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PostPosted: 28 Feb 2013, 01:21 
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Bifurk8 wrote:
When it comes to triple-wide gaming with NVidia or AMD, all three monitors will have to be connected through one graphics card. So, you can't really have one card
power one monitor and another card power the remaining monitors.


Image

Sorry, but, I have to call you out on this. I don't know what it's like with AMD, but, with Nvidia, you can use multiple GPUs to connect your monitors, just check this link out: http://www.geforce.com/optimize/guides/ ... surround#4

They actually recommend connecting one video card to one monitor on, for example, a 3-Way SLI setup. The link also explains a single GPU and 2-Way SLI setup.

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PostPosted: 28 Feb 2013, 02:31 
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Thanks for the correction. AMD definitely requires all three monitors to be on the same card. Sounds like Nvidia's gotten their game together on NVSurround.


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PostPosted: 28 Feb 2013, 05:48 
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Joined: 21 Sep 2010, 20:36
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Location: Charlotte, NC, USA
Points taken.

I know I won't use 850 watts right away, but I like to be able to expand without having to replace that too. Since I am getting it for basically half price, $99, it was an easy choice. I'd rather not max out a power supply, anyway. Those things tend to last longer when they are not maxed out. A second video card is a likely next upgrade, and probably a sound card, too.

I like to have two optical drives for copying discs for family and such. Also use a GoPro Hero3 camera and feel I could benefit from having the ability to burn Blu-ray. Probably a little overkill, but I don't build new systems all the time.

The motherboard was a choice out of my affinity for ASUS. My G72 has been a great notebook for me.

I've never used a liquid cooler, so the H100i seemed like a simple install and pretty effective (from reviews I read) without taking up a lot of space with fans and heat sinks.

I ordered all these parts today, along with a Thermaltake Chaser Mk-I case.

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PostPosted: 28 Feb 2013, 05:53 
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Joined: 21 Sep 2010, 20:36
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Location: Charlotte, NC, USA
Wow, great framerates from that 7950! Thanks for that. The crossfire framerates are insane! I may start with one, then move up to two. Thanks again Bifurk8.

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PostPosted: 28 Feb 2013, 14:21 
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Joined: 21 Sep 2010, 20:36
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Location: Charlotte, NC, USA
Bifurk8 wrote:
Sorry for the hold-up. My Logitech G27 has decided that center is about 10 degrees to the right and I got distracted yesterday trying to fix it before benchmarking. I did a test lap in iRacing around Lime Rock and got 110 min FPS, 309 max FPS, and 158 average FPS at 6048x1080 on 2x Radeon 7950s with all the in-game graphics options cranked as high as they'll go, including 4x antialiasing. When only running under one 7950, I got 74 min FPS, 103 max FPS, and 87 average FPS. So, I don't think you'll have any trouble with a single of any of the cards suggested so far.

I don't have BLOPS 2 to benchmark, but I did play it last week during the free weekend. With all the graphics cranked as high as they'd go in-game, I was at a constant 60 FPS with 2x Radeon 7950s at 6048x1080 (I guess I had v-sync on or there's a FPS limit, because it never deviated from 60 FPS).

Edit: If you do decide to go with an AMD card, be aware that you'll need an active displayport adapter to connect one of the monitors to. Eyefinity doesn't work without at least one monitor connected via displayport. Make sure it's an active adapter, too, otherwise Eyefinity still won't work.

I love AMD's Never Settle bundles. I got the Far Cry 3, Hitman Absolution, and Sleeping Dogs bundle. Now it's Bioshock Infinite and Crysis? Hell yeah!

So Eyefinity just needs one of the monitors to be connected to the Display Port? When you mentioned Eyefinity being dependent upon display port, for some reason,I thought the monitors needed to be dp. So, if I had a 7950 and used the display port, and any of the other two connections, Eyefinity would work?

Which connections are you using?

