No reason to get a Matrox now?

bandito · Post by **bandito** » 29 Sep 2009, 10:09

ATI's Eyefinity that requires DP monitors for more than 2 multi-displays setup, may still give Matrox some opportunity/benefit/compliment each other in the desktop market especially with their DP edition extenders. Their pricing however needs to be at or below the (2 or 3 combos of) powered DP to DVI converters.

Both the ATI's tech and the Matrox's tech being originating from/developed in Canada.

thenjwaslike · Post by **thenjwaslike** » 01 Oct 2009, 03:48

anyone interested in buying a th2g??

lol jk.

Post by **thales100** » 01 Oct 2009, 11:53

Well if the 5800 drivers were supporting wide thg resolutions i would be interested in 2 x 5870 in crossfire to run games at 5040x1050, since i already own three 22" monitors, matrox th2go DE and eyefinity doesnt support crossfire at the moment.
But it seems ATI isnt interested in adding support to the custom wide thg resolutions in the 5800 drivers, and consequently support matrox solution, i wonder why hehe :twisted:

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 01 Oct 2009, 12:52

It's strange, isn't it, considering that they recently finally sorted support for the 4000 series and earlier for 5040 with Triplehead...

Post by **thales100** » 01 Oct 2009, 12:57

It's strange, isn't it, considering that they recently finally sorted support for the 4000 series and earlier for 5040 with Triplehead...

Yep, ive just sent a PM to Dave Baumann, as 5800 series product manager maybe he can give some info about this. :)

Post by **BHawthorne** » 01 Oct 2009, 18:16

[quote]It's strange, isn't it, considering that they recently finally sorted support for the 4000 series and earlier for 5040 with Triplehead...

Yep, ive just sent a PM to Dave Baumann, as 5800 series product manager maybe he can give some info about this. :)

I hope emails work better than PM, because he doesn't answer PM. :wink:

Post by **suiken_2mieu** » 04 Oct 2009, 01:08

[quote][quote]It's strange, isn't it, considering that they recently finally sorted support for the 4000 series and earlier for 5040 with Triplehead...

Yep, ive just sent a PM to Dave Baumann, as 5800 series product manager maybe he can give some info about this. :)

I hope emails work better than PM, because he doesn't answer PM. :wink:The only thing i can figure is that they are trying to cut out there competition. But i do believe this is actually bad, because making 3rd party things compatible would increase the amount of people buying the 5800 series. There are many people who just want a better video card and are okay with there monitor setups as it is.

Dave Baumann · Post by **Dave Baumann** » 04 Oct 2009, 05:33

The only thing i can figure is that they are trying to cut out there competition.

If someone has bought the card they have bought the card - I care neither way how they get their widescreen gaming; I'd rather not see RMA's from TH2G users becuase this res isn't present.

I don't actually know why this isn't there and I've pinged the software guys to find out what the deal is.

cybereality · Post by **cybereality** » 04 Oct 2009, 05:54

Well I still want to support Nvidia and I *would* have bought a Matrox TH2G if it could actually support 5040x1050 (57Hz is BS, might as well not even support it at all).

Post by **thales100** » 04 Oct 2009, 11:56

If someone has bought the card they have bought the card - I care neither way how they get their widescreen gaming; I'd rather not see RMA's from TH2G users becuase this res isn't present.

I don't actually know why this isn't there and I've pinged the software guys to find out what the deal is.

Yes, thats true, thanks Dave Baumann. :)

Post by **suiken_2mieu** » 04 Oct 2009, 15:12

[quote]The only thing i can figure is that they are trying to cut out there competition.

If someone has bought the card they have bought the card - I care neither way how they get their widescreen gaming; I'd rather not see RMA's from TH2G users becuase this res isn't present.

I don't actually know why this isn't there and I've pinged the software guys to find out what the deal is.
Well Sir, I'm merely trying to make an educated guess here. Please understand I do Support ATI for getting more bang for my buck, but I was miffed to find out that I cant just add on to my system. On top of that, I havn't found a user that can use older cards with the 5850 (I use a 4870). Which Ties my hands on having the large command centre that I have dreamed up.

Samiad · Post by **Samiad** » 04 Oct 2009, 15:12

[quote]The only thing i can figure is that they are trying to cut out there competition.

If someone has bought the card they have bought the card - I care neither way how they get their widescreen gaming; I'd rather not see RMA's from TH2G users becuase this res isn't present.

