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Triple Monitor Gaming

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Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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September 13, 2014 10:04:35 PM

Hi everyone,

I've decided to make to the jump into triple monitor gaming. I wanted some advice on what parts of hardware I should upgrade, as well as what I would need. I am willing to upgrade most if not all my hardware. For reference, I want to be able to play upcoming games on the highest settings. Here is my current rig;

Radeon HD 7950 3G
4 X 4GB RAM
i7-2700K Sandy Bridge 3.5GHz
TX850M 850 W Power Supply
Gigabyte GA Z68XP-UD3 LGA 1155 Z68 MB
Samsung 128G SSD for my OS
Seagate Barracuda 1.0 TB HD for junk
I have 2 23" 1080p Acer Monitors, different models, which I realize I will probably ended getting 3 new ones for this.


If possible, could I just upgrade my monitors/video card(s) and be happy with the result?

Thanks!

More about : triple monitor gaming

a c 683 4 Gaming
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September 13, 2014 10:30:24 PM

I agree, monitors, GPU(s) the rest is plenty for high end gaming, you've got 16GB of DRAM the 2700K is a good OCer, mobo will do SLI or XFire, might wait and look at the new nVidia series or the the 780s are already dropping, the Asus 780 is down to $420 after a $20 rebate card at the Egg, a couple months ago they were running $520
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a b 4 Gaming
a b Î Nvidia
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a b C Monitor
September 13, 2014 10:43:08 PM

xGhost559x said:
Hi everyone,

I've decided to make to the jump into triple monitor gaming. I wanted some advice on what parts of hardware I should upgrade, as well as what I would need. I am willing to upgrade most if not all my hardware. For reference, I want to be able to play upcoming games on the highest settings. Here is my current rig;

Radeon HD 7950 3G
4 X 4GB RAM
i7-2700K Sandy Bridge 3.5GHz
TX850M 850 W Power Supply
Gigabyte GA Z68XP-UD3 LGA 1155 Z68 MB
Samsung 128G SSD for my OS
Seagate Barracuda 1.0 TB HD for junk
I have 2 23" 1080p Acer Monitors, different models, which I realize I will probably ended getting 3 new ones for this.


If possible, could I just upgrade my monitors/video card(s) and be happy with the result?

Thanks!


I think you would be better off with just one 27" 1440p monitor.
This is a lower total resolution that the three 1080p monitors but is more in your field of view than the side 1080p monitors.
If happy with 60 Hz, I would recommend the Dell U2713HM. Other options are the Asus PB278Q or BenQ BL2710PT.
If you are after 120Hz, I would recommend the Asus ROG PG278Q.

A single GTX 780 or R9 290 would be a starting point for high detail at this resolution, giving you close to 60 FPS.
If looking at the 120 Hz option, then GTX 780 cards in SLI (this is a gsync monitor and AMD doesn't support this).
Alternatively, wait a month and look at the GTX 970 as a replacement for the GTX 780 but with more video memory and lower power.
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September 13, 2014 11:40:35 PM

VincentP said:
xGhost559x said:
Hi everyone,

I've decided to make to the jump into triple monitor gaming. I wanted some advice on what parts of hardware I should upgrade, as well as what I would need. I am willing to upgrade most if not all my hardware. For reference, I want to be able to play upcoming games on the highest settings. Here is my current rig;

Radeon HD 7950 3G
4 X 4GB RAM
i7-2700K Sandy Bridge 3.5GHz
TX850M 850 W Power Supply
Gigabyte GA Z68XP-UD3 LGA 1155 Z68 MB
Samsung 128G SSD for my OS
Seagate Barracuda 1.0 TB HD for junk
I have 2 23" 1080p Acer Monitors, different models, which I realize I will probably ended getting 3 new ones for this.


If possible, could I just upgrade my monitors/video card(s) and be happy with the result?

Thanks!


