Triple Screen Set-up

emoore1223

Hi I currently only have a pitiful 17" monitor for my desktop pc. I pay a lot of sim racing games, mainly rfactor 2, and iRacing but I am thinking of upgrading to a triple screen set-up .

I have a number of questions....
1: Will my GPU be able to handle it? I have a MSI Radeon HD 6870 @ 2gb.
2: Can I use 3 tv screens or does it have to be monitors?
3: Any good deals on the stuff I'll need??
4: Any tips or advice for me??

System Specs
CPU: AMD FX6300 Black Edition 6 Core
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 Motherboard
GPU: MSI Radeon HD 6870
Ram: Corsair Vengeance 8GB


Any help/advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks

ED E

You want three identical monitors, bezels on TVs will ruin it. You also need a REALLY beefy PC to run it. You're talking 2x High end GPUs in SLI/CF. And the PSU and mobo to support em (seems your mobo does).

Really, do you have a few grand to sink into this? If not forget it.

EoinHef

As ED E said its an awful lot of money for that kind of setup and it has its issues from talking to people who run it.

An alternative could be a 21:9 aspect ratio monitor ,can be got with a resolution of 2560 x 1080p. Seems there good for racing games as well,with the wider screen and increased resolution. It wouldnt need a super high end gpu either so would be a much more affordable option.

Something like this:
www.hardwareversand.de/en/63+cm+%2825%29/143491/LG+25UM65-P.article

emoore1223

Thanks for the replies. I wanted the triple screen to add to the immersion of the racing games and to give a sense of speed in the peripheral.

EoinHef I never thought of a 21:9 aspect ratio monitor, I'll have a look into them, could be a more cost effective solution.

Also just as abit more info I have a Corsair Builder Series CXM 600W Modular 80 PLUS Bronze Certified PSU. Would that be able to handle it??

I built this system myself around 8 months ago. I haven't really stayed upto date with upgrades since as the pc does everything I need really well. What upgrades would I have to look at to upgrade to triple display?

Thanks

deceit

I think you would be wanting a 280x minimum for decent settings on 3 1080p screens.
Nvidia cards struggle a bit on eyefinity/surround modes with the limited bandwidth on them so usually its better to go with amd most of them time for 3 screen support (Even though gtx 980/970 are much better performers than 290 series).
Its one reason I haven't replaced my 290x with a gtx 980 is that bandwidth issue will make it run slower , I will get a 970 for my small rig though.
It generally is pretty expensive to keep games running at max settings fluidly. In my opinion its worth it, especially when you can wrap the screens around you rather than having them in a near straight line.
I run 3 28" 1200p monitors which when I sit in front of them I cant see anything out of my peripheries which really immerses you in the game.

Paulw

I have a three monitor setup, but most games I can't get to run in surround. They run on one monitor and just blank out the other two.

Am I missing something?

deceit

Paulw wrote: »

I have a three monitor setup, but most games I can't get to run in surround. They run on one monitor and just blank out the other two.

Am I missing something?

There are alot of games not natively supported. If they are not supported you can use flawless widescreen or widescreen fixer to get the games running perfect.
Are you using amd/nvidia?
Have you set them up as one monitor? I would expect it to be stretch across as three if the monitors where configured correctly.

Paulw

I've an nVidia GTX680 running the monitors.

They are setup as 3 separate monitors, with extended desktop.

Maybe I just need to do some research on flawless widescreen or widescreen fixer.

Thanks.

deceit

Paulw wrote: »

I've an nVidia GTX680 running the monitors.

They are setup as 3 separate monitors, with extended desktop.

Maybe I just need to do some research on flawless widescreen or widescreen fixer.

Thanks.

Does it act as 3 separate screens or one screen large screen.
Flawless widescreen is down as the moment because of a vulnerability in drupal web server but will be back up soon. If you need this I can send it to you.
This is widescreen fixers links https://www.widescreenfixer.org/

Wossack

get one of these silly fellas

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-Electronics-34UC97-S-AEU-34UC97-Curved/dp/B00N943AGK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415721454&sr=8-1&keywords=34uc97

deceit

21 by 9 resolutions have more trouble than eyefinity displays and are not supported even as much as eyefinity in games.
I was going to get the non curved version of that but I would lose a lot of screen real estate which was the deal breaker for me. If could add two smaller monitors onto the side of that perfectly it would be the ideal option for me

emoore1223

Wow this seem like an even more complicated subject than I ever imagined... I dont suppose someone has some cost effective alternative??

Also just a quick edit I have a Msi Amd Hd7850 Oc 2GB GPU not a MSI Radeon HD 6870 as I previously stated. I got mixed up with my mates system that I built for him a few months back.

deceit

emoore1223 wrote: »

Wow this seem like an even more complicated subject than I ever imagined... I dont suppose someone has some cost effective alternative??

Also just a quick edit I have a Msi Amd Hd7850 Oc 2GB GPU not a MSI Radeon HD 6870 as I previously stated. I got mixed up with my mates system that I built for him a few months back.

A 7850 would make it alot easier to run games on mid settings across the 3 screens as its a much more powerful card. Some car games you could max with it.

emoore1223

deceit wrote: »

A 7850 would make it alot easier to run games on mid settings across the 3 screens as its a much more powerful card. Some car games you could max with it.

Brilliant a straight answer haha. Do you have a triple monitor setup yourself? what size monitors should I be looking at?? thanks

deceit

emoore1223 wrote: »

Brilliant a straight answer haha. Do you have a triple monitor setup yourself? what size monitors should I be looking at?? thanks

I have 3 28" 1200p monitors. For the best experience in gaming I would choose 26" plus screens as you can wrap them around you but from building eyefinity set ups for friends/family over the last two years I find 24" setups are fine also but better straight across.

emoore1223

deceit wrote: »

I have 3 28" 1200p monitors. For the best experience in gaming I would choose 26" plus screens as you can wrap them around you but from building eyefinity set ups for friends/family over the last two years I find 24" setups are fine also but better straight across.

Thanks for the reply. Just wondering in your opinion, would you go for 28 inch or 26 inch with thinner bezels?

I'm on a budget and will have to save for quite a while to afford it but I'm sure it'll be worth it

deceit

emoore1223 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. Just wondering in your opinion, would you go for 28 inch or 26 inch with thinner bezels?

I'm on a budget and will have to save for quite a while to afford it but I'm sure it'll be worth it

A lot of people get annoyed by large bezels so I would say the 26" with thinner bezels. The bezels on mine are very large but don't bother me at all (Guess I'm just luck that way though)