Widescreen Gaming Forum

Hello,

I've been doing some research during the past few days. So far it looks like what I want will cost me quiet a bit and I would therefor like to ask for advise and suggestions regarding what to buy and aim for.

I drive around in Live For Speed quiet a bit - this is actually the primary reason for me to want a 3 monitor setup.

I also do professional gfx work (3D/motion/print), so image quality is a priority as well (I'm still on CRT for this very reason) - however, I don't do quiet as much work at home any more, so I don't need anything like Eizo monitors.

I would like the solution to be pretty potent and for that I'm pretty sure I'd have to go with SLI (I don't like ATI).

I generally use my PC allot and for many things - like watching movies and telly on it too - I actually don't have a TV at all.

What I currently have:
Windows XP 32bit SP2
Asus P5B Deluxe
Intel E6400 @ 2,8GHz
2x1GB Corsair Dominator PC2-8500
2x1GB Corsair Dominator PC2-8500 (but only one module is fitted on mobo while the other one is collecting dust).
Inno3D 8800GTS 640MB
CRT monitor (want it replaced).

Budget:
5000-6000$

I would like the solution to be as cheap as possible though, but without noticeable compromises.

What I've looked into/my own idea of the setup:
Another 8800GTS 640MB so I can run with SLI
New motherboard that supports SLI. Any suggestions?? Must be OC friendly.
Intel Q6600 (already ordered) - want to/will clock it to 3+ GHz.
Corsair 750W PSU (already ordered).
TripleHead2Go? SoftTH? I don't know.
Some TV tuner - haven't looked into which one it will be. Currently have an old ATI tuner.

1x30" Dell UltraSharpâ„¢ 3007WFP-HC to be used as primary monitor
2x20" monitor as secondaries - image quality isn't as important on these ones, but shouldn't be way off either. Might chose Dell again, just to have similar design.

Misc questions:
The Dell 3007 seems to be a solid choice - is there any alternative? Saw the Apple CMD 2 years ago and found it to be very disappointing.
What are the typical issues (if any) on a 3 monitor setup?
Do I want to upgrade to Vista? I don't really want to, but DX10 supports larger resolutions which is a big plus.
Did I forget anything? :P
Oh yes, CineMassive <- why nothing about it on this site? No good?

I'm looking forward to the replies - thanks in advance,

If you want to run three uneven (30 and 20 inch) displays, then SoftTH is the best option. With Matrox DTH2GO you cannot run them at native resolution, and being different sizes would look extremely strange.

if you want to run different sized monitors you are best of with using SoftTH, imho. however SoftTH doesn't allow SLI, iirc.

since your budget is huge, i'd recommend something like that:
http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=proddesc&prod_no=1255&maincat_no=130&cat2_no=136
or the aircooled version
http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=proddesc&prod_no=1207&maincat_no=130&cat2_no=136

and a X38 board of your liking. in combination if your GTS640 this could be a fast, overclock-friendly DDR3 system for SoftTH.

however the supported-games list for softTH is rather short, atleast compared to the TH2G list.

Focus on getting the monitors first, the single 8800GTS will be surprisingly effective. By the time you get your displays sorted there will be a true replacement to the 8800GTX.

Also, since you are in image design, I would suggest getting 3 1600x1200 panels. You can scale up the triplhead feed, but use the hi-def for your work (probably more important). But test scaling a 12x10 res to 16x12 before going this route.

You will need a 2nd video card, to feed each card individually. Basically you'll use 3/4 outputs for the mon's native display, and the fourth for triplehead.

I'd also consider getting the analog edition. You can use the digital in's on the monitor for the full res, and the analog in's for the triplehead feed. Otherwise I think you'll need a pricey DVI KVM switch, though maybe it'd still be in your budget.

The other thing I like about this build is that if Matrox ever does release a triplehead using 3x16x12 panels, you'll be ready.

EDIT: If you're set on widescreen, check out the HP panels too.

Thanks for the replies.

JosephJEHancock:
That's what I thought too. But the performance drop is supposedly lower too vs. TH2G, yes?

I browsed several (surround) screenshots on this site, last night - to see how big they go. The biggest ones I was able to find were 3840x1024.

Maybe my choice of monitors is simple too big for what is realistic (playable at a good framerate)?

Ps. I missed FPS info along with the screenshots - is this because ppl actually are struggling with the framerate, and therefor don't want to show what FPS they are running? :P :P

redgun:
I guess you are suggesting a single 8800Ultra since SoftTH doesnt support SLI?

