So a mate flicked me a youtube vid of him playin dirt 2 on eyefinity with 3 monitors.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_feRw95ybI&feature=autofb

Instant chubby material right there.

So I thought with BFBC2 coming and all, I might aswell upgrade.

For those who dont like tech, press back now.

Here are some pics of my epic journey beyond the resolutions of the norm

I have to apologise first up, the pics arent great. all coming from my blackberry rank ass camera.

So I priced up a whole new rig, ordered from different places in vic and went and picked up most things that I could to save postage costs.

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/6922/img00132201001221626.jpg
Gskill Trident DDR3 2000 6GB

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/4788/img00133201001221626.jpg
an i7 920

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/5060/img00134201001221627.jpg
A Prolima Megahalems Rev B CPU cooler

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/6650/img00135201001221627.jpg
A HIS ATI Radeon 5870 ( The secrtet to eyefinity)

http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/269/img00136201001221627.jpg
A Gigabyte EX58 UD3R3 MOBO

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/3384/img00137201001221628.jpg
The case. An cheapo brand i found that actual makes some quality cases.

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/5407/img00139201001221628.jpg
Logitech G500 Gaming mouse

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/2155/img00140201001221629.jpg
Coolermaster SilentproM 850w Power Supply

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/4454/img00141201001221629.jpg
Saitek Cyborg Keyboard

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/3568/img00142201001221630.jpg
And 3 ( yes thats three) Benq E2420HD 24 inch LCD Monitors.

Fuck yeah Spanky, you little Bastard!!!!!

I would do many things to have triple monitors and Eyefinity!!!!!

Consider me in a will...

Cool pics, despite the grainyness, tells a pretty good story...

SO ive been an avid overclocker in the past few years, not too extreme but some might say watercooling is extreme. Hey atleast I havnt dug ditches in my backyard, buried piping and hooked it up to my pc for that little bit extra chill. I have enjoyed ocing but eventually you find a stable box, and after a few months, it becomes problem ridden.

I blew a couple of motherboards and ram sets trying to recouperate previous clocks, that had failed from some hot ram or hto nrth bridge. You get sick of having to fix the damn thing when all u wanna do is play games. So the last board I had, had a dualcore in it which was close to the 3.5 gig mark ( if i remember) Some boosted ram and running on a high FSB. It ended up frying the mobo and my ram. That was it. All I wanted in the end was a box that would work flawlessly with no issues. So I replaced the boaord and ram and left it stock. That box lasted more then 6 months. Which is the one in the pcs.

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/2653/comp02k.jpg

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/4713/img00143201001221633.jpg

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/6866/img00144201001221633.jpg

That had water cooling in it only cos i CBF taking it out. Alot of work for not much extra grunt. These days I dont see overclocking that beneficial specially when PC gear is becoming so cheap. Especially the headache it can cause. Some boxes I spent weeks on before they became stable. Constant resets and clearing bios.

Anyway. Im glad to get rid of the watercooling.

Now the build.

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/9098/img00145201001221706.jpg
Bare MOBO

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/2237/img00146201001221749.jpg
Mobo with cpu, cooler and ram

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/1553/img00147201001221802.jpg
Bare Case

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/106/img00148201001221810.jpg
Case with mobo

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/1921/img00149201001222005.jpg
PSU and GPU installed. (5870 is a long card. That thing is tight. Scared it wouldnt fit. )

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/1756/img00150201001222005.jpg
Closer look at a fish ass.

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/2293/img00151201001222037.jpg
Finished and cable tied.

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/803/img00154201001222037.jpg No watercooling. Awesome.

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/1538/img00155201001222051.jpg
Slick rick

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/53/img00156201001222051.jpg

Now. The 5870 has 4 connectors on the rear. 2 DVI, 1 HDMI and ! display port. To get eyefinity working you must use the display port for one of the monitors. (Thanks Aaron.)

So I went and purchased a Display port to HDMI converter. It was around 30 bux. So 2 monitors would use the normal DVI connection and one monitor would connect via HDMI to the display port of the Card.

