Triple monitor question

[poee]

My roommate has had a pair of 22" 1680x1050 monitors for a few years and wants to get a third for Eyefinity or NV Surround (has not decided on a new GPU yet, and is waiting to see which one would be the best match for his config).

Thing is, better quality 1920x1080 monitors are cheaper right now. Should he grab a 1080p as his 'center' monitor? Or should he pay a bit more (or go refurbished) and get another 1680x1050 panel?

It isn't going to make much of a difference when using the panels to add real-estate for more open windows -- but he also wants the option to span full-screen games across all three, but that is the question: having a 16:9 in the center and two 16:10 panels on either side will distort the game, right? Or will it even span unless the panels are the same vertical resolution? Can a 1080p monitor be configured to display only 1050p (w/ letterbox?) in order to provide an identical match to the other two?

 

[Sieg]

Usually with eyefinity/surround. You would go for similar monitors and all must run at the same res to be able to combine the resolution. Yes, you can get your monitor to display different res but keep in mind that if you got two 22" and you're getting a 24" for middle is kinda annoying. I had a similar setup not too long ago, and it bugged the hell out of me so I grabbed the same size/res monitors.

 

[poee]

Thanks, Sieg! In this case, the 1080p monitors he's looking at are also 22" like his 1680x1050 panels. The issue is the difference in aspect ratio and how that will distort the whole thing. But if the 1080p monitor can be set up to run at 1920x1050 (with letterboxes to avoid distortion) then all three should work without distortion when spanning, or am I missing something?

Can either AMD or Nvidia GPUs set individual displays to a custom resolution (1920x1050) with one-to-one pixel scaling (letter/pillar boxes, no picture distortion)? Or, can games be played in windowed mode and stretched across the three screens as a single 5280x1050 "window"?

 

[Killahurtz]

here is a system I have like what you are asking except with a 24" 1080 in the middle, 22" (1050) x 24" (1080) x 22" (1050) Radeon 5870 CF with latest drivers.
Nvidia will not let you bezel correct this kind of config , AMD will if you have a new enough card , where as it may not be "ideal" it is certainly viable and it is gamed on regularly

 

[poee]

Sweet set-up!