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HEXUS.events :: Click here to read the latest from IFA 2010

ATI Eyefinity: HEXUS and AMD get it on with six-screen multi-monitor goodness

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Published: Thu 25th Feb, 2010 | Author: Parm Mann
Products: ATI Eyefinity, Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 edition
Companies: AMD (All AMD content)
External reviews: AMD Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 edition

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We thought we'd start the week building snowmen and reading about the latest sporting infidelities, but things suddenly became a whole lot more interesting when Antal Tungler - AMD's technical public relations manager for EMEA - turned up at our labs with a goodie bag that Father Christmas himself would have been proud of.

And no, we're not talking about that frankly underwhelming Radeon HD 5830. No sir, Mr Tungler presented us with a Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition graphics card - and six - yes, six - 22in Dell monitors for use in a 2x3 Eyefinity configuration.

That means a massive multi-screen resolution of 5,040 x 2,100, powered by a single extreme GPU. Impressive stuff, folks, and as you can imagine, we were eager to get up and running just so we could finally see Crysis in all its glory.

Trouble is, nobody - not even Antal Tungler himself - had any experience in setting up a six-screen wall of 22in displays, and believe you me, it's trickier than it sounds. But, being the responsible publication we are, the HEXUS team took it upon ourselves to ensure the entire build process was filmed and documented to aid the enthusiast out there who will actually go out and buy six monitors and a £400(ish) graphics card:

We never did manage to get all six displays perfectly aligned, but after toiling for a while and going through a fair share of strawberry scones, we decided we were close enough. First impression? Well, like the three-way setup we built earlier, ATI Eyefinity makes for a truly jaw-dropping gaming environment - and it certainly has its uses in terms of productivity, too. It isn't quite perfect, though, as building the display wall was tedious to say the least, and the thick bezels on Dell's displays do their utmost to detract from the overall experience.

If AMD can find a partner to build six 22-24in full-HD displays with an ultra-thin bezel - or better yet, no bezel at all - combined with an easier-to-implement stand, it could have itself one of the most desired gadgets of the year.

Stay tuned for our full AMD ATI Eyefinity Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition review, because we actually have two cards for some CrossFire fun.


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HEXUS.community :: your right2reply

Re: First looks - ATI Eyefinity: HEXUS and AMD get it on with six-screen multi-monito
Pics or it didn't happen Hexus!

PCPro mention bezel correction is kinda successful but projectors would be a damn good (if very hot & expensive) solution!Quote
Re: First looks - ATI Eyefinity: HEXUS and AMD get it on with six-screen multi-monito
lol it definitely didn't happen, that's what the lottery ticket is for. :P Or has anyone got 10 grand and a rather large room to spare?Quote
Re: First looks - ATI Eyefinity: HEXUS and AMD get it on with six-screen multi-monito
6 is obviously cool but I was really impressed when I saw 3x large monitors (1900x1200 or 1900x1080) all in a row but rotated so each monitor is vertical. The resultant 3600x1900 or 3240x1900 eyefinity screen is close to 16:9 widescreen resolution and, very importantly, does *not* have any bezel at the centre point of the overall screen, which is, after all, where the cross hairs / general focal point is.Quote
Re: First looks - ATI Eyefinity: HEXUS and AMD get it on with six-screen multi-monito

Quote: Rob_B
PCPro mention bezel correction is kinda successful but projectors would be a damn good (if very hot & expensive) solution!

There has been a new type of projector released recently (the name of which escapes me) based on lasers and LEDs rather than standard bulbs, so the heat and power would be massively reduced. There's a claimed life of 20,000 hrs I think it was, and advertises that bulbs never need changing (so in the long run, it's massively cheaper, even though it's £700 or so).

Edit: It's the Casio XJ-A140 (http://www.casio-projectors.eu/euro/products/xja140/). Obviously it's an emerging product/technology, but it's here to stay. Traditional projectors for standard uses are going to be obsolete, which is good for everyone (other than the bulb makers/retailers and their 8,000% mark-up).Quote
Re: First looks - ATI Eyefinity: HEXUS and AMD get it on with six-screen multi-monito
Guys could you try running 3 monitors on one card and 3 on the second without crossfire enabled and see if you get a blue screen, I have x2 5970s and thats what I get, Ati's support have just told me to forward a crash report to microsoft and are refusing to help :) so much for pemium graphics, users beware, stick with nvidia!
youtube here: youtube.com/watch?v=vuWuhqPQdJoQuote

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