MP 2006 with Radeon 5770 using 3 monitors

[NiceDice]

Hi all,
I've just upgraded to a 5770 in my old MP (2,1) - on the assumption that I could use all 3 monitor ports without problem. Not so!
I acquired 2 mini display to dvi adapters thinking they would do but after trying them only 2 monitors work with all 3 ports in use, so after some searching and reading on this forum i found this link:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4279?viewlocale=en_US

This highlights the need for 2 x Apple Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter in order for the card to work with 3 monitors - there sell on auction sites for around £40 - £100 each - ouch!
my question is - my monitors have dvi and vga ports so would it not be cheaper to get 2 x mini display to vga adapters instead of the dual-link dvi ones - AND WILL THEY WORK??

I would prefer to seek advice before I waste more money on leads that i don't need!

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[DualShock]

There are now "active" MDP --> single link DVI adapters that are available for around $30 US.

As documented by AnandTech:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3879/active-singlelink-displayport-adaptors-available-soon

However it is still unknown if they will work successfully with the 5770/5870. But ATI has said they will work for Eyefinity on PC's.

See the bottom of my post for a bit more info.

 

[mjsmke]

When you say you upgraded to the 5770. I take it you no longer use your old GPU card?

Why not just use the old GPU card for the 3rd display. That way its free.

 

[NiceDice]

hi - mjsmke - I've put the x1900xt back in to support the extra monitors but to soak up some of the cost of the new card i was going to sell the old one on.

DualShock - thanks for the advice, however I can't find any 'active' MDP adapters for sale and also do you know if the MDP > VGA adapters would work?

Cheers

 

[DualShock]

I can't find any 'active' MDP adapters for sale

As mentioned in my "What We Know So Far" thread (bottom of first post), Dave Baumann from ATI tweeted that NewEgg (in the US anyway) is selling DisplayPort --> single link DVI adapters for ~ $27 US. But these are only DisplayPort, not Mini DisplayPort.

http://twitter.com/Wavey_Dave/status/24141420191

Otherwise I'm not too sure about availability. But AnandTech did mention September 2010 availability. Also, ATI has a list of certified dongles here (US list it seems, maybe they have a UK list too?):

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

But I'm also not sure if these are MDP ones.

and also do you know if the MDP > VGA adapters would work?

I don't know first hand but at least one person has mentioned that it works:

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/10941260/

 

[spaz8]

Hi all,
I've just upgraded to a 5770 in my old MP (2,1) - on the assumption that I could use all 3 monitor ports without problem. Not so!
I acquired 2 mini display to dvi adapters thinking they would do but after trying them only 2 monitors work with all 3 ports in use, so after some searching and reading on this forum i found this link:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4279?viewlocale=en_US

This highlights the need for 2 x Apple Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter in order for the card to work with 3 monitors - there sell on auction sites for around £40 - £100 each - ouch!
my question is - my monitors have dvi and vga ports so would it not be cheaper to get 2 x mini display to vga adapters instead of the dual-link dvi ones - AND WILL THEY WORK??

I would prefer to seek advice before I waste more money on leads that i don't need!

Thanks in advance for any input.

Could you tells use what monitors you're using.. Apple, dell, etc.. and the Boot ROM version of your mac. MP2,1....

 

[NiceDice]

hi - it may be worth trying the vga option, thanks for the advice.

here's the details of the mac and displays:

Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro2,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 3 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 8
L2 Cache (per processor): 8 MB
Memory: 14 GB
Bus Speed: 1.33 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MP21.007F.B06
SMC Version (system): 1.15f3
Hardware UUID: 00000000-0000-1000-8000-0019E3F92F86



ATI Radeon HD 5770:
Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 5770
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 1024 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x68b8
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-C0160C-155
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.436
Displays:
X2210WPS:
Resolution: 1680 x 1050 @ 60 Hz
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Rotation: Supported
Display Connector:
Status: No Display Connected
Display Connector:
Status: No Display Connected


ATI Radeon X1900 XT:
Chipset Model: ATY,RadeonX1900
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-3
PCIe Lane Width: x4
VRAM (Total): 512 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x7249
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-A52027-202
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.202
Displays:
SyncMaster:
Resolution: 1280 x 1024 @ 60 Hz
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Rotation: Supported
SyncMaster:
Resolution: 1280 x 1024 @ 60 Hz
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Rotation: Supported