I have a Mac Pro with a single ATI Radeon HD 5870. I am trying to use 3 monitors with but the although it has 3 outputs only 2 monitors work. I have a MiniDisplay to Dual Link DVI Adapter but the 3rd screen is still all black. Can any one suggest a configuration. I hope i dont need another graphics card.
Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)
To run three monitors, all adapters to "legacy" display technologies must use ACTIVE POWERED adapters.
http://support.amd.com/us/eyefinity/Pages/eyefinity-dongles.aspx
So i need 2 Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapters and a mini display to DVI adaptor for 3 monitors to work?
What resolution? not every monitor needs dual link, and 3 display outputs does seem harder to achieve.
I have 3 DELL 2407WFP Display at 1920 x 1200 and a single ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB graphics.
1920 by 1200 requires only Single-Link, but All must be ACTIVE, Powered adapters. If there is a USB pigtail, it must be plugged in for power.
I messed up the link above. This one should point to AMD's list of "Gold" qualified adapters:
Ok... so if i have 2 MiniDisplay to Dual Link DVI Adapters and a direct DVI connection will it work. Is it just me or is this harder than it should be.
Apple says:
| Three DVI displays | Use Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter | Use Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter | Connect to display |
That will work using Apple's Dual-Link adapters which cost US$100 each.
As will these adapters:
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available here for US$32.48 with SuperSaver shipping:
lesterfromspace-
Amazon's search included the wrong part. The link I originally posted is for "regular" DisplayPort to DVI.
You need the MiniDisplayPort to DVI. I have fixed the link. So sorry.
What if I want to use 2 DVI and 1 HDMI? Must all adapters used be Dual Link Active (i.e. Apple's $100 adapters)
Thank you,
ACTIVE Adapters are required when using more than TWO Adapters.
But Dual-Link are only required for wider than 1920 wide.
Accell and StarTech ACTIVE adapters can be used at much lower cost if you are not using wide displays.
Thank you, Malcolm.
My issue is that my 5870 card has 2 Mini Display Ports and 1 DVI port.
I bought Apple's Dual Link Active DVI - Mini Display Port adapters and plugged both of my DVI displays in (Dell 23 inch) - These are both plugged in on the Mini Display Ports on the 5870 card. and they work, but adding my TV using a DVI-HDMI converter cable on the final open DVI port doesn't work. 😟
Any thoughts? I don't have 3 Mini Display Ports. Using a 2010 Mac Pro Tower btw.
Thank you in advance!
I was thinking about it and did you mean that if I used an active HDMI-MDP converter for my TV screen, that it would work then with the 2 other displays?
That would mean that one of the other two dell displays would be DVI-DVI Active-MDP and the second one would just be straight DVI.. correct? As the ATI 5870 only has 2 Mini Display Ports and a DVI port.
Thank you again for all of your help.
Yes, you can connect one DVI display to the the card's DVI port, the other to an active DVI adapter, and use the active HDMI adapter for the TV.
If you don't need audio on the HDMI cable, you could use your two Apple DVI adapters, and use a simple DVI to HDMI adapter or cable for the TV.
Hi. Thanks for this post. I edit video as part of my occupation. I've been trying to discover the magic formula to get my 5870 working with 3 monitors. Pictures of my setup below. I would think these connections would just work. But that would be too easy. Well it doesn't. Any combination of 2 seems to work. Any 2 monitors, and any 2 ports. But when I go with all 3 ports and monitors, I lose the DVI port and whatever monitor is connected to it. All monitors are HDMI and 1920x1080. But because of what I had available from past systems/configs, these are the adapters I have going. In the pic listed furthest to nearest. 1.) Apple MDP-DVI adapter then connected via DVI to HDMI cable. 2.) MDP-HDMI adpater then connected via HDMI cable. 3.) DVI-HDMI adapter connected via HDMI cable. After upgrading to Mavericks and FCPx, due to ceased support and compatibiltiy,I had to ditch my AJA Kona LHe pro video card I had running the 3rd monitor above in the picture. And since I'm not really capturing video from tape machines anymore, instead of re-upping for a new compatible pro card I wanted to save some bucks and try to get this 5870 cranking all 3 monitors. I guess one cheaper option is to buy a USB powered/USB port external video card adapter to power the 3rd HDMI monitor and forget about the 3rd port on the 5870. I welcome any input. Thanks for the discussion.
3 monitors from a single 5870
