Today we see the availability of a great addition to the AMD Ecosystem - a self-powered, active DisplayPort to Single-link DVI adapter. This adapter takes mini-DP or Full-DP and converts it to Single-link DVI output, with the necessary timing signals, supporting up to 1920x1200 resolution displays. Previous active DisplayPort adapters cost around $100USD, negating most of the cost benefit of buying it and a couple more DVI monitors. You can read more about ATI Eyefinity technology in our Eyefinity6 articles, here and here.

ATI Eyefinity Ecosystem

AMD has enjoyed a lot of success with their DirectX 11 graphics product line, becoming the discrete graphics market leader in the second quarter of 2010. Sixteen million ATI DirectX 11 and ATI Eyefinity enabled GPUs have been shipped, creating a large base for developers to target.

ATI Eyefininty Enhanced

There are now more than twenty ATI Eyefinity validated games, and twenty five ATI Eyefinity Ready titles, too. For more information read our ATI Eyefinity Frequently Asked Question thread, in Rage3D's ATI Radeon Technical Support forum.

DisplayPort DVI Active Adapter

Mini or Full DisplayPort DVI Active Adapter

One of the limitations of ATI Eyefinity is the display output requirements. ATI Eyefinity enabled cards can provide two digital outputs to displays that require timing signals, namely DVI and HDMI. DisplayPort doesn't require a timing signal, and is also royalty free. AMD ATI Radeon HD 5000 series graphics cards that are ATI Eyefinity enabled have a DisplayPort output for connection to a DisplayPort monitor. Adapting this to a HDMI or DVI display requires an active adapter containing a TDMS chip.

Lowering Cost of Entry for ATI Eyefinity

This is exactly what the new Active adapters do. By limiting the output to Single Link DVI and using a custom new ASIC, the new adapters don't require an external power source and much are cheaper, a boon for anyone looking to lower the cost of entry into Eyefinity gaming and productivity. The adapters are in stores today with a recommended price of just $29.99 USD, a very favorable price point versus the current active adapters on the market.

In the Box bundled

AMD's graphics partners are also going to include the new adapters in the box with their ATI Eyefinity graphics cards. Similarly to cards bundled with additional software and game titles, you can probably expect to see these bundles priced a little higher than the straight card-only products. How much more than MSRP is yet to be seen, and will largely depend on AIB costs and their predictors of demand for the ATI Eyefinity bundles.