Three display setup performance

[AirHog71]

Originally Posted by whatnot

What does that mean in practise?

How were those eyefinity setups done or does it emulate 'one big monitor' too like tripplehead2go?

Yes and no. Now I can only speak about ATI. I've never had an nVidia setup, not saying I wouldn't I've just always had ATI.

The software side is fairly straight forward. You first setup a display group extending the desktop space to all your screens. Then you setup an Eyefinity group where you set orientation. Then you can correct the bezel (I just leave it) and thats it.

The trickiest part for Eyefinity is the hardware side. Most of the current generation high end cards from both camps should be able to support 3 or more monitors on a single card.

I for example have got 2 Gigabyte 7970s in crossfire, but a single card has 4 display ports on the back: 1 x DVI, 2 x mini DVI and 1 x HDMI, it can have 4 screens attached.

This is what is needed to get it up and running.
http://youtu.be/O_dD4IjNGlA

The tricky part you will be faced with is sourcing the correct Display Port Adapter for your monitors. Almost all Eyefinity setups require an Active Display Port Adapter. I say almost because some brands of ATI cards don't.

Getting the correct adapter will depend on the brand of card you get and the type of monitors you have. If possible use the same make and model of monitor, it will save time.

Now there are varying types of adapters available:

Active and Passive
Digital and Analogue
Different adapters for different resolutions and refresh rates.

Do your research, fortunately ATI have a list of adapters that are certified for all cards, if go with that and you should be right.

http://support.amd.com/us/eyefinity/...y-dongles.aspx

As for the cost, well it all depends on how resourceful you are. For me, I don't buy 2nd hand. So I spent $900 on the 3 monitors, a card will set you back $500 to $700 depending on what you choose, and the adapters can be $60 - $120 depending on what you need.

If I was to build an Eyefinity setup now, and could only afford one card, I would buy this one:

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=21626

6GB of vram ensures you've got plenty for a triple screen setup for years to come.

Good luck.

[whatnot]

Originally Posted by AirHog71

Yes and no. Now I can only speak about ATI. I've never had an nVidia setup, not saying I wouldn't I've just always had ATI.

Do you have graphics glitches with ATI these days running Clod? I've seen reports of dashed lines in the horizon etc but I'm not sure if they've got it fixed with the new engine.

I've always been in the nVidia camp but don't mind changing if ATI can offer a better overall solution.

Originally Posted by AirHog71

If I was to build an Eyefinity setup now, and could only afford one card, I would buy this one:

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=21626

6GB of vram ensures you've got plenty for a triple screen setup for years to come.

One card for the whole lot does sound quite tempting as it would cut down the costs and simplify things quite a bit. And it supports four screens it seems. I wonder if it's possible to set up three as one and then have one 'control screen' for navigating windows and clod menus and then just render the game on the grouped three screens?

Thanks a lot for your insight on this issue!