I think you would be better off with just one 27" 1440p monitor.
This is a lower total resolution that the three 1080p monitors but is more in your field of view than the side 1080p monitors.
If happy with 60 Hz, I would recommend the Dell U2713HM. Other options are the Asus PB278Q or BenQ BL2710PT.
If you are after 120Hz, I would recommend the Asus ROG PG278Q.

A single GTX 780 or R9 290 would be a starting point for high detail at this resolution, giving you close to 60 FPS.
If looking at the 120 Hz option, then GTX 780 cards in SLI (this is a gsync monitor and AMD doesn't support this).
Alternatively, wait a month and look at the GTX 970 as a replacement for the GTX 780 but with more video memory and lower power.


I am getting into triple monitors for the expanded field of view that you mentioned. My main concern is that I actually play a lot of RTS (mainly SC2), and how the 27" would effect my play. That was why, with 3 monitors, I can at least leave a the RTS in a single screen setup, while going to the 3 monitors for everything else, where available.

I've even seen people running a triple 27" monitor rig, isn't that too big for a person sitting at a desk to even naturally see?

As far as 60 v 120 Hz I have been hesitant because I don't play many competitive FPS's on PC, where I've heard that makes the biggest difference. But it will come down to a decision after I decide what card or cards I will be buying, so I'm not sure yet. One of my Acer monitors is LCD, and the other is LED. I actually prefer the LCD, but I don't know what the popular opinion is on this.

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a b 4 Gaming
a b Î Nvidia
a c 158 U Graphics card
a b C Monitor
September 14, 2014 12:01:17 AM

xGhost559x said:
VincentP said:
xGhost559x said:
Hi everyone,

I've decided to make to the jump into triple monitor gaming. I wanted some advice on what parts of hardware I should upgrade, as well as what I would need. I am willing to upgrade most if not all my hardware. For reference, I want to be able to play upcoming games on the highest settings. Here is my current rig;

Radeon HD 7950 3G
4 X 4GB RAM
i7-2700K Sandy Bridge 3.5GHz
TX850M 850 W Power Supply
Gigabyte GA Z68XP-UD3 LGA 1155 Z68 MB
Samsung 128G SSD for my OS
Seagate Barracuda 1.0 TB HD for junk
I have 2 23" 1080p Acer Monitors, different models, which I realize I will probably ended getting 3 new ones for this.


If possible, could I just upgrade my monitors/video card(s) and be happy with the result?

Thanks!


I think you would be better off with just one 27" 1440p monitor.
This is a lower total resolution that the three 1080p monitors but is more in your field of view than the side 1080p monitors.
If happy with 60 Hz, I would recommend the Dell U2713HM. Other options are the Asus PB278Q or BenQ BL2710PT.
If you are after 120Hz, I would recommend the Asus ROG PG278Q.

A single GTX 780 or R9 290 would be a starting point for high detail at this resolution, giving you close to 60 FPS.
If looking at the 120 Hz option, then GTX 780 cards in SLI (this is a gsync monitor and AMD doesn't support this).
Alternatively, wait a month and look at the GTX 970 as a replacement for the GTX 780 but with more video memory and lower power.


I am getting into triple monitors for the expanded field of view that you mentioned. My main concern is that I actually play a lot of RTS (mainly SC2), and how the 27" would effect my play. That was why, with 3 monitors, I can at least leave a the RTS in a single screen setup, while going to the 3 monitors for everything else, where available.

I've even seen people running a triple 27" monitor rig, isn't that too big for a person sitting at a desk to even naturally see?

As far as 60 v 120 Hz I have been hesitant because I don't play many competitive FPS's on PC, where I've heard that makes the biggest difference. But it will come down to a decision after I decide what card or cards I will be buying, so I'm not sure yet. One of my Acer monitors is LCD, and the other is LED. I actually prefer the LCD, but I don't know what the popular opinion is on this.