Thanks again Bifurk8

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Finally built my 3 screen system.
ASUS Maximus V Formula
Intel i5 3570k
ASUS HD7950-DC2-3GD5-V2
Thermaltake Chaser Mk I
Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid RS-850
Corsair H100i Water Cooler
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Monitors: 1x ASUS VS238H-p + 2X ASU


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PostPosted: 28 Feb 2013, 16:43 
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Joined: 03 Apr 2012, 13:59
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The limitation lies in that you can only use two "classic" connections in any combination: 2x dvi or 2x hdmi or 1x dvi and 1x hdmi etc (careful with that last one: on some cards the hdmi connection is shared with one of the dvi ports).
The third monitor (and fourth, fifth etc) needs to be DP. Of course you can also go all out DP if you like and if your card has that many connections, 3x DP works just as fine.

Quoted from AMD's own FAQ:
Quote:
Connecting multiple monitors for AMD Eyefinity technology couldn’t be simpler. There are four easy rules to remember:

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.2
4. Every family of GPUs supports a different maximum number of displays.

- See more at: http://www.amd.com/us/products/technolo ... quirements

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PostPosted: 28 Feb 2013, 20:37 
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Joined: 21 Sep 2010, 20:36
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Location: Charlotte, NC, USA
Thanks for all the input! I decided to go with the 7950 card. I ordered it along with an active DP-DVI adapter and 3 dual link DVI cables. Shipping from Newegg is only 2 days to me. I'm expecting the case, mobo, cpu, psu, ram, optical drives and cooler to arrive tomorrow. The gpu should arrive Saturday.

Thanks again. I'll post some images of the build and end result when it's all done.

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Finally built my 3 screen system.
ASUS Maximus V Formula
Intel i5 3570k
ASUS HD7950-DC2-3GD5-V2
Thermaltake Chaser Mk I
Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid RS-850
Corsair H100i Water Cooler
G-Skill Trident X - 2x8GB
Monitors: 1x ASUS VS238H-p + 2X ASU


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PostPosted: 03 Mar 2013, 22:31 
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Joined: 21 Sep 2010, 20:36
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Location: Charlotte, NC, USA
Shipping was 2 days on the first batch of parts, I ordered, but for some reason the GPU shipment went through two other UPS terminals before getting into town. I expect to see it Monday. Got the rest of it up and running. I cruises with just the CPU and onboard output through HDMI to a HDMI/DVI cable to one monitor. I was just testing iRacing watching the in game fps and never saw it drop below 62 with quality maxed out. It idles at 84 fps in the replay mode. Of course this is just on one monitor, but it is still better than I was getting on my G72 notebook with it's GTX260M.

_________________
Finally built my 3 screen system.
ASUS Maximus V Formula
Intel i5 3570k
ASUS HD7950-DC2-3GD5-V2
Thermaltake Chaser Mk I
Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid RS-850
Corsair H100i Water Cooler
G-Skill Trident X - 2x8GB
Monitors: 1x ASUS VS238H-p + 2X ASU


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PostPosted: 05 Mar 2013, 22:50 
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Joined: 21 Sep 2010, 20:36
Posts: 14
Location: Charlotte, NC, USA
Just finished running 3 screens on iRacing at maxed details, and had no problem maintaining 84fps the whole time.

I almost posted to find out how to get Catalyst running, but thought I'd make sure it was running as administrator and that fixed that issue. Thanks for the help guys, it's safe to say that I am officially running
:triplewide:

_________________
Finally built my 3 screen system.
ASUS Maximus V Formula
Intel i5 3570k
ASUS HD7950-DC2-3GD5-V2
Thermaltake Chaser Mk I
Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid RS-850
Corsair H100i Water Cooler
G-Skill Trident X - 2x8GB
Monitors: 1x ASUS VS238H-p + 2X ASU


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PostPosted: 06 Mar 2013, 14:47 
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Joined: 24 Feb 2012, 03:34
Posts: 8
How is your audio working? I don't think that the configuration you suggested in the OP will work as you expect. In windows you generally can only select one output device, so you will have left/right coming out just one of your monitors.


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