Eyefinity 2x 5970 Question

[Lune]

Hello everyone

I am about to order 3x Dell UltraSharp U2410 Monitors (Also where can I buy a stand I mean... to mount the 3 monitors on 1 so it looks pro.. also can you guys recommend some good wheel for Dirt 2 and also if Eyefinity doesn't cut performance by much, should I order 6 monitors)?

are those the best 24 inch monitors for Eyefinity? (I dont want 30 inch because that's way to big for me)

Also am I going to feel the performance hit with Eyefinity? and is Eyefinity worth it at all? I am really... open minded but still ;x

Here's a video of some BF2 Performance (All Max, the video was made with 850 / 1200 clocks tho) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M9NQ5l9Y8Q&fmt=22

Also.. Ive seen so many videos on youtube with a single 5870 getting very good performance.. so I guess I wont have any problems with 2x 5970 (Did they fix Crossfire X with Eyefinity already? That's what they say... I don't really believe it.. do you guys know anything about it? Thanks in advance.

as for the specs:

Core i7-975 Extreme Edition @ 4.5 (I usually go for 4.0 with way lower voltages)
GPU: 2x ATI 5970 @ 920 / 1225 Clocks (1187 Voltages and 40% fan speed - 60C Max while gaming)
MB: Asus P6T7 WS SuperComputer
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower 1200W
RAM: Corsair Dominator GT 6GB DDR3 2000Mhz CMG6GX3M3A2000C8 @ 2057 or smth - Overclocked
HDD: 2x Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS 2TB HDD (64MB Cache)
Soundcard: Xonar HDAV 7.

Addons: Zalman Fan Controller, 14x 120mm - 2000 RPM 90 CFM.
Thermalright IFX-14 CPU Cooler




Thanks in advance for whatever answer you have for me, really.

(And please don't tell 2x 5970 is an overkill kinda sick of it ;x).

 

[Finkus]

Two 5870's in Crossfire is the best Eyefinity performance you can get currently. Three or more GPU's is buggered.

 

[Lune]

Okey so.. what's with this stupid Eyefinity shit can't they just make it use 4 cards? I thought they already did but ... whatever anyway.. is it worth getting Eyefinity (with the Dell monitors) with 2x 5970? and no I am not gonna get 2x 5870 because I love my 5970's.

 

[vjcsmoke]

Okey so.. what's with this stupid Eyefinity shit can't they just make it use 4 cards? I thought they already did but ... whatever anyway.. is it worth getting Eyefinity (with the Dell monitors) with 2x 5970? and no I am not gonna get 2x 5870 because I love my 5970's.

If you already have the two 5970s just get the 3 monitors for Eyefinity. You'll have plenty of horsepower for your games, just be aware that current drivers don't fully take advantage of all that power. (It's annoying but maybe it will be fixed soon?).

3 monitors is great but 6 monitors looks crappy. It's because the middle bezel ruins your crosshair aim, ie completely obscures it. And bezel management doesn't make the problem go away either.

If you really want to go whole hog, you could get the Eyefinity 12 edition 5970 then go with a 3x3 display array. It's kind of nuts, but then you wouldn't have the middle bezel problem. But then again you'd have to buy NINE monitors. LOL. I'd say 3x1 is the best practical display config for Eyefinity right now.

 

[Lune]

Hey I might just do that =p the thing is I really dont want shitloads of monitors :< and about the monitors I picked, is it really worth it? (Gaming & Movies) wise? the whole IPS vs TN or whatever it is... what do I get from IPS and the whole dell u2410?

So do you guys think Eyefinity is worth it? do I really need to buy 2x 5870? and anything else I should know about eyefinity ;o? like what is the best thing about it and anything about performance hit

Thanks in advance to whoever helps me

 

[Lune]

anyone? anything? ;o

 

[harmattan]

I've had experience with both 5970+5870 and triple 5870 and testing on multiple games. I can confirm that anything over two GPUs is completely borked with Eyefinity. The behavior you will see is extremely low and stuttery FPS -- much worse than even a single GPU. Reports are nothing has changed on this in the most recent driver set, 10.4.

To answer your other question, yes Eyefinity is absolutely worth it an a major enhancement to the gaming experience. If your picking up new monitors, I'd highly recommend finding monitors with Displayport so you don't need to buy or deal with the expensive and glitchy active DP adapter.

 

[magoo]

You will be fine with your 5970s.
I currently use 5870 E6 models in Crossfire and the EyeFinity experience is awesome.

There are some minor annoyances.......
not all games do EF right out of the box, you have to tinker with them, but nearly every game works eventually.
Some games are just too GPU intensive.....like Metro 2033.....it just sucks in EF, doable, but the FPS is too erratic to be fun.
WSGF is the place to go if you want to chat with people who are really into EF.

