Eyefinity Adapters Redux

[maudjuly]

I just bought a machine with a ATI Radeon HD 5770 GDDR5. My plan is to run 3 Dell ST2410 24-inch monitors on it. I now need select a displayport -> DVI dongle to run the third monitor. I have spent the past day reading up on these and cannot find consistent information. In particular I have read:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/272593-33-eyefinity-displayport-adapter-work
http://www.overclock.net/ati/586202-eyefinity-dp-dvi-adapters.html
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1461673
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/1339901.html
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=17468

However, everytime someone confirms an adapter works there is a follow up reporting the known issue by another user with that adapter. In particular common options are:

http://www.directron.com/apdpvga.html
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042801&p_id=5135&seq=1&format=2
http://www.amazon.com/Accell-B101C-001B-UltraAV-DisplayPort-Dongle/dp/B002ISX8JW/ref=pd_cp_e_1

In addition, ATI has a list of "ATI Eyefinity Validated Dongles" at http://support.amd.com/us/eyefinity/Pages/eyefinity-dongles.aspx however (1) there are reported issues (the same as with the other dongles with some of these -- in particular even the expensive USB powered adapters have reported issues) and (2) I can't find any of these adapters avalible for sale anywhere (despite the buy now links on the page). In particular the page that google is aware of that references Accell B087B-001B is the amd list! Note that the numbering on this is a bit off from the amazon product listed above.

Since these issues have now been around for several months, I was hopeful that people could give more definitive advice. If you are using a particular adapter please share what it is, what your setup is and any problems you are having.

Thanks!

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

If you are running 3 DVI monitors you need an Active Dongle, which is one that has a USB adapter to power it, or an external system (housing, etc), the ones that look like a little adpater that's about an inch or two long, won't work for 3 DVI.

You can use a passive adapter for a single VGA output, but you need to read the threads about setting them up properly, and they are finicky.

 

[jeowf]

can i just use a passive dongle if i don't use the eyefinity function and only want a larger extended desktop?

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

No, because it needs a timing signal (associated with the TMDS) for the independent DVI. For 3 DVI you need an active adapter, only if you use VGA (which runs off of the RAMDACs) would you be able to use a passive adapter, and even then configuration is tricky.

BTW, why didn't you post this in your own thread where I already mentioned this?

Kinda deprives that thread of the additional information, especially after that other post being picked as the 'best answer', which is just going to cause more headaches.