HD5850 - Output to two monitors and a receiver?

[MJCfromCT]

Hi All,

I have a Sapphire HD 5850, with 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort. I have 2 DVI monitors, and recently got a 7.1 Onkyo receiver. I had hooked up the receiver to the computers' onboard optical audio port, but then realized that the best I'd get is 5.1, not 7.1. I will have to use the HDMI port to get 7.1. I want to make sure I have the following correct:

I cannot use the 2 DVI outputs in conjunction with the HDMI port, so I am looking at getting an active DisplayPort -> DVI adapter, which will go to monitor #1. Monitor #2 will be hooked up to its current DVI port (no change). The receiver will use the HDMI port to pass 7.1 audio to the receiver.

So,

DisplayPort -> DP-to-DVI -> Monitor #1
DVI #1 -> Monitor #2
HDMI -> Receiver

Should this setup work? Thanks in advance!

 

[TerraPhantm]

your receiver can't pass the HDMI signal back to one of your monitors? (via an HDMI -> DVI adaptor ofcourse)

 

[MJCfromCT]

See, I'm glad I posted, because for some reason I was not thinking of hooking it up this way! It should work this way, I will update after my adapter arrives from Amazon.

 

[cheenou77]

Let us know how it goes, i think I am also stuck with your options too. I might have to get an adapter.

 

[MJCfromCT]

OK, a bit of an update:

TerraPhantm - I thought more about passing the HDMI signal back to the monitor, but my monitor resolution is 1680x1050. I am not sure the receiver can output a 16:10 signal.

I received my active DP->DVI adapter yesterday. I had purchased this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-akti...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1297821322&sr=1-1\

Unfortunately my setup doesn't seem to be working. I tried the following:

DVI Port 1 -> DVI Monitor
HDMI -> Receiver
DP -> DP-to-DVI Adapter -> DVI Monitor

ATI CCC see's the two monitors and the receiver, but can only enable two of the three. To get audio, the second monitor had to be disabled.

I then came across this matrix:

http://www.tomshardware.com/gallery/Configuration-Grid,0101-239853-0-2-3-1-jpg-.html

Notice how there is no combination that uses native HDMI, 1x native DVI, and 1x DP with an active DP-to-DVI adapter?

Configuration #6 is the closest I can get. It means running my second monitor via VGA, which isn't the end of the world. However, it has me scratching my head as to why an active DP-to-VGA adapter is acceptable, but an active DP-to-DVI adapter is not. Any thoughts?

 

[MJCfromCT]

Update #2 -

TerraPhantm, I finally had time to test your recommendation, and it worked! The monitor running HDMI-to-DVI through the receiver works just fine!

 

[D3DAiM]

Update #2 -

TerraPhantm, I finally had time to test your recommendation, and it worked! The monitor running HDMI-to-DVI through the receiver works just fine!

Glad you got it working! Really hoping to get this solution to work myself. When I use the HDMI out from my receiver to a HDMI->DVI adapter and finally to my monitor I get a black screen, no video..
Were there any settings on your receiver you had to change?