What do I need for 3 monitors on a GTX 670?

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RooK

[H]ard|Gawd
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Can someone with experience link me to a cable that won't break the bank? Preferably monoprice?

As I understand it, i'll need a display port, and then use the two DVI's but i'm a little lost there... The instruction manuals from MSI are useless and don't even cover 3d surround, so I fall to you, fellow [H]'ers! Show me the way!
 
Probably just a DisplayPort -> DVI adapter or HDMI -> DVI adapter.
 
any recommendations from monoprice.com ?

currently i'm using both DVI connectors.
 
You don't need to use the DisplayPort, you can just use the HDMI port, i.e. get a HDMI to DVI cable.

A single GTX 670 won't get close to running 3D surround anyway (assuming you meant 3D surround not 2D surround).
 
slh28 said:
You don't need to use the DisplayPort, you can just use the HDMI port, i.e. get a HDMI to DVI cable.

A single GTX 670 won't get close to running 3D surround anyway (assuming you meant 3D surround not 2D surround).
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Well, it is a supported feature. Will it need be run at lower resolutions? Maybe. Will it need settings turned way down? Probably.

Am I ok with that? Most definitely.
 
JL6speed said:
Do the GTX 6XX need Active cables like AMD 6XXX+?
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All cards on the market need active adapters to go from DP to DVI.


RooK said:
Well, it is a supported feature. Will it need be run at lower resolutions? Maybe. Will it need settings turned way down? Probably.

Am I ok with that? Most definitely.
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3D surround at low settings won't be a great experience. Plus you'd get nauseous after a few mins...
 
RooK said:
Do you know if I can use the HDMI port?
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Yeah, I answered it in the previous post. The 670 can run both DVIs and the HDMI at the same time, unlike the Radeon 6xxx series.


RooK said:
Ok, well you just mail me money, and i'll get a second card to SLI with.
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My point is you're better off playing at higher settings in 2D Surround or on a single monitor in 3D.
 
slh28 said:
Yeah, I answered it in the previous post. The 670 can run both DVIs and the HDMI at the same time, unlike the Radeon 6xxx series.



My point is you're better off playing at higher settings in 2D Surround or on a single monitor in 3D.
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How do you play with 2D surround? I don't see the option anywhere in the nvidia control panel (latest drivers) to enable that... The "Configure Surround, PhysX" > Surround configuration box is grey'ed out...

Both monitors support 1920x1080, although they are different models from different makers (dell and asus.)

Any way I can force this? 2d surround, if I could only be able to see the left side of my peripheral vision would be better than only seeing straightfoward...
 
oh geez... I don't want 3d surround... I don't want 3d at all...

I just wanted 3 monitors for FPS. Ok, well... my previous question still stands - can I use two monitors instead of 3, and only have 1 for peripheral vision on one side of a FPS?
 
RooK said:
oh geez... I don't want 3d surround... I don't want 3d at all...

I just wanted 3 monitors for FPS. Ok, well... my previous question still stands - can I use two monitors instead of 3, and only have 1 for peripheral vision on one side of a FPS?
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You will not see the Surround option in the nvidia control panel until you have all three monitors connected. Once you have done this you will be able to configure Surround.

One card Surround could be done....dvi+dvi+DP native or HDMI native. If you use an adapter to go from the DP or the HDMI I "think" if your third monitor is 1080p or 1200p you can use a passive adapter, but I'd probably recommend an active adapter to be safe.
If your third monitor is DP native, all you need is a DP>DP cable (10 to 12 bucks anywhere)

You can run two monitors, but not in Surround. You simply select extended desktop or span. Unfortunately, the monitor bezel will be smack dab in the exact middle of the rendered scene, and a pretty dismal experience.:D

The brand of monitors doesn't matter as long as they support similar resolutions. I happen to use three Dell 2410s. I use SLi so my hook-up is different. Go to G_Force.com and look around, one card Surround is there somewhere.

Here's the scoop directly from nvidia for using one card.....it won't link correctly......but, go to Ge****Force.com , in search box put "one card surround" and you'll get the real deal.....:)

As I read it, if you only use 2D Surround, you can use a passive DP>DVI adapter. Still, you best bet in 2D is to use the native GPU connectors, 2 DVI and either HDMI or DP if your monitors support such connections.
 
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I know with the GTX 2xx, 4xx, and 5xx cards, in order to have 2D Surround, you needed monitors with the same resolution and sync polarity. Usually meaning you had to get the exact same models to ensure compatibility. I'm not sure if this changed with the 6xx series. AMD is a lot more forgiving for eyefinity. It only requires that the vertical resolution is the same. Horizontal need not be the same.
 
RooK said:
oh geez... I don't want 3d surround... I don't want 3d at all...

I just wanted 3 monitors for FPS. Ok, well... my previous question still stands - can I use two monitors instead of 3, and only have 1 for peripheral vision on one side of a FPS?
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Hehe that's what I thought... 2D surround means gaming on three normal 60Hz monitors. 3D surround means gaming on three 3D 120Hz monitors. Your single GTX 670 should run ok at high settings on BF3 2D surround.

To answer your second question, no you can't have one main screen and only one side screen for peripheral vision. You can probably set up a 2x1 monitor array but your crosshair would be slap bang in the middle of the 2 screens between those bezels as mentioned above.

So in summary get that HDMI to DVI cable.
 
slh28 said:
Hehe that's what I thought... 2D surround means gaming on three normal 60Hz monitors. 3D surround means gaming on three 3D 120Hz monitors. Your single GTX 670 should run ok at high settings on BF3 2D surround.

To answer your second question, no you can't have one main screen and only one side screen for peripheral vision. You can probably set up a 2x1 monitor array but your crosshair would be slap bang in the middle of the 2 screens between those bezels as mentioned above.

So in summary get that HDMI to DVI cable.
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arg! I don't have a third monitor! Shooooooot...

There really should be a way to trick it into thinking its connected to a third, and render the frames if needed. *sigh*... I don't have enough money.
 
Why are you even asking if you don't have 3 monitors?

Just enjoy the game at max settings on a single screen. Personally I don't find 3 screens in BF3 that great or that much of an advantage anyway, the field of view on the side screens is quite narrow and there's a lot of fisheyeing. 3 screens on racing games like Dirt 3 is amazing however.
 
I was planning on buying a third. However since I'd have mixed monitors, i'm not sure if that is going to screw me. And, it would be nice to just have a left peripheral vision option.

I have a very large periphery and might benefit a little more than the average person.
 
For 2D surround, you need three monitors with the same resolution, refresh rate and sync polarity. In theory, you should be able to alter sync polarity for a monitor with a custom resolution in the Nvidia Control Panel, but there seem to be complaints that this won't necessarily work, particularly with some Acer monitors:

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=220116

but someone seems to have figured out a not very friendly way to fix it themselves:

http://www.wsgf.org/forum/14976/working-sync-polarity-fix-acer-p223w-screens

As you can see, it's best to avoid all that trouble by just having 3 identical monitors.
 
Although having 3 screens may not benefit you much in terms of FPS gaming performance, it still looks pretty damn cool. And that's the entire reason to max out AA, quality, etc. Otherwise, you would be turning down quality to get the best framerates possible so that you can stay ahead of everyone.
 
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