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Mini Displayport Adapter for Eyefinity

bokou

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Joined
Feb 16, 2011
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Location
Mississippi
System Name The Beast 2
Processor AMD Phenom II 965 OC'd: 3.9ghz
Motherboard ASUS Crosshair IV Formula
Cooling Noctua NH-D14
Memory G-Skill Ripjaw DDR3-1600
Video Card(s) XFX Radeon HD 6970
Storage WDl 7200rpm 500gb
Display(s) Acer 21" LCD, Westinghouse 21" LCD
Case Coolermaster HAF932
Audio Device(s) On-board 7.1 SupremeFX
Power Supply Xion 800w Modular
Software Windows 7, Steam, BFBC2, TF2, Adobe CS5
Benchmark Scores 20k+ on 3dMark06, will have to look at exact number
So I've done a little bit of research and found that on most AMD cards (my 6970 included) you can use both DVI ports at the same time but the HDMI port runs off one of the DVI ports so you can't use it for your third monitor. You have to use one of the mini displayports for a third monitor.

I plan on grabbing 3 Asus 23.6" monitors here shortly and was looking at an HIS active mini dp to dvi adapter on newegg. It's not deactivated and there doesn't seem to be a single one on newegg any more that claims to be eyefinity compatible (aka "active" instead of "passive" adapter).

I honestly don't care if it's got an external power source or usb plug to power it as well, but I know that this isn't necessary and the HIS one I saw a couple weeks ago didn't require extra power. The last thing I want to do is buy the one from the Apple store that costs $60+ and I'd prefer DVI over HDMI because I don't really need the audio to the monitors and I've already got DVI plugs out the ears and will have to spend another $25 in HDMI cables.
 
also... haven't seen a single monitor that's got mini displayport connections on it... wtf is with this damn connection. They seem to be sticking it on tons of cards but don't have anything that plugs into it.
 
Monitors use the full fat Displayport.

u use the mini Dp to DP adapter that comes with most of these cards.
 
Monitors use the full fat Displayport.

but if u use the mini Dp to DP adapter that comes with most of these cards.

^yup


but if you are using both DVI ports and the DP (for eyefinity for example) you will need an active miniDP-DP adapter as far as understand it.
 
my xfx 6970 didn't come with an adapter...also the 23.6" Asus monitor that's got a bajillion 5-star reviews for $179 on newegg doesn't have dp ports on it, just d-sub, dvi, and hdmi. There's an LED backlight version for $10 more and it looks like it has the exact same connections on it.
 
2xDVI and 1xHDMI out from your 6970 - i don't know if that is a certified eyefinity output combo?

does any one here run with that setup?


[edit] you already said you cant use both DVI and the HDMI, your kinda stuck if you choose those screens, you need DP screens
 
yeah I knew you could get a minidp to dvi adapter but newegg doesn't carry a single "Active" one. The difference between active and a normal adapter is... well basically a normal changer won't tell eyefinity what it needs and will absolutely NOT work. Newegg had a few different brands in stock but currently only has a few "meh" ones that don't say a single thing about being eyefinity capable or being "active" anywhere in the description.

I'll take a look at the link you just gave me and see if I can find one.

You can't do dvi + dvi + hdmi. The hdmi piggy backs on one of the dvi ports and so it will still only see 2 monitors connected. You're forced to use a minidp in combination with dvi + dvi or dvi + hdmi. You could use minidp + minidp + minidp if you wanted though.

And I don't want a monitor that costs extra because it's got a dp port or minidp port because that's an extra cost for all three monitors when if I get an adapter that's a one-time cost for a single monitor in the setup.
 
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