ATI Radeon Dual card setups?

[Shmee150]

Hi all,

I'm trying to put together a new computer, it's going to be a Shuttle SX58J3 which means I've got 2 16x PCI-e ports to play with but both must be single slot graphics cards. Historically I've only ever owned nVidia cards but have been able to run a top-end one along side a much weaker card in order to run 3 DVI displays.

My question is can the same be done with ATI cards? And if so what cards should I be looking at?

So far the "best" single-slot card I've found is the 1GB XFX HD 5770 that you can find here at Scan

In the adjacent slot, which will be running a single screen that isn't used for very much but still at 1920x1080 and occasionally might play video at that am I going over kill with something like a 1GB XFX HD 5670 (on Scan here)?

Now perhaps I'm jumping the gun and I should buy one more powerful 'Eyefinity' compatible card - I sort of understand that I could then plug my 3rd DVI display in via the Displayport socket with an appropriate adapter (don't know if it comes with that) and run all 3 off one card?

Any help from a graphics card aficionado would be hugely appreciated before I end up ordering the wrong thing!

Many thanks,

Tim

[Max Tractor]

Single slot 6850

http://www.techpowerup.com/144481/Po...hics-Card.html


there is also single slot 460 looks long

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/254129

was a £120 yesterday here from cats thread

http://forums.hexus.net/shopping-ret...ics-cards.html


personally I would go with a dual slot ati and get the active adapter for the 3rd monitor


XFX HD 6850 1GB 125quid geez thats cheap

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/244473


keep ln mind this has 1GB vram, add the active adapter @20/25

[Shmee150]

personally I would go with a dual slot ati and get the active adapter for the 3rd monitor


XFX HD 6850 1GB 125quid geez thats cheap

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/244473


keep ln mind this is the 1GB version, add the active adapter @20/25

Good thought, one of those cards and the adapter it will be, one of these right?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/245730

Do I understand that Eyefinity will definitely be happy managing those 3 screens and I can set it up in a way that the start bar and everything are on the central screen and when maximising windows they just fill the one screen? Or does it just appear as a "Single 5760x1080 Display" to Windows?

Thanks!

[Max Tractor]

adapters here@bottom

Display Port/MiniDP

http://xfxforce.com/en-us/Products/A...spx?lang=en-us


as for the config, I have not used it personally so I cant comment on how it would run

[Shmee150]

Brilliant, looks like I had my eyes set on the right part, just need to find somebody using eyefinity to run 3 1920x1080 displays now!

Thanks!

[jetfire]

here are a few pics of mine,the first is with eyefinity not used.

but you can use hydragrid but i have not used it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbblUuqkA_M

[Shmee150]

That looks absolutely immense, nice setup!

A question if you will; I'll be running 2 displays on the DVI sockets and one on the DisplayPort with an active adapter to DVI, do I understand correctly that I'll be able to have the same functionality with multiple displays as with 2 monitors plugged in the normal way, i.e. they show to Windows as 3 displays of 1920x1080 and you can have the start bar on just a single one as well as maximising windows to a single display or stretching them larger there as an option should you wish?

I hope that makes sense, confirmation would be hugely appreciated.

Many thanks

[jetfire]

in the first pic the start bar is just on the middle screen as win 7 just sees 4 monitors plugged in if that makes sense.

i just use eyefinity tho and drag the windows and resize them on the monitor i want it on and the tv is run of a second gfx card.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Hi all,

I'm trying to put together a new computer, it's going to be a Shuttle SX58J3 which means I've got 2 16x PCI-e ports to play with but both must be single slot graphics cards. Historically I've only ever owned nVidia cards but have been able to run a top-end one along side a much weaker card in order to run 3 DVI displays.

My question is can the same be done with ATI cards? And if so what cards should I be looking at?

So far the "best" single-slot card I've found is the 1GB XFX HD 5770 that you can find here at Scan

In the adjacent slot, which will be running a single screen that isn't used for very much but still at 1920x1080 and occasionally might play video at that am I going over kill with something like a 1GB XFX HD 5670 (on Scan here)?

Now perhaps I'm jumping the gun and I should buy one more powerful 'Eyefinity' compatible card - I sort of understand that I could then plug my 3rd DVI display in via the Displayport socket with an appropriate adapter (don't know if it comes with that) and run all 3 off one card?

Any help from a graphics card aficionado would be hugely appreciated before I end up ordering the wrong thing!

Many thanks,

Tim

Having owned a few Shuttles myself I would advice against putting two cards in such a small case. The SX58J3 also has less cooling for critical parts of the motherboard when compared to the earlier SX58H7 and later SX58H7 Pro.

All the hot air is going to be recirculated within the case and it could lead to problems down the line.

I would just get one card and one with a rear venting cooler.

An HD5870 will fit in the SX58J3:

http://portals.hexus.net/?item=25097...id=microdirect

This means that the HD6950 and HD6970 will also fit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SpxihI0pKc

[Shmee150]

in the first pic the start bar is just on the middle screen as win 7 just sees 4 monitors plugged in if that makes sense.

i just use eyefinity tho and drag the windows and resize them on the monitor i want it on and the tv is run of a second gfx card.

That sounds perfect. Thank you very much for your advice!

[Shmee150]

Having owned a few Shuttles myself I would advice against putting two cards in such a small case. The SX58J3 also has less cooling for critical parts of the motherboard when compared to the earlier SX58H7 and later SX58H7 Pro.

All the hot air is going to be recirculated within the case and it could lead to problems down the line.

I would just get one card and one with a rear venting cooler.

An HD5870 will fit in the SX58J3:

http://portals.hexus.net/?item=25097...id=microdirect

This means that the HD6950 and HD6970 will also fit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SpxihI0pKc

Thanks for the advice, I've used 2 cards in my current one for 3 years but as you suggested it's probably not wise so the idea of a single card is much more appealing going forward.

I think the HD6850 is good enough for me so for the price point that will be the one I go for. I don't play games ever so it's purely to cope with lots of high res displays and any involvement it will have in the whole video editing sphere (lots of hd playback).

Thanks!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Sandy Bridge based SH67H7 and SH67H3 will soon be available in shops AFAIK.

Being a lower end case it means you only have a 300W PSU although there is also a 500W PSU available as an upgrade option.

[Shmee150]

The Sandy Bridge based SH67H7 and SH67H3 will soon be available in shops AFAIK.

Being a lower end case it means you only have a 300W PSU although there is also a 500W PSU available as an upgrade option.

I saw that as an option but I think I'm happy with the older case and prefer the look of the SX58J3 and having card readers etc, it's also available fairly cheaply which is no bad thing!

Perhaps in future I'll swap to a socket 1155 shuttle with an appropriate cpu and pull the rest of the bits over but for now it seems like a good enough start.