Advanced Output and ATI Eyefinity 6 issue

[DayVeeJay]

I just made the switch from my trusty old GeForce 8800 series to Radeon HD 5870 eyefinity 6 edition. First off I want to say WOW! I was blown away at the performance. Resolume is like a whole new program. Thumbnail previews in the file browser and decks load almost instantly. It's incredible!

However when I got to my gig things went terribly wrong. The advanced output window showed the resolume window in the input/output areas. This happened even if I moved the advanced output window around.


(non-relevant story)
I busted out my laptop but it too had issues. The computer could only detect one of my projectors properly. The other one was detected as a generic monitor @ 640x480. There was no video signal going to it either. Doors where opening soon so i didnt have time to dig through the registry to force an ouput resolution. The solution was to use my TripleHead2go (Thanks Matrox!).

It looks like theres some older posts about ATI issues but nothing recent. I'm using the latest drivers. The mobo is an Asus Sabertooth 990FX, 4gb ram and two Intensity pro's. Thanks in advance for your help!

[Oaktown]

Are you using active adapters on all your outputs?

If you use more than 2 outputs, you MUST use active adapter for the next 4 outputs on the Radeon HD 5870 eyefinity 6 edition but I personally use active adapters on all outputs.

I don't know if it could be causing the problem but it's worth a try.

The other one was detected as a generic monitor @ 640x480

Was it a VGA run and how long was your cable? I get that problem when I have a VGA run above 25' without an amp. The longer the run and the smaller the resolution becomes.

[DayVeeJay]

I was using three Active VGA adapters with the Eyefinity.

I was using a 100ft cable for that projector. The first thing I tried was swapping to a brand new cable. I've never had that issue even with 125-150ft runs (image quality obviously suffered).

[Oaktown]

I was using three Active VGA adapters with the Eyefinity.

How many total?

I was using a 100ft cable for that projector.

Where you using an amp? I've noticed the video cards on my laptops require an amp with much shorter runs.

[DayVeeJay]

I was using three Active VGA adapters with the Eyefinity.

How many total?

I was using 3 active VGA adapters... Two projectors (1024 @60hz) and one control monitor (23" Elo @ 1080)

I was using a 100ft cable for that projector.

Where you using an amp? I've noticed the video cards on my laptops require an amp with much shorter runs.

Nope, Ive never had an issue with 100ft runs. Ive even done longer runs in emergency situations.

[Oaktown]

These AMD cards can be a bit touchy depending on the driver and Catalyst. Which version are you using?

[DayVeeJay]

The newest one available for my card. Is there nVidia card with more than 4 outputs available?

[Oaktown]

I don't think so but a lot of the newer AMD cards (I'm not as familiar with Nvidia) have support DiplayPort 1.2 MST technology so you can easily split a DiplayPort port output into 2 or 3 outputs. A good MST device would be the EVGA DisplayPort Hub.

A few interesting notes from the EVGA forum:

• Q: Can I convert the signal from DisplayPort to another format between the DP Hub and my displays?
  A: Yes, you can use DisplayPort to DVI, VGA, or HDMI adapters with the DP Hub. Note that these adapters do not need to be active in order to function properly.

• The Display Port Hub cannot grant additional monitors per card. A GTX 780 Ti, for example, can run a maximum of 4 monitors. With the Hub, you can still only run up to 4 monitors, not 6. The Hub is simply an easier way to port out 3 monitors on a single hub, rather than try to use multiple cable types from the card.

The last one means that some cards have 4 physical outputs but can output 6 using MST technology but not all cards can do that. For instance, I use the XFX Double D R9 270X 1050M Boost Ready 2GB which is one of my favorite cards these days (price vs. performance)and that card can support up to 6 monitors using MST technology but only 4 using the cards outputs even though there are 5 outputs! Take a look at this chart: http://www.amd.com/en-us/products/graphics/desktop/r9

[DayVeeJay]

That method sounds expensive and trivial. I picked up the eyefinity for $150 USD.

Joris, Do you have any suggestions?

[Oaktown]

• That method sounds expensive and trivial

Not sure what you mean by trivial!

I've been running the HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 for a few years without any issues on the Resolume side so you might want to uninstall all your AMD drivers and possibly roll back to an older version that is known to work well with that card. I use Display Driver Uninstaller to completely uninstall AMD drivers before I reinstall the new ones.