ATi Eyefinity requires DisplayPort panels?

[jessicafae]

If we look at the fine print on the bottom of the official Eyefinity page,
http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/eyefinity/Pages/eyefinity.aspx
ATi says
1) Driver version 8.66 (Catalyst 9.10) or above is required to support ATI Eyefinity technology and to enable a third display you require one panel with a DisplayPort connector.

Eyefinity should be out of NDA now so we should be able to get a clear answer on this now. Can anyone confirm/deny this official ATi fine print?
Does Eyefinity require DisplayPort panels for any configuration greater than 2?

 

[W1zzard]

i think that fine print refers to the fact that there is no card with 3x dvi, not sure what about hdmi

 

[jessicafae]

i think that fine print refers to the fact that there is no card with 3x dvi, not sure what about hdmi

Thanks W1zzard.
I hope you are right. When you do your review of the 5870 can you test a 5760x1080 display group(3x 1920x1080 panels) with 2 DVI +1 HDMI panel (or an HDMI->DVI adapter or a DisplayPort->DVI adapter)? Or can you send an email off to AMD/ATi to get an official answer?

I remember watching one of the video interviews on Eyefinity and the developers (who where previously part of the Matrox TH2G team) mentioned that ATi needed to wait for "next generation display technology" to get it to work and I think he mentioned DisplayPort technology. (no source sorry) I have no problem with it requiring DisplayPort but if this is true it needs to be talked about to avoid a negative backlash if people assume they can glue 3 old DVI panels together with adapter cables, and then it turns out they can not.

 

[W1zzard]

i'm not sure if the reviewer driver has support for eyefinity, but if not i'll definitely get an answer for you. i do know for a fact that you can use an active dp -> dvi adapter with the dp outputs on the cards to run 3x dvi. it adds quite a bit of cost however for the adapter

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Indeed, DisplayPort is not interface compatible with DVI or HDMI; hence, spendy adapter. It is kind of silly why they don't put mini-DVI ports on the card instead of DisplayPort which has next to no support. Not to mention, powering two monitors strains most cards, three or more is going to be trouble nevermind being outside of the budget of most consumers.

 

[jessicafae]

Isn't http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815158138 a DisplayPort to DVI adaptor? $23 is not expensive compared to the cost of a $200 monitor. Or am I missing something here?

Eyefinity is pretty cool tech. Yes it has been done by SGI or research labs or custom installs, but this is the first time a small laboratory or company can get one using commodity parts. $450(?) for a 2GB 5870 with 6x $250 monitors is ~$2000 which is very reasonable. I am hoping Samsung upgrades their 2343BWX 23" 2048 x 1152 panel to include a DisplayPort connector and ultrathin bezels and keeps the price around the $250. And the demos ATi did on September 10th shows that the 5870 can drive 6 displays at high resolution at visually acceptable framerates. waiting for the Sept 22/23 reviews to get the real details.....

 

[FordGT90Concept]

That adapter is only 1920x1200 capable and that's $23 you shouldn't have to spend if it were a DVI cable in the first place.

 

[W1zzard]

isnt displayport single link only, so the maximum resolution is something close to 1920x1200 anyway?

 

[ToTTenTranz]

isnt displayport single link only, so the maximum resolution is something close to 1920x1200 anyway?

It does 2560 × 1600 × 60 Hz × 30 bpp, which is the same as dual-link DVI.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

DisplayPort isn't cut and dried like DVI is. It can carry multiple display signals or none. It could carry multiple audio channels or none. It's maximum bandwidth is 8.64 Gb/s but, the longer the cable, the more it drops.