I've seen the Ultra being almost twice as fast as 8800GTS - but it is pretty expensive though.

Why X38? I haven't looked into motherboards yet, so I don't know allot about this chipset.

I'm not sure about DDR3 - I don't want you guys to think I want to buy whatever I can. I want some value for money as well :)

Tucson:
Some very interesting idea you have. How will it work:

1. I use native resolution output for daily use/work, and perhaps single monitor gaming once in a while and the last output for TH2G and use the monitor to switch?

Does this the PC will be outputting 3*native+1xTH2G simultaniously? That sounds expensive on my electric bill... and lots of heat in the computer.

Could you be more specific, please?

1600x1200 monitors may be a good idea (maybe widescreen monitors - not sure yet).

Edit: Oh, btw - While I was reading about monitors, I didn't once see anything about HP. Any particular reason for suggesting HP?

redgun:
I guess you are suggesting a single 8800Ultra since SoftTH doesnt support SLI?

I've seen the Ultra being almost twice as fast as 8800GTS - but it is pretty expensive though.

Why X38? I haven't looked into motherboards yet, so I don't know allot about this chipset.

I'm not sure about DDR3 - I don't want you guys to think I want to buy whatever I can.

yeah, thats right.

ok, so go for a 8800GTX when the new cards (8850/8900/9800) are released. then, the 8800 should get cheaper. theres also the option of getting one of these newer cards.
DDR3 will add some extra performance, but right now it isn't worth the money.

X38 might be a good investment, because it is supposed to be a good basis for OC and supports a lot of yet to come technology (PCIe2...).
while P35 chips might be a little cheaper.

r4ptor,

Right, you'd use the input selection on the monitors to flip from native to th2g.

I'm not sure about the continuous output. For ease of use, it might be easier if all 4 displays would be always on.

Ideally, you'd want it where you somehow had 2 display profiles that could be easily switched. One profile for your native, another for your th2g. Then when you switch, the monitors detect there is no longer an input signal on the current port so it would just switch automatically to the analog input. Some testing would be nessecary.

To relieve your concern about energy consumption, even if all 4 outputs were always on: Your computer will consume more energy rendering a game then a 4th 2D display. Simply make sure your computer is going to sleep when not in use, or even better, hibernation. This will save far more electricity than even careful low energy component selection.

EDIT: In ragards to HP, I just really appreciate their build quality of their workstations and servers, and have heard good things about their 30" monitors.

redrun:
Thanks, I'll dig deeper into X38 once I get into mobo research.

Tucson:
I'm trying to figure out how this works (or rather, what I would need):

- 2 gfx boards running in SLI.
- SLI output used with TH2G
- remaining 3 outputs for each monitor

or

- 2 gfx boards without SLI
- 1 output for TH2G while the rest for the individual monitors.

or

- more than 2 gfx board if I want to run with SLI?

First method is most interesting if it's possible - I got the impression that when using SLI, you can only use a single output.

This profile management regarding switching - any ideas to how I would accomplish that? UltraMon perhaps (I don't know much about the app)

Lets ignore consumption for a sec - what about performance? Will the 3 native outputs + 1 TH2G output mean that I'll get lower performance because the gfx board(s) is doing basically double the work? Or is it doing extra work in at all or simply just redirecting the signal?

I'm with you regarding HP - my current (CRT) monitor is a HP/Compaq, and I simply love it - I've had it for about 4 years now and it's still working perfectly well.. .so well that I couldn't make myself switch to TFT earlier.. and even now I'm being picky/cautious :D

Oh, I forgot:

Running TH2G in none native resolution isn't optimal on TFT's - but - Can I force 1:1 remapping (on the Dell 20 and 30" monitors)??

And if so, is it possible to offset the image, as I suspect a centered display might get a bit too high for me.

R4ptor: If I was working with your budget I would get four screens, 3 1280*1024 on a TH2GD and really high resolution big wide screen to place on top of those. Use that one for your graphics editing single screen games and videos. Use the three below to have web pages open, for texture editing and file browsing while gfx editing.

There are displays with 3840*2400 resolution available but they are no longer in production and only support 41Hz refresh rate but theyare great for high resolution graphics editing or video editing (Four 1080P images on one screen). The other option is a 2560*1200 display.

Honestly if You want a wide screen and a surround setup and have max performance this is the way to go.

The other option is to go the softTH route but that comes with a significant performance hit.