Widescreen Gaming Forum

"Kinda", as usual. Thanks goes to the mysterious "Flabado" on the Entech forums for the heads up. I originally started this ATI + TH2G quest months ago and hit a brick wall due to an ATI driver bug (massive corruption at 5040, even when you set it up manually). So I got in contact with Entech (makers of Powerstrip, a GFX tweaking program) and hung out on their forum. Recently ATI fixed the bug, so I tried again.


I tested this on my "old" (but never really used) HD4870 512MB, it works!


Plug the TH2G into the DVI port furthest from the motherboard on the Radeon (ie the Dual Link DVI port).

Install latest Powerstrip:
http://entechtaiwan.com/files/pstrip.exe

Install and reboot when prompted.
Install latest Matrox SW.
Run both PowerDesk and Pstrip once, you should have 4320x900 installed and working now. The Matrox Wizard will reset your config, so dont run the Wizard again.

After running Pstrip it creates a file "pstrip.ini" in your "C:UsersyournameAppDataRoaming" folder (in Vista, dunno in Xp), just do a file search for it. Open pstrip.ini and add "Unlimited=1" (no quotations) under the Global Options section. Close and save the file.

Open Pstrip. Right Click the icon on the taskbar, goto "Display Profiles", then "Configure"
Click on "Advanced Timing Options"
Click on "Custom Resolutions"
Input these settings exactly (watch tick boxes) for 5040x1050@57Hz




I tried a couple of tests. Fear2 (DX9) ran fine, seemed slower than the GTX280 I usually use.
Farcry 2 Benchmark, both DX9 and DX10 modes had massive corruption with VSync Enabled. With it disabled, it ran, but its much slower than the nVidia card (which is odd as its an "ATI" game, usually faster on ATI)
Farcry 2 Ranch Small Benchmark - HD4870 512MB DX10 - no Vsync - Ultra High Settings

* Total Frames: 642, Total Time: 51.01s
* Average Framerate: 12.59
* Max. Framerate: 20.74 (Frame:594, 47.67s)
* Min. Framerate: 7.14 (Frame:371, 28.56s)


Farcry 2 Ranch Small Benchmark - GTX280 1GB DX10 - with Vsync - Ultra High Settings


* Total Frames: 1570, Total Time: 51.03s
* Average Framerate: 30.77
* Max. Framerate: 43.57 (Frame:261, 7.19s)
* Min. Framerate: 24.31 (Frame:988, 31.23s)


Farcry2 supports DX10.1, but the benchmark made no reference to it, just DX9 or 10. 10.1 would bench higher (assuming its not defaulted to 10.1 already). I should also point out that maybe the Radeon drivers simply do not handle 5040 correctly, the performance is much worse than I thought it should be.


So there you have it, working ATI support with no Matrox software help or support (of the human kind). The HD4870 certainly doesnt seem to be a very good card for 5040 in the limited tests above. Maybe with 1GB like the GTX280 it would be more competitive.
According to Flabado neither Crossfire or X2 ATI cards work correctly at this resolution. though he tested with much older Catalyst drivers than we have today.

I might be able to test this if I borrow a HD4850 (cross GPU Crossfire baby!) from my brother.


EDIT: Maybe I was expecting a bit much from a 512MB Radeon HD4870, according to http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3539&p=19, the 1GB GTX280 is 3.5x (!) as fast at the lower resolution of 2560x1600 ("lower" as its 4.1m Pixels vs the 5.3m of 5040x1050).
The much newer 1GB HD4890 is in the region of 2.5 to 3x faster at high resolutions, though still not as fast in that game as the old GTX280.

Amazing news, maybe I'll stick with ATI longer after all.. only other thing tempting on Nvidia now is the 3d Glasses.

What about on the HD 4870 X2 (2GB)? :D

Yeah, the X2 would be a killer card at this res. Ill try to get hold of the 4850 today, if Crossfire works, then surely X2's work too.

Hi all,

I wanted to wait to make this announcement until Catalyst 9.7 was officially released, but since I forsee lots of discussion about this, I've decided to let everyone know now.

As of the 9.7 Catalyst build (releasing in July), combined with Matrox's new Powerdesk 2.05 (released yesterday), all of the outstanding ATI bugs should be officially resolved.

This includes:

- Lack of general 5040x1050 resolution for all ATI HD series cards.
- Problem with the "DVI 4" output head not allowing 4320x900 and 5040x1050 mode. (Now both heads of ATI boards will behave the same and will offer all modes properly)
- Fix to enable widemodes with multi-board crossfire configurations
- Fix to enable widemodes with X2 series ATI cards
- and a big final item: increased timing support for 5040x1050 mode with ATI cards to allow 5040x1050@59Hz in all scenarios. (This has been tested with most panels previously found not to sync with nVidia GPUs at 57Hz. Those panels now DO sync correctly at 59Hz).