Now just tonight I found out off my mate that I need an ACTIVE DISPLAY PORT CONVERTER. These converters are powered via USB and actually convert the signal or provide a clocking signal to the monitor. (Im still researching which is true.)

Now this little baby costs over 100 bux. And arent really stocked in OZ. Im pissed. A little bit more research wouldve been handy.

So now this is what the setup is looking like.

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/3847/img00160201001222217.jpg

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/6421/img00161201001222217.jpg The cyborg. (Damn nice keyboard. Feels Nice.)

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/3166/img00164201001222218.jpg

As you can see the left monitor is waiting for the converter.

Heres some bf with it. Funnily it displayed the game on both screens. Headache material.

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/2412/img00169201001230219.jpg

Ill keep yas posted. Hopefully it gets there.

Very nice Spanky.

I just got a 26" samsung TV with i'm using as my second screen. I have BF running on my first screen and BF2CC on the second. (To monitor the GA servers)

Dude, resize the images!

PLEASE! :D

What happened to my megabytezz!!??!?!!

Dude, resize the images!

PLEASE! :D

Muchly agreed!!!!! You think, considering he is good with photoshop and stuff it wouldnt be beyond the realms of your average fantasy for him to shave a few pixels off.. GEEEEZZZZZ!!!

What happened to my megabytezz!!??!?!!

Lol, I got capped from looking at this page and refreshing once. :eek:

LOL spanky, love ya work.
I just added a 17 inch for secondary lols, but am now regretting losing my 3rd spare 17 inches(lets just take a moment to appreciate how rare it is to be able to use that sentence) as I wish I had kept it for just this purpose. Would have been great to have 3 monitors for bc2 fun.

Keep us updated, I would like to know more as 17 inches costs nothing (see above) and would be easy to gather.

:)

Hold on the forum software should resize the shit. Why isnt it happening?

Beef actually sort of works in eyefinity. Well with 2 screens the crosshair falls on the monitor bezels so its unplayable. But the FOV is atually correct. Its stretches the HUD but you get a crazy FOV.


[img=http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/9329/img00194201001241941.th.jpg] (http://img41.imageshack.us/i/img00194201001241941.jpg/)
[img=http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/5231/img00193201001241941j.th.jpg] (http://img197.imageshack.us/i/img00193201001241941j.jpg/)
[img=http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/6127/img00192201001241940.th.jpg] (http://img130.imageshack.us/i/img00192201001241940.jpg/)
[img=http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/6501/img00191201001241940.th.jpg] (http://img130.imageshack.us/i/img00191201001241940.jpg/)
[img=http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/5669/img00190201001241939.th.jpg] (http://img638.imageshack.us/i/img00190201001241939.jpg/)
[img=http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/3572/img00189201001241939.th.jpg] (http://img638.imageshack.us/i/img00189201001241939.jpg/)
[img=http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7692/img00188201001241938.th.jpg] (http://img204.imageshack.us/i/img00188201001241938.jpg/)
[img=http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/646/img00187201001241938.th.jpg] (http://img197.imageshack.us/i/img00187201001241938.jpg/)
[img=http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/2604/img00186201001241937.th.jpg] (http://img31.imageshack.us/i/img00186201001241937.jpg/)
[img=http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/3144/img00185201001241934.th.jpg] (http://img264.imageshack.us/i/img00185201001241934.jpg/)
[img=http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/7484/img00184201001241934.th.jpg] (http://img264.imageshack.us/i/img00184201001241934.jpg/)
[img=http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/4173/img00183201001241932d.th.jpg] (http://img204.imageshack.us/i/img00183201001241932d.jpg/)

works when u refresh the page after a load. Doesnt keep it that way for the next visit though

i cant work it out

Beef actually sort of works in eyefinity. Well with 2 screens the crosshair falls on the monitor bezels so its unplayable. But the FOV is atually correct. Its stretches the HUD but you get a crazy FOV.


