budget Eyefinity setup?

I

indokyne

2[H]4U
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Jun 21, 2006
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What would I need and how much would it cost for an "entry-level" 3-screen Eyefinity setup?

Current specs:
AMD Phenom II X2 550
Gigabyte AM3 board
ATi4870 <-- to be replaced w/ 5xxx card
Hanns-G 28" monitor <-- looking to replace that if need be...
Seasonic 750W PSU

Looking for a (3x) 1920x1200 setup
Don't necessarily have a budget but looking to get into an Eyefinity setup for as cheap as possible.

I play MW2, some Crysis, Need for Speed games, etc.

*sidenote: I'd love to run a Portrait - Landscape - Portrait (PLP) setup but I understand that Eyefinity doesn't support that. What other solutions are there for a stable PLP setup?

I would lean towards stability so if it means doing an Eyefinity LLL setup w/ identical monitors as opposed to another 3rd party solution for PLP, then I'd rather go for the presumably more stable Eyefinity LLL setup.
 
Some things to consider.

- 1920 x 1200 monitors are not cheap. Might want to consider a 1080p monitor as those are more affordable
- TN panels don't have that great of a viewing angle...and that might be a problem depending on the angle of your side monitors. Not sure about this.
- There are no PLP solutions yet.
 
If you're hell bent on 1920x1200 then you'll be looking at about $200 per display on sale (I have seen 180 but that was the rock bottom)... if you will settle for 1080p res, you might save some more cashola... I have seen some killer deals on 24" to 22" 1080p lcds.. the eMachines/staples one for 99 bux (OoS now though). You can also save some money getting a passive DP to VGA adapter and going all VGA on the display connections. Yeah, no good PLP solutions now.. except for maybe softTH.. I thought I saw some people getting that working with softTH.. you can check WSGF's SoftTH section for more into on that..
 
I have 3 of the cheapo acer 22" I picked up at various times. Last one was purchased for 99 on black friday at Fry's. I bought the DP to VGA adapter, and I've been running cheapo eyefinity since thanksgiving. It's amazing. 24's would be overkill for me, the 3 22's barely fit on my desk as it is. I also picked up my 5850 for msrp at release, so in total you can do it relatively cheaply if you want to sacrifice. Otherwise, buy the dell native DP monitors and a 5870 and do it the right way.
 
thx for the input. I see what you guys are talking about regarding difference is 1080 and 1200 pricing.

How bout the CARD??

What card can I 'get by' with to run a 3 monitor system at let's say 5760x1080 resolution?
 
[L]imey;1035177343 said:
I have 3 of the cheapo acer 22" I picked up at various times. Last one was purchased for 99 on black friday at Fry's. I bought the DP to VGA adapter, and I've been running cheapo eyefinity since thanksgiving. It's amazing. 24's would be overkill for me, the 3 22's barely fit on my desk as it is. I also picked up my 5850 for msrp at release, so in total you can do it relatively cheaply if you want to sacrifice. Otherwise, buy the dell native DP monitors and a 5870 and do it the right way.
Click to expand...
Screen-ego is a little affected going from a 28-inch but three 22's doesn't sound bad at all.
You're saying to go w/ a 5870 and do it the right way... would you say the 5850 doesn't deliver?
 
yeah, 5850 min... also I went from a 37 to 3x 24s and am totally used to it now.. took a few days and some time to get the color / brightness / contrast all dialed in on the new panels but I am quite smitten with the new setup. :)
 
new question -

Would a 5850 be adequate for 3x (1680x1050) monitors?
Is there a "lower" card that could handle that?

I'm thinking for budget, cutting down from 1920x1200 to 1680x1050 would still allow me to play on 22" monitors but not be as taxing on the video card...
 
indokyne said:
new question -

Would a 5850 be adequate for 3x (1680x1050) monitors?
Is there a "lower" card that could handle that?

I'm thinking for budget, cutting down from 1920x1200 to 1680x1050 would still allow me to play on 22" monitors but not be as taxing on the video card...
Click to expand...
This is a good question. I'm also trying to get started on an eyefinity setup and of course am on a budget. I thought about this option myself but I'd really like to go 1080p myself.
 
erf said:
This is a good question. I'm also trying to get started on an eyefinity setup and of course am on a budget. I thought about this option myself but I'd really like to go 1080p myself.
Click to expand...

hmm...just looked at a coupla prices on the 'egg...

the cheapest 1680x1050 monitor is a 19" at $140...
the cheapest 1920x1080 monitor is a 21.5" at $140...

i guess it'd be kinda dumb to go w/ 1050 when you get more pixels, screen real estate and theoretically wider view (right?) on a 1080 at the same price...
 
indokyne said:
hmm...just looked at a coupla prices on the 'egg...

the cheapest 1680x1050 monitor is a 19" at $140...
the cheapest 1920x1080 monitor is a 21.5" at $140...

i guess it'd be kinda dumb to go w/ 1050 when you get more pixels, screen real estate and theoretically wider view (right?) on a 1080 at the same price...
Click to expand...
ha...i did the same thing right after I posted and saw the price differences. 1080p it will be for me.
 
Well you see the problem just do your research. I have 3 1920x1200 displays but 24" screens at that rez went away quick. I would just buy the card, and save up. Then do your thing when you can find 3 monitors that are similar enough(timings, rez, physical dimensions of screen). Your also probably going to want a color calibration device even if you do manage to get 3 identical screens. I recommend Pantone Eye One Display 2. Good Luck
 
inglewood78 said:
Some things to consider.

- 1920 x 1200 monitors are not cheap. Might want to consider a 1080p monitor as those are more affordable
- TN panels don't have that great of a viewing angle...and that might be a problem depending on the angle of your side monitors. Not sure about this.
- There are no PLP solutions yet.
Click to expand...

He could get the Dell 2209WA or the NEC MultiSync EA231WMi
 
Too bad you didn't think of this back by Black Friday. I got this pretty decent 1920x1080 23" Acer Monitor for only $140 off of Newegg when they had the Black Friday sale. But yeah, I kind of wanted a 1920x1200 monitor, but there just a lot more. I personally don't think their worth the price difference for only 120 more pixels. But yeah, get three 1080p monitors, way cheaper. You'll probably want to get the same one so the bezels match. Also, get a 5850. The 5870 is a lot more, but you will see better performance with it over the 5850.
 
Another option is look into refurbished monitors. I know dell has a link on their web page for dell outlet which is refurbished. I haven't looked at any other manufacturer's web pages for links but you could always look or google it.
 
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