Eyefinity 3 x Dell 2209WA @76Hz + Apple DPA + Surroundview

Sideeffect · Post by **Sideeffect** » 30 Oct 2009, 20:47

Hello everybody I thought I would share my setup for anyone who is interested in these monitors, the apple displayport converter or surroundview with eyefinity.

System Specifications

Phenom 2 965
4GB DDR2
Gigabyte DS4H
Windows 7 Pro x64
Catalyst 9.11

Asus 5850
3 x 22" 1680 x 1050 Dell UltraSharp 2209WA (E-IPS)
Apple Mini Displayport to Dual link DVI converter
mini DP to normal DP adapter

Integrated HD 3300 GPU with 128MB DDR sideport
1 x 24" 1920 x 1200 Yuruka (PVA)

The apple converter

I bought this on ebay 2nd hand it has terrible reviews everywhere but I got it for a lot cheaper than the other adapter is selling for. I had initial issues with BSOD's when trying to enable eyefinity. The monitor would switch to 640 x 480 resolution and hide other choices. This issue was fixed by using a motherboard USB connection instead of a USB hub.

When enabling or disabling other displays I need to replug the displayport adapter or eyefinity will not detect the display properly and won't link or will BSOD. This is a minor issue and only needs to be performed during the setup.

After setup the converter is working well I have no BSOD's and eyefinity stays on restarts. The image quality is the same as the other monitors connected with DVI. There is no noticable additional input lag or ghosting. I do have the occasional black out on the displayport screen when changing resolution but it rarely happens in normal use and doesn't cause errors. After setup the monitor is detected as Dell 2209A and I am able to install the monitor driver.

Surroundview

Surroundview is a motherboard option that allows the integrated GPU in a 790GX motherboard to function at the same time as an additional ATI GPU. The monitor connected to the IGPU needs to be disabled before eyefinity is setup. After eyefinity is setup the display can be enabled but it will not allow a duplicated display. Extended display is supported. The resolution can be set independently of the eyefinity group and the user can pick if the monitor is extended above below or to either side of the eyefinity display.

Dell UltraSharp 2209WA

I got 3 of these refurbished for a good price and they are wonderfull monitors. The stand is highly configurable and allows the monitors to be alligned properly. The monitor also pivots and this is very important as portrait eyefinity is equally impressive and has greater support in games. I was able to run all of the games I play using portrait 3150 x 1680 this was not the case for landscape ultra wide where support is more limited. The bezels are wider than some other monitors but acceptable for me.

Pictures

Borderlands 3150 x 1680

Crysis 3150 x 1680

Crysis 5040 x 1050

GTA4 3150 x 1680

GTA4 5040 x 1050

Surroundview Desktop

Surroundview Gaming and watching TV

____________________________________________________________________

Edit - 76Hz refresh rate support with the 2209wa and eyefinity.
Modified Monitor inf Driver use at your own risk. Install using Device Manager right click on monitor and Update Driver. Restart PC after install to apply change. Driver only works with the Dell Ultrasharp 2209wa, tested using Czech Rev A00.
http://www.divshare.com/download/9633708-e3e

Post by **suiken_2mieu** » 30 Oct 2009, 23:16

nice setup, it seems you went through a lot of trouble to get it running.

Sideeffect · Post by **Sideeffect** » 31 Oct 2009, 01:49

Thanks. Yes it was a bit of a hassle at first but the bugs are consistent so I can work around them now :)

Post by **suiken_2mieu** » 31 Oct 2009, 03:32

What did you mean by most games not being compatible with the wider setup? For both setups, you will ned to change the FOV to get it looking correctly.

DaFox · Post by **DaFox** » 31 Oct 2009, 04:18

What did you mean by most games not being compatible with the wider setup? For both setups, you will ned to change the FOV to get it looking correctly.

And both have non 'standard' resolutions. If a game works fine on one it would work fine on the other.

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 31 Oct 2009, 11:45

I suppose that on the portrait setup, if the FOV corrections the game allows aren't very varied, it's not as noticable as with a landscape setup which needs a much wider FOV.

Looks great - thanks for the detail, Sideeffect! :D

WaveZtream · Post by **WaveZtream** » 31 Oct 2009, 16:08

That monitor looks really nice in portrait mode. Wonder if there is a 24 inch version of it :D

Sideeffect · Post by **Sideeffect** » 31 Oct 2009, 19:05

3150 x 1680 is a 17:9 aspect ratio which means any game that supports 16:9 will look pretty good without really needing FOV adjustment if FOV adjustment is even possible with that game.

