Several eyefinity questions, thanks in advance for any help!

[roalith]

Hello,

First of all my usual online name on all games/chat clients/forums is Roalith, and I have been visiting tomshardware for quite awhile now but never felt the need to pester you great guys/gals for advice because I'm usually goal-oriented and very decisive about what I am going to do and how to go about doing it after research/reading. So please do not think I only came here just for help, I've been following the regularly updated graphics card comparisons, the front page news articles, and some of the forums quite a bit since first deciding to build my first custom-built gaming set. Thank you!

I am currently gaming on a build I put together for $2500 in 2008 involving an Antec 1200, 650w psu, Q6600 OC, 1GB 4870, 8GB G.Skill ram, and aftermarket cooling with other less important parts...Anyway I feel the upgrade bug hitting hard and since my current motherboard does not support the i7 sockets I figured I'd just sell this entire build and do a new one with a budget around $3.5k including a newer i7, a new 5000 series card, and newer ram among other things!

That said, I am torn between 1 32"-50" LED or LCD with my existing 23" 1080p running alongside for multitasking or going for 3x 24"-30" eyefinity. I will list my usage and would appreciate any answers/opinions. Also for reference my existing 23" is no longer sold on the egg after even being a previous top rated display and also getting a customer's choice but oh well.

This new build will be used heavily for gaming, normal uses, and media playback for my wife and I(our 50" plasma will be taken out of the den and put back into the living room minus the surround sound).

Questions -

1. When playing back media on eyefinity how visually pleasing would it be since the media is native 1080p? Both landscape and portrait options are viable for me if either works great.

2. I have read a lot about games requiring tweaks/apps/console commands to even work properly in eyefinity without bad stretching or tearing? Is this really as bad as I have been led to believe?

3. I primarily play MMORPGs > FPS > Open world/GTA type games > Racing > RTS, would an eyefinity benefit me as much as someone who primarily plays just racing and flight sim games?

4. From a price point, if I did 23-25" LCDs in eyefinity it would cost less then a single 30"+ monitor and about the same as a 32"+ LCD or LED television. Moving up to 3x 30" eyefinity the price seems almost too much to justify, where would my money be better spent? Also to consider another angle, I do already have 1 23" 1080p lcd that could be matched up with similiar but the egg did stop selling it and I am hesitant to buy from another source.

Also for reference this is a rough build I threw together earlier minus a new television, monitor, or eyefinity setup.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15225466

 

[brennon7]

1. When I play a dvd on the 3 screens it only fills up the middle screen.
2. I have only one game that requires a command and it's gears of war its ` fov 140
3. I play racing and FPS and I love it. Can't say about MMORPGS, do a youtube search for eyefinity and whatever games you play.
4. I have 3 x 23 inch 1080p monitors LOVE THEM. You need a big desk and a huge desk to run anything bigger. You are talking over 60inches wide with 3 23s.

Other thoughts. I currently have a pretty high end build. Here is what i'm currently running:

CPU i7 930 @ 3.6ghz
MOBO X58A UD3R
GPUS 2gb 5870s eyefinity editions in crossfire
RAM 6gb Mushkin Redline 1600 CAS 6 ram
PSU Mushkin 1kw
HDD 500gb Seagate 7200.12
Case Haf 922
DVDRW asus

Monitors 3x h233h acer 1080p

Video of my game play can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/atieyefinity

 

[alextheawesome]

While I can't say anything about eyefinity since I don't have 2 more displays, I can just give you a heads up that your link doesn't work. Gotta make the wishlist public and then give us the link to that. Or just do a printscreen of it.

 

[roalith]

@ brennon - Your build does look similiar to my wishlist in some ways! Your 3 monitors actually are inspiring since currently I have 1x of the Acer 23" already. My computer desk I bought from a furniture store, chopped the top off, removed the bolt downs, and made into one huge flat surface, throwing all the shelves/storage/top walls away. Right now I have a 22" monitor, my 23" monitor, and my antec 1200 all on top(it is a corner desk so the natural flow of an eyefinity setup would be slightly angled towards me on each side). I have also looked up videos of mmos on eyefinity and some looked great some not so much. brennon, have you noticed any "stretching" on any games you play while in landscape mode? I had read on another forum that a lot of games actually look very stretched on the side monitors unless you run in portrait instead of landscape(portrait would be the same FoV as a single screen and would defeat the purpose!) Your Gears of War looks great, very refreshing compared to the ton of CoD videos everywhere!

