Multi-monitor gaming

Mize

3dfx Fan
Legend
I'm seriously considering a multi-monitor gaming set-up. The question I have is how much GPU power is needed to do this with reasonably high settings (AF/AA, etc.)? When I look at reviews of the latest games comparing different GPUs as single or dual GPU set-ups they rarely go above 24x16 resolution.

What I'm considering is putting 3 19x12 monitors (5760x1200) on either my current 2x 6970s or on 2x GTX 580s. I know 3GB on the 580s makes a significant difference for such set-ups.

Anyway...is it "worth" it? You definitely have to de-tune the settings from highest to get frames, but does the surround effect make up for it?
 
Well Dell had $299 + free shipping on u2412m monitors today so I bought two (to team up with my 2405FPW TFT)...so I guess I'm giving eyefinity a shot and looking for good deals on 2x 3GB GTX580s
 
Insanity!
I pulled the trigger on 2x 3GB GTX580s today. Kepler is too far away.
 
One of my monitors currently working properly, so my eyefinity setup is out of action, but I do like three 1920x1200 monitors. I'm using a single 5870 at the moment, and could run with reasonable settings on some older games, although I imagine it would cry if I tried to run, say, BF3 on it. I imagine you could run on quite high settings with two 6970s.
 
bf2bc (is it same the engine) runs great at 5292x1050 single 6950
mize you seem incredibly determined to own a 580 or two even though youve had 2 of them die on you are the 6970's that bad that you cant show some common sense (you wild and crazy fool) and wait for the 600 series ;)
 
bf2bc (is it same the engine) runs great at 5292x1050 single 6950
mize you seem incredibly determined to own a 580 or two even though youve had 2 of them die on you are the 6970's that bad that you cant show some common sense and wait for the 600 series ;)

I have no common sense. :)

I have had two die on me and I'll be really pissed (angry for you brits) if it happens again. My leaning back toward NV has more to do with AMD's inability to stay on top of the driver game of late. Maybe it will improve - hell, maybe they're all working on releasing the best drivers evah! for the 7XXX series...? Who knows, but they've dropped the ball on some AAA titles this year for months on end and CFX has taken a seat at the back of the bus.

Also, the not wanting to wait has to do with 2011 holidays...I RARELY have more than 30 minutes at a time to game (work, kids, life) with the exception of the week of Christmas when we shut down the company and the kids are preoccupied with other kids. This is a geek week for me.
 
I figure this will be decent:
24-001-429-04.jpg
 
If you can control the light in your room, I reckon three 720p projectors would give better result and overall value for money, in term of picture size and the need of rendering performance.
 
1080 projector cost around 2k, which is likely less than the cost of those screens + the cards needed to power them, and without the poor multi GPU support issues.
 
1080 projector cost around 2k, which is likely less than the cost of those screens + the cards needed to power them, and without the poor multi GPU support issues.

No doubt, but my home office is small and a single 1080 projector gives me fewer pixels and no more FOV than I have now.
 
I suggest you ditch the idea of 3 screens
.

And go for 5 ;)
(...)
On second thoughts maybe 5 isnt enough

Yeah and you'd spend 30% of your time looking for your character between bezels! :p


Seriously now, if I ever get the €s for it, I'd rather have three 24-30" 16:10 monitors than any 5 or 6 monitor setup to date.

BTW, only with the "rise" of multi-monitor gaming have I ever felt saddened by the disappearance of 4:3/5:4 ratios in monitors.
It'd make a lot more sense right now.
 
actually 5:4 (15:4) doesnt seem like a bad idea you could argue that 48:10/48:9 is too wide
when you switch to single monitor those old games that dont like widescreen and stretch would look better
 
So you'll be going from 1920x1200 and a 0.2692mm dot pitch ( 24" screen size ) to 5760x1200 and the same dot pitch?

All that extra required GPU performance for the same clarity and sharpness?

That's why I don't get these multi monitor set-ups, I've used one in my local PC store and they had 3x 24" 1080p monitors and yes it was impressive but next to it they had a 27" Dell UltraSharp U2711 that was native 2560x1440 with a 0.1799mm dot pitch and the clarity, Detail and sharpness just blew the 3 monitor set-up away.

Why not go for a single big monitor with a much higher resolution and have better IQ instead of the same resolution but on a wider angle?

I remember when I moved from 1440x900 to 1920x1080 and it blew me away! Surely you remember the last time you made a resolution jump and how awesome it was?

Well Dell had $299 + free shipping on u2412m monitors today so I bought two (to team up with my 2405FPW TFT)...so I guess I'm giving eyefinity a shot and looking for good deals on 2x 3GB GTX580s

If you're talking about that kind of money then buy a 30" 2560x1600 monitor as they aint that much more.

Resolution >> Screen size
 
If you're talking about that kind of money then buy a 30" 2560x1600 monitor as they aint that much more.

Resolution >> Screen size

I'll assume you don't know what the Dell Ultrasharp line provides, but it's far more than any 30" screen that's anywhere near that price tag. Dell's Ultrasharp panels are pretty much the top of the line in LCD displays; S-IPS panels, >100% gammut coverage, epic viewing angles, et al. The 30" model of the UltraSharp is over $1000, and cannot be compared to any 30" panel that you might be thinking of that is near the $300 pricetag for the 24" models he bought for a steal.

I wish I had the coin for the U2711 -- I keep watching for it to go on sale again.
 
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