{"id":20240,"date":"2010-08-29T12:44:00","date_gmt":"2010-08-29T11:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=20240"},"modified":"2010-09-01T04:32:19","modified_gmt":"2010-09-01T03:32:19","slug":"eyefinitys-new-30-dp-to-dvi-adapter-abts-first-look","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/eyefinitys-new-30-dp-to-dvi-adapter-abts-first-look\/","title":{"rendered":"ABT&#8217;s first look at Eyefinity&#8217;s New $30 active DP to DVI adapter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n   google_ad_client = \"pub-7021221536180758\"; \/* 468x60, created 11\/11\/09 *\/ google_ad_slot = \"1949837292\"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60;\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><br \/>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Eyefinity is AMD&#8217;s solution for multi-displays driven off of a single HD 5000 series card. It has been available since AMD launched the first of their over 16 million Eyefinity-enabled DX11 5000 series nearly a year ago.\u00a0 Eyefinity is different and more economical than Nvidia&#8217;s competing 3-panel (2D) Surround in that it only requires a single HD 5000 series card to drive it instead of having to use two identical videocards in SLI (multi-GPU) mode.<\/p>\n<p>Many gamers and productivity users already have multiple LCDs.\u00a0 Certainly most households have HDTVs that can usually be found with HDMI, DVI or VGA connectors to connect to a PC in addition to their PC monitors.\u00a0 Up until now, the primary issue with (the most popular) 3-panel Eyefinity is that two LCDs can be driven by the most popular DVI connector (or by using DVI&gt;AGP adapters) but because there is limited bandwidth with the way Eyefinity is implemented, one of the 3 displays must either use a DisplayPort-enabled LCD or else one must generally use a rather expensive (read ~$100) active dual-link DisplayPort adapter that in some cases have been prone to flickering.<\/p>\n<h3>Announcing the new $30 active DisplayPort to single-link DVI adaptor<\/h3>\n<p>Today this has all changed.\u00a0 AMD and its partners have just announced the $30 DisplayPort to single-link DVI adapter that promises none of the flickering that has plagued some non-native DisplayPort Eyefinity setups up until now.\u00a0 ABT has got one of these inexpensive adapters from AMD late last week and we put our brand new\u00a0 (mismatched LCD) Eyefinity system together for the very first time to give you some impressions of it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/adaptor.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-20245\" title=\"adaptor\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/adaptor.jpg?resize=300%2C82\" alt=\"adaptor\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/adaptor.jpg?resize=300%2C82 300w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/adaptor.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The adaptors will come in two types; a full-sized DP-to-DVI adaptor\u00a0 and a mini-DP-to-DVI adaptor which are electrically identical.\u00a0 Ours pictured above is by BizLink.<\/p>\n<p>The active single-link adaptor converts a DisplayPort signal to a single-link DVI\/HDMI signal and is much less complex and less expensive than a dual-link port adaptor. These active single-link adaptors can also be run on the 3.3v@500mA power supplied with a DisplayPort connection and do not require any secondary power.\u00a0 Best of all, these new adaptors are not plagued by the flickering that was even noticed on some (expensive) dual-link adaptors on the market now.\u00a0 And using an inexpensive passive adaptor was always more miss than hit.\u00a0 What is great about these new adaptors is that they just work &#8211; genuine plug and play Eyefinity for $30.<\/p>\n<p>These new active DisplayPort to single-link DVI-D adaptors support resolutions up to 1920&#215;1200 (WUXGA) and including 1080p HDTV which is fully compliant to both DPCP and HDCP to ensure the compatibility and transmission of 32-bit color video content.\u00a0 Of course, gamers can now take advantage of Eyefinity technology with a single new adaptor by optimizing their experience with three DVI monitors without any additional software to install.<\/p>\n<h3>Setting up Eyefinity with the new adaptor<\/h3>\n<p>This editor has waited to audition Eyefinity for just this occasion.\u00a0 DisplayPort LCDs command a premium and are not quite yet easy to find although they are becoming more common.\u00a0 Samsung has finally launched its extra-thin bezel LCDs (MD230X3 and MD230X6) which are especially created for Eyefinity.\u00a0 However, since we do not have the luxury of 3 matched LCDs, we put together the closest match out of what we have:<\/p>\n<p>These 4 displays are available:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>24&#8243; &#8211; 1920&#215;1200 (MVA)<\/li>\n<li>24&#8243; &#8211; 1920&#215;1080 (TN)<\/li>\n<li> 22&#8243; &#8211; 1680&#215;1050 (TN)<\/li>\n<li>30&#8243; &#8211; 2560&#215;1600 (S-IPS)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Clearly using the 30 inch display would be a big mismatch for gaming and we did not use it although we intend to try it in a follow-up Eyefinity article in a productivity situation.