5040 x 1050 is so wide that unless the game is designed to adapt the character or HUD the game is unplayable. A lot of games will just zoom in or stretch so it looks wide but you lose what should be rendered at the top and bottom which can include your character.

For example

Mount and blade at supported aspect ratio you can see your character

Mount and blade at 5040 x 1050 you lose your whole character and can only see his helmet and image is stretched

That monitor looks really nice in portrait mode. Wonder if there is a 24 inch version of it :D

Yes this one its a VA panel and has displayport natively http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfo/peripherals/monitor_2408wfp/pd.aspx?refid=monitor_2408wfp&s=dfo

If you need something cheaper check out the Samsung SM2443BW which also pivots but uses a TN panel and needs a displayport converter.

Post by **suiken_2mieu** » 31 Oct 2009, 20:57

well i see your point, but most games now-a-days has some way to fix the FOV. be it automatic, console command, or blatant hack. So there are in most cases a way to play with the extra FOV.

What really is the point to just add resolution if you cant see any more than you normally would be able to?

Sideeffect · Post by **Sideeffect** » 31 Oct 2009, 22:43

well i see your point, but most games now-a-days has some way to fix the FOV. be it automatic, console command, or blatant hack. So there are in most cases a way to play with the extra FOV.

Out of the games I have installed at the moment Crysis, GTA4, NFS shift, Empire total war, Call of Juarez bound in blood, Left 4 dead, Far cry 2 and supreme commander FA are working ok at 5040 x 1050.

Games that won't work because they stretch or zoom in the HUD are Borderlands, Mount & Blade, Resident evil 5, Prototype, Fuel. So most of my games do work in landscape but the ones that don't are all new games released within the last year. If you know of any fixes for these games please point me in the right direction.

What really is the point to just add resolution if you cant see any more than you normally would be able to?

Do you mean why use portrait because you dont see more of the game? I don't really understand your question everyone has been just adding more resolution and monitor size since the days of the 640 x 480. Games look far better and are more immersive at 3150 x 1680 than when I used to play them at 1920 x 1200.

Post by **suiken_2mieu** » 31 Oct 2009, 23:13

Fixes for
Borderlands:
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/11417

Mount & Blade:
None known, but here is the widescreen report on it.
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=147958&highlight=mount+blade#147958

Resident evil 5:
From what i've seen, it works, except the HUD / menus stretch a bit out of fov.

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=103011&highlight=resident+evil#103011
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=167735&highlight=resident+evil#167735

Prototype:
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=159041&highlight=prototype#159041

Fuel:
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=164894&highlight=fuel#164894

About the adding res, what i meant by not seeing more is the actually land scape and such. Not the hard pixel count. To me if i want a large screen in a similar aspect ratio, i'd just go ahead a buy an 50" Hdtv and call it a day.

Sideeffect · Post by **Sideeffect** » 01 Nov 2009, 00:34

Thanks for the links just tried the Borderlands fix and its working :D

A 1080p 50" HDTV is nice for movies but you can't really compare it with the image quality at 3150 x 1680. I might as well have just got an xbox 360 if I wanted to game at those resolutions. Also it would cost twice as much money as my 3 monitors.

I have been staying in the landscape setup though since I got need for speed shift which is really nice ultra wide.

assassin76 · Post by **assassin76** » 29 Nov 2009, 01:42

Nice setup there. I'm interested in setting up Crisis this way myself, but in the picture you have of Crisis with the portrait screens it seems you have gain no extra FOV. I mean it seems you have just basicly enlarged a standard 16:9/16:10 FOV. So can you adjust the FOV in the game to gain more, can you get the (for example) vehicle the same size as the one in the landscape mode monitor setup you have there? Gaining extra height FOV but loosing some width FOV. Thanks.

Sideeffect · Post by **Sideeffect** » 30 Nov 2009, 13:42

Nice setup there. I'm interested in setting up Crisis this way myself, but in the picture you have of Crisis with the portrait screens it seems you have gain no extra FOV. I mean it seems you have just basicly enlarged a standard 16:9/16:10 FOV. So can you adjust the FOV in the game to gain more, can you get the (for example) vehicle the same size as the one in the landscape mode monitor setup you have there? Gaining extra height FOV but loosing some width FOV. Thanks.

