Widescreen Gaming Forum

Hello everybody I thought I would share my setup for anyone who is interested in these monitors, the apple displayport converter or surroundview with eyefinity.

System Specifications

Phenom 2 965
4GB DDR2
Gigabyte DS4H
Windows 7 Pro x64
Catalyst 9.11

Asus 5850
3 x 22" 1680 x 1050 Dell UltraSharp 2209WA (E-IPS)
Apple Mini Displayport to Dual link DVI converter
mini DP to normal DP adapter

Integrated HD 3300 GPU with 128MB DDR sideport
1 x 24" 1920 x 1200 Yuruka (PVA)

The apple converter

I bought this on ebay 2nd hand it has terrible reviews everywhere but I got it for a lot cheaper than the other adapter is selling for. I had initial issues with BSOD's when trying to enable eyefinity. The monitor would switch to 640 x 480 resolution and hide other choices. This issue was fixed by using a motherboard USB connection instead of a USB hub.

When enabling or disabling other displays I need to replug the displayport adapter or eyefinity will not detect the display properly and won't link or will BSOD. This is a minor issue and only needs to be performed during the setup.

After setup the converter is working well I have no BSOD's and eyefinity stays on restarts. The image quality is the same as the other monitors connected with DVI. There is no noticable additional input lag or ghosting. I do have the occasional black out on the displayport screen when changing resolution but it rarely happens in normal use and doesn't cause errors. After setup the monitor is detected as Dell 2209A and I am able to install the monitor driver.

Surroundview

Surroundview is a motherboard option that allows the integrated GPU in a 790GX motherboard to function at the same time as an additional ATI GPU. The monitor connected to the IGPU needs to be disabled before eyefinity is setup. After eyefinity is setup the display can be enabled but it will not allow a duplicated display. Extended display is supported. The resolution can be set independently of the eyefinity group and the user can pick if the monitor is extended above below or to either side of the eyefinity display.

Dell UltraSharp 2209WA

I got 3 of these refurbished for a good price and they are wonderfull monitors. The stand is highly configurable and allows the monitors to be alligned properly. The monitor also pivots and this is very important as portrait eyefinity is equally impressive and has greater support in games. I was able to run all of the games I play using portrait 3150 x 1680 this was not the case for landscape ultra wide where support is more limited. The bezels are wider than some other monitors but acceptable for me.

Pictures

Borderlands 3150 x 1680


Crysis 3150 x 1680


Crysis 5040 x 1050


GTA4 3150 x 1680


GTA4 5040 x 1050


Surroundview Desktop


Surroundview Gaming and watching TV


____________________________________________________________________

Edit - 76Hz refresh rate support with the 2209wa and eyefinity.
Modified Monitor inf Driver use at your own risk. Install using Device Manager right click on monitor and Update Driver. Restart PC after install to apply change. Driver only works with the Dell Ultrasharp 2209wa, tested using Czech Rev A00.
http://www.divshare.com/download/9633708-e3e

nice setup, it seems you went through a lot of trouble to get it running.

_________________
System Core: | Intel Core i5-2500K + ASUS P8Z68-V + 16GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333 MHz | Win7 x64 | MSI R7970 Lightning 3GB [1105/1400] |
Display: | 3 x Dell Ultrasharp 3007WFP-HC @ 7680x1600 | Dell u3011 |

Thanks. Yes it was a bit of a hassle at first but the bugs are consistent so I can work around them now :)

What did you mean by most games not being compatible with the wider setup? For both setups, you will ned to change the FOV to get it looking correctly.

_________________
System Core: | Intel Core i5-2500K + ASUS P8Z68-V + 16GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333 MHz | Win7 x64 | MSI R7970 Lightning 3GB [1105/1400] |
Display: | 3 x Dell Ultrasharp 3007WFP-HC @ 7680x1600 | Dell u3011 |

What did you mean by most games not being compatible with the wider setup? For both setups, you will ned to change the FOV to get it looking correctly.

And both have non 'standard' resolutions. If a game works fine on one it would work fine on the other.

I suppose that on the portrait setup, if the FOV corrections the game allows aren't very varied, it's not as noticable as with a landscape setup which needs a much wider FOV.

Looks great - thanks for the detail, Sideeffect! :D

That monitor looks really nice in portrait mode. Wonder if there is a 24 inch version of it :D

3150 x 1680 is a 17:9 aspect ratio which means any game that supports 16:9 will look pretty good without really needing FOV adjustment if FOV adjustment is even possible with that game.

5040 x 1050 is so wide that unless the game is designed to adapt the character or HUD the game is unplayable. A lot of games will just zoom in or stretch so it looks wide but you lose what should be rendered at the top and bottom which can include your character.

For example

Mount and blade at supported aspect ratio you can see your character


Mount and blade at 5040 x 1050 you lose your whole character and can only see his helmet and image is stretched

That monitor looks really nice in portrait mode. Wonder if there is a 24 inch version of it :D

Yes this one its a VA panel and has displayport natively http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfo/peripherals/monitor_2408wfp/pd.aspx?refid=monitor_2408wfp&s=dfo

If you need something cheaper check out the Samsung SM2443BW which also pivots but uses a TN panel and needs a displayport converter.

well i see your point, but most games now-a-days has some way to fix the FOV. be it automatic, console command, or blatant hack. So there are in most cases a way to play with the extra FOV.

What really is the point to just add resolution if you cant see any more than you normally would be able to?

_________________
System Core: | Intel Core i5-2500K + ASUS P8Z68-V + 16GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333 MHz | Win7 x64 | MSI R7970 Lightning 3GB [1105/1400] |
Display: | 3 x Dell Ultrasharp 3007WFP-HC @ 7680x1600 | Dell u3011 |

well i see your point, but most games now-a-days has some way to fix the FOV. be it automatic, console command, or blatant hack. So there are in most cases a way to play with the extra FOV.

Out of the games I have installed at the moment Crysis, GTA4, NFS shift, Empire total war, Call of Juarez bound in blood, Left 4 dead, Far cry 2 and supreme commander FA are working ok at 5040 x 1050.

Games that won't work because they stretch or zoom in the HUD are Borderlands, Mount & Blade, Resident evil 5, Prototype, Fuel. So most of my games do work in landscape but the ones that don't are all new games released within the last year. If you know of any fixes for these games please point me in the right direction.

What really is the point to just add resolution if you cant see any more than you normally would be able to?

Do you mean why use portrait because you dont see more of the game? I don't really understand your question everyone has been just adding more resolution and monitor size since the days of the 640 x 480. Games look far better and are more immersive at 3150 x 1680 than when I used to play them at 1920 x 1200.