New to eyefinity, could use a few pointers

[rampantandroid]

Hi all,

I just nabbed a 5970 really cheap, and I'd love to go to Eyefinity now, as I currently have a Viewsonic VX2025WM monitor...now, I'd love to improve that some - for the longest time I was going to just nab a 24" 16:10 monitor - I'd been eyeing the LP2475. With Eyefinity, is it worth instead getting 3 cheaper monitors?

I found the NEC EA231WMi from this list that looked OK - but that's a 1080p monitor. So here are my main questions:

With Eyefinity, how is gaming on older games? Meaning, games that are one year or older - say, TF2, DOD:S, Deus Ex, Crysis, BF2142...SOASE...RE5...add other random good and old games here. How do those handle Eyefinity? Can I just elect to have those games only display on my center screen if they don't support displaying on ALL screens?

What about the FOV - can I edit that in most non-multiplayer games? And in multiplayer games, what do I do? Say, AA3 - they lock the FOV down.

What about 16:9 vs 16:10 in Eyefinity, and gaming in general?

What about cost - I'd like to stay below 900 USD...the cheaper, the better, without sacrificing too much quality (IE, no TN panels)

How does Eyefinity do perf wise? And is it really that much better than nabbing a decent 27" monitor or larger?

Thanks again. I saw the Eyefinity thread, but it's 15 pages, and that's about 10 pages too many to sift through....

 

[kllrnohj]

The ZR24w is supposed to be a good 24" 16:10 panel that is about $400, might want to consider it.

Eyefinity doesn't hurt performance in and of itself, its the massive resolutions that hurt. You have a 5970, so you're good on that front.

I play lots of older games on Eyefinity. Check out this list: http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/Essential_Games_List to see how they might work with Eyefinity. Some games have perfect Eyefinity support, HUD on the center monitor and everything (Dirt2, NFS:S, BFBC2). Many games have good support, in that the HUD will be in the corners but the FOV is correct (like TF2, L4D, basically any Source engine game). Really, if the game has proper widescreen support (Hor+), then it will work just fine with Eyefinity with the exception of misplaced HUD items or a harder to navigate menu.

As for 16:10 vs. 16:9, with Eyefinity I don't think it really matters much. With 16:9 you'll have a slightly wider view on the main monitor, that would be about it. If you don't mind the missing vertical pixels in non gaming usage, then the EA231WMI would work just fine for Eyefinity.

As for the comparison of Eyefinity vs. a larger monitor, realize that they aren't the same at all. A larger monitor simply makes everything bigger and will give you sharper details with higher resolutions. Eyefinity greatly expands your field of view and almost surrounds you in the game. You actually get peripheral vision with Eyefinity, which you can't with a larger monitor.

 

[rampantandroid]

As for the comparison of Eyefinity vs. a larger monitor, realize that they aren't the same at all. A larger monitor simply makes everything bigger and will give you sharper details with higher resolutions. Eyefinity greatly expands your field of view and almost surrounds you in the game. You actually get peripheral vision with Eyefinity, which you can't with a larger monitor.

But how does this work on games like BFBC2? It's a MP game, from Dice no less...they won't unlock the FOV for you, will they? I mean, is it just stretching the view? Or is your FOV actually approaching 180 degrees?

 

[dizolit]

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2025298

Snatch 3 of those up real quick, you won't regret it. e-IPS, 1080p, and they even have displayport inputs. Will also be WELL BELOW your $900 budget. Save up the rest and get a 5870 and tri-fire when you have enough so you can play all the newest games like BC2 with settings on high+AA in eyefinity.

 

[dizolit]

But how does this work on games like BFBC2? It's a MP game, from Dice no less...they won't unlock the FOV for you, will they? I mean, is it just stretching the view? Or is your FOV actually approaching 180 degrees?

BFBC2 has great eyefinity support. I don't know about what the actual horizontal FOV is but it scales perfectly in eyefinity. You can also change your vertical FOV in the BFBC2 settings file in your documents.

 

[rampantandroid]

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2025298

Snatch 3 of those up real quick, you won't regret it. e-IPS, 1080p, and they even have displayport inputs. Will also be WELL BELOW your $900 budget. Save up the rest and get a 5870 and tri-fire when you have enough so you can play all the newest games like BC2 with settings on high+AA in eyefinity.

Uhh, I'm not a small business, so aren't I lying? Sadly, my company's EPP deal doesn't make that monitor so cheap...but through EPP I can get the ST2410 for 260...huh.

 

[dizolit]

Uhh, I'm not a small business, so aren't I lying? Sadly, my company's EPP deal doesn't make that monitor so cheap...but through EPP I can get the ST2410 for 260...huh.

You don't actually have to be a small business to order from small business. Just put self or make something up for business name. When I ordered from small business over the phone I flat out said I was just ordering it for myself.

 

[rampantandroid]

You don't actually have to be a small business to order from small business. Just put self or make something up for business name. When I ordered from small business over the phone I flat out said I was just ordering it for myself.

Haha, OK. I might have to grab this...this or a 50" plasma...hmmm.

 

[kllrnohj]

But how does this work on games like BFBC2? It's a MP game, from Dice no less...they won't unlock the FOV for you, will they? I mean, is it just stretching the view? Or is your FOV actually approaching 180 degrees?

BFBC2 does adjust the FOV correctly, there isn't any stretching. The FOV is actually around 140-150. Same with other online games like CS:S.

Here, check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlRPfeDyFKU

There are tons of BFBC2 Eyefinity videos on YouTube.