Is this DP -> DVI adapter active or passive? [closed]

Question

I'm looking at getting a third monitor for my PC. I have an R9 380 and i'm currently using both DVI outputs. According to the AMD EyeFinity FAQ:

1: The first two monitors can connect to the graphics card with any display output on your product: HDMI, VGA, DVI or DisplayPort.

2:The third (or greater) display must be connected to the graphics card via DisplayPort.

3: If your monitor does not have a DisplayPort connection, you will need an inexpensive active DisplayPort adapter for it. DVI to DP adapters can be had for less than $30 USD. Every family of GPUs supports a different maximum number of displays.

The monitor I have chosen has DVI input, and I have been given a DP to DVI adapter, but I don't know if it's active or passive. The reason this matters is because i've read that EyeFinity will only support it if it is using an active adapter, and then something about having only two streams??

The adapter i have is Dell 0KKMYD and i can't find out anywhere whether it's active or passive. I can't see anything on the adapter itself without opening the packet and I don't want to do that just yet in case I have to return it.

Answer 1

I cannot say for sure whether your adapter is an active one or not, but my strong assertion is that it is not. My reasoning here is that feature is usually a selling point and they typically are priced higher as well. You can try it but I doubt it will work properly.

Now I did verify that you need an active adapter to do what you're trying to do with Eyefinity, and I was able to find this: "Cable Matters Gold Plated Active DisplayPort to DVI Male to Female Adapter - Eyefinity Compatible". That particular one is on sale on Amazon at the moment, but you can definitely look around for other products if you need other features (cord length, whatever else) or want to hunt for a better deal. Just make sure the words active adapter" are clearly spelled out on the product page.

As for this part:

The reason this matters is because i've read that EyeFinity will only support it if it is using an active adapter, and then something about having only two streams??

I think what you're talking about doing here is called Multi-Stream Transport, a technology featured in DisplayPort 2.1. It allows you to run multiple monitors from a single DisplayPort output, but does have limitations depending on your overall configuration. From what I can tell you don't need to make use of that feature to accomplish your objectives here.

One more thing just to clarify EyeFinity; that software is only designed to play games and other fullscreen applications across multiple displays, so you can game in ultra widescreen formats and whatnot. You don't need EyeFinity to use your operating system or to do single monitor gaming, so I wanted to make sure that it's clear here that EyeFinity is not a necessary technology for standard computer use.