5040x1050 on an ATI card (4870 or other)

flownaze · Post by **flownaze** » 12 Sep 2008, 20:33

Sorry for the cross post, I placed this in the wrong forum...

Does anybody know the exact reason that we can't run at 3x1680x1050 on an ATI card?

Is it a hardware limitation on the ATI card?

Is it a hardware issue on the TH2G?

Driver issue from ATI?

Maxtrox Software issue?

If it's a software issue (ATI/Matrox) I'm willing to try to write a shim/patch that will either try to convince the Matrox software that you have an Nvidia card (or another device capable of 5040x1050.)

Also, has anybody tried setting the proper modelines under linux for 5040x1050 @ 57 in linux? (might be a good test to see if it's a software issue)

CY:G · Post by **CY:G** » 13 Sep 2008, 15:09

Im not really sure, who is at fault with the ATI issues.

Im guessing Matrox just doesnt care and doesnt even test Th2Go on ATI cards, which is ridiculous seeing how the 4870x2 is the most powerful card on the market right now, perfect to push an insane amount of pixels.

Anyways, if you decide to talk to Matrox and or ATI, let me know and i will help you by letting them know that there is more people interested as well, maybe we can rally a lot of users even if they use nVidia to create support tickets about this.

Probably wont work, but you never know, im really desperate as im dying to get my Th2Go and this issues prevents me from getting it :(

Post by **skipclarke** » 13 Sep 2008, 16:58

Im not really sure, who is at fault with the ATI issues.

Im guessing Matrox just doesnt care and doesnt even test Th2Go on ATI cards, which is ridiculous seeing how the 4870x2 is the most powerful card on the market right now, perfect to push an insane amount of pixels.(

Would would say this is a pretty big guess/assumption. It's in Matrox's best interest to ensure their product works with everything. Why would they exclude potentially half of their market?

I've been involved in some discussion with their tech folks during beta periods, and I know they go through extensive testing. And, considering that the ATI x1000 series didn't support 3840x1024, I would be inclined to think it is ATI's fault.

Mesh · Post by **Mesh** » 13 Sep 2008, 19:43

My point of view would be that Matrox to begin with is not even the underdog of video products but plain on the fringe of it.

Even intel integrated video has a larger share of the market.

From that and seeing their software do a poor job leaving me to disable their handling so I can use window's built-in multimonitor support to do a better job. I say they don't care at all.

They hold a minor part of the market and even within that market th2g users are few and far between. Once you've bought the 300$ gizmo, they couldn't care less if your intended purpose works or not.

Sure they throw a bone or two once in a while (1680x1050 support) but compared to what they could do, it's a sand grain in the desert.

Now don't go thinking I put all the blame on matrox, ati and nvidia share it too (truform/npatches vaporware and 3d lack-of-support). But matrox ain't any better either.

slideways666 · Post by **slideways666** » 14 Sep 2008, 08:08

Thats all find and dandy that its everyone's fault.... But, what is the bottom line? Is ati and matrox going to go on a date and get funky in the back of the car and figure something out??? Or is ati just going to be the wrong card to have for the th2g? Right now i have a 4870x2 and have 3 days left that i can return it.. Trying to figure out what to do... Id like to go 16x10

Dem Pyros · Post by **Dem Pyros** » 14 Sep 2008, 15:13

Thats all find and dandy that its everyone's fault.... But, what is the bottom line? Is ati and matrox going to go on a date and get funky in the back of the car and figure something out??? Or is ati just going to be the wrong card to have for the th2g? Right now i have a 4870x2 and have 3 days left that i can return it.. Trying to figure out what to do... Id like to go 16x10

It's plain and simply ATI's fault. They don't support the amount of pixels, and thus it doesn't work.

If the card could push the pixels, the TH2Go would support it. It's that simple.

And Mesh, Matrox doesn't only make Th2Go and DH2Go. They make a lot more advanced products for medical systems and such, and the lowly consumer who is annoyed that his ATI card doesn't work with the unit doesn't mean anything to them, because it's an issue with the GPU company, and not Matrox.

Mesh · Post by **Mesh** » 14 Sep 2008, 16:04

I still say matrox, ati and nvidia are in the same position. There's no point for them to put ressources towards a group that's at the fringe of the fringe of users.

Want it or not, triple-heads are beyond a minority of their targets.

flownaze · Post by **flownaze** » 14 Sep 2008, 16:12

So has anybody been able to get the 4870 running under linux?

Will the TH2G work under linux with the right modeline?

If so, can you set a modeline for 5040x1050 @57hz on an ATI card?

I'm thinking it might help rule out a driver issue.

kylew · Post by **kylew** » 16 Sep 2008, 17:16

As far as I know, Software triple head works on ATi cards at 5760x1200, so could it really be ATi's issue and not matrox's? If 5760x1200 can be done on both ATi and NV cards for games how come it can't be done on a triple head to go? That's the thing putting me off a THTG as I have 2 24" dells and I want a third for surroung gaming goodness, but it looks like I'll just have to stick to soft th for now.

flownaze · Post by **flownaze** » 17 Sep 2008, 12:38

As far as I know, Software triple head works on ATi cards at 5760x1200, so could it really be ATi's issue and not matrox's? If 5760x1200 can be done on both ATi and NV cards for games how come it can't be done on a triple head to go? That's the thing putting me off a THTG as I have 2 24" dells and I want a third for surroung gaming goodness, but it looks like I'll just have to stick to soft th for now.