\u00a0 Only the 24&#8243; 1920&#215;1200 SOYO is actually a PC monitor (we connected its DVI connector to our active single-link to DisplayPort adaptor); the other two displays are HDTVs with VGA connectors that we adapted to DVI and then connected to our Phenom II 955-X4\/HD 5870 CrossFire PC as shown below:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/3connect.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-20243\" title=\"3connect\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/3connect.jpg?resize=300%2C159\" alt=\"3connect\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/3connect.jpg?resize=300%2C159 300w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/3connect.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>Make sure that you have a large table to set your LCDs upon and set each LCD as closely as possible to the same height.\u00a0 Here is what our LCDs looked like when we set them side-by-side, each at 1680&#215;1050 resolution with the largest LCD in the center.\u00a0 The combined 5040&#215;1050 desktop now spans all three displays in Eyefinity and is most suited for super-widescreen gaming.:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/3LCDsMisMatch1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-20250\" title=\"3LCDsMisMatch\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/3LCDsMisMatch1.jpg?resize=480%2C127\" alt=\"3LCDsMisMatch\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/3LCDsMisMatch1.jpg?resize=480%2C127 800w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/3LCDsMisMatch1-300x79.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>Setting up Eyefinity is beyond simple.\u00a0 Open Catalyst Control Center and make sure each LCD&#8217;s Desktop Properties are set correctly:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/EasyAdjust2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-20248\" title=\"EasyAdjust2\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/EasyAdjust2.jpg?resize=299%2C300\" alt=\"EasyAdjust2\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/EasyAdjust2.jpg?resize=299%2C300 299w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/EasyAdjust2-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/EasyAdjust2.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 299px) 100vw, 299px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>Make a group and follow the wizard.\u00a0 You are done in less than a minute.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/EasyAdjust.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-20249\" title=\"EasyAdjust\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/EasyAdjust.jpg?resize=300%2C250\" alt=\"EasyAdjust\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/EasyAdjust.jpg?resize=300%2C250 300w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/EasyAdjust.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>Now play a game.\u00a0 There are close to fifty games that are either already setup for Eyefinity or validated for it. It is that easy!!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Dirt21.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-20251\" title=\"Dirt2\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Dirt21.jpg?resize=600%2C164\" alt=\"Dirt2\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Dirt21.jpg?resize=600%2C164 1000w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Dirt21-300x82.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This editor was surprised by the utter simplicity of setting up Eyefinity &#8211; especially on badly mismatched LCDs.\u00a0 There were no issues whatsoever; certainly none with flickering.\u00a0 What was even more surprising was the level of immersion in <em>Dirt 2<\/em> that Eyefinity allowed &#8211; even beyond using a single 30 inch display!\u00a0 This takes into consideration even using mismatched LCDs and the wide black bars separating the screens!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">We expect to spent a lot more time (playing games) with Eyefinity enabled and we will match up our LCDs better. \u00a0 Hopefully we will be able to use 3 x 24&#8243; LCDs\u00a0 for Eyefinity (and Nvidia&#8217;s Surround) so that we may use the built-in bezel correction to make our gaming experience even more immersive.\u00a0 Of course, we will follow up this article with a more detailed future review of Eyefinity which will also cover performance.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\">Conclusion<\/h3>\n<p>Eyefinity just got much more accessible to the already 16 million users of AMD&#8217;s DX11 Radeons.\u00a0 Instead of having to buy a special display or having to spend $100 to try out Eyefinity, the cost of entry has just dropped to $30 if you already have 3 displays.\u00a0 We also expect that AMD&#8217;s partners will offer &#8220;bundles&#8221; &#8211; possibly discounted packages of a videocard sold together with one of these adaptors much as games are already bundled with the cards.\u00a0 Partners making these new active single link to DisplayPort adaptors include, PowerColor, Sapphire, Accel, Wieson, XFX, BizLink and more.\u00a0 You can expect to find these thirty dollar DisplayPort adaptors beginning later this week from e-tailers.