Eyefinity resolution?

mpeckat

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I'm having a tough time finding an answer to my question so I thought "Why not just ask?"

I am building a new system and would like to have an eyefinity set up, but I'm a bit conflicted on what to go with. I'm trying to save money, but still have a solid set up.

I was at first going to get the Radeon 6870 graphics card, but after reading reviews and such it was my understanding that it wouldn't be able to power 3 monitors at 1900x1080 resolution. I'm assuming it would have less trouble powering 3 monitors at 1600x900 resolution? This final option (6870 and 3 monitors at 1600x900 resolution) would be my cheapest option, but I'm unsure of how it would look and if it would even be worth it.

The next, and considerably more expensive option is the Radeon 6950 2gb card which should be able to run 3 monitors at 1900x1080 resolution, based on what I've read. This option, as obviously being the better option as far as performance would result in me spending a lot more money than I'd like to.

I guess my question here is would games look good at the 1600x900 resolution in eyefinity or would it not even be worth it?

The rest of the system is as follows:

i5-2400 processor
ASRock z68 extreme3 gen3 motherboard
8 gb ddr3 1600 ram
seasonic 620w psu
nzxt m59 case
500gb 7200 rpm hard drive

I plan to mainly play MMO's, but I'm sure I'll venture out and play other games as well. Primary game for a while is going to be swtor.

Any advice would be great as to what I should do here. Thanks in advance.
 

mpeckat

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sorry to post again, but it wouldn't let me edit my original post and i realized this immediately after posting. I have a 32" 1080p LCD TV that I could use if it would be a solid alternative to the eyefinity set up. If you think this is the better option, 6870 1gb or 6950 1gb or 2gb? I'd like to play on highest settings in swtor (MMO) and moderately high in most other games, doesnt have to be maxed. Thanks again.
 

liquidchild

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This does not effect the card you buy but what size are the monitors?

Also the 6870 and the 1gb 6950 are not that far way in price. That would also jump your FPS up. According to linus tech tips a 6870 can run 3 monitors with good settings, so the 6950 would be very good settings. My 6970 broke so Im running a 5770 on 3 42 ich tvs and i can play WOW with good settings above 30 fps
 

mpeckat

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ah ok thats extremely helpful! i was thinking it over and I think it would be best for me to go with the 6950 and just use my tv. this way I get the better card without having to buy monitors. and still leaves me the option later to go with the eyefinity set up if for some reason i decide to take that route. thanks for your help
 

mpeckat

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for the whole system I'd like to keep it under $1000. It seems like thats an unrealistic budget with a 3 monitor set up. This being said, I think it'll be best for me to just go with the better card now and just use my TV and then I at least have the option to go with the eyefinity set up down the road if I see fit. any thoughts?
 

liquidchild

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Well you are talking to a guy who spent 2gs on his monitors so....Iz vote for eyefinity but,
I would like to say that one big TV does not suck, and is pretty fun to have( my old set up was a 32 inch, and It was bad ass. Looking on newegg I see that you can get 3 hanspress for 119 each and a 6870 for 159. Buy those and get a second 6870 in a few months and just play SWTOR on med settings(maybe high, we dont know till the game comes out) till you do. The 3 monitor setup is better then one big one anyday. IMHO of course.
 

Lfluxx

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alexthager

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Go for the Asus 6950, very large but nice. Less than $300. However, you will need ATLEAST a 650w PSU. It may be an exaggeration, but that is stated on the box. If you have that card, 3 Monitors will not be an issue.
 

Ninja Pants

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First of all the 6870 will play just about any game in eyefinity @ 5760x1080 with the exceptions of GTA IV and Mirrors Edge (Hacked) the only games I know of. However I would certainly recommend the 2GB 6950 for gaming at those resolutions, the extra VRAM is a huge performance boost.

To answer your initial question, yes games in eyefinity are great, that said on a large LCD TV they are good too but is it worth it is a hard question to answer. It will come down to preference here, do you prefer a bigger screen with the same information or a larger FOV with more information potentially available to you. The only other input you should consider is how the games you intend to play run at eyefinity resolutions, some are brilliant and others don't work at all. The AMD website has a list of validated games but do not be persuaded by this as there are many many other titles that work fine. www.widescreengamingforum.com is your best resource.

Finally by "whole system under $1000" is that just the graphics card and 3 monitors (if you decide on this direction)? If so you can still get a 2GB 6950 and 3 x 24" 1920x1080 monitors within that budget.

Hope that helps.

[Edit] and I wouldn't recommend the ASUS, for ~$10 more get the Sapphire toxic and flush the BIOS to unlock the 6970 shaders or save $50 and go the standard Sapphire. Don't forget that with any of the three mentioned cards you will stil need an active DP-DVI adaptor for eyefinity.
 
Actually talking about Eyefinity requires more Attention here.
There's a difference between a GPU able to drive up to 3 monitors, and Playing a game @ high settings on 3 monitors setup.

First of all, the HD 6870 can do Eyefinity but the 1 GB of VRAM is such a big issue, Dealing with 5760x resolution is a real issue here, The higher the resolution in games, the more VRAM there should be since more textures need to be loaded. However some cards are not powerful enough to use the extra VRAM.

Due to technologies such as AA, MSAA, AF, QSCAA.. those really feed on the VRAM depending on the game. So basically the HD 6870 is out of argument.

Let's consider the HD 6950/70 for eyefinity, both can do eyefinity well but you'll have to turn down some settings like MSAA, AA to get playable FPS @ higher settings.

If you want to keep playing games @ high quality settings you will need 2 of HD 6970s in CF, if you're looking to max out most of the games with decent FPS then you gotta consider 3-Way CF.

Regarding the 30" monitor, as long as it's 1080P you're okay, but really i don't see it A GOOD THING TO SIT ON COUCH WITH MOUSE AND KB TO PLAY GAMES
 

alexthager

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I know someone disagreed with the Asus 6950. However, Asus 6950 comes factory overclocked and has multiple options in even furthering the options towards peak performance.