ATI Radeon 6950 3 monitor eyefinity display

[shaddow1201]

I'm buying a new computer, with likely an ATI Radeon 6950 video card and 3-27'' DP capable monitors.

A) is this the best choice for this card. (is there a better monitor setup)
B) what cabling will i need to make sure i can do all of this smoothly?

 

[FtsArTek]

as an answer to A, in MOST cases a 6950 would easily hold it up. If you're gonna do gaming, get two of them, but otherwise one will suffice. A note here: get the Asus DCII 2GB card. It has 4 DPs and runs cool and quiet

B) Three display port cables are about your only option as far as I know.

 

[shaddow1201]

will one card hold up to BF3 on that setup?

i'm on a semi budget, ~$2k for the custom system... and i still need to not piss the missus off, by going over that too much. squeezing for the 3 monitors, not sure i can squeeze another ~$300 for another card.

i'm goin with an ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe MB, 16G ram, probably an i5, maybe i7 (see another squeeze point... sigh)

i can put another one in the system in a few months... say 3 or so as i have a bday in there...

i really like the dp 4 outputs of your example... i was seeing 1 on the card i was looking at. Thanks very much for that!

or should i just go break my piggy bank and just suck it up? (please be kind to the piggy bank)

 

[shaddow1201]

i will be using it for business for certain, but i do like to game some too.... and it's always something like BF3.... use to love BF 2142....

 

[badtaylorx]

the second card will be needed to play that at med gfx across 3 hd monitors....if you can afford it it will be a much better experience....

its possible with one...but you'll hafta turn your res down to 4800x900 and low gfx settings .....

and the other guy is right....these cards are a perfect match for what you discribe... just get 3 dp cables and make sure the mobo you get can cfx 2 3 slot cards

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121431


and these are good monitors.....i got one myself

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236103

good luck

bTx

 

[shaddow1201]

the second card will be needed to play that at med gfx across 3 hd monitors....if you can afford it it will be a much better experience....

its possible with one...but you'll hafta turn your res down to 4800x900 and low gfx settings .....

and the other guy is right....these cards are a perfect match for what you discribe... just get 3 dp cables and make sure the mobo you get can cfx 2 3 slot cards

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121431


and these are good monitors.....i got one myself

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236103

good luck

bTx

MB: ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe (i believe it supports up to 4, and i could probably get a third for birthday (card that is)
RAM 16Gigs
HD - going cheap here. i have several 500G Sata2's
Monitors - going with 3 of what you descried.
Video- going with 2 of what you described.
assume case, and fans etc, and processor fan etc.

question: to run 2-3 of these cards do i need an upgraded power supply. i don't buy cheap power supplies, but what sort of power requirement limitations am i looking at?

it's been a number of years since i bought myself a new desktop, and i'm trying to do it basically once.... spend the time up front, determining what I need, and then pulling the trigger, and NOT a week spent going crazy, rounding up the stuff i forgot....

I work at an educational institution, so i have full access to what i need for OS etc, and allowed per state contracts.

any other suggestions?

 

[shaddow1201]

would 2 cards and just 2 monitors be better? 3 - 27 is pretty darn wide.

 

[hythos]

I can't see any way of getting around the "dead spot" in the split between an even number of monitors... which I could only assume why people use an odd number (3, particularly) - to allow the center as the 'main focus', with the additional two or four for sides, then possibly above and below (top and bottom.)

SO - considering you will *really* only have the side monitors for peripheral vision...

Perhaps think about using a single, higher quality, larger monitor for the center and two less costly and/or smaller monitors for the sides.

I have a mix of many types, including two 40" Panasonics to one PC... I think my next "gaming" solution will use either a 24" or 30" center screen, with two 20" or 24" side-monitors rotated 90-deg to match the height. (Though, that 27" ASUS on NewEgg don' look too bad)...

 

[shaddow1201]

let's say i want hi-res graphics, am i looking at 1 monitor per video card?

so based on your info you think 3 - 27'' monitors? have spec'd out 2 video cards, would i need a 3rd?

my wife is going to freak.. if i have to dump another $600 at it to get 3 monitors and 3 video cards...

is it NECESSARY/smart, etc or just a 'luxury'?

 

[hythos]

Eyefinity 'stretches' the view across all monitors; so if you're running 1600x1200 on all three, your effective res goes to 4800x1200; Depending on your FX settings, you will see a range in frame-rate with just a single card.
If you bump that up to a second card, the variation and maximum framerate will increase considerably (based on the GPU).

Though I would expect you may be able to get away with setting up your monitors with a single 6950x2GB by something like:
[1152x864]-[1600x1200]-[1152x864]
Your side monitors will only require half the pipe of your higher quality monitor, and thus *might* (I'd need to test it to be certain) perform as well as TWO 1600x1200 monitors (which I believe works fine with the 6950/6970)... and as I mentioned - you won't be "viewing" on the side monitors as it's almost entirely peripheral vision - you'll probably only be able to notice movement, unless you draw your eyes from the center screen (versus turning your view-point).


** Edit **
One more thing - if you're tight on physical desk space, you can also rotate the monitors 90-deg for a 3600 x 1600 "desktop" vs the (normal) 4800 x 1200.

 

[shaddow1201]

does the variable monitor resolution effect the eye-finity? i think i was reading that they had to all be the same or were at least recommended...

the reason i ask related to gaming as i know the frame rate is important in the gaming, has been since i got hooked on Forsaken so very long ago.

i will be using this for business as well, as i herd databases and write software for a living... so the multi monitors are important very important for that... but the gaming is the only real 'stress' they'll be under.....

 

[hythos]

AHhh
Unless you're absolutely wanting to run 3 monitors to play games, just stay with a single graphics card, and use the single monitor for gaming, while the extra two for work.
For desktop-ing, non-3d, the 6950 is over-kill.

 

[shaddow1201]

thank you all, for the information.

think i will go the 2 x 6950 and 3 - 27'' monitors.

and use it for a while, see where things are, and add another card if the gaming doesn't do what i want.

yes this is overkill for business, but business is what pays for it.... the gaming is personal time

all work, and no play, makes jack a dull boy

thanks again!

 

[shaddow1201]

Best answer selected by shaddow1201.