For a peek at the power of AMD’s upcoming Radeon HD 5000 series, the firm recently demonstrated one GPU powering six 30″ monitors for a combined resolution of 7680×3200.
AMD calls it Eyefinity, and it’s a technology that seamlessly combines multiple monitors into what AMD calls the SLS, or Single Large Surface. Rigging up the monitors into a single mighty display is often awkward if left to Windows, even Windows 7, but Radeon HD 5800 products will smoothly take care of it at the driver level.
The technology isn’t limited to just six 30″ monitors, either. AMD promises that Eyefinity will work on fewer displays just as well. It’s all a matter of personal preference, of course, but $600 in 22″ displays may be a fair sight better to some than a single larger monitor for the same price.
AMD has made a series of demo videos available to make their point. AMD’s Simon Solotko presents a more “reasonable” 3×2 array of 1920×1200 monitors in his brief presentation:
AMD also claims it has been working with Samsung to produce displays with razor-thin bezels for a more uninterrupted experience. Surely this is to remedy the fact that a shooter’s crosshair would get divided amongst several displays if more than three are used.
What is perhaps more impressive than the Eyefinity technology itself, is the GPU that enables it. Gamers and PC enthusiasts alike know that running a game on even one 30″ display requires a healthy chunk of hardware. How is it that one GPU can run DiRT 2, Dead Space, Left 4 Dead and World of Warcraft on six displays with acceptable frame rates? That appears to be the magic of AMD’s upcoming Radeon HD 5000 series.
We’ve heard a rumor floating around that the premium 5800 parts will be some 250% faster than the Radeon 4800 series it’s succeeding. Should that be true, it comes as no surprise that one little GPU can do all this work.
Whether or not your boat floats at the thought of being critted by a wall of displays is up to you. What we’re primarily interested in is the serious mojo baked into any video card capable of plowing through 24 megapixels of 3D in good form.
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