Strange...
I wish he'd release the source for softTH... I'd like to see exactly how he's setting up the video card... is it possible the card can render that many pixels but can't put it out via the DVI port because of some limitation with the output electronics?

I wonder if you could use the complete hack of rendering 5040x1050 on a 4870X2 and then having it ship all the pixels to the cheapest nvidia card in another pci-e slot and having that output 5040x1050 (obviously you'd need a modified driver).

CY:G · Post by **CY:G** » 17 Sep 2008, 20:19

[quote]As far as I know, Software triple head works on ATi cards at 5760x1200, so could it really be ATi's issue and not matrox's? If 5760x1200 can be done on both ATi and NV cards for games how come it can't be done on a triple head to go? That's the thing putting me off a THTG as I have 2 24" dells and I want a third for surroung gaming goodness, but it looks like I'll just have to stick to soft th for now.

Strange...
I wish he'd release the source for softTH... I'd like to see exactly how he's setting up the video card... is it possible the card can render that many pixels but can't put it out via the DVI port because of some limitation with the output electronics?

I wonder if you could use the complete hack of rendering 5040x1050 on a 4870X2 and then having it ship all the pixels to the cheapest nvidia card in another pci-e slot and having that output 5040x1050 (obviously you'd need a modified driver).

Yeah i have SoftTH working at 5760x 1200, works fine(well laggy on most games for the amount of pixels being pushed)

Anyways, grabbing the image and sending it to a nVidia card is out of the question, SoftTH does this for one of your displays and even at 16 bits it lags.

Mark B · Post by **Mark B** » 17 Sep 2008, 22:11

Good discussion :)

To clear things up for the record, it's in our best interest to have the broadest range of compatibility for all GPUs on the market.

We have done testing with ATI boards as well as nVidia. We are not prioritizing one card over the other with regards to TripleHead2Go resolution support. We would like to see both card brands work the best they possibly can with our device.

flownaze · Post by **flownaze** » 19 Sep 2008, 19:59

Good discussion :)

To clear things up for the record, it's in our best interest to have the broadest range of compatibility for all GPUs on the market.

We have done testing with ATI boards as well as nVidia. We are not prioritizing one card over the other with regards to TripleHead2Go resolution support. We would like to see both card brands work the best they possibly can with our device.

Thanks Mark... so can you weigh in on exactly why the ATI card isn't supported at 1680x1050 right now?

skeeder · Post by **skeeder** » 19 Sep 2008, 20:04

[quote]Good discussion :)

To clear things up for the record, it's in our best interest to have the broadest range of compatibility for all GPUs on the market.

We have done testing with ATI boards as well as nVidia. We are not prioritizing one card over the other with regards to TripleHead2Go resolution support. We would like to see both card brands work the best they possibly can with our device.

Thanks Mark... so can you weigh in on exactly why the ATI card isn't supported at 1680x1050 right now?I think you mean 5040x1050.

flownaze · Post by **flownaze** » 19 Sep 2008, 20:25

[quote][quote]Good discussion :)

To clear things up for the record, it's in our best interest to have the broadest range of compatibility for all GPUs on the market.

We have done testing with ATI boards as well as nVidia. We are not prioritizing one card over the other with regards to TripleHead2Go resolution support. We would like to see both card brands work the best they possibly can with our device.

Thanks Mark... so can you weigh in on exactly why the ATI card isn't supported at 1680x1050 right now?I think you mean 5040x1050.

yeah, I mean't 3x1680x1050 :)

JKeefe · Post by **JKeefe** » 19 Sep 2008, 21:23

As far as I know, Software triple head works on ATi cards at 5760x1200, so could it really be ATi's issue and not matrox's? If 5760x1200 can be done on both ATi and NV cards for games how come it can't be done on a triple head to go?

This would indicate that the ATI hardware is capable of rendering an image that wide, but not outputting it. Typically in that SofTH configuration the primary GPU would be outputting 3840x1200 while the secondary GPU is outputting 1920x1200.

Remember, the entire rendered image is not outputted by a single GPU when using SofTH.

Post by **scavvenjahh** » 20 Sep 2008, 11:27

GPUs vs. outputs vs. monitors vs. DirectX...
What a mess. Things like that make you realize that no matter how fancy your hardware is, you'll constantly bump into hardware limitations, as we're still in the prehistorical times of home computers and the Stone Age of Surround Gaming. :lol:

WE WANT DISPLAYPORT ! 8)

Mesh · Post by **Mesh** » 20 Sep 2008, 16:50

Just scrap directx and get opengl up to spec, one less agenda to worry about.

tama · Post by **tama** » 20 Oct 2008, 13:13

So, the ATI 4870x2 is able to display 5040x1050?... WE WANT TO KNOW!
thx

Tyinsar · Post by **Tyinsar** » 24 Oct 2008, 21:15

From what I've read at 3x(1680x1050) the card needs to output at 57Hz rather than 60. ATI cards lowest output is 60.

Widescreen Gaming Forum