4890 CrossFire + Dual Monitors Possible?

[Artg17]

Hey guys I have 2 XFX 4890's and Samsung T260. I am thinking about picking up another T260 but wondering whether I will be able to use 2 monitors with CrossFire?

[newtekie1]

No, AFAIK, you have to disable crossfire to use multipler monitors.

[Artg17]

That sucks, in that case there is no point of getting another monitor

[overclocking101]

Yea I'm still hoping amd fixes this with a catalyst but I've been hoping for a while. Its really to bad

[Artg17]

I just talked to some people on another forum and they told me that CF will use two monitors SLI wont. I am confused

[newtekie1]

They are definitely wrong, SLi allows you to use up to two monitors, not crossfire.

http://www.slizone.com/object/sli_multi_monitor.html

[cadaveca]

Originally Posted by newtekie1

No, AFAIK, you have to disable crossfire to use multipler monitors.

Nope.

Originally Posted by Artg17

I just talked to some people on another forum and they told me that CF will use two monitors SLI wont. I am confused

Too bad thier confusion passed on to you...I'll help with that though.

Originally Posted by newtekie1

They are definitely wrong, SLi allows you to use up to two monitors, not crossfire.

http://www.slizone.com/object/sli_multi_monitor.html

Actually, YOU are WRONG....but not really. Crossfire here, running Dell 30-inch, and LG 204WTX. What SLi can do with multi-monitors and games(specific apps only, less than I have fingers, currently, like FlightSim X, and SUP-COM), Crossfire can do as well.

You cannot run 3D across both monitors, but desktop is fine, UNLESS THE APP ITSELF SUPPORTS MULTI-MONITOR RENDERING.

THis requires that you have both monitors plugged into the same VGA...it does not work if you plug a monitor into each VGA.

So, to recap, both can run multiple monitors, both have the same app limitation, and ergo, there's no difference in functionality here in this situation between chip vendors.

[Artg17]

Thanks, I just bought another Samsung T260. So I'll be good with having my desktop stretched across two monitors for multi tasking and video editing as long as both monitors are plugged into one gpu. Will my desktop resolution be changed or will each monitor run 1920x1200.Will the other monitors just go blank when I play a game. I have never had dual monitors so I don't know. What are some ways people on here benefit from running two monitors?

Originally Posted by cadaveca

WRONG....but not really. Crossfire here, running Dell 30-inch, and LG 204WTX. What SLi can do with multi-monitors and games(specific apps only, less than I have fingers, currently, like FlightSim X, and SUP-COM), Crossfire can do as well.

You cannot run 3D across both monitors, but desktop is fine, UNLESS THE APP ITSELF SUPPORTS MULTI-MONITOR RENDERING.

THis requires that you have both monitors plugged into the same VGA...it does not work if you plug a monitor into each VGA.

[cadaveca]

You can run the monitos at any resolution the panels support while desktop is stretched, however, lowest common resolution between the panels is the max in clone mode. I run 2560x1600 and 1680x1050 at the same time.


I use my smaller screen for monitoring tools when running benchmarks/gaming. One thing to note that is if the app defaults video sequences to like 800x600, or some other res lower than desktop, the secondary monitor will go to this small res while the other displays 3D, and will not revert until the 3d app is exited. Other apps leave the screen completely blank...again, multi-monitor support while using 3D is app-dependant.

Due to the "video stack" that Vista and DX10 presents, Win7 may offer far better functionality in this regard, but i'll not look for anything until Win7 hits retail...Win7 should support things like shared framebuffers and such that are currently an issue in Vista, AFAIK.

[Artg17]

What resolution desktop wallpapers can I use?

[TheLaughingMan]

I am not sure, cadaveca seems to have answered all your questions. I will just add I have a friend with 3 monitors hooked up and when he runs a game or another 3D app, the other monitors simply black out. I am not sure if he set it that way, but they go to a low power state until he returns to his normal desktop.

[cadaveca]

Originally Posted by Artg17

What resolution desktop wallpapers can I use?

2560x1600 wallpaper shows only partial image on the smaller monitor...I imagine that if you tell windows to stretch the wallpaper image to full monitor size, and the original image is saame or less pixel-size than the smaller monitor, it may be ok, but I don't personally use wallpaper as it eats up a miniscule bit of ram.


That said though, windows is responsible for wallpaper control, and with ATI at least, is aware that both monitors are present, but like I said, I use no wallpapaer, just a plain black background...which saves some power on this massive Dell 30-inch.

[Artg17]

Thanks for clarifying