LCD or LED won't make a big difference. LED uses less power and produces less heat.
If going down the triple monitor path, going above 60 FPS requires very high end hardware.
To give some perspective on the resolution your are rendering:
1920 x 1080 = 2MP
2560 x 1440 = 3.7MP
3 x 1920 x 1080 = 6MP
3840 x 2160 (4K) = 8MP

SLI scaling gives you about 60 to 70% performance improvement over a single card.
This means that GTX 780 cards in 2-way SLI on 3 x 1920 x 1080 will maybe give you the same performance as a single GTX 780 on 2560 x 1440.
Other things to consider:
Not all games support SLI or Crossfire
Not all games support Eyefinity ot Nvidia surround
Where they do, some are poorly optimised.

It isn't that you can't do this, but it won't always go smoothly and it is a lot of money for a mixed experience.

In my opinion, and this is by no means everyone's opinion, a 27" monitor is the perfect size for gaming. At one stage I had a 40" television as a monitor and aside from grainyness and image blur, it was irritating in strategy games and even FPS games to some extent because you really had to turn your head to look at the map key or HUD or anything else in the corners of the screen.
30" might be OK, but I haven't tried it. 2560x1440 on a 27" monitor has better pixel density than 1920x1080 on a 24" monitor. For 30" you have to start considering 4K and you can see above how hard that is for the PC to render.
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September 14, 2014 12:10:52 AM

"LCD or LED won't make a big difference. LED uses less power and produces less heat.
If going down the triple monitor path, going above 60 FPS requires very high end hardware.
To give some perspective on the resolution your are rendering:
1920 x 1080 = 2MP
2560 x 1440 = 3.7MP
3 x 1920 x 1080 = 6MP
3840 x 2160 (4K) = 8MP

SLI scaling gives you about 60 to 70% performance improvement over a single card.
This means that GTX 780 cards in 2-way SLI on 3 x 1920 x 1080 will maybe give you the same performance as a single GTX 780 on 2560 x 1440.
Other things to consider:
Not all games support SLI or Crossfire
Not all games support Eyefinity ot Nvidia surround
Where they do, some are poorly optimised.

It isn't that you can't do this, but it won't always go smoothly and it is a lot of money for a mixed experience.

In my opinion, and this is by no means everyone's opinion, a 27" monitor is the perfect size for gaming. At one stage I had a 40" television as a monitor and aside from grainyness and image blur, it was irritating in strategy games and even FPS games to some extent because you really had to turn your head to look at the map key or HUD or anything else in the corners of the screen.
30" might be OK, but I haven't tried it. 2560x1440 on a 27" monitor has better pixel density than 1920x1080 on a 24" monitor. For 30" you have to start considering 4K and you can see above how hard that is for the PC to render."



Hmm. I see your point. I was looking at Flawless Widescreen. Maybe I shouldn't drop the money for 3x screens on games I have already finished. There are a lot worth mentioning though.

Do you feel that the 27" gives you immersion comparable to the 3x screens? Do you have a noticeably wider FOV and Immersion when compared to a single 23"?
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Best solution

a b 4 Gaming
a b Î Nvidia
a c 158 U Graphics card
a b C Monitor
September 14, 2014 12:15:37 AM

xGhost559x said:
"LCD or LED won't make a big difference. LED uses less power and produces less heat.
If going down the triple monitor path, going above 60 FPS requires very high end hardware.
To give some perspective on the resolution your are rendering:
1920 x 1080 = 2MP
2560 x 1440 = 3.7MP
3 x 1920 x 1080 = 6MP
3840 x 2160 (4K) = 8MP

SLI scaling gives you about 60 to 70% performance improvement over a single card.
This means that GTX 780 cards in 2-way SLI on 3 x 1920 x 1080 will maybe give you the same performance as a single GTX 780 on 2560 x 1440.
Other things to consider:
Not all games support SLI or Crossfire
Not all games support Eyefinity ot Nvidia surround
Where they do, some are poorly optimised.

It isn't that you can't do this, but it won't always go smoothly and it is a lot of money for a mixed experience.

