Triplehead2go and 8800GT

Matt-Minnesota · Post by **Matt-Minnesota** » 23 Nov 2007, 23:53

Hello all,

I am planning to purchase the Matrox Triplehead2go digital edition but cannot find the geforce 8800GT on the compatibility list on the Matrox site. I do see that the GPU's for the GTS and GTX are supported in the 8800 series. Does anyone run a 8800GT with the 3head2go digital?

Thanks,

Matt

Matt-Minnesota · Post by **Matt-Minnesota** » 24 Nov 2007, 00:02

Also, i am planning on using three SAMSUNG 941BW 19" LCD monitors. I was thinking about spending a little extra and moving up to 22" but three monitors are already going to set me back $700. Any opinions on using 3 19" vs 22"?

Matt-Minnesota · Post by **Matt-Minnesota** » 24 Nov 2007, 03:30

I ended up getting 3x

SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor's

After rebates the three monitors will cost close to $800, no shipping or taxes. Thats not bad considering the quality of these monitors.

Did i mention 2ms, nice : )

If anyone's interested this is a black friday special on newegg.

As far as the system i just bought, the specs are:

CPU: (Sckt775)IntelÂ® Coreâ„¢ 2 Duo E6750 CPU @ 2.66GHz 1333FSB 4MB L2 Cache 64-bit [+26]

VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express [+165] (EVGA Powered by NVIDIA [+5])

MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)4GB (4x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory [+200] (Mushkin Brand [+25])

MOTHERBOARD: (Quad-Core FSB1333) Asus P5N32-E nForce 680i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard [+102]

POWERSUPPLY: 600 Watts Power Supplies [+59] (CoolerMaster Unit 600 Watts eXtreme Power - SLI Supports)

HDD: Extreme Performance (RAID-0) with 2 Identical Hard Drives [+3] (160GB (80GBx2) SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 8MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

Im hoping that this system will support running TH2G with those three monitors. 4GB RAM and the PROC are fine i think. Its the video card im a little worried about.

JohnnyWakko · Post by **JohnnyWakko** » 24 Nov 2007, 03:55

Woaaaw cowboy. Triple post! I think you have broken a record at WSGF. Sorry to interput the quadruple post.

I am pretty sure that if all of the 8800 series so far supports it, then the 8800GT will as well.

By the way

:welcome

Tucson · Post by **Tucson** » 24 Nov 2007, 04:15

8800GT isn't ideal for the very resolution of TH. It'll run but you really want more memory and bit-depth than the 8800GT provides.

It's cheap enough though. So it might be a resonable compromise.

Matt-Minnesota · Post by **Matt-Minnesota** » 24 Nov 2007, 04:36

8800GT isn't ideal for the very resolution of TH. It'll run but you really want more memory and bit-depth than the 8800GT provides.

It's cheap enough though. So it might be a resonable compromise.

What if i were to purchase a second GT in the future and go sli? Do you feel that this would be a better solution than say a single GTX? Also, do you think the 600w PS will be enough to go dual GT's?

Thanks for the replies so far : )

Tucson · Post by **Tucson** » 24 Nov 2007, 09:00

SLI is for when you want the absolute top performance right now. So I never suggest going SLI with mid-range cards or a 2nd card later down the line. The cost/benefit ratio isn't there.

The other thing about SLI is that each card still needs a complete copy of textures and models. The memory doesn't "stack". So though you might have 2x512 video ram, you're still limited to 512MB on-board of game assets.

Regardless, the 8800GT is a great card that offers a lot of value. Just leave the AA off.

The best part of triplehead gaming is the immersion and natural FOV. Worry about the displays first then get whatever flagship GPU is out when ever your budget finally recovers.

M03IUS · Post by **M03IUS** » 24 Nov 2007, 09:00

I run C2 Intel, XFX 8800GTX Ultra 768MB, 4GB Dominator and a PysX Accelerator and 3x $200 dollar Samsung 930b 19" monitors I can run all my games on high or Ultra High. I've also over clocked my computer as well so that helps too.

So yeah, you will be able to run TH2GO with 8800 GPUs.

Matt-Minnesota · Post by **Matt-Minnesota** » 24 Nov 2007, 18:33

Thanks for the info!

Either way, this is going to be an experience. I spend most of my free time gaming and have not upgraded my pc for almost 3 years. Im used to 19", 10-30 FPS with lowered settings on most games. To go from that to what I just bought not to mention surround gaming should keep me permanently in the house.

Cheers!

njracer · Post by **njracer** » 24 Nov 2007, 20:59

hey, i just recently got surround gaming about 2-3 months ago and man your GONNA LOVE IT. i'm serious you won't be able to wipe the grin off your face for a good couple of weeks, just the thought of it still brings a smile to my face. your gonna take a hit in the fps department but the immersion it adds more then makes up for it. you can always tweak the setting and have smooth gameplay. i got an 8800gts 640mb oc and i'm able to run crysis with everything on high, all i do is turn the shaders down to medium and i get a very nice fps with smooth gameplay throughout with amazing graphics on 3 19's. wish i could see your face when you start your first game and realize just how great your games have become.

btw, idk if your a racing fan but if you are, play some gtr2 or race 07 in the cockpit and tell me th2g isn't amazing, you can see the whole cockpit both side mirrors and really feel like your in there. the next thing on my list is this badboy

http://www.bluetiger.com

enjoy surround gaming bud

Matt-Minnesota · Post by **Matt-Minnesota** » 25 Nov 2007, 00:24

Thanks njracer.

I mostly play MMO, RTS and FPS style games but from what I have read over the past week when it comes to TH2G flight sims and racing games are a must. I will definitely check out the titles you listed above. The blue tiger setup looks like a perfect gift for your average racing fan :D .