@alex - My wishlist was set to public but I found out it can take over 24 hours to show up that way, I opened someone else's wishlist and replaced their ID with mine, and it should work now, thanks! There are no speakers listed because my wife will be getting my existing Logitech 5.1 system that I am using now and I will be hooking my 600w Pioneer surround system to the new build.

My biggest concern right now is that I know I will love eyefinity for gaming, but we were also planning to give the kids our 50" panasonic plasma and use my new build doubled as a media center for my wife and I to watch 1080p content after the kids are asleep...My wife loves the look of eyefinity for us taking turns on racing games or playing something as a family, but she expressed concern that maybe I should ditch the idea of eyefinity in favor of a 32"-50" display to be for gaming + movies.

The other idea I pitched her was to put the 50" plasma in our bedroom, give the 32" from our bedroom to the kids, throw their 27" on craigslist for someone to pick up, and buy a newer 55" LED for our living room for media, but she doesn't like the idea of tacking that on in addition to the pc build.

Thanks for the replies/feedback, I just want to make sure I do what works out best before taking the plunge...I could save a ton of money just by upgrading my Q6600 to a Q9650 since I already have 8GB of ram in this mobo and it supports xfire but figured I may as well add the extra $900 to the build to go i7 due to better crossfire scaling if I ever do get a second 5970, what do you guys think?

 

[brennon7]

@ Roalith

I verify that all games work perfectly prior to purchase. I will not play a game with disproportionate characters. http://support.amd.com/us/eyefinity/Pages/eyefinity-software.aspx As I mentioned, I check youtube for video of other people playing the specific game I'm looking to buy.

You have 8gb ram listed in your wishlist. You need tri channel ram with the i7 930 so I would switch to the 6gb kit 3x2gb.

Sounds like your older build is not all that outdated. Have you considered first trying to upgrade the video card, and if it doesn't perform up to par then upgrading everything else?

I guess I'm confused about your setup. Is this going in a living room or office?

Will the 50 inch be hooked up to this computer.

If you are trying to decide between one massive 52 inch lcd or 3 monitors, I would add this. I haven't seen anyone do this yet (haven't looked) but consider getting a 120hz 52inch lcd and getting a NVidia Gtx 480 with some 3d glasses. Could be cool.

 

[roalith]

@brennon7

Yes actually right now I am on our Panasonic Viera 50" plasma typing this for my wife and I to see how we like it...Movies and blurays on this just seem like they would be so much more enjoyable then on a middle monitor that is small...Also yes I have considered just saving the $900 on the 3 parts and keep my existing motherboard/ram/processor, which would give me the extra to do 2x 5970 if I would choose. I also considered just upgrading my processor from the Q6600 to the Q9650 along with 2x 5970s.

I have not really given the Nvidia 3d very much thought, doesn't that require a special monitor? We had actually decided to ditch Nvidia completely after having problems with most if not all of their products we have used. We still have an 8800GTX OC that had to use the oven baking trick recently to get it revived. My existing 4870 1GB would be getting put in on our backup pc to replace said 8800 as soon as my new build is complete.

Back on the subject of my current pc being relatively new already....I do have my system overclocked Quad Q6600 @ 3.6Ghz right now with a Zalman cooler, and my 4870 1GB overclocked to 850/1100, my antec 1200 has a total of 12(or maybe 14?) fans in it now with 4 intakes and the remainder exhausts to keep things nice and cool....My video card normally sits at 43c idle, and we keep this room cooler then the rest of the house. From a strictly gaming/multitasking perspective I would have no doubt on getting the eyefinity going, my issue is us also using this to stream HD content via netflix and also to play dvds/blurays, in which case we're somewhat leaning towards the larger tv/monitor. Price-wise I could get 2x more of this same 23" 1080p monitor I already have for ~$400, whereas a 50" LED is going to be around $1200 at the cheapest.

Stupid decisions.........................My biggest issue is I know absolutely no one with eyefinity for me to go try it out before buying. And my current card doesn't offer me the luxury of hooking 3x up to test it on my own(I have 2 23" and a smaller one that I could test on if my card supported it!

