Attempting 3 monitor setup with Eyefinity

[blarrick]

So I've got a 7870 and i have one 1080p monitor with a DVI-D port and 2 720p monitors with VGA ports. I have various adapters running to get all 3 monitors connected to the graphics card at once and of course im having trouble with the 3rd monitor like everyone seems to have with Eyefinity.

At first I tried connecting all 3 monitors at once and found out that you need to have one connected to the Displayport for the third to show up. So i ordered a Displayport to DVI-D connector and now Catalyst detects the 3rd monitor but it won't let me have all 3 active at once. Of course now I find out that you need an 'active' displayport adapter for the 3rd to show up.

My question is, is there ANY other way to achieve the 3rd monitor without having to buy a $30 active cable? I really don't want to dump anymore money into this when I don't even want to use these monitors for gaming, i just want the 1080p to display my games and the other 2 to display sepperate apps.

 

[lp231]

It requires a active adapter, passive adapters will not work.
It's not only for Eyefinity, but for the 3rd monitor to work.

Which HD7870 do you have, post a link to it.

 

[akensai]

There is no way, you NEED an active DisplayPort adapter, passive can not do it.

Furthermore, you are going to have trouble running 5760x1080 on a 7870, it should be fine in older games but you are reaching the limits of the 7870 already in most games on a single 1080p monitor.

 

[lp231]

There is no way, you NEED an active DisplayPort adapter, passive can not do it.

Furthermore, you are going to have trouble running 5760x1080 on a 7870, it should be fine in older games but you are reaching the limits of the 7870 already in most games on a single 1080p monitor.

OP isn't running on Eyefinity, all he wants is to use the 3rd monitor.
It's 1 monitor for game and the rest of the two for programs.
In other words, he basically want to run 3 independent monitors on a single video card.
No matter what the active adapter is needed or else the 3rd screen will not work.
But I can't tell whether his card uses DP or Mini-DP.

My view of connecting would be
1 monitor using DVI to HDMI cable
2nd monitor DVI to VGA adapter, connect with VGA cable
3rd monitor Active DP or mini DP to VGA adapter and connect with VGA cable

 

[akensai]

There is no way, you NEED an active DisplayPort adapter, passive can not do it.

Furthermore, you are going to have trouble running 5760x1080 on a 7870, it should be fine in older games but you are reaching the limits of the 7870 already in most games on a single 1080p monitor.

OP isn't running on Eyefinity, all he wants is to use the 3rd monitor.
It's 1 monitor for game and the rest of the two for programs.
In other words, he basically want to run 3 independent monitors on a single video card.

Ah, my mistake there. Thank's for pointing it out. He will still have issues with 2 in EF but should be overall okay at medium settings.

In any case, still stands, you need an ACTIVE DisplayPort adapter.

 

[lp231]

there are cable splitters, but it just clones the same image which is useless

 

[blarrick]

Ah, my mistake there. Thank's for pointing it out. He will still have issues with 2 in EF but should be overall okay at medium settings.

In any case, still stands, you need an ACTIVE DisplayPort adapter.

Thanks for the help guys. Was really hoping i didnt need the adapter but that's how it is sometimes i suppose. Btw my 7870 runs almost everything(bioshock inf, BF4 singleplayer, cod ghosts etc) max settings with 2 monitors active, save 1 or 2 settings slightly lowered