Eyefinity Configuration Suggestions

What screens are the best to use for a 5x1 landscape setup? I'm thinking of having ultra widescreen for some MMOs I play so I can fit all windows in etc. I might upgrade to 3x3 in the future.

Which screens have the smallest bezels? I don't care too much about the price but obviously don't want to go wasting cash unnecessarily.
 
Zxcs said:
What screens are the best to use for a 5x1 landscape setup? I'm thinking of having ultra widescreen for some MMOs I play so I can fit all windows in etc. I might upgrade to 3x3 in the future.

Which screens have the smallest bezels? I don't care too much about the price but obviously don't want to go wasting cash unnecessarily.
Click to expand...

Well if price is not an issue, there are always the md230 displays. they come in SKU's of 1 3 and 6.
 
suiken_2mieu said:
Well if price is not an issue, there are always the md230 displays. they come in SKU's of 1 3 and 6.
Click to expand...

They do have small bezels but they don't seem to come in a 5x1 configuration. The 1920x1080 is also slightly saddening.
 
Zxcs said:
They do have small bezels but they don't seem to come in a 5x1 configuration. The 1920x1080 is also slightly saddening.
Click to expand...
Doesn't mean you cant do it.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll377_3c-3k&feature=view_all&list=PLB068074802700CAC&index=10"]‪FSX on 5 monitors in Eyefinity Portrait 5x1‬‏ - YouTube[/ame]
 
New Eyefinity user and trying to figure out how you guys are calibrating your displays? Got 3 Dell 24"s and they all seem to be slightly different in color. Do you deal with it since its not too noticeable, do you manually adjust it through the on screen display, or use a third party screen calibration program?
 
Considering an Eyefinity or Nvidia surround setup. Am leaning towards Nvidia because nvidia also supports 3d much more than ATI cards do. (I know there's a way to do 3d with the iZ3d drivers but with Nvidia you get two ways of doing 3d, not just one, and 3d is very very finicky and game dependent)

Anyways, as I understand it, the high end way to do this is to have a Dell 30" as the middle screen (because HP's 30" doesn't have proper color calibration and games don't support color profiles) and a 20" 1600x1200 display on each side (Dell has made the 2007FP for years and years)? I mean, this isn't the only way, but it's by far the best in most situations, right?

I specifically mean pairing this display : with 2 of these : , one on each side. I understand it's a near ideal compromise between bezel widths (since the huge 30" display is the main one, most of the image is not cut by a bezel), vertical and horizontal resolutions (you don't want too much in either direction..human field of view is more wide than it is tall but not so wide that you can see two 27" widescreen displays sitting next to each other, for example), and the color fidelity should be the best you can buy without spending money like water.

Opinions?

Edit : Dell has about a frame of input lag, while the HP one has garish color because it's a billion color display with no calibration. I guess neither is really 'perfect' despite costing as much money as 3-8 slightly lesser quality gaming monitors. Since I would also be doing a large amount of real office style work on my setup, the input lag is a smaller issue that the poor color of the HP. (I know that you can calibrate the HP in software, but that most programs except for photoshop ignore the calibration settings)


Possible problems : color uniformity. While all three panels would be IPS, and the older 2007FPs have a restricted color space, and I would normally run the center display in sRGB mode, I suspect that there would still be mismatches. Especially if I had a pair of used displays from ebay. Dell wants $400 apiece for new ones, and that just doesn't sound like a good value, however, for buying a 20" display.

Other problems would be that Dell apparently didn't make every 2007FP as an S-IPS. I wonder what panel the new ones they want $400 for use..
 
Last edited:
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Habeed said:
Anyways, as I understand it, the high end way to do this is to have a Dell 30" as the middle screen (because HP's 30" doesn't have proper color calibration and games don't support color profiles) and a 20" 1600x1200 display on each side (Dell has made the 2007FP for years and years)? I mean, this isn't the only way, but it's by far the best in most situations, right?
Click to expand...

The 20P-30L-20P config is a great setup, but isn't supported by either nvidia surround or eyefinity for full screen gaming. Eyefinity needs screens of the same resolution (or running at the same res at least), nvidia surround is even more fussy and usually demands all the displays are the exact same model.

You can get some games running in maximized windowed mode across all three screens, but it's not ideal.

Also this setup wouldn't do 3D at all... unless you were going down the anaglyph (blue/red glasses) route..?
 
Zxcs said:
What screens are the best to use for a 5x1 landscape setup? I'm thinking of having ultra widescreen for some MMOs I play so I can fit all windows in etc. I might upgrade to 3x3 in the future.

