Considering 3 30" eyefinity setup for next build- questions

[peppergomez]

hey folks,

been aware of eyefinity for awhile now and pretty sure i'm going to go this route when i build my next computer. without further ado, here are my questions about it:

1) i have a 30" monitor now, and hope to add two other 30" monitors- i remember reading that a company was going to make a 30" monitor specifically with eyefinity in mind, and with thinner bezels. is this available now?

2) what will i need in terms of cpu, memory, and power voltage to drive 3 30" monitors, and which eyefinity card is best suited to this task? i'll be playing oblivion elder scrolls, lomac, x3 terran conflict, and the a-10 sim, fallout vegas, and some other upcoming shooters.

3) for those who are running 3 30" monitors, what's the optimal seating distance away from the monitors? i might need a new desk.

4) does eyefinity allow for watching movies in the same widescreen mode as in gamng- the picture stretched across all 3 monitors? if so, how well does this work/good does this look? it'd be a bummer to only be able to 1/3 of the monitor space to watch movies on.

5) how well does eyefinity toggle between office/windows productivity (having 3 different desktops to edit, web surf, etc. in) and gaming mode?

6) i won't be building anything at least until christmas time, so i wonder if any new eyefinity tech is on the horizon, in terms of newer cards

7) how helpful are those monitor viewing stands (the kind that hold 3 monitors)- what specfic advantages do they bring?

8) ballpark $$ estimate to build a new eyefinity worthy system from scratch (and the 3 monitors- thinking of selling my samsung and buying the 3 30" eyefinity capable ones if they exist)--- around $3,000?


thanks in advance for the feedback

[fiskstolpe]

Wow. A bit off-topic but may I just ask how much a 30" costs where you live?

I'm contemplating replacing my 22" Lenovo L220x with a Dell 3008WFP (I already have two Dell 2209WA as secondary monitors which I'd probably use in portrait mode next to the 30"), and here (Sweden) that Dell costs about $1,950. Buying it directly from Dell would set me back almost $2,500. And you're thinking of getting three 30" monitors? I have to say, that kind of blew my mind. : D

[peppergomez]

ok, so 3 30" alone will be about $3,000 i guess, which likely places the total system price in the $5,00o+ range. egads.

i am more likely to consider 24" or so monitors if eyefinity allows for watching a video across all three of the monitors and if eyefinity allows for using all three as an extended windows desktop so that i can work across all three monitors. does it?

ps- would eyefinity allow for the use of 1 30" as the center monitor and 2 22" monitors in portrait mode?

[hunuok]

Hey there,

1. Not that I know of.
2. I would suggest a 5970 or 5870 in crossfire, with an i7 920 CPU (minimum) and a GOOD 850W-1000W PSU. 6Gb DDR3.
3. I have mine on a desk 1600x760. Side monitors overhang, but acceptable. A dining table would be great.
4. Watching movies in Eyefinity isn't that great. The screen doesn't stretch across all 3 screens. Instead, mine overlapped about 25% on each side monitor. Annoying.
5. No problems.
6. There's probably a refresh of 5xxx cards around Christmas.
7. AFAIK, monitor stands don't support 30". I think the max supported is 24". I tried a monitor stand on my old 24" setup. It made the desk "feel" cluttered.

My experiences using Eyefinity:

1. FPS and RPG on 30" can be "confusing". Too much real estate to monitor. I only use Eyefinity for Racing/Flight sims, FPS & RPG in single screen mode.
2. Trifire/Quadfire has WOEFUL performance in Eyefinity. Can't see a fix anytime soon. I've been trying for 8 months, with little success.
3. You need an active display port adapter which can cause problems with drivers. I had blinking DP display issues with Cat 10.4, 10.5 and 10.6.
4. You may have to apply FOV fixes or run apps in DX9 mode to get good frame rates.
5. Don't expect everything to work first try!

Good luck.

[peppergomez]

really- movies/video won't stretch across all screens? gack...that is a potential deal breaker for me, as I watch lots of tv/movies on my 30" monitor (i don't own a tv and won't be getting one anytime soon) and LOVE it. can't imagine downgrading that to 24". movies across 3 24" monitors would be great, however. anyone know if there are plans afoot for eyefinity to properly support this?

[whismerhill]

I don't know if you're aware of all your options so : here it goes
Depending on your time table (that is : when you intend to have your whole setup up & running) and if you're a gamer at heart with latest games & all you might want to consider 3DVision as another possibility, preliminary beta driver performance reports are great in SLI & TRI SLI (two & three cards)

whereas some people reports that even just a 5970 isn't that great over a 5870, higher FPS but less fluid overall experience ...

that's only a suggestion though, and since I don't know what you want...

[fiskstolpe]

Watching movies in Eyefinity isn't that great. The screen doesn't stretch across all 3 screens. Instead, mine overlapped about 25% on each side monitor.

Have you tried a player like http://splayer.org/index.en.html ? That one seems to be pretty good at handling playback across monitors (at least compared to Media Player Classic and K-Lite/CCCP codecs). I can personally only test playback on two monitors at the same time though, since I'm not using Eyefinity/Surround. Be careful if you try it though, when I installed it it took over some file associations without asking first.

