Some questions About Eyefinity

[poplm2]

Hello Everyone, My name is Bradley. I'll most likely be using this forum a bit while im putting together my new pc.

To start off, I currently have the following picked out:
CollerMaster HAF 912
Rosewill RCX-TC060PRO Thermal Compound

ASUS SaberTooth X58

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 24GB (6 x 4GB)

ZALMAN CNPS11X Extreme

x2 ASUS VW246H + mine = 3 total

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX

Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS

ASUS Black DVD Burner

Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz

And im now looking for a set of 2 Eyefinity Compatible Video cards, My budget is around $230 each and they need to support SLI, Crossfire, or CrossfireX.
#1: Can eyefinity only work on AMD cards or just about any card with x2 DVI and x1 MiniDisplay Port.
#2: If not What Brands specifically allow Eyefinity?

Thanks For your time, Bradley

 

[borisof007]

Eyefinity is an AMD/ATI Exclusive technology. It allows for the connection of more than 2 monitors on a single video card. I believe only ATI cards have displayport connections, I've never seen an Nvidia card have one. All ATI cards that have 2 DVI ports and at least 1 displayport (whether it's mini or regular) support Eyefinity.

Eyefinity does have limitations though:

1. Every monitor connected beyond the 2nd MUST use a Displayport (regular or Mini) and if needed, you must use an ACTIVE displayport adapter. Passive will not work.

2. Even if you crossfire two or more video cards, ALL of the monitors must connect to the FIRST GPU.

Example: I have two 6850's in crossfire. I have 3 monitors. I connect 2 monitors to the first GPU, and 1 monitor to the second GPU. Monitors 1 and 2 will work fine, but monitor 3 will not have any display as it's connected to the second GPU and not the first.

Another example: I have a single 5850 video card. I use both DVI connections for monitors 1 and 2 and the HDMI connection for monitor 3. Monitor 3 will have no display as it needs to be connected via the DisplayPort with an ACTIVE displayport adapter for it to work. Even if I had crossfired 5850's, all 3 monitors must connect to the first GPU.

SLi is an Nvidia only technology, which has different limitations.

With SLi:

1. Monitors can be connected on both the first and second GPU. Monitors would be connected in the following fashion: 2 monitors to video card #1, 1 monitor to video card #2. This can be done using whatever connection you'd like (VGA, DVI, or HDMI).

2. I believe Nvidia only supports up to 3 monitors in SLi, whereas Eyefinity technically supports up to 6 monitors.


I hope this helps!