Help with Eyefinity

[Akumahai]

I was hoping to buy a radeon 7950 to hook up my 4 monitors. I know I can do this, but I have heard that with eyefinity, I need to have one hooked up with a display port.

First of all, can I set eyefinity to use 3 monitors while gaming and have a 4th one sitting unused? Nvidia states this explicitly, but I cant tell with the radeon cards.

second...
I am looking to buy this. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202026

The only problem is the display port. I have 3 monitors that support dvi or vga, and one that supports vga or hdmi. I would naturally use the hdmi directly into my hdmi tv, and the 2 dvi into 2 of my monitors. that leaves me with the display port that I need to buy an adapter for. I see some people saying that specific display-dvi dont work with eyefinity, and others mention they can. Can I get some help on one that will work with this card and my current monitor setup?

 

[Supermuncher85]

Anything 2+ will need display port. You don't need a monitor with DP you can buy an ACTIVE adapter display port --> DVI which I use. Like http://www.amazon.com/Accell-B087B-006B-DisplayPort-Single-Link-Certified/dp/B004071ZXA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1367290468&sr=8-3&keywords=dp+to+dvi+active which I use and works.

So unless things changed with the 7XXX I don't even think you can use 4 monitors with that card, since it only has one DP.

As per AMD:

Connecting multiple monitors for AMD Eyefinity technology couldn’t be simpler. There are four easy rules to remember:

■ The first two monitors can connect to the graphics card with any display output on your product: HDMI, VGA, DVI or DisplayPort.
■ The third (or greater) display must be connected to the graphics card via DisplayPort.
If your monitor does not have a DisplayPort connection, you will need an inexpensive active DisplayPort adapter for it. DVI to DP adapters can be had for less than $30 USD.
■ Every family of GPUs supports a different maximum number of displays.

http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/amd-eyefinity-technology/how-to/Pages/faqs.aspx

So you would need a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202007&IsVirtualParent=1

 

[Akumahai]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202007&Tpk=7950%20flex&IsVirtualParent=1

Amd's website explicitly says that this one, the flex version, works with up to 5 monitors without requiring active display port adapters.

 

[Supermuncher85]

Yes but you linked http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202026

edit: also the flex editions are *special* versions and are an exception to the rules! http://www.sapphiretech.com/Flex/FleX_Eng_apply.html read more here. Again the card that you linked in the first one is NOT a flex! Make sure to order the right one!
edit2: Also to your other question can you use extedended WITH eyefinity? Not sure I never tried. Technically I'd have a 4th display but I don't have another active DP -> dvi adapter to test it since I don't own a flex edition sapphire.

 

[Akumahai]

I keep seeing that the flex version (which isn't much more, and saves me having to buy 2 active display ports) supports 5 monitors. It also says it can support 3 dvi, giving the dvi-sl, dvi-dl, and hdmi as an example. Does anyone know if this means I can use a simple $5 passive dp->dvi for my 4th? or does the flex version only allow for 1 extra?

 

[Supermuncher85]

Well saves you buying one as far as I know. It only lists support for 3, the 4th will still need an adpater, but I would ask the sapphire sales chat that question. They should be able to answer that question.

 

[bryonhowley]

I have two systems with AMD cards a Crossfire HD 7950 and a Crossfire HD 7970 and with both of them I can have a 3+1 Eyefinity setup. On my systems I have 3 Asus 27" monitors in a Eyefinity and the fourth monitor going to one of my HDTV's. The same thing can be done with Nvidia but unlike AMD you can not select which monitors are to be part of the Surround setup you have to plug and unplug cables into different ports on both cards until the drivers will select the correct monitors. There is a chart on Nvidia's website to show the placement but it does not work at all. Anyone wanting to do 3 or more monitors should always get AMD as Nvidia's setup is just broken in every way there is including the way the desktop works with 3 monitors.

 

[Akumahai]

I have two systems with AMD cards a Crossfire HD 7950 and a Crossfire HD 7970 and with both of them I can have a 3+1 Eyefinity setup. On my systems I have 3 Asus 27" monitors in a Eyefinity and the fourth monitor going to one of my HDTV's. The same thing can be done with Nvidia but unlike AMD you can not select which monitors are to be part of the Surround setup you have to plug and unplug cables into different ports on both cards until the drivers will select the correct monitors. There is a chart on Nvidia's website to show the placement but it does not work at all. Anyone wanting to do 3 or more monitors should always get AMD as Nvidia's setup is just broken in every way there is including the way the desktop works with 3 monitors.

That definitely answers my first part, thanks.