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Started by zakwild | | 42 answers
3 Monitors - R9 280X not working
So I've bought myself a new graphics card to switch over from Nvidia GTX 670. I still like nvidia I just thought why not give amd a go, I had ATI a while ago but then I switched to Nvidia. I have 3 24" monitors that have the same resolution etc, same everything. PS. nvidia surround works pretty well with them.

But now I have a problem connecting my 3rd monitor , I have the Windforce R9 280x version from Gigabyte which has 1x DVI 1x HDMI and 2x mini-display ports. Now ,I've read that you don't require a displayport to displayport monitor connection anymore to make eyefinity work. Besides my monitors don't have displayports in them, BUT I have a display port to DVI cable with a reduction to mini display port. To make it sound less confusing , the DVI goes into my monitor since it doesnt have a DP and the DP goes to DP to DP mini reduction which goes straight to my graphics card.

I've tried switching tons of variations of cables like DVI , DVI(DP to DVI) , HDMI or HDMI, HDMI(DP to HDMI), DVI and nothing seems to work.
Both windows and AMD catalyst center register ALL 3 monitors and ofcourse all of them work perfectly fine. But when I try to activate a 3rd monitor , windows says unable to save display configuration and then in catalyst center thats impossible since I dont have such option there for the 3rd monitor I can only switch it while disabling another one.

Please help me , this is giving me a headache. On Nvidia I had no such problems, I could be using HDMI , DVI and DP to DVI and it would work just fine, hell even VGA worked with 4th monitor.
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October 16, 2014 7:31:29 PM

Holy crap this thread exploded.

So, after looking at everyone's advice. I've come to one realization. There are two problems with my situation, that should solve the issue.

MOST LIKELY -> Due to the fact that my LG monitor is 2560x1080 while the other two are 1920 x 1080, the LG must be using either HDMI by itself, or Displayport, while the other 2 monitors, are both running off DVI. This is all based on the theory that it should work with 2 dvi + 1 HDMI. the science behind it is the amount of languages that the GPU can produce & convert at the same time. It can't produce HDMI or DVI data stream through the displayport on it's own, which is why it needs the active adapter.

Possible solutions that I am going to try, starting from the first thing I'm trying, to the last.

Step 1 -> getting a Displayport cable from C2G that is VESA certified. I will try that with that hooked up to my LG monitor and the other two monitors will be on HDMI/DVI. this SHOULD solve the problem per AMD's specs and all the info I can find about how eyefinity works.

IF this doesn't work, I'm going to try the double-DVI/HDMI method, put the 2 side monitors both on DVI->HDMI, and the LG on HDMI alone.

If these two things don't work, I'm going to be very upset, because from what I'm reading, i've tried literally everything else and these are the only 2 options that work for people.

From what I've read, it all has to do with the type of data that the GPU has to produce to send video to your displays. It can do 3 , but it can't convert the displayport data on it's own.
October 14, 2014 6:21:54 AM

nooneisback said:
I have a r9 280x eyefinity setup without any active dp adapters (all screens are dvi), the only thing you need to do is not use the default windows monitor management, but the amd catalyst.


Do you mean you havent used the Windows management at least to make the third monitor active? I understood that you have to make the 3 active via Windows and then use Catalyst only to create the eyefinity group.

Am I wrong? Should I try to activate the third monitor via Catalyst first?

Thx
October 14, 2014 2:20:47 AM

I have a r9 280x eyefinity setup without any active dp adapters (all screens are dvi), the only thing you need to do is not use the default windows monitor management, but the amd catalyst.
October 3, 2014 2:32:23 PM

Hope somebody is still able to help in this thread.

I am having the same problem as the original OP. I have a R9 280x with the same 3 monitors and cant get the 3rd monitor to work.

Tried to follow the steps decribed by Jonathan, but when I try to duplicate the monitors Windows doesnt let me save the config.

I was able to make the third monitor work with a DP to VGA adapter though. The problem I had with this option was that after trying to configure eyefinity, Windows reports problems in the VGA monitor, saying it is incapable of high resolutions (even though it was in full HD before the eyefinity).

At the moment AMD catalyst is at version 13.12, as someone mentioned it could be an issue with the new driver.

Help?
August 14, 2014 4:25:03 AM

KevinAr18 said:

However, now that you brought it up, I do wonder if converting the signal might delay the screen slightly. It's possible this conversion process could affect input lag on that particular monitor. (It may affect the time it takes for the changes to show up on that monitor). However, it may be so minor that you can't even notice a difference between monitors ... or maybe it could be noticeable between the different monitors... I just don't know.


This indeed does happen and it is actually the tear that I am referring to, sorry if perhaps I didn't explain myself properly as to what tear I was referring to. I believe this is termed an "Eyefinity tear" It still happens between monitors that are exactly the same, and is actually visible at any given time (you can just drag any open window across the desktop to appreciate this).

I have purchased a new 280x with 2 dvi outputs and so I have not yet tested it out for myself, but I assume Purplepenguin would have noticed and mentioned this on-screen tear if it had been present on one of his monitors.

Ultimately I guess that sharing (not exclusive use) of a clock generator is not hardwired or limited to just dvi and hdmi ports and that the card would autosense a dvi output on the display port and assign the generator to it.

Of course, as always, the sharing can only happen upon cold boot.

It would be really cool though if somebody actually confirmed this as a fact, at least for all those prospective eyefinity buyers, as I know I was unable to find explicit information about this anywhere on manufacturers' websites and forums.
a b C Monitor
August 12, 2014 4:46:08 PM

purple penguin said:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00GX5Y87W/ref=oh_au...

this is the DP to DVI adapters that i use and had no problems with

Thanks. Sadly, I can't tell if it is passive or active. It does seem like it might be a "passive" one considering the price and that the active ones are often (if not always?) pretty short. "Active" adapters are generally more like $20 from other companies (vs $10 for that one).

