triple monitor vs large HD screen

[dayglow]

Well I'm looking to upgrade my gaming setup. I have been running 6800gt sli rig for a year, but one of my video cards decided to die so it's time to climb the upgrade ladder.

Right now there is an extreme shortage of 5xxx Ati parts these days and the Nvidia next gen isn't out so I have time to contemplate the myriad of possibilities for me.

My main question right now is what people's opinions are on going with say 3x22" to 24" screens vs going with a larger 37"-42" HDTV running at 1080p. Right now I have a 32" 720p HDTV running as my gaming screen.

My concern is that going back to a smaller screen size will be a let-down, even though I will get the increase in horizontal view. I simply cannot afford 3x30" computer monitors. The other concern is the playable framerates on a triple-screen setup. So far the reviews are saying that the current cards can't really put out constant 30+ fps on a triple screen setup with a decent resolution.

Right now I have an older 8400 Intel dual core oc'd to 4ghz. I don't want to replace my motherboard so I am limited to a quad core model and hopefully could oc up near 4ghz again. I am running with 4gb of ram on windows 7 64bit.

With these stats in mind and really my cost ceiling being a single 5870 is triple screen gaming any likelihood or a larger HDTV display the way to go?

[scavvenjahh]

Hello and welcome :)
I always feel this is a strange question to ask. Doesn't multi-monitor gaming appeal to you so much that you know deep down it's what you want ? No ? Then go for a single 24" or 26" monitor (or a 1080p TV if that's your thing). Start with a comfy widescreen setup, enjoy and learn all you can about Hor+ gameplay - then ask yourself if Eyefinity should be your next move or not.

[Butch_N]

Hi

For me, I would never want to go back to a single screen setup, of any size.
I'm using 3 25.5" monitors, giving me 3 times the horizontal I had with one. It wouldn't matter how big a single monitor is, it will still only be 16:9 or 16:10. I would see the same image on it as I would on a 17" monitor. There would be no real difference, only in the size, but the image would remain the same.

3 25.5 give me 70" wide screen area. In racing, flight and shooters, a single screen just can't compare.
Single screens (of any size) look confined to a box, or as if one is playing with blinders on.
Triscreen will spoil you.

The only single panel I would be interested in would be like 80" diagonal with a aspect of something like 3:1 or something along those lines. That would nice, but probably not something we will see for awhile. Would be very expensive too, no doubt.

[thales100]

say 3x22" to 24" screens vs going with a larger 37"-42" HDTV running at 1080p. Right now I have a 32" 720p HDTV running as my gaming screen.

My concern is that going back to a smaller screen size will be a let-down, even though I will get the increase in horizontal view.

1 x 37"-42" and play at 1920x1080 16:9 or 3 x 22" or 3 x 24" and play at 5040x1050 or 5760x1200 48:10 surround gaming ? Pretty easy imo. :wink:

[suiken_2mieu]

I keep both hanging around. I have 3x23" 1080p screens and a 32" 1366x768 set up. I use the 32" for anything i cant triplehead. The 32" is useful for console games, and watching movie, but really i don't tend to use it for computer games, except section 8 which doesn't keep it's FOV for anything.

Though if i got a philips cinema, I might not care as much as it is really wide and has a decent res.

[Vroshnak]

2560x1600 resolution on my 30 inch Dell3008WFP monitor is better than 5040x1050 on three 21inch monitors I used to get with SoftTH and TH2Go.

Mostly it's better because it works with more games. Also the gain in vertical resolution (1600 instead of 1050) is actually very nice.

It's a personal preference thing but I would heartily recommend going big on one monitor instead of dinking around with multiple monitors.

[ViciousXUSMC]

I have both myself, both have there merits.

If its a game that does not support surround for sure the single large screen is better, same for movies and stuff.

If the game does support surround the 3 monitors is better, or if its a game that there is not enough frames per second for surround. I have 3x24" monitors though so they are still pretty large, if i had smaller monitors like 20" and under I do not think I would like it nearly as much.

[Gunja]

It wouldn't matter how big a single monitor is, it will still only be 16:9 or 16:10. I would see the same image on it as I would on a 17" monitor. There would be no real difference, only in the size, but the image would remain the same.

That's it really.

If you wont to see MORE, get 3
If you wont to see MAGNIFIED, get a big one.

[fatlazyhomer]

Depends on the game.

FPS and SIMs are way better in eyefinity.

RTS is better on a big screen.

Eyefinity has always been more about immersion for me, so any game that gives you a "personal" viewpoint is generally great.

[v3n]

depends on the games

triple is always better if the user can utilise the extra real estate

[Bluesilentpro]

With the right setup you can have the best of both worlds. And it will look awesome. :D

[StingingVelvet]

I moved my living room TV to my desk once because another thread mentioned it, it's a 42" 1080p television. Honestly the size was AWESOME, the huge screen that close really made me feel like I was inside the game. I hear this is what 3 monitors does as well, and perhaps better, but that large screen was really awesome on my desk.

That said I moved it back because it was too big for normal desktop operations. Way too big. It was probably a little too big for the games as well, just a tad.

I really think a 32" 1080p TV would be perfect for me and probably for you as well. Still huge, but not TOO big, and plenty immersive. It would be cheaper than three monitors, it would have a billion times less compatability problems with games and it would also require less GPU power which means higher settings and higher framerates.

