ATI Radeon HD 5770 with three monitors?

Hi,

I see this is rather old post but I hope I will get clarification.

I want to connect on my MacPro mid2010 with Mavericks and 5770 three displays:

a) 1x Apple cinema display 30" via cards built in DVI

b) 1x Sony FWD-40LX2F 40" via active mDP to HDMI adapter

c) 1x new monitor to be purchased

I guess it needs to be

active mDP to HDMI

or

mDP to mDP

or

active mDP to DVI

Am I right?

It says in your post that approved active adapters does not have restrictions?

Also, what will happen if as a third monitor I buy Asus 169B+ usb3 display?

Anyone knows how my system will behave?

Thx!

Yes.

You should read these apple docs:

Mac Pro (Early 2009), Mac Pro (Mid 2010): Supported display configurations

Mac Pro (Mid 2010), Mac Pro (Early 2009): Issues with three displays and multiple DVI, HDMI connections

What it will boil down to is that 3 monitors can be connected but two require active adapters. VGA adapters are considered active. Other kinds need to be found. For example the "AMD Eyefinity Validated Dongles" chart shows some active (and passive) adapters that are acceptable.

An Apple mini-displayport to VGA will satisfy one of the two active requirments.

That leave the second mini displayport. You need an active mini displayport to DVI. But I cannot suggest one of these until you say what resolution you need on that DVI connection. If the resolution is greater than 1920 x 1200 you will need a dual link active adapter. Otherwise a single link activ adapter will work (see the Eyefinity chart).

If you look at the Eyefinity chart and example of a single link DVI active adapter is the Accell B087B-006B. Google "mini displayport to single link active adapter" to find it and alternatives.

If you need a dual link DVI active adapter then the chart suggests (among others) a Accell B087B-003J. Google "mini displayport to dual link active adapter" to find it and alternatives.

So I'm in the same boat. Mac Pro with 5770 with two monitors, looking to upgrade to three. One is connected via DVI, the other via Apple's $29 miniDP to DVI adapter.

So Apple's $29 VGA adapter is "active", but their $29 DVI adapter is "passive"? What does it mean for an adaper to be passive or active? Obviously, I'd rather buy one more $29 adapter vs two $99 adapters. Plus the dual-link "active" adapters also use USB ports, and they take up so much space. Apparently I could technically buy two miniDP to VGA adapters, and use VGA input on two of my monitors, and DVI on the third.

So does anyone know exactly what the different is between passive and active adapters? And why does the 5770 need active adapters if you're using three displays, but passive is fine if you are using just two?

And why does the 5770 need active adapters if you're using three displays, but passive is fine if you are using just two?

Active vs. Passive Displayport adapters *the truth*

Note, you only need dual link dvi if the monitor resolution is greater than 1920 x 1200. FWIW, monoprice.com sells a somewhat cheaper dual link dvi adapter.

Ok that doesn't make sense to me. How much power is required to send the digital signal out over a wire? The 5770 card gets power from a PCI slot, plus a second power connector to draw power directly from the logic board. And with all that power available, the tiny amount of power sent over two USB ports is enough to make the difference? This makes no sense to me.

Why not put a second power plug on the video card, so you could use the second video card power port on the logic board. Then the card could suck all the power it needs, and you could use simple and cheap passive adapters to power three 1080p monitors.

It doesn't make sense to me that this could be a power issue.

I revised my post. Follow the link.

I always thought it was a power problem until I read that info.

So I read that article and it sounds like the cards should support one straight DVI display, one DVI display with a passive adapter, and a third DVI display with an active adapter. However apple's tech article states that you need two active adapters to get three displays (technically the article says you need two dual-link adapters, but I think that's just because their dual-link adapter is active and their single-link is passive).

I said earlier you only need dual link adapters for resolutions greater than 1920 x 1200. For single link active adapters you can choose from the ones in the "AMD Eyefinity Validated Dongles" table. For example, the Accell B087B-006B is a popular choice of a single link active adapter.

Right, but that wasn't what I was commenting on. My point was, can I get three monitors with one direct dvi, one passive adapter and one active adapter? (regardless of them being single or dual link)

I do not agrree. But the "fun" here is playing with different combinations of adapters and connections to see what you can get away with.😉

In my case I wanted to connect my old 17" vga, my 27" mini-displayport, and my TV to my 5870. My 27" mini-displayport monitor plugged into my 5870. That does not count as an active adapter so I needed to come up with two active adapters. The mini displayport to vga counts as one. That leaves the dvi for the tv and I needed to come up with a active adapter. I found the following:

DVI & S/PDIF Digital Coax/Optical Toslink Audio to HDMI® Converter

And the card was "happy" with that. It allowed me to pass the optical audio and the video to this box and convert to hdmi to the tv. The card views the box as an active adapter.

