Build Advice Nvidia surround 2 monitors in portrait

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Bladesingerz, 27 Jan 2012.

  1. Bladesingerz

    Bladesingerz Minimodder

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    Hi peeps, I'm thinking of doing some nvidia surround on my desk build (project log).

    I was thinking of placing 2 17" HP1702 in portrait next to my 21,5" samsung SA300.
    The 2 17" monitors will be hung by some kind of wallmount.

    I got some serious questions though:

    - Is this configuration even possible?
    - The portrait screens are slightly higher than the middle wide screen (~2 cm/~0,4") higher, will this cause any problems?
    - What kind of video card will I need for this? I'm currently using a GTX550 and can play most things on High/ultra mix settings. I know I need a SLI setup for this and I'm definitely waiting for the new generation cards, but would realy like to get some idea what kind of power I need.

    Specs:
    CPU: Phenom II 955 BE @ 4GHz
    Resolution HP1702: 1280 x 1024 @ 60 Hz
    Resolution SA300: 1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz

    ~Bladesingerz
     
  2. TrevDX

    TrevDX Ah Who Cares Anyway???

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    Would you not have an issue with the amount of pixels once you twist the HP monitors vertical as they will have 1280 based on the 1080 of the sammy?
     
  3. Bladesingerz

    Bladesingerz Minimodder

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    That was my consern to, I realy have no idea if this is even possible. It would be realy cool if it worked!
     
  4. Sloth

    Sloth #yolo #swag

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    This won't work with Surround. For 2D Surround all of your monitors must be the same resolution, although they don't need to be the exact same model.

    AMD's Eyefinity will work but only 7000 series cards allow for different resolutions. Currently only the 7970 is available, but the 7950 is due to be launched on the 31st. Having your two monitors in portait should be no problem.

    A word of warning, there has been no mention of Kepler bringing any changes to Surround. If you're an Nvidia fan and you want to wait and see nothing's stopping you, just be prepared to go AMD with a more unique setup like yours as they're a few steps ahead in multi-monitor technology.
     
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  5. Bladesingerz

    Bladesingerz Minimodder

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    I found this picture on google, looks like it can be done. But they said on an other forum that you need to use software called softTH to do this setup. All this was in a threat from 2009, nvidia surround has moved on alot since then I think?

    [​IMG]
    Still insure if it will work well or not...

    edit:


    Hmm I see, well I realy would like to use 2 more samsung SA300's but they would just not fit on my desk, the desk is only 1m wide and I already tried putting on a second monitor to the side and just the foot of the screen was half of. I Guess I could try finding some wallmounts and try to fit it, but the screens would still stick out of the desk. Not a very safe thing...
     
  6. Sloth

    Sloth #yolo #swag

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    SoftTH is certainly an option. Since it's software you can feel free to try it at any time and if it doesn't do what you need you can just uninstall it. I'm not too savvy on its advantages and limitations, though.

    If you did use two more SA300s, or any other 1920x1080 60Hz monitors, instead of those 1280x1024s you could use Surround (or Eyefinity with 5000/6000 cards), if that makes the effort of securing them seem more worth it.
     
  7. Bladesingerz

    Bladesingerz Minimodder

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    Do they have to be the same native resolution ? Atm I have a 19" samsung lcd monitor and the HP1702 laying around..
     
  8. Paradigm Shifter

    Paradigm Shifter de nihilo nihil fit

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    Firstly, nVidia Surround has barely moved on from the state it was in when it was first launched. While there is some hope that nVidia will take Surround more seriously with the launch of Kepler among the Surround Gaming community, I am sceptical.

    You can run 'extended monitors' on the desktop with two monitors like that, but you will not be able to run Surround.

    Surround requires three monitors; it won't work with two. It requires the monitors to share common resolutions, refresh rates, and sync polarities - the last one is the killer, as manufacturers don't advertise sync polarities, so you're playing the monitor equivalent of Russian Roulette if you don't use a setup that someone else has already tried.

    SoftTripleHead can be a solution, but you need to do a lot of reading to make sure the games you want to run work, it's DX8 and DX9 only last time I checked.
     
  9. Bladesingerz

    Bladesingerz Minimodder

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    Ok so I could get 2 more samsung SA300's (probly will be looking for used onces).
    The problem is that I don't have any room for the stands on my desk, the stands will be 1/3 off the side, and they are not wallmounteble.

    Is there a way to wallmount monitors with a different system ? Like small hooks around the screen or something?
     

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