5850 and tearing

[Sael]

Hello,

I currently have a 5850 and was thinking of trying an eyefinity set up. From what I've read, it seems as though I would be unable to do this without having tearing on one of the monitors. Am I correct?

Thanks.

[suiken_2mieu]

Not neccessarily. I know generally what creates tearing is using different monitors or different type of connections.
Though I can tell you when I was using DVI and VGA connections, I did not have tearing. I did how ever when I mixed DVI and DP and mixed monitors.

[Sael]

Thank you for the swift reply.

Just to clarify - when you mixed dvi and dp was that with the same monitors or was that with mixed monitors?

And is this a common thing - that dvi and vga has no tear?

[suiken_2mieu]

Thank you for the swift reply.

Just to clarify - when you mixed dvi and dp was that with the same monitors or was that with mixed monitors?

They were with mixed monitors. It was a Dell 3007wfp-hc, 30" Apple Cinema Display, and Dell S2409w and were using Apple MiniDP-> Dual Link DVI, Apple MiniDP-> Dual Link DVI, Passive MiniDP->DVI Respectively.

And is this a common thing - that dvi and vga has no tear?

I'm not sure, it has been a long time since I did it. I was running 5 dell S2309W monitors. 2 DVI and 3 VGA.
2 DVI and 1 VGA were in a Group together, where the other 2 VGA monitors were extended. This was around the launch of the 5800 series.

EDIT: I also got tearing using a random HP monitor with two dell 3007wfp-hc's.

[Sael]

So, with 3 identical monitors with DVI-DVI DVI-DVI and DP-VGA you reckon there's a good chance of it working?

Also, do you know how the 5850 is doing with eyefinity these days?

[suiken_2mieu]

So, with 3 identical monitors with DVI-DVI DVI-DVI and DP-VGA you reckon there's a good chance of it working?

I'd say so.

Also, do you know how the 5850 is doing with eyefinity these days?

What do you mean? Performance wise?

[Sael]

Yes, sorry that was pretty non-specific.

I meant performance-wise in more recent releases. The info/benchmarks I've seen were for older titles.

[suiken_2mieu]

Yes, sorry that was pretty non-specific.

I meant performance-wise in more recent releases. The info/benchmarks I've seen were for older titles.

Well you're going to definatly put down some settings. Especially AA and Textures due to only having 1GB of VRAM.
Basically as long as you don't expect to play on max settings, you should be fine.

[Sael]

Thanks for that. Gives me something to go on.

Might give it a try to see if it works and think about an upgrade.

Then of course it all becomes about which card would be best and if the 7000 series are coming out...

[Sael]

So I grabbed my monitors yesterday and me adapter arrived today. Just thought I'd leave some feedback in case anyone else comes across the thread.

Runing dvi-dvi dvi-dvi and dp-vga. Adapter seems to work (found correct resolution after a reboot) and I can't see any tearing or similar artefacts which is awesome. Bit fiddly setting up the display groups here and there; made slightly more complicated by my 4th monitor (connected via USB). Think I've got it ok atm. Win+P can switch between the one eyefinity + 4th and 4 extended so I'm guessing that's about as right as it gets. I tried the monitors in portrait and landscape and I think I'm gonna give the portrait a go for the time being. Plus it's the only way to get all 4 monitors on the desk easily.

Games I have tried so far:
Battlefield 3
Dawn of War 2: Retribution
Lord of the Rings Online

All have pretty solid eyefinity support so that was a bonus. The games ran at about 10fps with all settings maxed until I turned off AA and then they were all back to a solid 45-50 (BF3 still a bit lower). Overall I'm really happy how it's turned out and looking forward to trying some more games on it.

Big thanks to suiken_2mieu for your advice.

[suiken_2mieu]

No Problem, It's good I could help.