[img=http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/9329/img00194201001241941.th.jpg] (http://img41.imageshack.us/i/img00194201001241941.jpg/)
[img=http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/5231/img00193201001241941j.th.jpg] (http://img197.imageshack.us/i/img00193201001241941j.jpg/)
[img=http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/6127/img00192201001241940.th.jpg] (http://img130.imageshack.us/i/img00192201001241940.jpg/)
[img=http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/6501/img00191201001241940.th.jpg] (http://img130.imageshack.us/i/img00191201001241940.jpg/)
[img=http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/5669/img00190201001241939.th.jpg] (http://img638.imageshack.us/i/img00190201001241939.jpg/)
[img=http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/3572/img00189201001241939.th.jpg] (http://img638.imageshack.us/i/img00189201001241939.jpg/)
[img=http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7692/img00188201001241938.th.jpg] (http://img204.imageshack.us/i/img00188201001241938.jpg/)
[img=http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/646/img00187201001241938.th.jpg] (http://img197.imageshack.us/i/img00187201001241938.jpg/)
[img=http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/2604/img00186201001241937.th.jpg] (http://img31.imageshack.us/i/img00186201001241937.jpg/)
[img=http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/3144/img00185201001241934.th.jpg] (http://img264.imageshack.us/i/img00185201001241934.jpg/)
[img=http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/7484/img00184201001241934.th.jpg] (http://img264.imageshack.us/i/img00184201001241934.jpg/)
[img=http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/4173/img00183201001241932d.th.jpg] (http://img204.imageshack.us/i/img00183201001241932d.jpg/)

Try running widescreen fixer

does that fix the hud?

I believe so, plus works for the multiple monitors

OK, so I finally had a look @ the pictures... NICE!

I hate you so much, I so want eyefinity.

Just a tip regarding the active DP > DVI adapter, you can get one of these; http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1339901

Basically, since video card can only output 2 digital signals, VGA is not digital, therefore "it works" -- but read the comments and you'll see you receive mixed responses.

Apparently it works, I have one @ my home (got it from China (i think)), I just need a 5xxx video card to test it (bought it for fun), I'm gonna ask to borrow a 5770 or 5970 from work at the end of today for tomorrow's fun benching session :D:D

I'll keep you updated.

how much do you bench, grumpy?

^ hahaha, thats not bad..
But yeah, how much man?

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4303371928_c45a253fac.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4302621485_21bbd58400.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/4303371070_42d056efdc.jpg


i got it :D

Very nice. I just bought myself a XFX 5770. It arrives tomorrow.

Nice work Grump. I wish I could just "borrow" a 5870!
"Yeah, sorry guys, I lost it.." hahaha

um thats a 5970 maggot. can u measure the lenght of that grumpy??\

I have read of people using those adaptors. I might try if its only $20 for one.

Lol get with the program!! :P

I have the same RAM, processor, mobo, screen size, and roughly equivalent gfx..but got mine over a year ago :P

um thats a 5970 maggot. can u measure the lenght of that grumpy??\

I have read of people using those adaptors. I might try if its only $20 for one.

I did a mini-review, seen here; http://www.cybergamer.com.au/forums/thread/48554/ASUS-5970-mini-review/


************
Hi guys, I didn't have time to do a full review (Velociraptor still hasn't been rebuilt from AMD 620 review), so I'll do a mini review for the 5970.

You can see my preview of this video card with additional pictures here; http://www.cybergamer.com.au/forums/thread/48351/:D/

Big thanks to ASUS Australia (http://www.asus.com.au/) for letting me borrow the video card.

Product page of the EAH5970/G/2DIS/2GD5/A, the video card features;

- Exclusive Voltage Tweak Technology to increase up to 38% performance!
- Gigantic 2GB DDR5 for Incredible Gaming performance
- Hottest DX11 Game Bundled: Dirt2
- HDMI & DisplayPort output support

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=mUfimOrLDCnPAFJk&content=specifications

Unboxing:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4007/4305680913_9e068b0170.jpg

The ASUS 5970 comes in a nice exquisite box, with massive amounts of padding to secure the video card when being transported. Inside it, lies a separate box to store the accessories for the video card.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4305681091_5ebd3347e5.jpg