In my opinion, and this is by no means everyone's opinion, a 27" monitor is the perfect size for gaming. At one stage I had a 40" television as a monitor and aside from grainyness and image blur, it was irritating in strategy games and even FPS games to some extent because you really had to turn your head to look at the map key or HUD or anything else in the corners of the screen.
30" might be OK, but I haven't tried it. 2560x1440 on a 27" monitor has better pixel density than 1920x1080 on a 24" monitor. For 30" you have to start considering 4K and you can see above how hard that is for the PC to render."



Hmm. I see your point. I was looking at Flawless Widescreen. Maybe I shouldn't drop the money for 3x screens on games I have already finished. There are a lot worth mentioning though.

Do you feel that the 27" gives you immersion comparable to the 3x screens? Do you have a noticeably wider FOV and Immersion when compared to a single 23"?

The 27" is noticeably better than a 23" for immersion and image quality with 27" at 2560x1440 compared to 23" at 1920x1080.
It exhibits none of the problems with the 40", which was simply too big.
I have never used a triple monitor setup to compare, but it seems like you would only be able to use it in limited situations where the 27" would benefit you in all situations over the 23". I find it is even a pretty good replacement for two 23" screens in desktop applications, although there is no reason you couldn't keep one of your 23" screens as a second screen for this.
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September 14, 2014 12:23:48 AM

Okay, well according to Gigabye your mobo certainly supports multi-display: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=...

Your graphics card should be fine as long as you get another one in a Crossfire configuration, which I'd def recommend if you're daisy-chaining three monitors together. If you are willing to upgrade, the R9 290 offers great performance and value for crossfiring. It wouldn't hurt to overclock your CPU if you have a good cooler and you feel comfortable with it.

Basically yes, just upgrading your cards and buying another Acer monitor you'd likely be happy and save yourself the money of buying three brand-new monitors. If you are dedicating to buying three new monitors, let us know and we can provide some good feedback for you. Unless you are a hard-core FPS gamer I'd recommend an excellent IPS monitor such as the Dell U2414H. It's 24", but there are larger or smaller monitors out there depending on your preference.

J
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September 14, 2014 12:39:40 AM

VincentP said:
xGhost559x said:
"LCD or LED won't make a big difference. LED uses less power and produces less heat.
If going down the triple monitor path, going above 60 FPS requires very high end hardware.
To give some perspective on the resolution your are rendering:
1920 x 1080 = 2MP
2560 x 1440 = 3.7MP
3 x 1920 x 1080 = 6MP
3840 x 2160 (4K) = 8MP

SLI scaling gives you about 60 to 70% performance improvement over a single card.
This means that GTX 780 cards in 2-way SLI on 3 x 1920 x 1080 will maybe give you the same performance as a single GTX 780 on 2560 x 1440.
Other things to consider:
Not all games support SLI or Crossfire
Not all games support Eyefinity ot Nvidia surround
Where they do, some are poorly optimised.

It isn't that you can't do this, but it won't always go smoothly and it is a lot of money for a mixed experience.

In my opinion, and this is by no means everyone's opinion, a 27" monitor is the perfect size for gaming. At one stage I had a 40" television as a monitor and aside from grainyness and image blur, it was irritating in strategy games and even FPS games to some extent because you really had to turn your head to look at the map key or HUD or anything else in the corners of the screen.
30" might be OK, but I haven't tried it. 2560x1440 on a 27" monitor has better pixel density than 1920x1080 on a 24" monitor. For 30" you have to start considering 4K and you can see above how hard that is for the PC to render."



Hmm. I see your point. I was looking at Flawless Widescreen. Maybe I shouldn't drop the money for 3x screens on games I have already finished. There are a lot worth mentioning though.

Do you feel that the 27" gives you immersion comparable to the 3x screens? Do you have a noticeably wider FOV and Immersion when compared to a single 23"?

The 27" is noticeably better than a 23" for immersion and image quality with 27" at 2560x1440 compared to 23" at 1920x1080.
It exhibits none of the problems with the 40", which was simply too big.
I have never used a triple monitor setup to compare, but it seems like you would only be able to use it in limited situations where the 27" would benefit you in all situations over the 23". I find it is even a pretty good replacement for two 23" screens in desktop applications, although there is no reason you couldn't keep one of your 23" screens as a second screen for this.


