How do I set up 6 screen eyefinity for gaming?

[spacecadet01]

I've been searching for days and I'm starting to see the same articles over and over so I'll give in and ask the pros.
I want to game in 6 screens on 1 video card. AMD seems like the way to go because you can mix resolutions. That's what I want to do. 3 1200p and 3 1080p monitors to offset the middle for targeting in games.
I see you can use a mst hub for more monitors but the cards are listed on newegg as maximum monitors being either 4 or 5. Does that not apply in the case of using a mst hub? Can I exceed the listed maximum monitors and also game in eyefinity 6 or beyond that? (just curious if beyond 6 is possible). Also, not all the cards listed on newegg are labeled as eyefinity capable. Meaning some 390x's and other high end cards don't say it is eyefinity capable. Is that just poor labeling? I currently have no Display Port monitors and was also wondering what I would need in the way of adapters too. Sorry. It may not sound like it but I really tried to find this info myself but I ended up with too many unanswered questions to make a purchase. Your help is appreciated and thanks in advance.

 

[ST0RM91]

You might want to start with your system spec as gaming over 6 monitors with a single GPU may not even work.

 

[unksol]

Most cards don't do 6 anymore because they're is no demand for it, one card can't push that resolution for gaming, and a setup like you are proposing is very undesirable.

You won't be able to run any recent games like that with one card. And you'd be much better off with just three with higher resolution monitors.

 

[spacecadet01]

You might want to start with your system spec as gaming over 6 monitors with a single GPU may not even work.

mobo: ASRock Z97 Extreme6
cpu: Intel Core i7 4770K 3.5GHz Socket LGA 1150
ram: G.SKILL TridentX Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) F3-1600C7D-16GTX
hdd: samsung 840 EVO and other various hard drives
video card: gtx 970
psu: EVGA SuperNOVA 850 G2

I plan on buying an amd card for the eyefinity setup.
R9 390x is the one I was looking at but not sure if thats a good choice for this. Can't afford the fury so I didnt bother looking into it.
Right now im running 6 monitors in conjunction with the onboard video but its not the setup i need for this. No gaming in 6 screens yet. I am however running 3 1200p and 3 1080p displays. Its just not the 3 1080p I want to use so its a work in progress.

 

[spacecadet01]

Most cards don't do 6 anymore because they're is no demand for it, one card can't push that resolution for gaming, and a setup like you are proposing is very undesirable.

You won't be able to run any recent games like that with one card. And you'd be much better off with just three with higher resolution monitors.

I was looking into larger displays and higher resolution but price is kind of a factor at that point. I already have 3 of the 6 monitors but I would like a taller view.
I thought about 5 screens in portrait mode but that would be very inconvenient for everything besides gaming.

 

[spacecadet01]

Most cards don't do 6 anymore because they're is no demand for it, one card can't push that resolution for gaming, and a setup like you are proposing is very undesirable.

You won't be able to run any recent games like that with one card. And you'd be much better off with just three with higher resolution monitors.

could it be done with 2 cards?

 

[ST0RM91]

If one 390x is what you can budget for then I think you need to be realistic or alternatively buy the setup over time as and when money allows since there are card limitations among other thing to take into account when planning something like this this big.

 

[spacecadet01]

If one 390x is what you can budget for then I think you need to be realistic or alternatively buy the setup over time as and when money allows since there are card limitations among other thing to take into account when planning something like this this big.

Yeah it is going to be over a long period of time. I mainly was just wondering if this mst hub thing really works. I guess I will find out.

 

[ST0RM91]

You've likely have seen this (or something similar) already if you've been researching but it touches on a bit of everything: http://www.multiplemonitors.co.uk/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-multi-monitor-graphics-cards/

 

[spacecadet01]

I found my answer for anyone interested

http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/DrivingMultipleDisplaysFromaSingleDisplayPort.aspx

if the link doesn't work read this from the page:

Driving Multiple Displays From a Single DisplayPort™ Output with AMD Radeon Graphics Products.
Article Number: GPU-500

Driving Multiple Displays From a Single DisplayPort™ Output with AMD Radeon Graphics Products.

DisplayPort™ 1.2 Multi-Stream Transport (MST) Overview

This article provides information on how to enable multiple displays with DisplayPort 1.2 MST using AMD graphics products. Before getting started, the following is required:

DisplayPort 1.2 MST-capable hub, adapter, or monitor
A supported AMD graphics solution with DisplayPort output (see below)
AMD Catalyst™ Software Suite Version 12.8 or later available, here.

The AMD solution for driving multiple displays with DisplayPort 1.2 MST is designed with “plug and play” usability in mind. Once the MST hubs or daisy chain monitors are connected, the displays will be enabled in the system as if they were connected via their own separate inputs - the displays can be configured in the usual way within AMD CatalystTM Control Center.