To enable these fixes, users will simply need to install ATI's 9.7 Catalyst, and then install Matrox's 2.05 Powerdesk:
http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/support/gxm/software/
the powerstrip method mentioned above should not be necessary. (Cataylst 9.6 also has a few of the fixes already, but not everything. So feel free to use it for trial & error in the meantime at your own discretion).

We will be counting on feedback from you guys to determine if all the fixes are functioning correctly for various scenarios. So we'll be watching your comments carefully.

We should also give thanks to ATI for this support, since I have been working with them for almost a year now to enable these features and they have been very receptive to making the necessary changes. (It just took some time) :)

Happy TripleHead gaming everyone :triplewide

-Mark

Brilliant news, I guess I should take back my comments about your silence, things were obviously afoot behind the scenes. This opens up a myriad of excellent cards, in both performance and value. More choice is always a big win for the consumer!

:D

WOW! That's amazing news!

My poor HD4870X2 has been collecting dust, and I've been fighting with the finicky Nvidia Custom Resolution settings. I would love to go back to my ATI card!

Great news!!!!!

But damn, a few weeks ago Isold my 4870´s!!!!

If this is really true, i´ll go back to ATI!!!!





Big THX to ATI!!!!!


Tobi

fantastic. I would never have 3 screens but at last the red guys sorted this problem.

Great stuff!

Someone tried it out already?
Situation now is just like using nVidia?

ATI + Catalist 9.6 + PowerDesk 2.05 = 5040x1050x57? :P

Hi all,

Just a minor update to my previous post:

In addition to the 2.05 Powerdesk and 9.7 Catalyst driver, you will also need to flash your TripleHead2Go firmware to a new version that supports the 59Hz timing.

This will be available for download around the same time that 9.7 releases.

I will keep everyone posted.

Hi all,

Just a minor update to my previous post:

In addition to the 2.05 Powerdesk and 9.7 Catalyst driver, you will also need to flash your TripleHead2Go firmware to a new version that supports the 59Hz timing.

This will be available for download around the same time that 9.7 releases.

I will keep everyone posted.

I think a lot more panels will work at 59hz than 57 and less. I assume nVidia users will be able to use 59hz too... any comment on the deteriorating nVidia support for Custom Resolutions in each new driver?

Well, this works great for my desktop resolution, but won't work in any games I try. I have a 3870x2. I tried with and without Cat AI on, without Vsync, etc. No dice. Oh well, at least my desktop is back to a more reasonable size now, which will help me with my modding.

Ok, after using this for a few days, I've ran into an interesting problem. When I reboot my computer and get to the vista login screen, it won't display anything but some garble that is completely unreadable. I had to go into safe mode and find out which keystrokes at the login screen would get me into windows.
I figured it out and it works fine once windows has loaded powerstrip, but I have to do a blind login if I keep my resolution @5040. Obviously I can lower the resolution before I log off, but I thought I'd let everyone know that this fix can cause problems.

I didnt have any of those issues, sounds driver related. You may fair better with the official Cat version plus the new Firmware, when both are released.

Well yeah, that's what I figured. And I said it "can" cause issues, not that it will absolutely cause issues with whoever uses it.
I do appreciate the fix though, because having Maya, photoshop and the BF2 editor open all at once sucks with anything less than 5040x1050. So while it isn't perfect, I do appreciate it.

Bit late to the party but nice to see!! Might finally be time to upgrade to a surround gaming mode ;) Wonder how Xfire support will function in this mode with a 2x 4870X2 setup..

Thanks for the posting!

Finally working with 2.05 Powerdesk and 9.7 Catalyst driver at 59Hz.

Getting 5040x1050 on an ATI HD4870 card running Vista 64

Your tips helped me, games look great.

Definitely going with an ATI card next now that I have read this. Thanks ATI!

I installed the new firmware and the 9.7 drivers. 5040x1050 works fine on the desktop, but just like 4320x900, the screen is garbled and unusable in any game I try to play. I do have a 3870x2, so I'm not sure if that's the problem or what. And yes, my monitors(viewsonic vx2235wm) work fine at the specified refresh rate. I guess I'll just have to wait until the 5k series comes out, since the jump from my card to the 4k series isn't much of a jump, if at all.

I just updated all my matrox software and firmware.. on 9.6 cat im having no issues with 5040x1050 on my 4870X2. Tried Eve online, WoW and Titan Quest - no dramas.

If 9.7 is suppose to fix more issues, cant wait. As stated, no custom resolution is needed either, just detects it on boot.