3 Monitors - R9 280X not working

[zakwild]

So I've bought myself a new graphics card to switch over from Nvidia GTX 670. I still like nvidia I just thought why not give amd a go, I had ATI a while ago but then I switched to Nvidia. I have 3 24" monitors that have the same resolution etc, same everything. PS. nvidia surround works pretty well with them.

But now I have a problem connecting my 3rd monitor , I have the Windforce R9 280x version from Gigabyte which has 1x DVI 1x HDMI and 2x mini-display ports. Now ,I've read that you don't require a displayport to displayport monitor connection anymore to make eyefinity work. Besides my monitors don't have displayports in them, BUT I have a display port to DVI cable with a reduction to mini display port. To make it sound less confusing , the DVI goes into my monitor since it doesnt have a DP and the DP goes to DP to DP mini reduction which goes straight to my graphics card.

I've tried switching tons of variations of cables like DVI , DVI(DP to DVI) , HDMI or HDMI, HDMI(DP to HDMI), DVI and nothing seems to work.
Both windows and AMD catalyst center register ALL 3 monitors and ofcourse all of them work perfectly fine. But when I try to activate a 3rd monitor , windows says unable to save display configuration and then in catalyst center thats impossible since I dont have such option there for the 3rd monitor I can only switch it while disabling another one.

Please help me , this is giving me a headache. On Nvidia I had no such problems, I could be using HDMI , DVI and DP to DVI and it would work just fine, hell even VGA worked with 4th monitor.

 

[nooneisback]

My active display adapter to DVI came today from ebay. I can confirm 3 monitors works right away as soon as I used the display port for the third monitor. Its a smaller monitor than the other two, and I didn't have to do anything special, just click extend. This is confirming that the 7790 did not need the display port for 3 monitors, but the 280x Asus does. Not sure if you can use a passive display adapter I assume not, I bought a cheap active one on ebay just in case. If someone can confirm a passive one works it should save people some money.

I'm using a passive DP > DVI on my 280x and it's working fine.

 

[Zirkoni]

I got my 3-screen set up working by updating CCC to the latest 13.10!

Before with the 13.9 CCC it said in the information/software that I had a AMD 7000 series card. (They didn't yet support fully 3 screens)
Now after the update it says I have a R9 200 series, and got immediately my 3 screens working!
2x 21" 1920p ASUS screens with DVI-D to mini DP passive adapter
1x 32" 1360p LG TV with HDMI

Just wanted to share this with you, since haven't yet seen the same solution anywhere.

I have 2x Gigabyte Windforce OC R9 280X rev.2

 

[Justin Rahme]

So i read through this thread and do not see an answer to my issue.

r9 280x

I have 3 totally different displays. Just want tyo run the three at once, no eyefinity.

One TV hooked to HDMI. One Monitor to DVI, Second TV hooked to Mini Displayport via a passive HDMI adapter.

Do I just need to get an active adapter? Or am i SOL on this set up?

Every time I try to "extend" to the 3rd display, I am asked to disable one of the first two.

 

[nooneisback]

If you are using the "screen resolution" integrated into windows, stop using it because it doesn't know your GPU supports 3 displays without DP or active adapter. Use catalyst.

 

[Justin Rahme]

If you are using the "screen resolution" integrated into windows, stop using it because it doesn't know your GPU supports 3 displays without DP or active adapter. Use catalyst.

I tried to do it in CCC as well and it asks me to disable a display so I can enable the "third display"

I have given up on it for now. Returned the Passive adapter, and wont be getting an active one for a few weeks.

 

[mfb82]

hi guys,

graphic card i use, xfx r9 280x, 1, hp monitor dvi plugs cable on to graphic card dvi plugs , 2 hp monitor cable rgb plugs, rgb plugs on to dvi in graphics card. samsung dvi plugs. hdmi plugs to graphics card. two monitor is on and another one not on.???? help please?

 

[Riveted]

If you are using the "screen resolution" integrated into windows, stop using it because it doesn't know your GPU supports 3 displays without DP or active adapter. Use catalyst.

Thanks for this.

My setup is 3 monitors; one 1920x1080 monitor hooked up by HDMI, and two 1600x900 monitors hooked up by DVI. Could get any two of them working at once with the windows resolution app, but couldn't figure out how to get the third based on all the previous instructions here.

My steps for getting 3 monitors to work:
0: For my particular setup, I had my primary monitor as the large one, and one of my smaller monitors was extended.
1: After you plug in your monitors, make sure you have restarted your computer.
2: In CCC under the Common Display Tasks section there is an option to "extend the desktop." Click this.
3: It should automatically turn on all 3 screens, and from there you simply have to go to the Desktop Management section and arrange your displays.

 

[nooneisback]

Yep, that's how I fix it when i switch between 1 and 3 display setup.

 

[Vinylspider]

Thanks to Jonathan's post I've got my setup to work. So thanks JC.
I'm running and AMD R9 280 Windforce by Gigabyte. Using 1x HDMI and 2xDisplay port to DVI-D (not active ones).

