

 

[Quartz]

According to this thread, if you have three monitors you will need to use the Displayport port.

Certainly it will be this simple if the monitors are identical makes/models, but they may not be hot-swappable (so you may need all 3 monitors plugged in when you power the PC on).

If your monitors are different makes/models, it should still be OK provided at least two of them are the same.

From where do you get this? Makes and models of the monitors should be irrelevant. I had a 1080p, 1200p, and a 1280x1024 monitor, all from different manufacturers, all connected at the same time to my old Radeon. Resolution will be important if you use Eyefinity.

 

[Confused Stu]

According to this thread, if you have three monitors you will need to use the Displayport port.



From where do you get this? Makes and models of the monitors should be irrelevant. I had a 1080p, 1200p, and a 1280x1024 monitor, all from different manufacturers, all connected at the same time to my old Radeon. Resolution will be important if you use Eyefinity.

AMD made some changes behind the scenes a couple of years ago that means the card is able to share one of it's two clock generators across two DVI or HDMI connections provided each monitor can run off that one clock - which generally means identical monitors.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7400/the-radeon-r9-280x-review-feat-asus-xfx/3

I'm also speaking from experience as I've had three screens running from my 290 and my 285 (and a fourth running from the 290, that I've now moved to my onboard Intel adapter).

Do wish AMD had a decent, up to date write up on Eyefinity to cover these kind of questions. All I can find on their site lists the 7970 as the latest and greatest card, and one I found even listed the 6970 as the newest!

 

[Quartz]

Right, thanks. I think using the 285 to run 3 screens in an Eyefinity setup is pushing it, personally.

 

[MoodyB]

I had a 1080p, 1200p, and a 1280x1024 monitor, all from different manufacturers, all connected at the same time to my old Radeon. Resolution will be important if you use Eyefinity.

Eyefinity added support for mixed resolution displays from Cat 14.6, as long as you're running a compatible card :

http://community.amd.com/community/amd-blogs/amd-gaming/blog/2014/05/30/mixed-resolution-eyefinity

 

[Confused Stu]

Right, thanks. I think using the 285 to run 3 screens in an Eyefinity setup is pushing it, personally.

If you're looking to play the latest games with full eye candy, definitely! I did try hooking my LAN PC (running a 285) to my 4 screen setup and was very surprised to find Just Cause 2 ran pretty smoothly with all settings maxed except AA (can't remember if I set that to off or 2x). Coped surprisingly well, so will easily be able to play older/easier games such as Source Engine ones, but would definitely recommend a couple of cards for running 3 screens.

 

[oweneades]

If you're looking to play the latest games with full eye candy, definitely! I did try hooking my LAN PC (running a 285) to my 4 screen setup and was very surprised to find Just Cause 2 ran pretty smoothly with all settings maxed except AA (can't remember if I set that to off or 2x). Coped surprisingly well, so will easily be able to play older/easier games such as Source Engine ones, but would definitely recommend a couple of cards for running 3 screens.

Not that surprising, Just Cause 2 could run well on a casio watch...

Seriously though that game engine scales incredibly!

A single 285 will be fine as long as you aren't expecting all the eye candy in the latest AAA games.

 

[miker1]

Thanks you lot!

3 screens may cover the loss of ultra fine detail on 1!

[all the monitors are Asus VN247H ones]