Widescreen Gaming Forum

Posted: **09 Apr 2015, 06:45**

Hello WSGF

I posted my issues on Tom's Hardware but they're responses were rubbish (as in I didn't get any). I though it might be wiser of me to post on a specialized forum such as this.
Anyway here is my story, (it's quite a long post so please bear with me

):

I recently impulse brought the ergotech freestanding triple monitor stand off Massdrop.
I made this decision in under 3 hours by hooking up my brothers monitor with my existing 2 and I decided "screw it" I'll buy it. For productivity if nothing else.

I've decided I really enjoy the "surround setup" and wouldn't mind using it for gaming. The problem is, I'm such an enthusiast and I want 3 1440p monitors to occupy my desk (1080p surround seems too 2011... :p ). I also want 144hz though (Just on a single monitor for competitive games like CS GO ETC) 144hz @ 3x1440p is both impossible and pretty much unaffordable. 144hz on a single 1440p panel is much more likely though

So I though I would ask the wise members of the WSGF if there was a solution.

My current rig and monitor setup:
GTX 770 2gb (the bottleneck of my intended system)
5820k (stock speeds atm)
16gb DDR4
1000w PSU
I also have a 144hz Benq XL2420z flanked by two viewsonic buisness monitors with pretty bad colours.

(If possible) I think my best options may be:
A 3+1 Config with triple 1440p display and my 144hz above it
A 3x Config with a Benq Xl2420g flanked by 2 xl2420z's (although the G sync benq is very expensive to import where I live( New Zealand))
A 3x Config with the new Acer Predator 1440p IPS display flanked by 2 Asus PB278q's hopefully the colours would be similar and a slight difference wont matter too much as they will be peripheral vision monitors anyway

Unfortunately Nvidia surround only seems to support running all 3 monitors at the same resolution and speed (which makes sense) which means at the moment I'm running a 5760x1080 60 hz setup (or so I believe).
I've been told AMD's eyefinity has a bit more flexibility, featuring profiles which you can switch between. I"ve also heard this not to be a very good solution. How reliable is the software? My ideal scenario would be to have an acer predator gsync (or a freesync 144hz 1440p monitor such as the Benq XL2730z) flanked by two more 1440p displays, but are any of the setups I mentioned above possible? If such a profile mechanic exists, I could swap between a 7680x1440 60hz setup and a 2560x1440 @ 144hz + 2x1440p monitors depending on the game I want to play.

Please help me fulfill my triple 1440p dreams

Any help would be appreciated so much
Abstract

Posted: **09 Apr 2015, 11:15**

The GTX770 would indeed struggle to drive 3x 1440p @ 60hz displays.
To achieve 144hz on a 1440p display the display must be connected to the GPU via Display-Port, using a total of 12.74GB/s of the 17.28GB/s available bandwidth of a single DP1.2 cable, so to achieve 3x 1440p @ 144hz you would require a GPU with 3x DP1.2 outputs.
1440p @60hz is manageable over DualLink-DVI and HDMIv1.3+.

Personally I would likely opt for the 3rd option:-

A 3x Config with the new Acer Predator 1440p IPS display flanked by 2 Asus PB278q's hopefully the colours would be similar and a slight difference wont matter too much as they will be peripheral vision monitors anyway

As for Nvidia vs AMD configuration and profiles, it is true that AMD does have the ability to create a number of profiles in all sorts of configurations.
Something I have previously done is to replace a games desktop shortcut for that of a .bat batch file that when clicked would change the display configuration from 3 extended displays into 1 large display spanned across all 3 monitors, launch the game and play at 5760x1080 then when the game closes, it would then automaticly switch back to 3x extended displays, thus allowing me to only enable eyefinity in different configurations per game, as and when I launched a game.

First I use AMD CCC to create a bunch of profiles, some eyefinity with bezel correction, some eyefinity without bezel correction, some smaller dual monitor eyefinity configs and the standard extended display mode.
Then using the commands below it is easy to switch back and forth between various different configurations on a per game basis.

Example:-

Code: Select all

@ECHO OFF 
   ECHO Switching profiles and loading game, please wait . . . 
   "C:\Program Files (x86)\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\Core-Static\CLI.exe" Start Load profilename="span" 
   "C:\users\delphium\desktop\game.lnk"
   ECHO Restoring profiles, please wait . . . 
   "C:\Program Files (x86)\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\Core-Static\CLI.exe" Start Load profilename="extend" 
   ping 1.1.1.1 -n 1 -w 6000 > NULL 
   "C:\Program Files (x86)\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\Core-Static\CLI.exe" Start Load profilename="extend"
EXIT

This switches to a spanned configuration, loads the game, when the game closes, it continues to the next line and reset the profiles back to extended mode.
Previously when using the profiles, the profiles sometimes restored back to a non 100% correct position, running the profile again a 2nd time seemed to clear this up.