Which screens have the smallest bezels? I don't care too much about the price but obviously don't want to go wasting cash unnecessarily.
Click to expand...

3x1 30" Should do you better if you want superwide. The bezel issue is even worse on 5x1. Check out the vids on youtube. The middle screen just looks too narrow for me on 5x1. 3x1 is the ideal imo.

DA II 5x1

Dirt 3 5x1
 
What do you guys suggest for a cheap ass 3x1 portrait setup being driven by a 6950? The monitors will be on an IKEA jerker desk. Right now, I am looking at the Asus VE247H.
 
tikicult said:
What do you guys suggest for a cheap ass 3x1 portrait setup being driven by a 6950? The monitors will be on an IKEA jerker desk. Right now, I am looking at the Asus VE247H.
Click to expand...

Don't get TN screens for portrait, it'll look like distilled AIDS due to each eye seeing a different contrast level.
 
DoubleTap said:
Can anyone take some basic measurements of their tri setup?

Since the monitors are angled in a little, I am curious as to how much space each setup is taking in terms of both overall width and when people don't use a single stand, how much space is required just to hold all 3 monitor stands?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

my desk is 30x60 and the screens overhangs by about 5 inches on each side. if i ever rebuild my desk its gonna be 40x80 because id rather have too much space than too little, but my desk as it stands now gives me ample room for everything that i need.
 
Will ATI or Nvidia work with three low resolution displays ? Each display would have a resolution of 848*480 ?
 
THOMO said:
^^ most definately :)
Click to expand...

That " ^^most definately" was most definately in response to my question right ? ^^ is pointing at me right.

I really like the way "most definately" sounds, I just don't hear that much...LOL...but thats my problem for a different thread.
 
THOMO said:
^^ most definately :)
Click to expand...

That " ^^most definately" was most definately in response to my question right ? ^^ is pointing at me right :).

I really like the way "most definately" sounds, I just don't hear that much...LOL...but thats my problem for a different thread.
 
water1 said:
That " ^^most definately" was most definately in response to my question right ? ^^ is pointing at me right :).

I really like the way "most definately" sounds, I just don't hear that much...LOL...but thats my problem for a different thread.
Click to expand...

It most certainly was buddy :)

If you wanna run three displays from a single card you'd need to make sure it has atleast three monitor outputs (obvious I know but thought I'd mention it). If you use two seperate cards then virtually any graphics card combination will sort you out.

Best of luck :D
 
All three displays are VGA.
Will it be OK to use an active display port adapter that go's from DP to VGA as long as it's an active adapter ? With the other two displays using DVI to VGA adapters. Can that setup work ?
 
Should be fine. DP->VGA adapters are often cheaper. I'm curious what screens you're using? 848x480 is almost phone resolution these days..
 
just got a new apartment and wanna set up a triple widescreen monitor set up. Need suggestions on which monitor to choose, and also what ATI card to pick up. Currently using a GTX 460 and I plan to sell it. I'll mostly be coding and playing some WoW on it, plan to play guild wars 2 when it comes out. Budget is around $600
 
syn3rgyz said:
just got a new apartment and wanna set up a triple widescreen monitor set up. Need suggestions on which monitor to choose, and also what ATI card to pick up. Currently using a GTX 460 and I plan to sell it. I'll mostly be coding and playing some WoW on it, plan to play guild wars 2 when it comes out. Budget is around $600
Click to expand...

Your budget isn't big enough. Get a nice card and a good 24" monitor. You need more than 600$ to get a video card and 3 monitors. Sure you could get a 150$ card that would struggle to run 3 monitors and then get 3 really crappy 150$ monitors but it would not be very good. TN panels are bad for Eyefinity because of their poor viewing angle.
 
Yeah, $600 isn't even good enough for the displays alone unless you're re-using your existing one imo, or you're going with pretty cheap TNs. I wouldn't do less than two 6950s ($450-ish) unless you're using displays that run under 1920x1080.
 
sorry forgot to mention the $600 dollar budget is just for the three screens excluding the video card
 
Something I don't understand, why would you put the monitors side by side to double a single monitor bezel? I am not running eyefinity yet but I would think that you would tuck the outside monitors behind the center to reduce the bezel. Is there an issue with hiding a monitor behind another. I figure with bezel correction you could make it work.

I ask as I am getting ready to jump to the eyefinity world and hiding the monitor to only have the bezel width on the center was my plan. Is there an issue?
 