Not really because the aspect ratio of the displays at 3150 x 1680 is 18.8:10 (17:9) so its wider than 16:9. There is as much height FOV as a 16:10 display but with additional width. Maybe that picture of Crysis was in a 16:9 aspect ratio but the picture of GTA4 would have been set to auto so shows a better representation of the 18.8:10 aspect ratio.

I still regularly switch between landscape and portrait depending on the game being played. Perhaps the pictures don't do the portrait set-up justice but when your in front of it its equally as impressive and immersible as the landscape mode.

Here are a few more picture I took a while ago. I don't have a camera at the moment so can't take new ones at the moment.

Prototype

WoW

Empire Total War

Mount and Blade

oskarom · Post by **oskarom** » 02 Dec 2009, 05:47

Nice!

I have this exact setup 3x 2209WA, love those displays, eIPS panels just make my day every day...

The 24" version of this is in fact U2410 that is one sick monitor... 100% color coverage of sRGB and 96% of Adobe RGB... that is sick plus it has every input that you can think of :)

I'm going for that kind of monitors when I'm done learning and will actually make real money :)

Now I just hope that ATI starts making few more of 5850's. And Accell or somebody start delivering they'r active DP -> DVI adapter.

Have fun!

WaveZtream · Post by **WaveZtream** » 02 Dec 2009, 16:36

Yeah the DELL U2410 ULTRASHARP looks almost identical, still pricey but I think ill just endure it :P

Sideeffect · Post by **Sideeffect** » 06 Dec 2009, 12:43

Edited the first post to include a 76Hz refresh rate driver that works with eyefinity and the Dell 2209wa.

Thanks to ychng for finding out how to do it. http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=17538

nudie · Post by **nudie** » 14 Dec 2009, 23:02

Looks sweet!

I have 3x Samsung 225BW now but I made the mistake that I thought I could just use a DP->DVI passive cable. Now that I know I need a DP converter which is like 130EUR I decided to sell my monitors and go for the exact same 3 Dell monitors that you have.

I just have one question. What do you prefer? The Landscape or the portrait setup? I think I'm gonna set it up portrait style. I think it's better for most games and just looks the sickest. Panorama view having them in landscape is a bit too much already for me now and I think the aspect ratio of most games won't be good.

Any tips are welcome! Maybe a 30" landscape and on the side? Though that's a bit too much for me as well.

Sideeffect · Post by **Sideeffect** » 15 Dec 2009, 13:33

I have 3x Samsung 225BW now but I made the mistake that I thought I could just use a DP->DVI passive cable. Now that I know I need a DP converter which is like 130EUR I decided to sell my monitors and go for the exact same 3 Dell monitors that you have.

I just have one question. What do you prefer? The Landscape or the portrait setup? I think I'm gonna set it up portrait style. I think it's better for most games and just looks the sickest. Panorama view having them in landscape is a bit too much already for me now and I think the aspect ratio of most games won't be good.

Any tips are welcome! Maybe a 30" landscape and on the side? Though that's a bit too much for me as well.

The Dell 2209WA doesn't have native displayport I also had to use an adapter.

The 22" Dell with displayport is the Dell Professional P2210 http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=bsd&sku=238221&cs=ukbsdt1&dgc=SS&cid=41148&lid=1069637&acd=23975883724507102

The P2210 looks the same as the 2209WA though and they have the same stands and both rotate to Portrait. The difference is the 2209WA has a E-IPS screen and no DP and the the P2210 has a TN screen and DP.

Your Samsungs looks nice. You could always get the Displayport - VGA active adapter talked about in this thread http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=17468 it's only £15.

After using this setup for a while I prefer Landscape at the moment it is better for GTA4, Dirt2 and Left 4 dead 2 which I am mostly playing. I still change into portrait to watch movies and play legacy games that have limited FOV every so often though so I am glad I have the Portrait option.

lowdog · Post by **lowdog** » 23 Jan 2010, 00:26

Thankyou for the modified driver for 76Hz......works great :D

Still unsure though if this can damage the monitor in any way though, most say it can't and back that up with some seemingly knowledgeable explanations while other say it will hurt the monitor....... :?:

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