I don't actually know why this isn't there and I've pinged the software guys to find out what the deal is.

Thanks for this Dave - this was my opinion on the subject as well. Even though Eyefinity is being showcased as a leading tech at the moment, it would make no sense at all for ATi to take out TH2G support - all that could possibly do is take potential sales away from the 5800 cards!

Unfortunately my time has run out (my limited time to RMA the card, that is) so my 5800 card is sadly going back (for now). I'll definitely keep my eye on the situation in this forum and I hope I will be able to get 5040x1050 @ 59Hz with a 5870 soon (as I can with my 4850). That's when I rebuy into the 5800 series.

Octoboy · Post by **Octoboy** » 05 Oct 2009, 09:16

I'm fairly new to the whole TH2G affair.
I did some research on what resolutions are supported by ATI cards, but specification change so fast that I'm unsure what the current standing is.
I'll be using a 4870x2.
Now is 5040x1050 supported on that card, or is not? If not, will it be?
Thank you!

Samiad · Post by **Samiad** » 05 Oct 2009, 16:32

The 4870x2 is supported, yes. I think it syncs at 59Hz.

Octoboy · Post by **Octoboy** » 05 Oct 2009, 17:03

Now that's great news!
I'm unsure about those "syncs at ..." specs, though.
Here's my screen:

Scanning Frequency:
Horizontal: 30K~83KHz
Vertical: 55~75 Hz

Pixel Frequency:
165MHz

Maximum Resolution:
1920x1200@60Hz

Recommended Resolution:
1920x1200@60Hz

Resolutions Supported
720x400@70Hz,
640x480@60/75Hz,
800x600@60/75Hz,
1024x768@60/70/75Hz,
1280x1024@60/75Hz,
1680x1050@60Hz,
1920x1080@60Hz,
1600x1200@60Hz

Am I good to go?
I mean, is 59 Hz the minimum, or does it have to be exactly 59?

geniv2 · Post by **geniv2** » 05 Oct 2009, 21:51

don't be so excited about the hz supports on paper.. You have to actually try it to see

my BenQ G2400WD listed the specs as
56hz -60hz I think..

but it won't work on 57hz or 59hz

Samiad · Post by **Samiad** » 06 Oct 2009, 08:38

Yes, you should post your monitor model or check the list to see if someone has already tested it for success.

Many monitors will work, but a sizable proportion will fail.

Octoboy · Post by **Octoboy** » 06 Oct 2009, 10:39

Well, it's a discontinued model I think, namely an AOC 416V.
Anyway, I already got three of them sitting here right next to me, so ...
If it turns out TH2G won't work well with them, should I just refrain from getting a TH2G at all?

Samiad · Post by **Samiad** » 06 Oct 2009, 13:38

Well you have quite a few options, assuming you want to retain your monitors.

The first thing to note is that judging by those specs you posted your monitors each have a native resolution of 1920x1200. That means that even if you were able to run a 5040x1050 resolution with the TH2Go, it is going to be downscaled a little bit so isn't going to be pin sharp as you might currently be used to. Try running one monitor at 1680x1050 to see what this would look like.

The next point is that if the downscaling doesn't bother you, then the TH2Go will certainly work at lower triplehead resolutions. I don't know which ones would be best suited for your monitors, but if 5040x1050 didn't work you might find 3840x768 acceptable (or other resolutions). This has the added bonus of being less demanding on your PC to render, so games would run faster.

And yet another option is to buy a 5800 series card and use Eyefinity, not TH2Go. You will need to buy at least one adaptor to make this work, but in doing so you will be able to have all three monitors running at their native resolution of 1920x1200 each. You'd need a very powerful machine to really power through games at such a high resolution though.

Octoboy · Post by **Octoboy** » 06 Oct 2009, 19:42

Samiad, thank you for your detailed answer.
Funny enough, I had already ordered a 5870, but canceled it.
As long as CF is not working, there really is no need to enable such high resolutions while the power is lacking to support them.
Also, bezel management isn't yet implemented. Third, getting an active adaptor in Europe is either very complicated or rather expensive.
That's why I got a cheap 4870x2 from eBay for now. (I might get a 5870x2 though, but I assume it will take ATI a while to make them widely available.)
I guess I will just risk it and go for the TH2G for now.
Again, thanks for enlightening me!

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