:welcome

Posted: **09 Apr 2015, 23:09**

hi and

i think i've read somewhere that it would be possible to run AMD Eyefinity in a 60/120/60hz setup, tough i have absolutly no idea how this would work out with FreeSync... the technology is to new for that.
btw, 144hz 1440p IPS? here https://twitter.com/AMDGaming/status/58 ... 18/photo/1 Asus MG279Q

But to power 7680x1440 pixel with 144 FPS you'd need at least 2 or 3 AMD R9-390X (The'yre rumored to be about same level as a Titan X, and a Titan X does not manage 60FPS in 4k on some games..... high settings

)

P.S Don't even think about using a 2Gb card for 7680x144 pixel in newer games. Maybe if you deactivate all Anti Aliasing and all settings on Low.... but your chances are small.

Posted: **10 Apr 2015, 00:39**

Haldi wrote: i think i've read somewhere that it would be possible to run AMD Eyefinity in a 60/120/60hz setup, tough i have absolutly no idea how this would work out with FreeSync... the technology is to new for that.
btw, 144hz 1440p IPS? here https://twitter.com/AMDGaming/status/58 ... 18/photo/1 Asus MG279Q

But to power 7680x1440 pixel with 144 FPS you'd need at least 2 or 3 AMD R9-390X (The'yre rumored to be about same level as a Titan X, and a Titan X does not manage 60FPS in 4k on some games..... high settings )

Rest assured that my current GPU setup is certainly temporary

But that 1440p 144hz ips monitor looks fantastic
*starts to sob uncontrollably with tears of joy*
I just can't wait until it becomes avaliable

If you remember where you read about running a 60, 120/144, 60 monitor setup all at once I would be very interested to read up about it.
And believe me when I say I don't intend to run all 3 1440p at 144hz (with current available graphics cards anyway). I just want my center monitor to have freesync/gsync compatibility to smooth tearing and 144hz for the couple of games that feature no optimization for surround whatsoever, or games where I prefer fps over immersion.
I'm likely to buy my center monitor and surround it with 2 60hz 1440p monitors if I can get my eyefinity profiles to work as intended

Thank you very much for your quick response

Posted: **10 Apr 2015, 00:52**

Delphium wrote:To achieve 144hz on a 1440p display the display must be connected to the GPU via Display-Port, using a total of 12.74GB/s of the 17.28GB/s available bandwidth of a single DP1.2 cable, so to achieve 3x 1440p @ 144hz you would require a GPU with 3x DP1.2 outputs.
1440p @60hz is manageable over DualLink-DVI and HDMIv1.3+.

TY for this, it's certainly important to work out whether your video card is compatible with your intended setup

Delphium wrote:As for Nvidia vs AMD configuration and profiles, it is true that AMD does have the ability to create a number of profiles in all sorts of configurations.
Something I have previously done is to replace a games desktop shortcut for that of a .bat batch file that when clicked would change the display configuration from 3 extended displays into 1 large display spanned across all 3 monitors, launch the game and play at 5760x1080 then when the game closes, it would then automaticly switch back to 3x extended displays, thus allowing me to only enable eyefinity in different configurations per game, as and when I launched a game.

First I use AMD CCC to create a bunch of profiles, some eyefinity with bezel correction, some eyefinity without bezel correction, some smaller dual monitor eyefinity configs and the standard extended display mode.
Then using the commands below it is easy to switch back and forth between various different configurations on a per game basis.

This switches to a spanned configuration, loads the game, when the game closes, it continues to the next line and reset the profiles back to extended mode.
Previously when using the profiles, the profiles sometimes restored back to a non 100% correct position, running the profile again a 2nd time seemed to clear this up.

I use steam for most of my games and like to keep my desktop nice and tidy (as well as my room(hence the monitor stand rather than the ridiculous clutter of 3 monitors)), I presume this switch of desktop profile is available by the use of keyboard shortcuts or something?
Thanks a whole lot, your info has certainly helped me make a decision, unfortunately the R9 390x doesnt look to be out for a couple of months, which is a shame since I certainly want to wait for it :think:

I'm thinking I'll get that Asus MG279q and depending on price and my situation at the time, I'll find two more of them or I'll get two PB278q's and make use of the eyefinity profile switches you mentioned.

Thankyou very much for your quickly (and very informative) response, and thanks to both of you for making me feel so welcome

If you have any other info you think might help my situation please feel free to burden me with knowledge

I can't wait to get my setup up and running, I"ll certainly be posting pictures when it is

Posted: **10 Apr 2015, 10:50**

Abstract wrote:I use steam for most of my games and like to keep my desktop nice and tidy (as well as my room(hence the monitor stand rather than the ridiculous clutter of 3 monitors)), I presume this switch of desktop profile is available by the use of keyboard shortcuts or something?

Likewise the vast majority of games I run are from steam, so I move the steam link to a folder and stick the bat file on the desktop, replace the bat file icon with that of the game, same title and the bat file points to the steam game link.
This way it looks just like the desktop did before with the icons looking good etc.

Incidentally profiles can be activated by hotkeys, so if you have a keyboard with macro keys you could set these up.
Of cause there is always windows-key+P which can quick switch between spanned and extended modes, this is what I tend to use most often, but for game specific configurations one would need to use the profiles and switch to them viaa CCC GUI, command line, or hotkeys.

Abstract wrote:Thankyou very much for your quickly (and very informative) response, and thanks to both of you for making me feel so welcome

You are most welcome, glad we could be of some help. :onethumb:

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