The reason I asked is because this has an effect on certain monitor setups. If the adapters are active, then you are using 1 DVI and 2 Displayport outputs. If the cables are passive, you are using 3 DVI outputs.

sgt_jimbo said:

I could always use an active dp adapter (and I do have one already), but then it would generate it's own timing (at least that's how I understand it) and it would be out of sync with the other 2 monitors.

The cable on amazon does not mention that it is active and given the price I would say it isn't. In addition i think if he was using active adapters then he would be getting a tear in at least one of his monitors.

Sorry, didn't know you had one already.
I doubt the adapter will have an effect on screen tearing, since that is usually an issue related to the video card (or other component) being too slow to output a constant 60 FPS... (which purple penguin seems to have mentioned in his reply). No matter which cable you chose, you will probably still get screen tearing in some games due to the video card not being able to keep up (but this will affect all the monitors).
Of course purple penguin did mention a few issues he's had with drivers and whatnot... and I guess fewer conversions is ideal.


However, you did mention your concern about the conversion process an "active" adapter uses. While I don't really know the answer, I can give you some info to consider. Some of this you already know, but maybe it will help others too.

* As you know, DVI and HDMI use a TMDS to make the cable work. You can only have as many monitors as you have TMDS on the video card. Current generation Nvidia cards have 3 TMDS, I think. AMD 7xxx has 2 TMDS. AMD R7 & R9 also have 2 TMDS, but can share them with similar monitors (so they support more than 2 monitors).
* TMDS only limits the DVI and HDMI ports, not Displayport. You can add many more monitors using the Displayport plugs. Displayport supposedly uses some type of packet system (like networking, but without the error correction maybe?? could be wrong on this)

* What if you use a Displayport to DVI/HDMI cable? If HDMI/DVI are so different from Displayport, how does this cable even work?
Well, oddly enough, the cable does not "convert" the signal from Displayport to HDMI/DVI.
Instead, the Displayport specification includes a special "compatibility mode" for HDMI and DVI: the cable simply switches to DVI or HDMI. So, if you connect a Displayaport to HDMI/DVI cable, the system will send a HDMI or DVI signal instead of a Displayport signal. As you might guess, this means you run right back into the TMDS limit, which limits the number of monitors you can have. (Side note: This type of setup is limited to single link DVI, due to something about not enough pins for dual link DVI. So, you are limited to monitors somewhere around 1920x1200@60Hz.)

* Now, the "active" Displayport to HDMI/DVI adapter you were referring to includes a chip inside it like this one:
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/slas583a/slas583a.pdf
The chip does an actual conversion of the Displayport signal into HDMI or DVI signal. To do this, the converter actually includes an extra TMDS or whatever. The result, is that the video card outputs a real Displayport signal, then the converter converts it to DVI or HDMI (and includes an extra TMDS) for the monitor. So, with this type of converter, you can add more HDMI or DVI monitors beyond the TMDS limit your video card has. (Side note: Some single link DVI active adapters can be quite cheap (less than $20), but the dual link DVI active adapters, are still quite expensive I think).


Anyways, a lot of that you may have known ... and it doesn't really address your question ... but looking from that, I don't think anything there should cause screen tearing (unless there is some weird thing about the monitor having to communicate with the video card, which is then used to sync the frames differently??)
However, now that you brought it up, I do wonder if converting the signal might delay the screen slightly. It's possible this conversion process could affect input lag on that particular monitor. (It may affect the time it takes for the changes to show up on that monitor). However, it may be so minor that you can't even notice a difference between monitors ... or maybe it could be noticeable between the different monitors... I just don't know.
August 12, 2014 1:51:00 AM

i'm running eyefinity on sli at a res of 3600*1200 with the cables i've stated. all connected to the same card.
i have not noticed any tears but it does tear if you put all the settings to max on games like assassins creed 4. but you would expect that since they aren't top of the range cards. i can play the game with mid to high settings with no lag or tear.
my monitors are 3* samsung syncmasters 24" max res 1920*1200
for watching films or 3d modelingi have not noticed any tears or the monitors going out of sync.
this set up seems to be stable for me. i have used this set up for the last 3 months with no complaints.

the only time this set up has given me bother is when you try to use the latest drivers. and if i use the latest drivers for 2 monitors then i get the odd tear or lag/monitors going out of sync for a few milliseconds.
i have tried loads of different combinations for multi monitoring but this one for me seems to give the best results. just a pity the drivers are not very good.
from my experience you can get rid of most of the little faults by using older versions of the drivers. v13.12 works for me but you might have slight issues with them depending on hardware.
August 12, 2014 1:25:37 AM

Not sure how to quote multiple messages at once like you guys did so that last message was a bit messed up. Sorry
August 12, 2014 1:23:28 AM

Quote:
Anyways, you might as well give it a shot; since, even if it doesn't work, an "active" mini Displayport to DVI adapter is only around $20: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&c...


I could always use an active dp adapter (and I do have one already), but then it would generate it's own timing (at least that's how I understand it) and it would be out of sync with the other 2 monitors.

The cable on amazon does not mention that it is active and given the price I would say it isn't. In addition i think if he was using active adapters then he would be getting a tear in at least one of his monitors.

Quote:
Hey. Well I use 2 r9 280x twin frozr msi which have the single dvi, 2 dp and 1 hdmi and I am able to use any combination to gwt 3 displays working. But only as long as I use the 13.12 drivers
And stability wise I have no issues.


Do you have any eyefinity tears with your current setup?

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