Does eyefinity take some "getting used to"?

[ThaSpacepope]

I've been waiting on a deal on 3 new monitors for eyefinity. Well, yesterday it happened... $185 for the Asus ve248h monitor at newegg. So I call fry's, they have one on display. So I drive up there and lo and behold they have crysis 2 playable eyefinity on 3 samsung 23" md230s (tiny bezels).

All I can say is.. disappointed. They didn't have it configured 100% correctly, as they didn't configure for the "blank space" of the bezels so things lined up. But I don't think that really was that big of a deal. My issue was.. I just didn't find a use for the other 2 monitors. To all eyefinity users.. is this normal at first? Is eyefinity still as good as it looks in videos or are the two side monitors totally superfluous? The config was 3x1080p 23" monitors in standard landscape.

I'm bummed because im finally ready to buy but now it seems like a waste!

[Paradigm Shifter]

You don't 'look' at the surrounding monitors - they're there to fill your peripheral vision, so it's more like reality than staring at a rectangular wall/letterbox you see the world through in games.

It can take some getting used to, but honestly, I found it more immersive the second I sat down with three monitors filling my vision and loading up a game.

[fatlazyhomer]

It takes awhile. After awhile, you can actually find the willpower to leave the room to pee, rather than making do with whatever Mountain Dew can is lying around.

[tepescovir]

it takes a bit of tweaking for some games, but it is definatly worth it. So much more immersive.

[skipclarke]

I was immediately blown away the first second I sat down. It's so much more immersive as apposed to single screen it's like looking at real life periferal vision vs looking in a window. I don't use the bezel corrected resolution though, cos I want to see all of the screen for maximum advantage over opponent.

The drawback is that you can forget about simply: "Pop in a game and it plays" philosophy. From now on it's like: "Go on forums and pray someone comes up with a hack for it" and make sure that the hack is compatible with the edition you have and then spend half a day setting up your fov.

[thales100]

I was immediately blown away the first second I sat down. It's so much more immersive as apposed to single screen

Same here.

[TheDestroyer]

Yea, triple screens took some time to get used to, but now I can't use anything less. Aside from gaming, I think work productivity went up for me. Having the amount of information on the screen has to have made me more efficient in my work and workspace management. When I go to someone's house to fix something on their computers, I just get annoyed I've lost so much viewable information.

[Bravo]

Cant say it's something I had to get used to either. It's been pure awesomeness since day one!


But if it's not set up correctly, you might miss the whole point with it. Especially when it comes to gaming with eyefinity, you want to have the screens in a comfortable position with a good angle, all depending on where and how you sit in your chair. In order to really appreciate and feel the wide deep perspective, I strongly recommend you to also sit in a very dark room. You dont want anything in your surrounding to ruin the view of your screens. And as mentioned, you only look directly at the middle-screen, while the side-screens are simply there to "widen" your perspective ;) Point is, what you experienced in the store is most probably nothing compared to how it will be when set up at your own desk.
There arent many real advantages with it in gaming (Except possibly for some simulators), but it adds a lot more immersion.

[Abram]

It's gaming on a single monitor, that you'll have trouble getting used to.

[thales100]

It's gaming on a single monitor, that you'll have trouble getting used to.

qft :cheers

[fatlazyhomer]

I just got a 52" LCD awhile ago and Uncharted 2.


Instead I've been playing World of Tanks, an ugly looking free to play MMO, simply because I can play it on 3 screens.

[stangflyer]

I have had eyefinity since the 5970 came out. I play at 3300x1680 which is 3x1680x1050 in portrait mode with bezel cor. I played at 5040x1050 for the first year and have been playing in portrait since then. I like portrait mode much better as I don't get as much of the "fish eye" effect. When playing landscape mode the outside monitors are for peripheral vision in portrait mode they are part of your main vision. Just suits me better.

Took me about a week to get used to it. Also when I got my matching 3 dp dell monitors so I could do bezel man. Worked great.
I do not think I could play a game that is single monitor anymore. I could maybe on a 30 inch monitor but nothing less.

Good luck and welcome to the forums. This is a great place to come for fixes on some of the older games that were out b4 eyefinity and nvidia surround were out. I have dusted off many older games and replayed in eyefinity and it awesome.

In fps games your friends will wonder "how you saw them to the side" and you tell them you have eyefinity and its jealousy.

[andsview]

I too have upgraded to an eyefinity set up using the ATI HD5770 using a 21.5" middle monitor and 2 x 19" that I had lying around about 3 months ago. I wouldn't want to go back to a single monitor now, as I use all displays for gaming, and other times they're used for having multiple browsers , music , video and editing.

It would be a right pain if I was to use that much on a single monitor as I would have to constantly bring to the front anything that I was working on, limiting the real multitasking ability .

Eyefinity resolves this, so much so have I got used to 3 displays, that I have now added an ATI HD5870 E6, which now means I can game on 6 22" Dell monitors, and view media/data/browsers on another 3 monitors, or view various applications over 9 monitors.

I am still building the system at the moment, but I hope to upload some pictures when I near complete.

I have found that when gaming, albeit a novice gamer, there have been improved tactical advantages to having Eyefinity, as you do see more than what you would normally on a single screen and can react sooner to those changes, I play LAN, and a mate is now seriously investing in an Eyefinity set up, basically so that he can even the game score :) :rockout

[ARTIL3CT]

I found that I had to stare through the primary monitor then I started to see more happening in my periferal vision on the outer two monitors. I find myself moving between two "modes" of vision in FPS games when using three monitors.

1) Stare through the primary monitor when searching for enemies so you can improve periferal vision.
2) Once you've found someone bring them to the primary screen and focus just like you normally would.

Like others have posted the extra viewing area can be a huge advantage in FPS games. Even though you're not going to be staring at the outer monitors when you're gaming it's definitely not a waste as you only need to look for a split second to give yourself the advantage over another player who can't see you.

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| MSI 790FX-GD70 | Phenom II X2 @4.0Ghz w/ Corsair H50 | ATI 6950 2GB x2 @800/1250Mhz | 21.5" ASUS VE228 x2, 21.5 ACER P216H |

[tet5uo]

Our peripheral vision works best detecting movement instead of actually giving us details, so you don't even have to look at the screens to get the advantage of sensing the movement off to the side and then focusing your attention on it.

[johnEvegas]

I am new to it. I was wondering the same thing. It is really a matter of immersion that really brings you 'into' the game. One thing I can say, I HATE playing something without it now that I have tasted it, so I wonder why I still ask myself that question.

[sirtim3]

According to steam I have logged over 200 hours in borderlands it has easily been one of my favorite games of recent times, I have all the DLC's. Now all that was pre eyefinity days, I have tried the fixes for the game but still doesn't run right (eyefinity) in my opinion. Two DLC's I have yet to finish. My point to all of this is, that is how much eyefinity spoiled me. It is so hard to go back to a game and only play on one monitor. Beleive me I have tried with borderlands and it just feels like I am boxed in....... Eyefinity I absolutely love, but once you get used to gaming on it its hard to go back to single monitor gaming.