1- I read all relevant Apple documents I found on the ATI Radeon HD 5770, and on the fact it could support three monitors by means of a DVD connector and two MDP.

2- I watched YouTube videos of happy people having installed the 5770 on a Mac Pro 3.1 (early 2008) which is the model I have (8-core Xeon 3.2 MHz)

3- Many forum attendees on the Web were affirmative about the fact such a Mac Pro could be happy with a 5770.

4- On the phone with the nearest Apple Store, I was asked to bring my system (2-hour drive) in order to receive some help, an idea I immediately rejected.

5- Nevertheless, I bought the ATi board from the online Apple store and I installed it on my Mac Pro.

6- No issue except it refused to work until I blasted all connectors on the mother board with an Air Duster (a normal treatment I give all my PCs once in a while).

7- I use two 20-inch Cinema Displays and one HP 24-inch HDMI monitor, and I've got all required adaptors: HDMI to MDP, DVI to MDP, even VGA to MDP and HDMI to VGA.

8- I tried all possible configurations.

9- I tried for at least two hours.

10- I never succeeded having more than two monitors working at a given time 1 and 2, 1 and 3 or 2 and 3.

11- In order to use my third monitor, I had to connect it via USB2 with a DisplayLink adaptor which has nothing to do with the ATI board.

12- CONCLUSION: In my case, and in my belief, the so called fact the ATI Radeon HD 5770 can support three monitors by means of a DVI connector and two MDP is pure fantasy and, once again alas! a marketing BS statement.

ndumais wrote:

1- I read all relevant Apple documents I found on the ATI Radeon HD 5770, and on the fact it could support three monitors by means of a DVD connector and two MDP.

Well that's obviously an incorrect statement since apparently you didn't read the following two documents:

Mac Pro (Early 2009), Mac Pro (Mid 2010): Supported display configurations

Mac Pro (Mid 2010), Mac Pro (Early 2009): Issues with three displays and multiple DVI, HDMI connections

Basic summy, you need two active adapters to connect 3 monitors to a 5x70 card.

You should have also read in your search that possible active adapters could come from the following list:

AMD Eyefinity Validated Dongles

This article might also help:

Active vs. Passive Displayport adapters *the truth*

12- CONCLUSION: In my case, and in my belief, the so called fact the ATI Radeon HD 5770 can support three monitors by means of a DVI connector and two MDP is pure fantasy and, once again alas! a marketing BS statement.

You are correct. It is pure fantasy because you didn't follow the guidelines on how to connect three monitors to the 5x70 using two active adapters, not passive adapters you are attempting to use.

Connectivity Requirements: AMD Eyefinity technology is supported by graphics cards in the ATI Radeon™ HD 5400 series and higher. These cards can support up to six monitors (depending on the model), subject to the following restrictions:

• A maximum of 2 legacy monitors (VGA, DVI or HDMI) can be enabled simultaneously, provided that each monitor is connected either directly or via a “passive” DisplayPort™ adapter/dongle. “Passive” adapters/dongles will NOT support more than 2 legacy monitors.

• To enable support for more than 2 monitors, “active” DisplayPort™ adapters/dongles are required (or monitors with direct DisplayPort™ connectivity must be used).

• Approved “active” adapters have no general connectivity restrictions with AMD Eyefinity technology.

from: http://support.amd.com/us/eyefinity/Pages/eyefinity-dongles.aspx

S423424X - What I currently have are two 21W monitors (both with ONLY VGA and DVI single intefaces) running 1680x1025 and a TV running at 1080P. I'm limited to using HDMI with the TV as it has a cable running from across the room and the cable as an HDMI connector (I was overruled on that decison).

The 2 Active connections makes sense to me regarding three monitor support, however; I need clarification on which interfaces can be active. Am I limited to the mini DP connectors on the card being active, or could I use a VGA cable with a VGA to DVI adapter to the video card using that as my second active connection? I plan to use a mini DP to DVI for my first. The mini DP to HDMI only comes in passive.

Appreciate the help! The information here is been invaluable.