Best setup for three monitors?

C

circuit1

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Hey guys, I am looking to do a new build and need some advice on video cards.

I want to run three 27-28" monitors on this system, and I would like to be able to run each display independently for work plus I would like to run them together as one large screen for gaming. I have seen several videos of people playing Crysis, WOW, etc and the three screens looks cool.

My question is what would be the best setup for this? I had thought about 3 GTX 260's or 3 GTX 275's, but are three cards really necessary?

Would I be better off with just 2 cards like 2 GTX 285's?

Also, when it comes to memory should I go for a larger card, like the GTX 285 comes in a 1GB or 2GB card?

Thanks in advance and sorry for all the questions. I just know that you guys will set me straight.:)
 
The only way to use them as one big screen for gaming would be to get the Matrox TripleHead2Go Digital Edition.

2 285's should work out great.

Keep this in mind though, the maximum vertical resolution is only 1050px. Therefore to use the native resolution of your displays, you would need 3x 1680x1050 displays instead of 1920x1200 28"ers.

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/th2go/

Only 2x 1920x1200's are supported at once at their native resolution.
 
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rumors have it the new radeons (5000 series) can run 3 monitors at once, might wanna wait for it and see if it'll work or not.

else since the other monitor wont have hardware acceleration on it (most of the times it doesnt) just get a good card (eg gtx260 or 4890) and another cheaper card (4350 or 8400gt) and put your third monitor on that.

http://vr-zone.com/articles/-rumour-amd-dx11-cypress-is-radeon-hd-5870--hd-5850/7469.html?doc=7469

AMD has informed their partners that their upcoming DX11 Cypress cards will be known as Radeon HD 5800 series. Cypress XT is Radeon HD 5870 while Cypress PRO is Radeon HD 5850. The key features of these DX11 cards are :

• 1GB GDDR5 memory
• ATI Eyefinity technology with support for up to three displays
• ATI Stream technology,
• Designed for DirectCompute 5.0 and OpenCL
• Accelerated Video Transcoding (AVT)
• Compliant with DirectX® 11 and earlier revisions
• Supports OpenGL 3.1
• ATI CrossFireX™ multi-GPU support for highly scalable performance6
• ATI Avivo™ HD video and display technology
• Dynamic power management with ATI PowerPlay™ technology
• DL-DVI, DL-DVI, DisplayPort, HDMI
• PCI Express® 2.0 support

The launch will take place in September and retail availability in October, same time as Windows 7 launch. More details later.
Click to expand...
 
Running 3 monitors at once can already be done with cards like the 4850x2 and a few others. Workstation GPU's can do this easily.

The complicated bit was when he said he want's to game with all 3 at once as one big screen. That can only be achieved with the TripleHead2Go.
 
criccio said:
Running 3 monitors at once can already be done with cards like the 4850x2 and a few others. Workstation GPU's can do this easily.

The complicated bit was when he said he want's to game with all 3 at once as one big screen. That can only be achieved with the TripleHead2Go.
Click to expand...

not with xfire enabled. but the extended thing i dont know, maybe search if there is a software that will allow it to pan across, then maybe the video card will play all games at that resolution.
 
Great, so all I need is the TripleHead2Go and I will be able to play games,

Now which card(s) would you recommend. I was actually looking at the 2 GTX 285 2 GB cards or one GTX 295. Maybe two 4890's.

What would you guys recommend?

Thanks again for the help!!!
 
risqu3 said:
not with xfire enabled. but the extended thing i dont know, maybe search if there is a software that will allow it to pan across, then maybe the video card will play all games at that resolution.
Click to expand...

The TH2Go works fine with SLI...
 
circuit1 said:
Great, so all I need is the TripleHead2Go and I will be able to play games,

Now which card(s) would you recommend. I was actually looking at the 2 GTX 285 2 GB cards or one GTX 295. Maybe two 4890's.

What would you guys recommend?

Thanks again for the help!!!
Click to expand...

Do NOT buy a new VideoCard now...just wait a couple weeks until Sept 10th. AMD is announcing their ground breaking next generation product the 5800 series. For sure the 5870 single card will be the fastest card on the market at that time. Now how much faster than the current single king the GTX-285 nobody knows yet. Could just be 10% faster, 50% or 100%. But no matter what, the 5870 will be the single card king.

And even better are the rumors of its price possibly starting at $299 :eek: Two of those in Crossfire for around $600 total, will give you the baddest ass gaming rig in town.

And the other new rumor of the 5870 being able to run triple screens, but no official word if that is just for windows desktop, or actually for gaming too, which is what I am wishing for, so no need for the Matrox TH2G
 
I'm running a 4890 and a 4650 right now with 2 37" monitors and a 24" @ 1920x1200. Its rad. I heart it. A lot. :p
 
criccio said:
The TH2Go works fine with SLI...
Click to expand...

IIRC TH2GO was not fuctioning with CrossFire, or maybe was limited somehow....I cant seem to recall what exactly, but it was limited against Nvidia hardware...