After hearing the feedback on this site, i may call and upgrade the GT to at least a GTS 640 OC. I think it's an additional $170 but it sounds like it may be worth the money.

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 25 Nov 2007, 01:00

Hello ... welcome to the forum ... :D

I ended up getting 3x

SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor's

hmmmm .... you do know using the TH2GD you are gonna have to run those 22" monitors at 3 x 1280X800 to get a desktop image that isn't distorted.

More info about the TH2G ... Widescreens & Available Resolutions here ... http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10112

njracer · Post by **njracer** » 25 Nov 2007, 03:51

hey, i saw a few benchmarks where running 2 8800gt's in sli will give you better fps with 2560x1600 res. if i was you i'd just get another 8800gt, would be cheaper and seems to do the job. 2 8800gt's outperform 1 8800gtx at high resolutions, the top graph shows 1 8800gt and the lower shows a single 8800gt compared to 2 8800gt's in sli

also there are a few more comparisons on the other pages of the review, check it out

http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/468/9

i didn't see that you didn't get your card yet, idk then its up to you, look at the benchmarks anyway, seems like 1 8800gt is equal or better then 1 8800gts at 2560x1600 res under xp, however if you run vista and dx10 the gts outperforms the gt. idk, i'm sure other's have a different view, check out the benchmarks, this is solely what i'm going off of, just trying to throw some info at you to possible make the better choice, again idk if 8800gt would be, but according to this review it would. i'd check around more and ask more to get a better idea

Matt-Minnesota · Post by **Matt-Minnesota** » 25 Nov 2007, 04:44

hmmmm .... you do know using the TH2GD you are gonna have to run those 22" monitors at 3 x 1280X800 to get a desktop image that isn't distorted.

Yes, I was aware of this.

Since I am a noob when it comes to surround gaming and in particular wide screen surround gaming, can someone who has seen both tell me if there is a noticable difference between running 3x 1280x800 vs 1280x1024? Here is where my lack of knowledge comes in. Part of the reason i bought 3x wide screen 22" is that i somehow felt that a firmware update or something would eventually allow for higher than 3840x800 for wide screens. Then my purchase pays off.

3 x 22" wide screens ended up costing me around $800 which is very close to what 3x 4:3 19" would cost. I paid the extra for what i felt were better monitors but i hope that 3840x800 doesnt dissapoint. Im a little bit worried that going from 1600x1200 to 3840x800 may look pixelated.

Apologies for any spelling/grammar errors. English was not my strong suit and i dont have word on this PC :D .

Also, thank you for all the comments so far. This has turned out to be a great site and friendly community.

Cheers,

Matt

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 25 Nov 2007, 10:04

It may well look fine and you may find your are happy with it ... :D
I just thought I'd point out the resolution as it would be too low for me.

You say you are used to a 19" ... I don't know for sure but I would have thought a 22" widescreen would be a similar height.
Try 1280x800 (or the nearest you can) on your current monitor ... imagine that on a 22" widescreen ... see if you are happy with the lower res.

Post by **Downtown1** » 26 Nov 2007, 07:50

8800GT isn't ideal for the very resolution of TH. It'll run but you really want more memory and bit-depth than the 8800GT provides.

It's cheap enough though. So it might be a resonable compromise.

What if i were to purchase a second GT in the future and go sli? Do you feel that this would be a better solution than say a single GTX? Also, do you think the 600w PS will be enough to go dual GT's?

Thanks for the replies so far : )

I use 2x8800GTS 640MB for my rig, it works great. I am guessing 8800GT will work as well since afaik it has specs similar to an 8800GTS if not better.

Matt-Minnesota · Post by **Matt-Minnesota** » 26 Nov 2007, 08:05

Quick Update.

I went over to a friends house that has Call of Duty 4 and a 22" monitor. I played at 1280x800 then max resolution then back, etc... I did a lot of visual comparisons with objects in the distance and close up objects. Obviously the max res looks better but to my amazement it wasnt a show stopper like i thought it would. Granted my buddy has a nice system with a 8800 Ultra.

This leads me to my next update which is the PC i ordered. I made two adjustments to my order. First, i went with the 8800 Ultra instead of the GT and second i moved from a dual core to quad core processor.

I decided to go with the 8800 Ultra because if i am going to run at 1280x800 on three monitors, i will need to have most everything maxed (depending on game) including if available anti aliasing. This should give me the most out of what i consider the not so desirable resolution of 3840x800 as opposed to 3840x1024. When investing just over 3k for this setup, the video card is definately not somewhere i want to skimp.

Now its just a waiting game. All hardware to include the matrox should be here by Friday. I will have to post some photos of the three "22 widescreens running at 3840x800. I was also planning to delve into the SoftTH configurations and try to run at native rez on all monitors as another member has done.

BTW, i will be running Vista 64-bit

ph33rgear · Post by **ph33rgear** » 26 Nov 2007, 23:02

That's awesome, you sure are going to have a fun and i'm sure at times frustrating day putting all that together...

once it's all together and running smoothly though wow, that'll be killer to play on :D

it'll be like an early xmas day for ya ;)

Tucson · Post by **Tucson** » 28 Nov 2007, 01:21

There's a GTS update coming this month that should give the ultra a run its money.

Vroshnak · Post by **Vroshnak** » 28 Nov 2007, 22:54

Since you already bought the monitors, I'd say don't worry about the distortion.

Please see my (and others) responses here concerneing widescreen monitors with TH2Go. I have three widescreen monitors (1680x1050) with my TH2G (usually running at 3840x1024) and I like it fine.

[url]http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/8171]

[url]http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/8252]

[url]http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/7557]

Widescreen Gaming Forum