Thanks!
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September 14, 2014 12:43:48 AM

jasonite said:
Okay, well according to Gigabye your mobo certainly supports multi-display: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=...

Your graphics card should be fine as long as you get another one in a Crossfire configuration, which I'd def recommend if you're daisy-chaining three monitors together. If you are willing to upgrade, the R9 290 offers great performance and value for crossfiring. It wouldn't hurt to overclock your CPU if you have a good cooler and you feel comfortable with it.

Basically yes, just upgrading your cards and buying another Acer monitor you'd likely be happy and save yourself the money of buying three brand-new monitors. If you are dedicating to buying three new monitors, let us know and we can provide some good feedback for you. Unless you are a hard-core FPS gamer I'd recommend an excellent IPS monitor such as the Dell U2414H. It's 24", but there are larger or smaller monitors out there depending on your preference.

J


I am not a hardcore FPS gamer on pc, but okay, let's say I was commited to 2 monitors. Could you give me recommendations on 3new 23 or 24" or 27" monitors? Thanks
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September 14, 2014 12:44:01 AM

I mean 3 monitors
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a b C Monitor
September 14, 2014 12:48:03 AM

The Dell U2414H mentioned above is a very nice 24" monitor. IPS panel, 1920x1080 resolution.
The Dell U2713HM is a 27" version running 2560x1440 resolution. Alternatives are the BenQ BL2710PT and Asus PB278Q.
I wouldn't buy a 27" 1920x1080 monitor myself.
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a b U Graphics card
September 14, 2014 1:40:23 AM

xGhost559x said:
jasonite said:
Okay, well according to Gigabye your mobo certainly supports multi-display: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=...

Your graphics card should be fine as long as you get another one in a Crossfire configuration, which I'd def recommend if you're daisy-chaining three monitors together. If you are willing to upgrade, the R9 290 offers great performance and value for crossfiring. It wouldn't hurt to overclock your CPU if you have a good cooler and you feel comfortable with it.

Basically yes, just upgrading your cards and buying another Acer monitor you'd likely be happy and save yourself the money of buying three brand-new monitors. If you are dedicating to buying three new monitors, let us know and we can provide some good feedback for you. Unless you are a hard-core FPS gamer I'd recommend an excellent IPS monitor such as the Dell U2414H. It's 24", but there are larger or smaller monitors out there depending on your preference.

J


I am not a hardcore FPS gamer on pc, but okay, let's say I was commited to 2 monitors. Could you give me recommendations on 3new 23 or 24" or 27" monitors? Thanks


A lot of that answer depends on your budget. To my mind one of the greatest 27" monitors ever made is the Asus ROG SWIFT PG278Q, but those are north of $800 each. A more affordable option is the Dell P2714H. Two of the better 23" models are the Asus PA238Q and the Dell S2340L. Hope that helps. :) 

J
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a b Î Nvidia
a c 158 U Graphics card
a b C Monitor
September 15, 2014 4:32:54 AM

I've started looking into another alternative to multi-monitor setups recently after seeing an article on Tom's Hardware, 21:9 aspect ratio screens.
The 29 inch, 2560 x 1080 models have the same vertical height and pixel density as a 24 inch, 1920 x 1080 monitor.
The 34 inch, 3440 x 1440 models have the same vertical height and pixel density as a 27 inch, 2560 x 1440 monitor.
I've listed some models below, but I'm sure there are others.
These all give you a wider field of view than a standard 16:9 monitor but without the hassle of Eyefinity or Nvidia surround.
Not for everyone, but worth consideration.

29 inch, 2560 x 1080
Dell U2913WM
LG 29UM65, 29UB65
AOC Q2963PM

34 inch, 3440 x 1440
Dell U3415W
LG 34UM95
AOC U3477PQU

The Dell U3415W isn't due out until December, but it is a curved display which I find interesting.
The other 34 inch monitors here have only been released this year as well.
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