Widescreen Gaming Forum

Hey Guys,

Since I have been playing alot of flight sims recently the extra FOV seems really appealing so I have been thinking of finally getting 3 monitor setup. My rig is intel i7 2600k, 8gb RAM and a single GTX580 3GB and a HAF-X Coolermaster case, I have been researching the best way to achieve this but unable to come up with a "cost effective" solution. First of all I need to buy another x2 23" screens so there's no way to avoid that.. but I see my options as :-

1. Buy another GTX580 for SLI combination, then I have to consider PSU and cooling etc.


2. Sell my GTX580 and upgrade to a GTX590


3. Purchase triplehead2go and see how it handles on a single gtx580 (unsure of how much a performance hit I would get)

The majority of games I have no issues running 1080 with plenty of frames to spare. (providing I'm not using 3D vision), Initially I would like to start out with 2D surround then eventually 3x 3D monitors (but this will be quite far in the future as I understand this will be pretty much be impossible in terms of performance without SLI config).
Also maybe worth mentioning that I run a 17" screen that I use to export hud/dials etc which I dont want part of the surround setup so I understand I may need a low end secondary GPU for this?


Regards.
Joif

Hey joif, welcome to WSGF. #1 imo, get another GTX 580 3Gb and run Nvidia Surround. I would also recommend 3 x 3D monitors, 3D Surround is amazing !
You wont be able to run 3 + 1 monitors though, Nvidia Surround (2D or 3D) only supports 3 monitors - http://www.nvidia.com/object/3d-vision-surround-system-requirements.html .

Hey, joif,

Having used all 3 of the systems now, and having seen the cost/benefit of crossfire and sli rigs,

I would whole-heartedly advise the purchase of 1 digital TripleHead2Go box. Whether you run AMD or NVidia, a topish-end card will run all three screens, seeing the TH2Go box as ONE monitor.

The software that Matrox furnishes beats NVidia and AMD's hands-down. If you want to play a game, for instance, that only supports 4:3 resolutions, NVidia and AMD make you do a whole bunch of steps before that: configure your desktop space, etc. Matrox simply adjusts itself to the game's resolution, and shuts off the outer monitors. Just launch the game.

For productivity, the Matrox software effortlessly splits your enlarged desktop according to your screens. When you maximize your browser, for instance, it maximizes in the screen that it was just in. You can have your browser on the left, like I usually do, MS Word in the middle, and your downloads directory, typically for me, on the right monitor. Other solutions make you drag to certain extents every time, etc.

The Matrox box costs LESS than a video card that one of us on this forum would buy. I STRONGLY urge you to keep your 580 and get the digital TH2Go.

Good luck! Post back!!

Thanks very imformative, I have heard scare stories that at full resolution 3x 1920x1080 can only be output at 50hz?
Seems a little low and not even sure if my current monitor will run at that is this is the case. with TH2Go would I see a significant performance drop or is the 3GB enough to overcome this?

Not sure where you from but check out ebay. I got 3x dell sp2309w monitors for less than £300. These are great. Usb hubs, webcams and higher than hd resolutions. I love them.

As for cards it depends on your budget. Personally i moved from nvidia to ati because of cost. Drivers arent as nice. But once you get it set up and used to the differences it performs well. So i would say if your on a budget go with ati. ati also has the best multi monitor software. E.g. You could have three monitors for your game, another monitor with your internet browser and another watching a movie

As for performance, you have a good cpu etc already so i would go for dual 6970's as a minimum. Anything less will be out of date already and the rest of your system will be wasted. Dual 7950s will be a good option... Two of these will be around 700 though.

Sadly, going to mulitscreen isnt cheap.

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i7 3770k, P8Z77v Pro, 16gb Ram,2x Samsung 840 SSD RAID 0 + 4.5tb storage, 7970 Oc'd + 7950 in crossfire, 3x SP2309w monitors + 1 acer monitor, Asus D2X Xonar, Creative T40 Speakers plus satalite speakers + audio transducer

Thanks very imformative, I have heard scare stories that at full resolution 3x 1920x1080 can only be output at 50hz?
Seems a little low and not even sure if my current monitor will run at that is this is the case. with TH2Go would I see a significant performance drop or is the 3GB enough to overcome this?

As far as I am aware, this is true for the Digital edition. The maximum resolution that I have run a Digital edition TH2G is 5040x1050 @ 59Hz (3 x 1680x1050) and that was only after the latest firmware was installed. The Analog edition won't run anywhere near those resolutions, unsure what the DisplayPort edition runs but you need DisplayPort monitors to use it.

AMD Eyefinity has come a long way lately (which I currently use, sold my Triplehead2Go) and my Nvidia Surround rig parts just turned up today, so I'll assess it after I build it (hence my Nvidia Surround pros and cons are limited at the moment). I have personally used both the Triplehead2Go and the Eyefinity setup for a while now. I prefer the Eyefinity setup for gaming, but I am prepared to deal with any driver problems. If I was selling a computer to a customer or an old person who has no idea about fixing driver issues, I would choose the Triplehead2Go. However, I have not had any driver issues at all on the latest AMD drivers.


Triplehead2Go pros:
- Very reliable
- Extended desktop functionality
- Hotkey bezel management
Triplehead2Go cons:
- Bezel management technique creates an unused inch or so of space on the outside edges of the monitors
- Expensive extra cost for no performance gain (as opposed to buying a second card where you would get extra GPU grunt)
- Limited resolutions

Eyefinity pros:
- Best performance for the price
- Windows P means quick-swapping between Eyefinity and single monitor
- Bezel management still uses your full monitors to the edge
- No resolution limitations
Eyefinity cons:
- No hotkey for bezel management
- No extended desktop functionality
- Still need an active adapter if you don't have DisplayPort monitors (money that could go into more GPU grunt)

Nvidia Surround pros:
- 100% of your money to support surround goes into GPU grunt
Nvidia Surround cons:
- Need an SLI-compatible board with 8x on both slots. No big deal if you're buying an all-new system but could be a cost factor on your current system. Let us know what motherboard you are using.

Also, on the flight sim note, if you are planning on running X-Plane 9 (and possibly 10, haven't tried it yet) on Windows 7 using the Triplehead2Go, you will be limited to 4096 pixels wide. It fails to run at anything higher using the Triplehead2Go, however it works fine on Eyefinity.

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i5-2500K @ 4Ghz ° Asus P8Z68 ° GTX670 Windforce OC ° 8GB DDR3 RipjawsX ° 4x Viewsonic VA2703 ° Logitech G15 / G5 / G27 ° Razer Vespula ° TrackIR 5 ° Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS

I would deffinately look at eyefinity or Surround.

On another note, surround doesnt support 3 + 1 screens, "BUT" you could get a USB monitor to add a forth from somewhere like mimo. I have a 10" touch screen and am about to connect it to my 2 x 480 surround set up. (trying to buy the extra long pole and mount from here for my set up)
Guys who use iRacing are using this configuration to view telemetry while they race and it apparently works fine.
Will let you know how I go.