Three Dell U2410s will work very well. They have native display port connectivity, so you'll be fine and can run two DVI and one DP.
You'll need to get a really long DP or DVI cable for the farthest out monitor from the computer...just a little practical advice. I order all my cables from Blue Jeans Cable...they will make custom lengths if you ask them.

As far as stands go, I have this one:http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=18338
If you use this coupon,http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=18653 you get 10% off. That's what sold me.

The stand is very sturdy and professionally done. It's simple to assemble and allows you to get back some desk space.
6 monitors would be impractical in my opinion.....the bezels are right in the center of the field of view and look like shit. I use landscape and find that to be the most do-able in most games I play.

 

[l88bastard]

Sell one of your 5970s and get this for your primary OS hard drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148349

or this one (I have this one)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233123


And here is the triple monitor mount that I use for my three U2410s

http://www.ergotechgroup.com/products/heavy-duty-17-30-36/triple-lcd-desk-stand-62/

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/Ergotech_Triple_Desk_Stand_-_Featured_Review

and here is what they look like on the stand

 

[Lune]

Thanks for all of your help guys

Also.. I am very curious about fps.. am I gonna be able to play every game with atleast 60 fps (with eyefinity 3 way) ?

 

[Lune]

is h50 or whatever name worth it until my custom water arrives? talking about i7 975 @ 4 ghz (or 4.5 whatever) its like 65 full load @ 4 ghz with prime95 (how much is h50 gonna drop it ? ;o)

 

[Finkus]

Thanks for all of your help guys

Also.. I am very curious about fps.. am I gonna be able to play every game with atleast 60 fps (with eyefinity 3 way) ?

You might have to drop your resolution a bit in recent games but that doesn't mean you lose the 3-screen setup.

My native resolution of 3x1080p panels is 5760x1080 (or 6040x1080 with bezel correction). I almost never run games at that resolution because I'm a 60fps whore and it drives me nuts to see things drop below that. I'm almost always gaming at 5040x900 and really really want ATI to get their act together and give us a 3x720p resolution for Eyefinity.

The perfect scenario for me would be 3x720p resolution, then I could whack on some AA and HBAO and still pull 60fps minimum in Bad Company 2. This is on my 5970, btw.

 

[vjcsmoke]

is h50 or whatever name worth it until my custom water arrives? talking about i7 975 @ 4 ghz (or 4.5 whatever) its like 65 full load @ 4 ghz with prime95 (how much is h50 gonna drop it ? ;o)

If you're getting 65c at 4ghz and full load, those are pretty good temps. Just wait until your watercooling parts arrive before you try pushing it to 4.5.

 

[shansoft]

I've had experience with both 5970+5870 and triple 5870 and testing on multiple games. I can confirm that anything over two GPUs is completely borked with Eyefinity. The behavior you will see is extremely low and stuttery FPS -- much worse than even a single GPU. Reports are nothing has changed on this in the most recent driver set, 10.4.

To answer your other question, yes Eyefinity is absolutely worth it an a major enhancement to the gaming experience. If your picking up new monitors, I'd highly recommend finding monitors with Displayport so you don't need to buy or deal with the expensive and glitchy active DP adapter.

maybe 5870+5970 isn't a good combo.

but from my testing of 5870 tri-fire, it scale extremely well even on eyefinity level..

 

[Finkus]

maybe 5870+5970 isn't a good combo.

but from my testing of 5870 tri-fire, it scale extremely well even on eyefinity level..

Seriously? You're the first source I've seen that suggests it works and if so then that's big news. I would have expected to see people shouting it from the rooftops with benchmarks and videos.

 

[shansoft]

Seriously? You're the first source I've seen that suggests it works and if so then that's big news. I would have expected to see people shouting it from the rooftops with benchmarks and videos.

I used 1 big monitor for trif, 2 card on cf.

relatively speaking should be the same, 2560 x 1600 should be quite close to eyefinity. in some part.

I got rid of my 5870s and 5970 before 10.4b came out. which might fix some issue with tri-fire on eyefinity, or not...

 

[Finkus]

I used 1 big monitor for trif, 2 card on cf.

relatively speaking should be the same, 2560 x 1600 should be quite close to eyefinity. in some part.

I got rid of my 5870s and 5970 before 10.4b came out. which might fix some issue with tri-fire on eyefinity, or not...

That explains it. Eyefinity isn't just 'big resolutions' it's technology that splits an image up and sends it to 3 different screens. As far as the game is concerned, it's just one big screen but the underlying technology works differently. 3 x GPU still doesn't work properly with Eyefinity.