[peppergomez]

I don't know if you're aware of all your options so : here it goes
Depending on your time table (that is : when you intend to have your whole setup up & running) and if you're a gamer at heart with latest games & all you might want to consider 3DVision as another possibility, preliminary beta driver performance reports are great in SLI & TRI SLI (two & three cards)

whereas some people reports that even just a 5970 isn't that great over a 5870, higher FPS but less fluid overall experience ...

that's only a suggestion though, and since I don't know what you want...

thanks, whismerhill

basically, i want to play flight sims (that includes space combat sims) and fpg/rpg games on 3 monitors, and to be able to watch movies and tv across all three monitors. if i can do both, then switching from one 30" to 3 24" monitors would be okay with me, and likely a lot less $$$ than buying 3 30" monitors.

[peppergomez]

what lcd monitors feature slim bezels?


i know samsung is supposed to be making one specifically for eyefinity:

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2009/9/10/samsung-to-launch-a-six-monitor-setup-for-amd-eyefinity-technology.aspx

[Tamlin]

what lcd monitors feature slim bezels?


i know samsung is supposed to be making one specifically for eyefinity:

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2009/9/10/samsung-to-launch-a-six-monitor-setup-for-amd-eyefinity-technology.aspx

That one is the slimmest so far. Its called MD230X3 or MD230X6 depending on how many screens. They can also be bought single as MD230.

[hunuok]

@ fiskstolpe

TBH, I have a second rig for media. A 24" connected to a 40". Will try it tho. Thanks!

@whismerhill

whereas some people reports that even just a 5970 isn't that great over a 5870, higher FPS but less fluid overall experience ...

After the issues I've had and are still having, not a bad idea.

@peppergomez

i know samsung is supposed to be making one specifically for eyefinity:

Living in Korea, I have heard/read no news about when this monitor will be released. I think they are going to be expensive IF released.

[Tamlin]

Living in Korea, I have heard/read no news about when this monitor will be released. I think they are going to be expensive IF released.

Its almost in stores in Norway:
http://www.datakjeden.no/PartDetail.aspx?q=p:3198374;c:36167

Package price with stand is expensive, but not when buying them as single screens. :)

http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/pc-peripherals/monitors/gaming/LS23MUPNB/EN/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail

[hunuok]

Thanks for the heads up. :wink:

[phantom]

4) does eyefinity allow for watching movies in the same widescreen mode as in gamng- the picture stretched across all 3 monitors? if so, how well does this work/good does this look? it'd be a bummer to only be able to 1/3 of the monitor space to watch movies on.

4. Watching movies in Eyefinity isn't that great. The screen doesn't stretch across all 3 screens. Instead, mine overlapped about 25% on each side monitor. Annoying.

Triple monitor Surround setups are typically 3x16:9 monitors (48:9), or 3x16:10 monitors (48:10) aspect ratio.

Movies are not filmed in Surround aspect ratio. They can not extend across all three monitors.

[fiskstolpe]

TV movies are usually in 16:9. To my knowledge, most movies are actually 2.35:1 (or similar). And while that would only be able to stretch across two 16:10 monitors in landscape mode with black vertical strips of roughly 25% on both monitors, you could actually span it across three monitors if they're in portrait mode (4800x2560, 15:8). The movie would be upscaled to about 4800x2042, if I managed to do the calculation right. Some quite wide bezels in that movie, but hey.

[fatlazyhomer]

TV movies are usually in 16:9. To my knowledge, most movies are actually 2.35:1 (or similar). And while that would only be able to stretch across two 16:10 monitors in landscape mode with black vertical strips of roughly 25% on both monitors, you could actually span it across three monitors if they're in portrait mode (4800x2560, 15:8). The movie would be upscaled to about 4800x2042, if I managed to do the calculation right. Some quite wide bezels in that movie, but hey.

That's what I do with my movies. Gives me a 42" screen with bars basically. It would be alot better if I had bezel comp though, but if you buy 3 identical monitors, you should be able to use it. Its enjoyable, though not as enjoyable as a real 42" TV obviously.

The only 30" Monitor that does portrait is from NEC and retails for like 2000$. Your best bet is to get 24" ones that rotate to portrait.

[Phoenixdancer]

At the res of a 30" monitor times 3... You will find is VERY hard to play any games at max with playable frame rates.

I was forced to buy a 5870 to crossfire along side my 5970 as Eyefinity on 3x 24" monitors brings a 5970 to its knee's ina major way.

Your looking at requireing 2x 5970's in crossfire to ru that setup

[peppergomez]

yeah, if i go the eyefinity route, i will replace my 30" monitor with 3 24" monitors and rotate them in portrait mode. watching movies on that would be awesome. thanks.

[peppergomez]

I'll also likely have a blu-ray drive, and am curious if there are any specific specs. in order to deliver proper HD/Bluray picture quality I need to look for in the monitors I choose.

Thanks.

Edit- Do folks know if true Blu-ray quality playback will be possible across 3 24" LCD monitors in portrait mode? I ask b/c someone at the Simhq hardware forum suggested that "legal" Blu-ray playback might not be allowed across 3 24" monitors due to "trusted pathway" issues. He provided this link:

http://www.behardware.com/articles/603-3/hdcp-the-graphic-card-and-monitor-nightmare.html

Basically,my goal with the 3 24" monitor Eyefinity solution is for my computer to be my one-stop media center- both games and blu-ray movie playback. So, I would like to know if this will be possible.

[peppergomez]

bump