In the test 15 years ago: AMD Eyefinity guaranteed gaming pleasure on three screens 65 comments
With the Radeon HD 5000 series, AMD’s graphics cards included not only DirectX 11 support, but also the new Eyefinity technology (test), which guaranteed control of three displays. In the test, this tech enthusiast impressed despite some teething problems and a high entry-level price.
For the first time more than two monitors
With Eyefinity, AMD has made it possible for the first time to control more than two monitors with a single graphics card. Previously, all Nvidia and AMD graphics cards could handle a maximum of two monitors simultaneously. With a special edition Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity, the number of supported displays has even increased to six. Eyefinity had two significant limitations. Software-wise, this meant using at least Windows Vista or Windows 7. Additionally, the resolution per screen had to be 2,560 × 1,600 pixels or less. Regarding hardware, at least one of the monitors had to be connected via DisplayPort; the other two displays could also be connected via DVI or HDMI.
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The number of supported monitors could be further increased via CrossFire, as the limit of three or six monitors per graphics card applied – in total, a maximum of 12 or 24 monitors could be controlled with a Quad CrossFire network. The monitors could be used in different orientations. With a single graphics card and three monitors, this resulted in horizontal or vertical positioning of the screens. However, with the Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity Edition, monitors could also work in a 2×2 quadrant, 3×2, or 2×3 configuration. In theory, games and applications do not require any special updates to use Eyefinity. The driver tricked the operating system into thinking it was a single monitor with a correspondingly high resolution.
Lots of graphics performance was needed
Due to the high resolution, high graphics performance was required when using three monitors. In testing, only the Radeon HD 5850 and HD 5870 – two of the fastest graphics cards from 15 years ago – showed reasonably playable frame rates, in the range of 30 FPS at the full resolution of 5,760 × 1024 pixels. With the resolution lowered to 3,840 × 1,024 pixels, refresh rates increased, but the aspect ratio was no longer the same. At 1920×1200 pixels across three displays, only a handful of pixels were visible, so this scenario was not practical. The Radeon HD 5770, the weakest graphics card in the test with Eyefinity support, barely achieved acceptable frame rates in any games.
Besides pure FPS, Eyefinity was able to bring joy. Depending on the title, the feature was more or less successful, but Eyefinity particularly stood out in first-person shooters and racing games. The wider viewing angle made games more immersive; it felt like the game world was rushing past you. Eyefinity performed less well in strategy games, where a lot of mouse work was suddenly required to navigate the map. Some games like Call of Duty 5 and Anno 1404 also had issues when the technology launched. For example, Call of Duty shrunk the menu to an almost unusable size, and Anno placed the building menu on the far left, but the buildable items opened on the far right.
Conclusion
Eyefinity was a technology for enthusiasts, that much was clear from launch. In addition to the need for a high-end graphics card to expect playable frame rates, three monitors also had to be purchased. Aside from the high costs, the technology was impressive, aside from a few teething problems. Anyone who plays a lot of FPS or racing games can take the gaming experience to the next level with Eyefinity. However, Eyefinity was not a recommendation for a normal user in 2009.
In the category “In the test 15 years ago”, the editorial staff consults the test archives every Saturday since July 2017. We list the last 20 articles published in this series below:
The ATis Radeon HD 5750 was too expensive despite a recommended retail price of 115 euros. The Scythes Zipang 2 as a silent compatible top cooler. The ATis Radeon HD 5770 offered DirectX 11 from 140 euros. The Radeon HD 5850 as an affordable DirectX 11 entry-level device. The ATis Radeon HD 5870 was the first graphics card. card with DirectX 11Intel’s Core i5 -750, i7-860 and i7-870 on Socket 1156Cooler Masters Hyper 212 Plus as a budget coolerIntel’s SSD for everyoneApple’s iPhone 3GS was faster than everThermalrights CoGaGe for enthusiasts with little moneySparkles GeForce GTX 260 with saving mode power manualEdifier S330D and S530D with good Far Eastern soundThe NZXT Whisper was “too hot to handle” Sapphire’s Radeon HD 4890 Atomic was impeccable Cooler Masters’ HAF 922 was a HAF Storm Sniper hybrid itself even Vapor-X couldn’t tame the Radeon HD 4890 The Razer Mamba as wireless gaming mouse
Even more content like this and many other reports and anecdotes can be found in the retro corner of the Techoutil forum.
Topics: AMD ATi Shows Graphics Cards, Radeon Retro Monitors
Élodie compares monitors for resolution, refresh rate, and colour accuracy to meet gamers’ and professionals’ needs.
