PowerColor HD5970 Eyefinity 12 makes six screens yesterday's news
By Donald Melanson 
posted April 30th 2010 3:43PM
posted April 30th 2010 3:43PM
Alright, so your six-screen Eyefinity rig may not be obsolete just yet, but it's definitely just been knocked down a few notches on the jaw drop-o-meter. What you're looking at above is a prototype of PowerColor's HD5970 Eyefinity 12, which -- you guessed it -- packs twelve Mini DisplayPorts, along with a full 4GB of DDR5 memory. Unfortunately, there's no images or video of an actual twelve-screen rig in action just yet -- PowerColor is saving that for Computex in June -- but you can check out a few more shots of the card itself after the break.
Yeah, but what kind of resolution can it do? Driving 12 displays at 1024x786 each is nice, but I'd like to be able to drive 12 26" displays at 2560x1600 each...
And can I run 2 of these in one box? 24 displays would be mind blowing... If only I could mentally focus on more than 3 things at once (I'm debating adding a 4th monitor to my setup now, I can't even imagine using 24 or even 12 of them)...
@ircmaxell
With that much RAM I have no doubt it'd be able to run 12 displays each at 2560x1600. I think finances or sheer space/mounting capabilities will be the limiting factor for most people when contemplating an arrangement like that.
I would have loved to hear the conversation that put this project into effect..
Caller: "What I'm really looking for is an IMAX experience a foot away from my face... yes, you heard me correctly, IMAX."
Eyefinity: We'll get right on it.
12 = 4*3, makes perfect sense to me.
I think such card might per chance be a huge hit for the advertisement screens.
if that crossfire connector allows you to actually use the 12 display ports on each card, that would be just down right silly. 24 monitors and 8gigs of dedicated video memory. wonder what maximum resolution would be.
Im trying to imagine this setup with someone taking 24, 60' LED tvs sure resolution there may be crap but thats irrelavent.
(http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+BRAVIA+60%22+Class+/+1080p+/+120Hz+/+LED-LCD+HDTV/9763394.p?id=1218169467146&skuId=9763394) for tv reference.
@spaz4322
damn work PC and its laggyness
12? I guess this isn't for fps gaming. Just like 6 screens you have the problem of not having a pure center screen. If the card can run the resolution 9 screens would be the optimal
if that crossfire connector allows you to actually use the 12 display ports on each card, that would be just down right silly. 24 monitors and 8gigs of dedicated video memory. wonder what maximum resolution would be.
Im trying to imagine this setup with someone taking 24, 60' LED tvs sure resolution there may be crap but thats irrelavent.
(http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+BRAVIA+60%22+Class+/+1080p+/+120Hz+/+LED-LCD+HDTV/9763394.p?id=1218169467146&skuId=9763394) for tv reference.
If the price wasn't stupid (and let's be honest, it will be), it might be worth getting one just for the 4GB of GDDR5 RAM.
@r3loaded The games will ask you "We know what to do with 2Gb of this shit, but how are we supposed to use the rest?"
Dad what do you want for your birthday son "action man,cash a yo yo"?
Son a PowerColor HD5970 Eyefinity 12 with 12 yes dad 12 screens
Dad ok
@Original Nosebleed
dad: you wish i loved you that much
PORN!!!!!
What's an everyday use for more than three displays (e.g., a monitor dedicated to Photoshop, a 3D application and reference material)?
Sounds like a device for a narrow niche market.
@MikeZ Software development... mmmmmm I want.
@SirSpam Depends on the area. For web development it's usually enought to have dedicate a screen to browser, IDE and database management tool each.
@MikeZ
You're forgetting the market for crazy enthusiasts with tons of cash and even more impracticality.
I need the use if 12 screens to pump um starcraft on 3x3 couple extra for web? (Cheats are useful considering I'm lame.) I would pay 1000-1300 for that now to try it out.
Good god of gaming...
It just looks like 2 5970s Frankensteined together. I'm probably wrong, considering there's a crossfire connector and the ati driver can only handle 4 gpus max.
So how much power consumption are we talking about? I mean not just from the computer but from the massive amounts of monitors as well?
@fourblades We can't repel power of that magnitude!
@fourblades it will need its own mains line
5970 with 12 monitors? Does it come with an air conditioning unit to put in the window?
Stop.
@DrProfessor MD
Hammer time
It takes up three slots! I guess it will have to be liquid cooled or we'll move to ex-ATX in the future, I can't imagine how a stock one would look in your case taking up almost half your board.
Sweet lord. I need to clean myself up now.
I wish I had 3 screens, 12 seems unreachable.
So when is engadget giving away a rig with this setup?
@ckent What, as in, buy 12 monitors and get the 5970 (and the PC) thrown in... sort of thing?
Silly people, only thinking about gaming and movies. How about creating an inexpensive multi-user setup with 12 monitors, keyboards and mice's. We're talking ~$200/seat and a very low power consumption calculated on a per seat basis.
@Stranger2 Only thing is having enough USB ports for the keyboards.
THIS IS MADNESS!
Wish this thing was out last year. Could have put it to use!!!!! And saved some money!
Currently running 24 47" LGs paired with 12 Dell machines each on dual monitors.
@KaneM That's a lot of monitors... and a lot of money.
@KaneM I'm pretty sure I saw your setup on lifehacker, you're the daytrader right? Either way, nice rig.
Haha this is getting ridiculous. Almost like the megapixel-race for cameras.
If they make a 16 screen version, spaces wouldn't be needed. Sort of. Kinda. Not really.
Manufacturing environment: displays with charts and specs spaced everywhere: run times, quality stats, parts-per-hour, etc.
Call center: Screens with queue size, average hold time, average call time, calls per hour, charts with hourly numbers, etc. One host could handle one display per wall for small three rooms, or two displays per wall and a cluster of four in the middle of one larger room.
A house with displays instead of static art. Lots of larger houses have 12 or more paintings/portraits around them.
HR displays. One card could feed three monitors in each of four break areas. Perhaps one with safety and training info, one with live production/performance summaries, and one with activities and events. You could have weather, a news feed, company info/stock prices, etc. You'd still have to prioritize your info and determine what you want and what would be nice-to-have.
Home control. The twelve displays wouldn't need to be large or complex, but a DisplayPort repeater might cost less than a thin client or other remote control panel tech. Displays in various parts of the house for security monitoring, lighting control, temperature control, etc.
You get the idea? There are lots of possibilities, with a little creativity.
@Michael Pollard
My setup is in a call center!!! 24 monitors
For gaming, you need ODD number of rows and columns (of monitors), because you want the center to be on the screen (with an even number it falls right between the screens).
But REALLY, here's a better idea, instead of ghettoing your desktop with millions of crappy screens, get a huge quad-HD TV...
Ok so 1080p is 2k in the cinema world. Wonder when we'll have 6k (4k is actually around the corner) for our monitors and what the cards will be capable of. By then of course if you have a 24in monitor your friends will laugh and offer to chip in to help you get the then gamer standard 42in LED monitor.