Code: 
TripleHead2Go Digital Edition GPU model	Maximum resolutions Dual Modes	Triple Modes
 ATI Radeon HD 4870	3840x1200  (2x 1920x1200)	3840x1024  (3x 1280x1024)  5040x1050 (3x1680x1050)1,2
 ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2	3840x1200  (2x 1920x1200)	3840x1024  (3x 1280x1024)  4320x900 (3x1440x900)1,3
 ATI Radeon HD 4890	3840x1200  (2x 1920x1200)	3840x1024 (3x 1280x1024)  5040x1050 (3x1680x1050)1,2
 
Cool, thanks for the heads up and all the info. I wanted to start my build now but I think I will wait to see what ATI delivers. I guess it won't kill me to wait a few more weeks...or will it.:)
 
circuit1 said:
Cool, thanks for the heads up and all the info. I wanted to start my build now but I think I will wait to see what ATI delivers. I guess it won't kill me to wait a few more weeks...or will it.:)
Click to expand...

Good things come to those who wait :cool:

Wouldn't you feel like a douche to buy a GTX-285 now, and then next month the 5870 comes out for $299 almost same price as the 285, but blows it away for gaming. All rumors point to the 5870 being approx 50% + faster than a 4890 :D
 
tried it before and i think all monitors need to be same size...it never worked with my 15x24widex15 displays
 
I run triple w/ 3x4890's 2 to power the 30" and 1 to power the 2 x20's

so I can watch movies and game and have a web page open all @ the same time

I <3 it long time
 
Yea I was thinking about getting three of the new Hanns·G HH-281HPB 28" displays that just came into stock at NewEgg. There are no reviews on it yet, but I would think it is the same as the older model, just looks a little different.

The only thing that has me confused is that the old model weighs 24lbs and the new one only weighs 16lbs. Just wondering why the big difference? Could possibly be a misprint.
 
Get the new 5800 series next month. It supports triple display support :)
 
Schmiggy_JK23 said:
I can't wait for confirmation of this.

Would like to be able to add a third monitor and not need a second card.
Click to expand...

Yea I agree. Be getting 2 of these for xfire :)

It might also make me upgrade to a new monitor...hmmm time to move up from 1920X1200 maybe? 0_o
 
Zorachus said:
Do NOT buy a new VideoCard now...just wait a couple weeks until Sept 10th. AMD is announcing their ground breaking next generation product the 5800 series. For sure the 5870 single card will be the fastest card on the market at that time. Now how much faster than the current single king the GTX-285 nobody knows yet. Could just be 10% faster, 50% or 100%. But no matter what, the 5870 will be the single card king.

And even better are the rumors of its price possibly starting at $299 :eek: Two of those in Crossfire for around $600 total, will give you the baddest ass gaming rig in town.

And the other new rumor of the 5870 being able to run triple screens, but no official word if that is just for windows desktop, or actually for gaming too, which is what I am wishing for, so no need for the Matrox TH2G
Click to expand...

You sound like an ATI salesman :) haha
 
circuit1 said:
Hey guys, I am looking to do a new build and need some advice on video cards.

I want to run three 27-28" monitors on this system, and I would like to be able to run each display independently for work plus I would like to run them together as one large screen for gaming. I have seen several videos of people playing Crysis, WOW, etc and the three screens looks cool.

My question is what would be the best setup for this? I had thought about 3 GTX 260's or 3 GTX 275's, but are three cards really necessary?

Would I be better off with just 2 cards like 2 GTX 285's?

Also, when it comes to memory should I go for a larger card, like the GTX 285 comes in a 1GB or 2GB card?

Thanks in advance and sorry for all the questions. I just know that you guys will set me straight.:)
Click to expand...

The answer will be 2x 5870s. Because the 5870 now has NATIVE support for 3 monitors! Run em in crossfire for some sick performance.

http://www.pclaunches.com/graphic_cards/amd_directx11_graphics_cards_ati_radeon_hd_5870_hd_5850.php

&#8226;ATI Eyefinity technology with support for up to three displays
 
Tolyngee said:
http://www.kegetys.net/SoftTH/

Dunno how well it works, but it's been around for a while...

Hopefully the new cards can do this just in their own drivers...
Click to expand...

I have used that software before because i wanted to try gaming across 3 monitors without paying extra money ( borrowed my brother's 2 24inch monitors along with mine)

they have a list of games it works with, but basically if it's not directx 8 or 9 you can forget about it. (pretty sure wow is not directx)

also, it's definitly not just a "install and forget" thing. There is some setup that needs to be done with each invidual game you wanto play (edit some config files, move some dll's around...)

other than that, all i can say is that i wish counter strike developers limited your HUD to the center portion of the screen...
 
serpretetsky said:
I have used that software before because i wanted to try gaming across 3 monitors without paying extra money ( borrowed my brother's 2 24inch monitors along with mine)

they have a list of games it works with, but basically if it's not directx 8 or 9 you can forget about it. (pretty sure wow is not directx)

also, it's definitly not just a "install and forget" thing. There is some setup that needs to be done with each invidual game you wanto play (edit some config files, move some dll's around...)

other than that, all i can say is that i wish counter strike developers limited your HUD to the center portion of the screen...
Click to expand...

wow is dx9, but you can also allow it to run in OGL.
 
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