The number of displays which can be connected from a single DisplayPort 1.2 MST connection is limited to a maximum of 4, and also depends on the resolution and timings of the attached displays. A few examples of supported multi-display configurations are listed here:

1600x900 @ 60Hz, 24bpp
Up to 4

1920x1080 @ 60Hz, 24bpp
Up to 4

2560x1440 @ 60Hz, 24bpp
Up to 2

2560x1600 @ 60Hz, 24bpp
Up to 2

*These configurations are examples only. The actual number of displays that can be supported will depend on the specific timings implemented in the display and the resulting video data rate. Every display is different - contact your display hardware vendor for details.

In order to assist and inform end users about DisplayPort 1.2 MST bandwidth allocations, AMD has provided a new user interface. When an MST-capable device is connected to a DisplayPort output, a “DisplayPort Diagnostics” page becomes visible in the advanced view of AMD CatalystTM Control Center. This page provides information on the total available bandwidth for the connection, the amount of bandwidth currently being used on the connection, and the amount of bandwidth being used by each individual display.




AMD Product Compatibility

The following AMD graphics products support DisplayPort 1.2 MST:

AMD Desktop Product Family Compatibility

AMD Radeon™ R9 200 Series


AMD Radeon™ HD 8000 Series

AMD Radeon™ R7 200 Series


AMD Radeon™ HD 7000 Series

AMD Radeon™ R5 200 Series


AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 Series



As of January 2013. Future products should also support DisplayPort 1.2 MST
Parts with a ‘D’ suffix indicate desktop APU solutions
Not all products feature DisplayPort 1.2 MST – Check with your component or system manufacturer for specific model capabilities

AMD Mobility Product Family Compatibility

AMD Radeon™ HD 7900M Series


AMD Radeon™ HD 7800M Series

AMD Radeon™ HD 7600M Series


AMD Radeon™ HD 7600G Series

AMD Radeon™ HD 7500M Series


AMD Radeon™ HD 7500G Series

AMD Radeon™ HD 7400M Series


AMD Radeon™ HD 7400G Series

AMD Radeon™ HD 6700M Series


AMD Radeon™ HD 6600M Series

AMD Radeon™ HD 6400M Series


AMD Radeon™ HD 6900M Series



As of January 2013. Future products should also support DisplayPort 1.2 MST
AMD’s DisplayPort 1.2 MST solution is not compatible with Switchable Graphics enabled notebooks
AMD Mobility products are featured on a wide range of partner designs, each with their own unique configuration. Please contact the HW vendor to confirm DisplayPort 1.2 MST support.
Parts with a ‘G’ suffix indicate mobile APU solutions
Not all products feature DisplayPort 1.2 MST – Check with your component or system manufacturer for specific model capabilities

Compatible Operating Systems

The DisplayPort 1.2 MST solution is designed to support the following Microsoft Windows® platforms:

Windows 8 32-bit version
Windows 8 64-bit version
Windows 7 32-bit version
Windows 7 64-bit version

 

[spacecadet01]

You've likely have seen this (or something similar) already if you've been researching but it touches on a bit of everything: http://www.multiplemonitors.co.uk/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-multi-monitor-graphics-cards/

Thanks for that. It was a good read. I always wondered about making a pc with passive cooling graphics. I'll have to try that some time.

 

[spacecadet01]

btw...the xfx cards seem to be the only ones that advertise 6 monitor eyefinity support. Not saying the others don't support it, just saying they dont tell you on newegg or anywhere I've seen. I just don't know if the others do or not. However, some of the other brands do say they only support 4 or 5 monitors. Some just don't say at all. Don't buy it without confirmation though. I think it's some of the 200 series and every xfx card after that series will support it. DON'T BUY IT WITHOUT CONFIRMING THIS! Its in the overview section of the newegg page. Remember, you will need a mst hub for the display port. Hope this helps.

 

[macroBuild]

Did you ever end up buying this? How did it go? Would you recommend it, or did you find a better alternative?

btw...the xfx cards seem to be the only ones that advertise 6 monitor eyefinity support. Not saying the others don't support it, just saying they dont tell you on newegg or anywhere I've seen. I just don't know if the others do or not. However, some of the other brands do say they only support 4 or 5 monitors. Some just don't say at all. Don't buy it without confirmation though. I think it's some of the 200 series and every xfx card after that series will support it. DON'T BUY IT WITHOUT CONFIRMING THIS! Its in the overview section of the newegg page. Remember, you will need a mst hub for the display port. Hope this helps.

 

[spacecadet01]

Actually I decided against it. I got tired of bezels and decided to go with a single bigger screen. I bought a projector.