I was debating Eyefinity but after my experiment I am leaning toward getting a 32" 1080p TV instead.

[fatlazyhomer]

I went from a 22" to a 28" 2 years ago. It blew my mind.

I felt that rush again coming to eyefinity. I've taken every chance to show it to my friends - especially the doubters, and they were all blown away by it.

Support for the technology appears to be growing and most of the AAA games are supported atm, so I'm pretty content with gaming options. Plus having 3 monitors for office work is fantastic, and it makes for a great excuse if you have to explain it to the Misses.

Unfortunately pictures and videos dont come close to doing it justice, and so few ppl have it so its hard to preview it. AMD should partner with B&M stores to set up eyefinity stations. That is if 58x0 cards can stay on the shelves long enough.

[iThinman]

I put off going THTG for a very long time because of the inherit limitations of such a solution, as attractive as it was. It was a very difficult decision.

I jumped in with both feet on EF and have not been disappointed. I understand and accept the early stages of the technology, because I understand that the solution is not only sound, but scalable, which is critical.

I have no problem limited my gaming, for the time, to 'things that run good', which has been an issue since I am running CF as well. But, the ends more than justify the means. I turned off my outside monitors today to run some quick tests in a few games, and that is when I really noticed the difference. I quickly gathered my numbers and switched back to 3*1, when normally, I probably would have gotten side tracked in the game and played for 20 minutes. :/

Also good to note is that I am very very glad that I spent the extra duckets for the Ergotech Triple stand. It is great to be able to pull it forward for racing and then push it back on the desk for work.

A few shots...



(no shifter attached...because...yeah, I can't shift and drive yet :p )



($35 costco desks are great for drilling holes in and not caring) :)



(hey, there's that damn shifter!) :)

[fatlazyhomer]

Nice setup. But damn, 300$ for a stand? Ive got one of my monitors half on my desk, half on an adjacent desk, using cardboard to make it all even. :lol:

[stangflyer]

I have a 3x1680x1050 eyefinity group Then a 1920x1200 24 inch on a wall mount hanging above left of the eyefinity monitors that I have a dvr hooked up to. I also have a 19 inch tv monitor on the right of the eyefinity group for a fourth extended monitor so I can have teamspeak up and so forth while playing in eyefinity. It is also hooked up to my second dvr. On the other side of my basement I have a 73 inch mits diamond tv that is hooked to my ps3 and dvr with my 7.2 surround setup. with my 5970 and the eyefinity I have not touched the ps3 for gaming since I got eyefinity running right. It is the best thing to happen to gaming since 3d accelerated graphics came along.

[Duke]

Haha ... Apparently stangflyer also has a key to Fort Knox hanging next to his 12th monitor ;) LOL

I'm currently facing a similar quandry as yourself but I think making my decision a little harder is the fact that a few years back I had a Triple Head 2 Go setup and it is a fantastic setup. Nothing really compares to surround gaming when it's working right. Back then however I had the TH2G Analog (only one available at the time) and it was limited to a resolution of 3840X1024 which I ran on 3 single 4:3 very fast 2ms 19" monitors. When TH2G worked, it worked great and there was no comparison, however, when it didn't, I was stuck gaming on a single 19" monitor :( Which I found unacceptable.
I decided to sell up and go back to a single larger screen, which I did and I've been gaming on a beautiful 30" LG W3000H @ wonderfully crisp 2560X1600 Resolution, with an old crappy 19" CRT beside me for other apps (Ventrilo, iSpeed etc ... ) I also purchased 2 X GTX280's to push the pixels around.

Since the release of the newest ATI parts and the promise of Eyefinity, I have been considering going back to surround gaming, which I really, really miss in iRacing and flight simming but I don't really want to give up this sweet ass monitor I'm using.

So I guess my choices are :

Sell the GTX280's and the 30" Monitor ... Purchase a 5870 and 3X24" Screens
Sell the 30" ... Keep SLI and pick up 3X24's and have another go round with the TH2G Digital
Sell the 30" ... Keep the 280's in SLI and wait for nVidia to release driver support for surround when they release the new cards & pick up 3X24" screens
Keep what I've got and be happy ... LOL ... doubt that'll happen :)

It's a dilemma for sure ... any opinions ? Any other ideas ?

[suiken_2mieu]

Until we know more about NVidia's solution it's hard to say what to do at this point, but personally, if i was in your situation I would do this:

"Sell the 30" ... Keep the 280's in SLI and wait for nVidia to release driver support for surround when they release the new cards & pick up 3X24" screens"

Cheaper IMO.

Though the best thing would be to buy 3 cheap monitors and keep your 30"
When I built my first TH Setup, I just bought 3 w1907's because You could find them all over craigslist and get people to sell them for for sup $100 prices.
I'd also say check CedarPC.com, I've gotten some good deals off of them. I bought 3 Dell S2309W's for $500 all together.

[Bluesilentpro]

I sold my 30" and wait for those 120Hz monitors. 3x24" in 3D is the way to go for me.

[Mach1.9pants]

I sold my 30" and wait for those 120Hz monitors. 3x24" in 3D is the way to go for me.

Me too, but as I already have 3x60Hz 24" I can't see myself getting them for a long time, especially as they will probably be almost all x1080 rather than x1200....

still I wonder if I can sneak them in without the wife noticing?