Hi guys,

I'm not building a full-on cockpit, but I have committed to a 3-monitor setup and am looking for guidance on video card configuration.

I currently have a GeForce GTX 260 driving two 21.4" LCD's, and the performance in the game I'm currently digging (Rise of Flight) is acceptable even at 3360x1050 (full native res). Not to say the performance couldn't be better, but I can live with it..

I've just purchased my 3rd identical LCD, and need a 2nd video card to drive one or two of the screens. My questions are:

1) Generally speaking, am I asking for configuration and driver issues going down this path in the first place?

2) Should I consider one mid-range card to drive one screen, and keep driving two screens with my 260?

3) Should I instead splurge on a 285 and drive two screens with that, saving the 260 for just one?

4) How close do the cards have to be in order to not have color differences across the screens? Is same manufacturer a safe-enough bet?

5) What else am I not considering?

Any help or recommendations are greatly appreciated, thanks!

Hi,

Have you considered the Matrox TripleHead2Go device?

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/surroundgaming/en/home/

dave

the main driver issues are with technologie that used 2 gfx cards to drive one large screen (crossfire etc), much less so with driving one screen per card, or 2 screens per card, but this can varry from game to game



largely will depend on how demanding the specific game is on pc grunt, RoF is a good example where you need a high end gfx card and good modern cpu/mb/ram system to play it on reasonable settings so it looks good on a SINGLE screen. so you will need a high end gfx card to drive 2 screens, and a higher-midrange card to drive the single screen. trying to skimp on the gfx card will mean you have to cut down detail settings. the fact you dont use 1920 x 1200 on your screens is a good help, and the lower resolution in the smaller widescreen monitors you use will make things much easier



usually the main issue is that the screens, and panel technology used, needs to be the same or very similar, or you will get significant differences in colour tones and clarity etc.. most gfx cards from nvidea and ati nowadays are very generic in design and many manufactures make the exact same cards with a few cosmetic changes. if you can, it would probably be safer to stick to same manufacturer and series cards, but that is more to do with driver compatibility.


being able to use 3 monitors in a game will greatly vary from game to game, it is not just simply a matter of having a pc that is powerful enough, so ask questions in the game forums that you intend to use it for. for ex, in RoF there are some issues right now for a 3 monitor setup, and the bugs are being worked on by the game creators (at least that is what they say). il2 has had an annoying bug in one of the 3 screens which has never been fixed also (flashing black square)

most people that use 3 screens use the matrox 3HTgo unit (digital would be best), and on their website you will see a list of supported games

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the advice. I've ordered (and already received! Go Newegg!) a Th2Go. My 3rd monitor should arrive Thursday. I can't wait. I'll give things a shot with the 260. If that doesn't cut it, I'll flip that card on Ebay and splurge on a 295

How did that work out for you?

If you do go to a 295, that can run 3 monitors without using the Matrox TH2Go. 2 DVI outputs, and then use an HDMI to DVI converter with the HDMI port for the third monitor. There are posts about it working over on the SoftTH forums.

I too was thinking about ordering the TH2Go setup, then I found SoftTH (free software that allows two video cards to run three monitors) works great for Rise of Flight. Now of course, ATI has a video card (256.99 Newegg.com) that will run 6-12 monitors (2 from DVI ports the rest from DP which require a DP to DVI adapter...around 9.99 on Ebay), 3 monitors (according to some reviews) will run fine but more than that reduces performance).

Now I am going to sell my GTX285 and get one of those cards.

PropNut, I am curious to see how ATI's Eyefinity technology compares to TripleHead2Go. It looks very promising.

Rise of Flight is a very demanding title for high-resolution triplehead displays.

Hopefully I can get one sometime this month and try it out. I have a Q6600 I might put it in (my simpit) and see how it works with an older CPU.

The current 5870/5850 Eyefinity cards can run up to three monitors, one has to be either display port capable or you must use an active display port to dvi/hdmi converter - $9.99 adapter is a passive converter and will not work in triple display mode.

A future card will run up to six outputs, all mini display port, up to two of those can use passive converters but the others would require active converters if no dp capable devices are available. Plenty of info here... http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=64

Magic Man, I am glad you let me know about that. I still purchased the ATI5850 (Sapphire) card and another monitor (my middle monitor is a 21" while the two outside monitors are 22", got a third Acer 22" from Newegg for 122.00 open box special..sold the 21" for 110.00 to a buddy). Now I have to save up for an active adapter At least I know now instead of being 'surprised' later.

Well I would hold off on that the new cards from ATI the 5 series will drive up to 6 monitors at once. Both the 5870 and lower end 5850 will do this. At $399 and $259 if you can find them,
have tobe the cheapest way to a more than 2 monitor setup. Plus you get the most powerful and up todate card. I am looking at these my self and currently loking for a 5850(which by the way are hard to find. The 5850 at $250 will blow the GTX 285 out of the water and matches the GTX295.
Go to Toms hardware for the full story.

I have purchased the 5850, and as MagicMan mentions, the 5850 will only drive 3 monitors (for gaming) not six. The 5870 will do six. Widescreengaming.com is an excellent resource for multi monitor information. Thanks again Magic Man

The 5870 will 'only' drive 3 monitors as well - the HDMI is shared with the DVI. The 6 outputs will be available on an upcoming card, possibly the 2GB card - it will use 6 mini DP connectors.


Yep, it is.


No problem, enjoy your setup.

Well, I have not yet gotten my ATI5850 (out of stock everywhere) but I did get Rise of Flight to work very well indeed with SoftTH (Free software alternative to TH2GO)
These are from a game I played tonight with a few friends over on War-Hawks.net. I am using three Acer 22" monitors a 9600GSO as a primary and a 8600GT as a secondary card (the 9600 does all the rendering, the 8600 is just for passing the extra DVI-out to the third monitor).

First, the menu screen


An in flight shot before we met up with the hun


Another


And after I met up with the Hun :P


Some exterior shots

Is the Rise Of Flight FOV still not compatible with triplehead setups?

How do you mean Joe? It looks ok to me...

Hi Joe

The FOV was fixed a while back in a patch.
There are still some minor issues in the hanger view of the planes being too close, but nothing wrong with the actual gameplay now.

The two in-cockpit screenshots that PropNut posted look too zoomed in. These, to the best of my recollection, look the same as a pre-release version of Rise Of Flight looked to me at E3, and there was definitely a triplehead FOV problem at that time.

Yes, I understand what you mean now. They are a bit too zoomed in. I had heard there is a setting in one of the config files that would fix the issue (for multi monitor gaming) but I have not looked into it yet. Last night was the first time I had triple monitors working at all.

Proper FOV settings make a dramatic difference in immersive triplehead gaming. For proper immersion you should be seeing more information horizontally, not losing it vertically.

Can trickIR be used with this softth thingy?

You mean TrackIR? Yes, both TrackIR and Freetrack work with it.

Here is an updated screenshot. I found the fix for the FOV issue, I had to manually enter 5040x1050 into the startup.cfg file in Rise of Flight's game folder.



http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/7249/riseofflight.jpg

Ah, that's better. Glad to see visual evidence that the game can support the proper FOV.

I upgraded to an ATI 5850 Eyefinity card. Everything works out of the box, no setups, etc. Just set the proper res in the game and go. Multiscreen nervana. I will get some screenshots up later.