Thanks for the reply. I'm cool with that. Just wondering as I see the MD230X3 that in portrait has like 9.7 mm of bezel on each monitor. That would be about 19 mm total bezel between monitors. I have found monitors that supposedly have 15 mm bezels. If I tuck one behind the other I have 15 mm bezels and the MD230X3 has 19+ mm bezels for $1900. Just wondering if I am missing something as I would hate to buy the monitors, expect to tuck them and find out there is an issue of some kind.
 
There's no issues with that AFAIK, certain wall mounts could make it harder to do, but that's about it.
 
Cool. I appreciate the info. I am looking to get into eyefinity but have little to spend. I am going to buy two 24" monitors for the office to see how they are in eyefinity.

http://www.ecost.bz/p/Acer-Monitors/product~dpno~8865019~pdp.gijbfii

For a video card, I found a site that looked interesting. After weeks of searching eyefinity topics, I found a site that leases video cards. They have top of the line cards that they offer 12 month leases. For example, a 6970 that runs about $359 can be leased for $36 a month for 12 months. At the end of the 12 months you can send it back and end the lease, start another lease with a new card or pay one more month ($36) and own it. Obviously you would pay more in 12 months than just buying it outright. But the cool thing I see is UNLIMITED upgrades. So if you lease one now and let's say in February the 7000 series comes out you can upgrade to the new card and start the 12 month lease over. Anyway, if anyone is interested here's the site. I am strongly considering since I don't have the immediate dough for the card.

http://www.cuttingedgegamer.com/GraphicsCards/index.html
 
dogdos said:
Something I don't understand, why would you put the monitors side by side to double a single monitor bezel? I am not running eyefinity yet but I would think that you would tuck the outside monitors behind the center to reduce the bezel. Is there an issue with hiding a monitor behind another. I figure with bezel correction you could make it work.

I ask as I am getting ready to jump to the eyefinity world and hiding the monitor to only have the bezel width on the center was my plan. Is there an issue?
Click to expand...

that is what I do...except the center monitor is behind
 
For $600, I would look at the 23-24" ASUS screens. I got the 25" screens and while I am questioning my decision to go with NV Surround, the ASUS screens are great.

I made the decision about a year ago to "migrate" to 3 screens and this is what it cost me:

$185 - 1000W Silverstone PS (had a 750W)
$290 - second GTX480
$790 - 3 monitors
$240 - Monitor Stand (I do not consider this to be optional)

$1500 for what I would consider to be an upper mid tier setup.

Not counting the "optional" expenses:

$180 to put Arctic coolers on the 480s
$20 for a long DVI cable

Was it worth it?

At this point, I am not convinced that it was. I don't hate it and it was an eye opening experience and once I get an idea in my head to do something, I won't stop until I get it done so it was inevitable.

However, even with dual 480s (overclocked to 830), the performance in BC2 is just on the edge of acceptable and where with a single screen, I always had max fps, max detail with no compromise, the 3 screens mean FPS is very dynamic so I am always fussing with details to see if I can find a better balance between IQ and performance - then I usually just get frustrated and set everything to Low so I can get my FPS back up.

It's like going from a modern performance car where all you do is change the oil to an old classic sports car where you have to check your carbs and spark plug gaps and whatnot.

I am not complaining, but I miss the days (about 3-4 months) when my dual 480s would chew through everything while half asleep.
 
Have to agree with the above post - after trying 3x24's, I ended up going to a 20-30-20 setup with the 30 being used solely when gaming and the 20s for secondary display. While 1600p still is more taxing than a single 1080 screen, its at least doable with xfire/sli, whereas eyefinity res's really push the envelope. Additionally, some games play well with eyefiniy, some don't, and some apps just make the bezel management a real pain and very noticeable.
 
DoubleTap said:
For $600, I would look at the 23-24" ASUS screens. I got the 25" screens and while I am questioning my decision to go with NV Surround, the ASUS screens are great.

I made the decision about a year ago to "migrate" to 3 screens and this is what it cost me:

$185 - 1000W Silverstone PS (had a 750W)
$290 - second GTX480
$790 - 3 monitors
$240 - Monitor Stand (I do not consider this to be optional)

$1500 for what I would consider to be an upper mid tier setup.

Not counting the "optional" expenses:

$180 to put Arctic coolers on the 480s
$20 for a long DVI cable

Was it worth it?

At this point, I am not convinced that it was. I don't hate it and it was an eye opening experience and once I get an idea in my head to do something, I won't stop until I get it done so it was inevitable.

However, even with dual 480s (overclocked to 830), the performance in BC2 is just on the edge of acceptable and where with a single screen, I always had max fps, max detail with no compromise, the 3 screens mean FPS is very dynamic so I am always fussing with details to see if I can find a better balance between IQ and performance - then I usually just get frustrated and set everything to Low so I can get my FPS back up.

