Best 3x1 options

[wooodoggies]

I am really wanting to get the 3x1 setup in the works. I recently saw a 120Hz Tv and was amazed how much of a difference there was vs. normal 60Hz. I have been told that there is a lot of input lag on +60Hz tv's, is this true(facts only please, actual experience)?

If not I will wait until i see some 60hz+ monitors come around in the future.

If so, what card(s) would be the best for 3 1680x1050 monitors? I would like to play as close to maxed as possible, AA not really important, 2-4AA acceptable, AF 16. I can get the monitors for -~300 USD, I will most likely get one card now and make it a pair next year. I don't really need to be able to do the 3x1 on the one card, I can wait if it will help overall performance down the road.

i7 920 @ 3.1
5 G DDR3
silverstone 850W

 

[shadow187]

For multi-monitor resolutions your best bet is an HD6970. Crossfiring one down the road will give you very impressive performance.

Also why do you have 5Gb of DDR3?

 

[wooodoggies]

my board wont run wellwith all dimms full. tried bios update and upping dimm volts to 1.61

 

[sabot00]

60Hz+ 60's have a ton of lag because the content is often not even 60Hz, they have a processor that adds frames, so often times the input is still 60Hz, they just add one extra frame (or more in 240Hz).
Because of this they are often not recommended for gaming because many do not support 120Hz input or have an option to turn the processor off.

 

[wooodoggies]

60Hz+ 60's have a ton of lag because the content is often not even 60Hz, they have a processor that adds frames, so often times the input is still 60Hz, they just add one extra frame (or more in 240Hz).
Because of this they are often not recommended for gaming because many do not support 120Hz input or have an option to turn the processor off.

and even if it did have the option to turn it off, i would be right back to the same old TV, right?

 

[sabot00]

and even if it did have the option to turn it off, i would be right back to the same old TV, right?

Depends, some of the TV's are truly capable of 120Hz or even 240Hz input, you just have to make sure whatever link you're gonna use (HDMI, DVI, etc), will support the bit depth at your resolution on your refresh rate.

 

[jockey]

If not I will wait until i see some 60hz+ monitors come around in the future.

If so, what card(s) would be the best for 3 1680x1050 monitors? I would like to play as close to maxed as possible, AA not really important, 2-4AA acceptable, AF 16. I can get the monitors for -~300 USD, I will most likely get one card now and make it a pair next year. I don't really need to be able to do the 3x1 on the one card, I can wait if it will help overall performance down the road.

Definitely go with a GPU with 2gb memory. The 6970 has that, and high Stream Processor Speed. GPU memory is not enhanced with X-fire, but the speed is.

 

[sabot00]

If not I will wait until i see some 60hz+ monitors come around in the future.

If so, what card(s) would be the best for 3 1680x1050 monitors? I would like to play as close to maxed as possible, AA not really important, 2-4AA acceptable, AF 16. I can get the monitors for -~300 USD, I will most likely get one card now and make it a pair next year. I don't really need to be able to do the 3x1 on the one card, I can wait if it will help overall performance down the road.

Definitely go with a GPU with 2gb memory. The 6970 has that, and high Stream Processor Speed. GPU memory is not enhanced with X-fire, but the speed is.

Are you trying to answer OP or hijack? Can't tell.
Also, 1GB vs 2GB is useless right now, you remind me very much of the people who insist on putting 1GB on a 5670 even tho the difference is ZERO.
On a 1GB vs 2GB 6950 there is no difference, seriously, you know how big textures are? Not very, maybe 1024x1024 or 2048x2048 if we're lucky, the consoles fit their into 256/128MB RAM.

 

[minitron815]

Considering he wants to use 3 monitors, the resolution will be much higher than 1920x1080 so he will need additional graphics memory if he wants to turn on more effects such as AA and AF. That being said the 2GB version will still look like a slideshow at 2560x1600. But since CF and SLI doesn't add up your memory for buffering, the 2GB version is well worth the extra money since CF is almost required to play with multiple monitors and high graphics settings.

As for consoles; it's a closed box environment and not really comparable (plus console games look horrible compared to PC games).

Anyways if you do get 3 monitors don't expect any smooth gameplay with just one video card.

 

[sabot00]

Considering he wants to use 3 monitors, the resolution will be much higher than 1920x1080 so he will need additional graphics memory if he wants to turn on more effects such as AA and AF. That being said the 2GB version will still look like a slideshow at 2560x1600. But since CF and SLI doesn't add up your memory for buffering, the 2GB version is well worth the extra money since CF is almost required to play with multiple monitors and high graphics settings.

As for consoles; it's a closed box environment and not really comparable (plus console games look horrible compared to PC games).

Anyways if you do get 3 monitors don't expect any smooth gameplay with just one video card.

Did you know that even at 3x1920x1200 a card like the 6950 does not need the extra GB?
At that resolution a 5870 or 6950 chokes due to the GPU not having enough muscle, if CF doesn't add up the RAM but it nearly doubles the performance then why do you think that is?

VRAM is stressed way too much! A 4870 will run quite well with 512MB of RAM.