<\/p>\n<p>This Eyefinity $30 adaptor comes highly recommended from this first time Eyefinity user! Stay tuned for a much more detailed future article on Eyefinity using our new active single link DVI to DisplayPort adaptor.\u00a0 We want to give this product our &#8220;Great Value&#8221; award as it is just what AMD Eyefinity fans need.\u00a0 We also want to make a prediction that there will be many more Eyefinity fans because of its new lower cost of entry.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/greatvalue_awd-jpg.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px\" title=\"GreatValue_AWD\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/greatvalue_awd_thumb-jpg.jpg?resize=147%2C244\" border=\"0\" alt=\"GreatValue_AWD\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here are a few more images taken of a few Eyefinity-enabled games:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<div id=\"attachment_20259\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/HAWX.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20259\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20259 \" title=\"HAWX\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/HAWX.jpg?resize=600%2C138\" alt=\"H.A.W.X.\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/HAWX.jpg?resize=600%2C138 1000w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/HAWX-300x69.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-20259\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">H.A.W.X.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_20258\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Battleforge.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20258\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20258 \" title=\"Battleforge\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Battleforge.jpg?resize=600%2C136\" alt=\"BattleForge\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Battleforge.jpg?resize=600%2C136 1000w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Battleforge-300x67.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-20258\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">BattleForge<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<div id=\"attachment_20260\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/CoP1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20260\" class=\"size-large wp-image-20260\" title=\"CoP\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/CoP1.jpg?resize=590%2C125\" alt=\"CoP\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/CoP1.jpg?resize=590%2C125 1024w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/CoP1-300x63.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-20260\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">STALKER, CoP<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<div id=\"attachment_20256\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/AvP2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20256\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20256 \" title=\"AvP2\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/AvP2.jpg?resize=600%2C135\" alt=\"AvP2\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/AvP2.jpg?resize=600%2C135 1000w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/AvP2-300x67.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-20256\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">AvP2<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p>Please join us in our <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/abt\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\">Forums<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Become a Fan on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142', 'Facebook']);\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow us on <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech', 'Twitter']);\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For the latest updates from ABT, please <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?feed=rss2\" target=\"_blank\">join our RSS News Feed<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Join our Distributed Computing teams<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Folding@Home &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech &#8211; 164304<\/li>\n<li>SETI@Home &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech &#8211; 138705<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcommunitygrid.org\/reg\/viewRegister.do?teamID=3P39R3SRV1\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.worldcommunitygrid.org\/reg\/viewRegister.do?teamID=3P39R3SRV1', 'World Community Grid &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech']);\" target=\"_blank\">World Community Grid &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=20240\"><img decoding=\"async\" align=top title=\"Author: Mark Poppin\" src=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Eyefinity.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2533,7814,6],"tags":[4051,4050,2997,2511,2184],"class_list":["post-20240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abt-news","category-articles","category-news","tag-active-single-link-displayport-adaptor","tag-amd-graphics","tag-displayport","tag-dvi","tag-eyefinity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}