2 driver disks, a manual, crossfireX bridge, DVI > HDMI adapter, leather padded CD case, and a steam redeem voucher for the first DX11 game, DiRT2

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/4306424396_8a9edd6c83.jpg

To describe the HUGE size of the video card:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4306402684_511b44757e.jpg

Notice how much it extends over my Rampage Formula (standard ATX), angle is a bit wonky, but it overhangs the motherboard easily. Thus big case (Obsidian 800D) will be required.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2721/4305659779_8f542fdabd.jpg

Exactly the same length as my Macbook Pro 13" chassis, I measured from the metal big next to the CrossfireX nipple.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/4305659635_1736b46f1f.jpg

Finally, the ASUS 5970's size compared to a piece of A4 paper, it is longer by about 2-3 centimetres. As you probably are wondering, no, I did not have a ruler handy to measure the video card :)

Bit of a pity you dont have something like an i7 too, as i reckon there will be a huge bottleneck with your CPU.

I think there's a huge one, getting 18xxx with e8400 @ 4.0Ghz as you can see here;

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4306397328_b9b19f3d5d_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4306397956_4236553402_b.jpg

Then 19xxx with 4.4Ghz. My 4870x2 gets 20xxx, really weird, I think it's the lack of driver optimisation, since it's still a very new card.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2790/4305656695_7acf1827ca_b.jpg

My final stable overclock with the graphics card was 900/1250, core/memory clock. This was attainable with ASUS' combination of the Voltage Tweak technology in the 5000 series of ATI video cards, which allows the user to increase the voltage of the GPU (not memory though, which causes the main instability with high-end overclocks, i.e. sub-zero). SmartDoctor was the software application which gives the user a GUI to easily increase the voltage/core clock/memory clock values with a simple slider. One disadvantage I found with this implementation was that you cannot set a specific value, only incremental values.

Anyways, that's it for me, apologies that it's not a full review with FPS benchmarks and other aspects of this video card. But if you have any questions or comments, just ask!

Thanks again to ASUS Australia (http://www.asus.com.au/) for allowing me to borrow and review the product.

I didn't get the chance to test the adapter for many reasons;

1. I had to return the video card today
2. I couldn't be bothered connecting 2 additional monitors to my one
3. If it didn't work, I cbf troubleshooting :P

Good luck Spank with the adapter thingo.

NIce review. You have a sweet job.

Well thanks for your advice in pointing me to that thread. I took a punt and bought the $20 adaptor and low and behold.

Warning HIGH REZ SCREENS.

http://users.tpg.com.au/kookamut//BFBC2Game000.jpg
http://users.tpg.com.au/kookamut//BFBC2Game001.jpg
http://users.tpg.com.au/kookamut//BFBC2Game002.jpg

Im getting around 45-60 FPS constant. Which is pretty smooth. It doesn't seem to drop much at all even when alot's going on.

Very nice. I just bought myself a XFX 5770. It arrives tomorrow.
lol i ordered one monday along with a new 22in lcd

lol i ordered one monday along with a new 22in lcd

Very happy with mine.

very nice impressive riggs guys im also running eyefinity with duel 5770's only thing that lets me down is my cpu atm but also waiting 4 the display port adapter to arrive and my cpu which i should have on thursday at the latest man what and experiance

Defintely worth it, if you got money to throw away, wouldn't invest in it tho, if u didn't go the whole hog with multiple 5870's.. as running max resolution on high with no stuttering and trying to keep it above 75+ frames... is quite demanding, but omg so worth it.

im not sure id wanna scrimm with it but for sure is very pretty

I'd play every game possible I can with it, just so awesome.lol

Spanky plays every game with is, fair effort IMO, I dont think I could do it.

yea i got a headache, and neck cramps

its probably why im so shit.

maybe take regular breaks man

What cpu u running Tripn ?

What cpu u running Tripn ?
atm its a core 2 duo over clocked to 3.4 GHZ but getting a core 2 quad

Nice mate

cheers sorry i have not been around lately my gramps passed away early this week and being a RAF WWII veteran been spending time with the famz