It seemed very strange to work with the middle monitor blanked out for some of set-up, but step-by-step and it all came up in the end.

 

[Pcbuilder123]

OMFG...... I hate this. I had it working fine on my saphire tri-x vapor-x 280x 3gb, and I turned off, dusted it out, reinstalled and boom. Two monitors have no signal. Tried downgrading to an older driver. This worked previously, but isn't this time. THIS IS A DRIVER ISSUE. Has anyone found one that works? It's strange, I shut off, took it out, dusted it and put it back in and it stopped working. I am using a passive dp to dvi for my middle 1080p ips and two dvi for my other two monitors, and that worked fine on this card and my old 7770. Just need to find that driver.

 

[nooneisback]

Install the newest drivers, connect all the monitors and restart the computer. If this doesn't work, you'll have to enable the 2 displays in CCC. This is how I fixed my problem.

 

[Pcbuilder123]

Thanks, I figured it out. Downgraded and then upgraded.

 

[Shrek66]

I have Sapphire R9 270 recently installed on ASUS p8z68-v-lx with Windows 7 Ultimate. My monitors are:
1. HDMI 1920x1080
2 DVI 1280x1024
3 DVI to VGA (through passive adapter) 1280x1024

Briefly, IT DOES NOT WORK. I tried all possible drivers, monitor combinations and it still DOES NOT WORK.
The picture on 1920x1080 is much smaller (not full screen) although reporting as 1920x1080.
I can use only one of 1280x1024 monitors, the other one has to be disabled, although visible from both Windows and ATI software. And yes the usual Windows report "Unable to save display settings"...

But, the reason I am writing here is that I tried to make it under Linux Mint 17, AND IT WORKED STRAIGHT AWAY with no problem or additional settings required. All three monitors have their full resolution, working clear with no problem at all. I can also reorder them at my convenience to any combination I wish. Conclusion: there is nothing wrong with the hardware, adapters, cables and so.

Obviously, the problem is clearly coming from ATI drivers, maybe Intel MB drivers and Windows. If you have such Graphics card, do not throw it away and do not buy active adapters, unless you like to waste money.

My next step is to try to use Windows 8.1 but I am not optimistic. There is something seriously wrong with Windows based drivers, but at the moment I cannot specify anything.

 

[Riveted]

Be warned: I had a working 3-monitor setup with 2 different resolutions (dvi, dvi, hdmi) and updating to the 15.5 beta driver broke it, and gave me an "input not supported" error on my dvi monitors. I had to revert back to the 14.12 driver in order to get them to work again.

 

[Saintzrmr]

Thread still alive? tried Jc's solution and it wont allow me to duplicate and extend to 3rd. It will disable a different monitor other than the new one.

 

[Riveted]

Thread still alive? tried Jc's solution and it wont allow me to duplicate and extend to 3rd. It will disable a different monitor other than the new one.

Make sure that you have 3 monitors of exactly the same resolution and refresh speed, if you are using JC's solution.

Use my solution if you have different monitors of different resolutions.

Also, if you still have issues, make sure that you are running the 14.12 drivers. The 15.xx drivers don't seem to work with my solution, and may not with JC's.

 

[Saintzrmr]

Thread still alive? tried Jc's solution and it wont allow me to duplicate and extend to 3rd. It will disable a different monitor other than the new one.

Make sure that you have 3 monitors of exactly the same resolution and refresh speed, if you are using JC's solution.

Use my solution if you have different monitors of different resolutions.

Also, if you still have issues, make sure that you are running the 14.12 drivers. The 15.xx drivers don't seem to work with my solution, and may not with JC's.

I just bought 3 Asus 23 in monitors. all the same. i did some troubleshooting and found out AMD cards dont like HDMI very much. i had a Mini Display to HDMI, a display and another HDMI hooked up and it refused to work. i hooked up a Mini display to VGA and the monitor only works on 1280x800. so im going to pick up a Mini display to DVI agian tommorow to try that. and i did downgrade the drivers and it didnt fix the HDMI problem. Radeon cards just refuse to work with HDMI on my case.

 

[lee464]

Same problem, Saphire dual 280X - more complicated than having an affair
Will try Jonathan and Riveted solution and post results tomorrow.

 

[Riveted]

So, this is rather ridiculous, but I upgraded to Windows 10 yesterday, and the only way that I was able to get my setup (hdmi -> 1080 + 2x dvi -> 1600x900) to work was by reverting back to the old 14.12 drivers meant for windows 8.1

All of the 15.x drivers would see my 2 smaller monitors, but would never do anything to them.

 

[spyguy001]

So, this is rather ridiculous, but I upgraded to Windows 10 yesterday, and the only way that I was able to get my setup (hdmi -> 1080 + 2x dvi -> 1600x900) to work was by reverting back to the old 14.12 drivers meant for windows 8.1

All of the 15.x drivers would see my 2 smaller monitors, but would never do anything to them.

Well, same case as most of you here, maybe someone has an answer to my problem too.