Thanks for all the replies, and did anyone else face a similar dilemma when thinking about eyefinity? I feel like a little kid with a small allowance trying to decide between the claw machine and the bubble gum LOL!

Oh and to your other question, my setup is going in a den/game room type deal, I don't have a home office, we have a living room with 1 television that is just "there", where we entertain company etc for conversation/hanging out, then we have our gaming room with 2 computers, our plasma+stand, surround sound, and xbox 360. The new build was to consolidate the movie watching and the gaming onto 1 focus(the computer) and allow us to just put the plasma in the children's bedroom along with their Wii that is currently hooked up on a 32" CRT.

 

[brennon7]

Mitsubishi DLP 120hz hdtvs are supported in Nvidia 3D. Dell has a 73inch 1080p that qualifies for $1179. HOLY &^%$ CAN YOU IMAGINE 3D ON A 73 INCH TV. I am considering doing this!!! Interested in Buying my 3 monitors. 140 each shipped?

I just sold both of my 5870s http://cgi.ebay.com/ATI-HD-2gb-5870-eyefinity-6-edition-video-card-Sapphire-/290458813241?cmd=ViewItem&pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item43a0b1c339#ht_500wt_1154 and picked up 2 gtx 480s. The GTX 480s are $413 on Newegg.com http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125319&cm_re=gtx_480-_-14-125-319-_-Product $459 then 10% off with coupon.

The reason I sold my 5870s is this benchmark .... http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/3d-vision-surround-stereoscopic-gaming,2672-9.html


List of qualifying HDTVs.

Mitsubishi® 1080p DLP® Home Theater TV: WD-57833, WD-60735, WD-60737, WD-60C8, WD-60C9, WD-65735, WD-65736, WD-65737, WD-65C8, WD-65C9, WD-65833, WD-65835, WD-65837, WD-73735, WD-73736, WD-73737, WD-73833, WD-73835, WD-73837, WD-73C8, WD-73C9, WD-82737, WD-82837, L65-A90

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Video_Conferencing/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=A3612346

 

[roalith]

That's very interesting, I had just modified my wishlist when I replied last time to keep this computer, get a 5970 x2 setup, and 3x Samsung Aquos 32" in eyefinity(32" is the minimum my wife will accept for watching movies in this room, but we'll probably be ok just still using the plasma for movies if needed).

Now, I'm more undecided then ever after reading that link. I think I'm going to just put this on hold for another month or 2 and keep researching, reading reviews, see which technology is edging out ahead just a bit later. In my experience I think ATI > Nvidia, due to us having so many problems with a lot of our Nvidia cards and never having anything go wrong with any ATI products.

Record the same exact Gears of War footage on your new setup on the same exact map and link me so I can watch both please, thanks and grats on your new setup!

 

[brennon7]

Heads up!!! Two 5970s will not work with EYEFINITY!!!!!!!! Only 2 gpus are supported. The best eyefinity solution is the one I had, 2gb 5870s crossfire.

 

[roalith]

Ok will be hoping you put up a comparison video(pretty please?!) with your new setup when you get it completed, and not being able to do 2x 5970 clears $600+ of the build which COULD go into the Nvidia setup, but as I said right now I'm going to wait it out a month or two and see what kind of driver support etc each side gets, it is such an expensive decision that I'd rather wait and be happy then rush and potentially regret it.

Thanks for all the replies brennon7, I would like to add you on youtube under this same name and follow any new videos you put up later!

***Edit***

Your youtube name doesn't really fit your setup anymore! :lol:

 

[brennon7]

Have the new GTX 480s installed and they are owning the 5870s. I am uploading some video now and I'm getting 15+ more FPS on all games running the 480s. Temps on the cards hit 90c but the 5870s hit 85.

A bonus is you don't have to deal with crappy display port technology.

 

[roalith]

Have the new GTX 480s installed and they are owning the 5870s. I am uploading some video now and I'm getting 15+ more FPS on all games running the 480s. Temps on the cards hit 90c but the 5870s hit 85.

A bonus is you don't have to deal with crappy display port technology.

Very nice man, I added you on youtube, I'll check the video or message you privately so we can let this thread die down since it's more or less resolved(resolution being that I'm waiting it out a bit longer before deciding anything)!

Can't wait to see new vid though, and I also considered that to be a huge bonus with the lack of a display port adapter requirement!