It's like going from a modern performance car where all you do is change the oil to an old classic sports car where you have to check your carbs and spark plug gaps and whatnot.

I am not complaining, but I miss the days (about 3-4 months) when my dual 480s would chew through everything while half asleep.
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, how wide is your eyefinity setup? I was looking at the triple Asus 25" monitors as well, but it seems like it would be insanely wide.

Thanks in advance for your reply.
 
zlrichardson said:
Just out of curiosity, how wide is your eyefinity setup? I was looking at the triple Asus 25" monitors as well, but it seems like it would be insanely wide.

Thanks in advance for your reply.
Click to expand...

I think it is about 66 inches.

I have a 48" wide bi-level adjustable desk and my main concern was getting it to fit on my desk. For those that have a desk about this size, getting the Chief stand pretty much solves the problem of finding a surface to hold the screens.

One thing I found when I first set it up was that there was not enough "curve" in the mounting bar to make the side screens comfortable to use. I solved this by using the plastic tube "spacers" or shims that came with the stand - they are designed for screens where the VESA mount is recessed and the mount plat can't fit into the recessed area - you use a longer bolt set and the spacers. I would not recommend using this on a heavy (CCFL) LCD, but my screens are very light.

The spacers make the screens stick out maybe 3/4ths of an inch from the mounting plate and this allows the screens to angle in much more and get them much closer to perpendicular to your eyes when you turn your head.

Also, as far as desks go, while the screens and stand fit just fine, I bought a pair of IKEA Expedit 2x2 "cube" shaped shelves and put them on either side of my desk (sort of like bookends). This was a pretty affordable way to make my desk wider and keep people (kids) from trying to get in the space next to the desk where the monitors over hang.

I should post a pic, but I am not up on the latest pic hosts...
 
DoubleTap said:
I should post a pic, but I am not up on the latest pic hosts...
Click to expand...

Sign up for a free Google account and post to your online photo section of your account. Just make sure the album is marked as public and then post the link.

I really want to see what this bad boy looks like as I just ordered the Chief stand today! :)
 
DoubleTap said:
I think it is about 66 inches.
Click to expand...

What is the width of the monitor bezels on the sides of each monitor. I cannot seem to find this information anywhere online. Just wondering if these are good monitors to go with, or if there may be smaller bezel monitors elsewhere.

Thoughts?
 
zlrichardson said:
What is the width of the monitor bezels on the sides of each monitor. I cannot seem to find this information anywhere online. Just wondering if these are good monitors to go with, or if there may be smaller bezel monitors elsewhere.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I just measured the ASUS VE258Q and the side bezels are .75 inches wide.

I have the side monitors slightly behind the center screen - it's hard to measure because when you look at it, it's a different angle than you might measure, but I would guess it works out to maybe 1.2" visually.

Of all the issues - both good and bad, the bezel has never been a factor for me. I think you can find thinner bezels, but you might end up with panels that are less game worthy (like the Samsung VA screens).

Everyone says it and I have found it to be true - you don't see the bezels after a very short while.
 
DoubleTap said:
I just measured the ASUS VE258Q and the side bezels are .75 inches wide.

I have the side monitors slightly behind the center screen - it's hard to measure because when you look at it, it's a different angle than you might measure, but I would guess it works out to maybe 1.2" visually.

Of all the issues - both good and bad, the bezel has never been a factor for me. I think you can find thinner bezels, but you might end up with panels that are less game worthy (like the Samsung VA screens).

Everyone says it and I have found it to be true - you don't see the bezels after a very short while.
Click to expand...

So how did you get your side monitors to sit behind your center monitor on the Chief KTP325B stand? Does it just naturally sit that way because of the washer mod you did to get your side monitors at a greater angle?

Thanks for your replies! :)
 
zlrichardson said:
So how did you get your side monitors to sit behind your center monitor on the Chief KTP325B stand? Does it just naturally sit that way because of the washer mod you did to get your side monitors at a greater angle?

Thanks for your replies! :)
Click to expand...

Yes, using the spacers and then rotating the screens for maximum angle makes it pretty easy / natural for the edges to go behind the center screen. I would need less angle if I wanted them edge to edge.

Actually, I just realized that I would be able to fit the ASUS 27" screens if I did this. Too bad - that is what I really wanted when I ordered, but edge to edge, they won't fit.
 
Hello all
I currently running 2x6850 1gb in CF and I'm thinking about doing 3x1 eyefinity at 5760x1080. Do I need more vram or I'm okay for now since I'm waiting for 7xxx series cards?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top