AMD announces graphics card with support for six monitors

 

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Posted on 11 Sep 2009 at 15:23

In a surprise announcement, AMD has unveiled a graphics card with a single GPU that can drive six high-resolution monitors.

Details of the card which supports Eyefinity are being kept under wraps for the moment, although leaks are quickly appearing on various sites including Hexus.net. However, there's no hiding the stunning power of the DirectX 11 GPU, which was demonstrated at AMD's Central London press conference which Shopper attended on Tuesday.

Hooked up to it were six Samsung monitors, arranged in a 3x2 configuration, and the card happily played the latest titles, such as Colin McRae Dirt 2, at smooth frame rates. This was despite the huge resolution of 7,680x3,200 pixels, thanks to each 30in monitor's individual resolution of 2,560x1,600. Quality levels weren't sacrificed, either, with all settings ramped up to maximum.

The monitors all had DisplayPort inputs, the new graphics interface which is quickly increasing in popularity both with monitor manufacturers, and graphics card makers. The six displays can be driven in any configuration, at different resolutions and refresh rates. Through the ATI software, you can also create display groups, which are treated by Windows as a single monitor. For example, four monitors in a 2x2 group could show a YouTube video, while the remaining two could function independently. You can also run some displays in portrait mode, while others are in a standard landscape mode.

Thanks to the Samsung monitors' ultra-thin bezels (and no distracting LEDs), the experience was an impressive one. Shopper was assured by Samsung representatives at the launch that both the monitors and the special stand which allows them to be mounted in two rows of three would definitely be sold in the UK in the near future. There will also be another stand which holds a single row of three monitors.

The only niggle we spotted was that, in games and videos, the image was split at the bezels, both horizontally and vertically, rather than 'losing' the strips that would - in the real world - appear behind them. This looks far less natural, and distorts shapes which happen to straddle two or more monitors. We're told that ATI is working on adding an option to its Catalyst Control Centre which would allow you to choose whether or not to 'lose' image data in this way.

Pricing of the new graphics card wasn't announced, but it doesn't take much to deduce that you'll need deep pockets if you want to upgrade your PC with a new top-notch graphics card and a raft of enormous monitors.

We'll be bringing you an in-depth review of the new card before the end of September, and hopefully the new monitors, too.

Author: Jim Martin