Widescreen Gaming Forum

I heard that Oblivion, TES IV, natively support multiple monitors ; I recently bought a gaming computer, which I didn't have one for some years now. The plan was to get the 2 VGA monitors I consider have high resolution working together, in dual-monitor mode. I'm sure it will take some time to get used to having the cross-hair split by over 2" but I'm confident I will get there. Currently I have the LaCie monitor, which I hope its details are the signature as I answered questions registering, plugged in the DVI port and the ViewSonic in the DP-to-VGA plug. I can't get the monitors to their uncommon maximum size, both have the same ; but I'm somewhat satisfied with the highest common resolution they support, 1600 x 1200, in extended more in Windows 7. I took a screenshot and it was 3200 x 1200 with no blank space, which would happen if they were misaligned or one smaller.

I installed Oblivion with related content then ran the game but my resolution wasn't listed. That was a disappointment but I was happy the true maximum resolution was listed ; I 'm assuming I can at least get it with the main screen/display/monitor, just like it happened in another extended setup I had. I looked around and found How to run oblivion on 3 monitors [Solved] - Oblivion - Video Games which best solution (6th post, green header) mention editing the maximum sides would suffice (iSize W & iSize H). Well that didn't work. So I finally tried Eyefinity, provided by AMD which produced the GPU in my gaming system.

Oblivion plays using both my monitors at almost their maximum resolution but I'm now wondering how faster the game would run without having the eyefinity additional layer, somewhere between the game and the GPU output, I assume before Direct X (so between Oblivion and DX).

Does eyefinity slow down my game? If so by how much? If non-negligible, how can I get Oblivion working natively with my monitors (I'd 1st disable eyefinity) ?

Thank you kindly

You're misunderstanding something!

Eyefinity is not a Software Layer between DirectX and the Game!

Eyefinity is a Setup configuration Tool that lets you Span Monitors to a SLS (Single Large Surface) so that the Game Engine and DirectX recognice 5760x1080 as a Resolution and not 3 single 1920x1080 Monitors!

Only very few Games, mostly Flight Simulation, support Real Multi Monitor aka Multi Viewpoints. 99.99% of the Games do not. So there is no Performance difference, because either it works, or not at all.

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We gonna send it to outa space!

So you're letting me know there's no performance difference on the game that support as is and playing through Eyefinity?

Also it's a setup tool to what? There--has--to be something to be changed, otherwise it wouldn't be a setup? It's setting up either a chip-set, which would most likely have a firmware, or a software.

Mod please append this to my last message.

But to the subject at hand: Oblivion. I read or heard Oblivion directly supported multi-monitor. If so, I'd like to know how. And of course, as just mentioned, if it's faster that using Eyefinity or something similar.

Technically Eyefinity itself doesn't slow down your game, I guess, because it's just a name for the technology that allows AMD drivers/cards to treat multiple monitors as if they were a single large monitor - like Haldi says.

But, whether you have a single large monitor or a bunch of monitors hooked together in an Eyefinity group, the higher the resolution gets, the lower your framerate gets.

The resolution of a single monitor may be 1920x1200. But, if you double the horizontal resolution by adding a second screen, the resolution becomes 3840x1200. Now your graphics card has to render more pixels, which takes more power. So, yes, the higher resolution you run, the slower your rendering gets and the lower the framerate.

The term "native support" in this context simply means that multiple monitor technologies like Eyefinity will work with the game without you needing to do anything extra. Many of the games listed on the master game list here at WSGF require additional software or unusual workarounds to run across more than one screen.

For a newer game, you'd probably find a slightly more nuanced rating in the master games list along with suggestions for a fix, if necessary. But, Oblivion's old enough that it doesn't look like it has a very thorough detailed report.

There is a Performance difference! In true Multi Monitor with multiple Viewpoints you have More In game content rendered than on 3Monitors Eyefinity! 1time 130° FoV is less than 3 times 95° FoV but the end Performance is totally depending on what Objects the game engine has to render in these FoVs.
So there is absolutely no way to fairly compare FPS for each methods!

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We gonna send it to outa space!

1st, I posted my 1st reply before Bifurk8, so before the 3rd post but right now my 1st reply seemingly hasn't been approved. This 2nd reply of mine is done as the last message is Haldi 2nd post.

What Bifurk8 wrote got me thinking Eyefinity could be a software between applications and Direct 3D, so would slow down the game itself compared to me having a screen the resolution of my eyefinity group or a hardware splitter (expensive!) ; but also the game probably runs an extra layer with multiple monitor than when it has only 1 so it would be slower still (than hardware solutions).


Great thinking! Eyefinity it is then.

Also keep in mind that the "non Surround/Eyefinity" solutions such as Triple Head 2 Go and SoftTH do not take advantage of hardware configurations like SLI/Crossfire. And obviously it's common sense to mention that multi-monitor resolutions such as 5760x1200 are higher than your normal 1080p. And even if you are using something like TH2G or SoftTH, the impact on your GPU will still be the same whether the game sees it as 1080p or 5760x1200. You're still rendering those side monitors for peripheral vision, and therefore your GPU will take the same hit either way.

So in short, go with either Eyefinity or nVidia Surround. The monitor support is already well streamlined, and on top of that you can take advantage of multiple graphics cards for more rendering power. Otherwise, it's the same as TH2G or softTH, but with more work involved and far less support.