I have:

• 
  3 samsung monitors, same resolution and refresh rate
  1 r9-290, stock version from Gigabyte
  3 Hdmi cables, 1 Dvi-D to Hdmi adapter and 1 Dvi-I to Hdmi adapter

I'm connecting 2 monitors to the DVI-Hdmi and 1 to HDMI directly. They work perfectly in Windows 7 with the 13.1 drivers.
Now i want to upgrade my drivers and my windows, but i dont see that happening safely.
I've tried going to the 15.x drivers in windows 7, but that ended up in failure when only 2 of my monitors worked. Except.... when i jostled the cables around a bit, all three worked until i had to restart the PC, or switch users or something until that stopped. So i used windows restore to fall back to catalyst 13.1 again.

Now i want to upgrade to Windows 10, but i'm not sure how Catalyst 13.1 is going to fare. Does 14.12 support 2xdvi and 1xhdmi? Is 14.12 working on Windows 10 alright? Is everyone sure the issue with 15.x is a driver thing? Is there a way to use the latest drivers AND keep 2xdvi and 1xhdmi?

 

[lee464]

Ok, as promised here is result, have 3 different Samsung monitors 22" and Saphire 280X, Win7 and 14.12 drivers.
1. 2 Displayport to HDMI adapter were passive and did not work.
2. With 15$ ebay active adapter stil did not work, but worked after application of Jonathan's solution !!!
3. If you have 2 identical monitors you do not need active adapter, passive is ok.

Beware, drivers fail to boost clocks to highe performance therefore you have to do it manually. But BF3 and 4 now rocks !!!

 

[Velinzor]

I know this is an old thread but I signed up just so I could post this in case somebody comes across this problem in the future.

Jonathan Cave is absolutely right, you DO NOT need to use a DisplayPort adapter! Thanks to his posts I am now running 2 monitors and a HDTV on a R9 270 using 2 DVI and a HDMI. I tried for hours and read many conflicting information on the subject before finding this thread. I followed his procedure and it worked for me.

THANK YOU JOHNATHAN CAVE YOU SAVED ME FROM SPENDING $30 ON A UNNECESSARY ADAPTER

In case you are interested, here is when you need an active Displayport to DVI cable and when you don't for the AMD R9 and R7 cards:
You do not need an active Displayport adapter, if all 3 monitors are the same (or run the same internally).
You must use an active Displayport adapter if all 3 monitors run at different resolutions, refresh rates, (or *maybe* even if they have different internal timings).
You may or may not need an active Displayport adapter if two monitors are the same and the 3rd or 4th are different (without info from other people I can't say for sure, but supposedly this may not be possible).

Note: The above 3 points only apply to AMD's R9 and R7 cards; other cards and brands are different.


Do you suppose you could post the model numbers of the 3 monitors you used?


So, why is this true?

Essentially, the R9 only has 2 internal clocks built into the chip. This is only enough to run two different monitors.
However, the R9 added a special trick that allows it to share a clock signal with more than one monitor that runs the same. This trick allows the R9 to support 3 monitors over HDMI/DVI.

For the R9 , the result is as follows...:
* You can have 3 monitors if all 3 monitors run the same resolution, refresh rate, (and *maybe* other settings like: bit depth, scan type, front porch, sync width, etc?...).
* In theory, it may be possible to run 2 of the same monitors and then a 3rd or 4th monitor that is different... but I don't know if AMD allows this ... supposedly they don't allow this. (However, I would need to hear back from someone that tried it.)
* It is not possible to run 3 monitors if they all have different resolutions, refresh rates, (or *maybe* other settings).

Note: These restrictions only apply to HDMI/DVI. Displayport allows you to bypass these limits and run many more monitors.

Okay I know that this is a old post, I have a XFX R9 280x double dissipation. I plan on getting 3 of the same monitors and running 2 in DVI and one HDMI this will work because they are all the same right?

 

[nooneisback]

This will probably work, but you'll have to mess around a lot in drivers.

 

[DCoto_24]

Sorry for opening this thread again but I am having problems with my Sapphire TOXIC R9 280x card and my three monitors.

I want to know if the problem is that two of the monitors are VGA.

My setup is like this.

AOC E2270SWN 21,5" 1920x1080 VGA (Monitor) -> VGA/HDMI adapter -> HDMI port (Card)
LG 22M37A 21,5" 1920x1080 VGA (Monitor) -> VGA/DVI-I Adapter -> Dual link DVI-I port (Card)
Ugee UG-2150 21,5" 1920x1080 HDMI (Monitor) - > HDMI/miniDP Adapter -> miniDP port (Card)

I've tried everything trying to set up the 3 monitors but they don't work.

All three monitors work fine. I've tested them separately and combined (two) and they all worked fine.

Right now, my AOC (2nd monitor) and LG (Main monitor) are working together, and my Ugee (Third) is grayed out in my display settings. I tried Johnathan Cave's procedure and it does not let me save the display settings.

Does this mean that I have to purchase two new monitors with DVI or HDMI ports so I can use the three at the same time?

Please advise and any help will be greatly appreciated.