PCI-e x16 8800 GTS 512 (driving the 1440x900 + the 1280 x 960) PCI-e x1 8200 GS (chopped down to fit) (driving the 1024 x 768) No Eyefinity/Surround Vision - The DiRT2 window is just stretched across the three monitors. 1280 x 960 - 1440 x 900 - 1024 x 768 DiRT2 benchmark reports average framerate of 20.5/s Settings all set to Ultra Low The game is not beautiful but is more than playable. I just wanted to get a feel for "immersive gaming". I have to say, it clearly doesn't live up to 'enthusiast' standards but I'm very enthusiastic about it! So chuffed [EDIT] Thanks scott_chegg! [/EDIT] P.S. Just bought an HD5850 today, just wanted to post this to remember where I started!
Bahaha, when you described that, it sounded like a total heap of junk, and I was about to laugh... but having watched the video...... its actually pretty good
do keep us informed on how the new AMD card will do for you. I am very interested in different-resolution-eyefinity. may be you can try set all monitor's resolution to the lowest denominator and try to turn on eyefinity?
To get the embed youtube to work you just put the youtube id code thing in the wrapper. In your case DcRrSgMoxo8 Like this So it looks like this in your post. but [ ] instead of ( ) (YOUTUBE)DcRrSgMoxo8(/YOUTUBE)
Eyefinity really won't be optimal with your monitors, and you won't be able to do bezel compensation... Check out SoftTH; it's a simple freeware D3D wrapper dll that allows game to display across multiple monitors, and properly supports mismatched resolutions, unlike Eyefinity.
@ wuyanxu: Yeah I will definitely keep you posted. The issue with setting the resolutions to the highest they all support natively is that would mean the 19" 16:9 central monitor and the larger 4:3 monitor would both have to be scaled down to 1024x768! I can't imagine that would give particularly brilliant results. Also, the aspect ratios are different - another hiccup! @ scott: Thank you! I'll be sure to amend those tags when I get to a real computer and not my phone! @ OCJunkie: Yeah I have looked at SoftTH briefly. How is the support for newer games? I believe the project was shelved due to the advent of Eyefinity/Surround Vision. Do the games have to be forced to render under dx9 still? Yeah I don't hold out much hope for Eyefinity giving me fantastic results. Just glad to have a newer card to be honest. I hope to acquire a new monitor or two soon.
Is 3 monitors really worth it? Those bezels would get on my nerves, and I would not be able to crank the settings like I can on one. Makes me wonder if they extra vision and cost would be worth it.
@ rogerrabbits - Well the three monitors I use anyway for general use and they were just cheapo ones I had lying around. For work/general usage, I wouldn't go back. It's so much more convenient having that much screen real estate available. The bezels really don't bother me at all in DiRT2. I haven't had the chance to try out anything else yet to be fair, but so far, it really does make for a better experience IMHO. Different strokes for different folks though I guess!
Cool thanks! If "you wouldn't go back", you know that means its better. Maybe your eyes get used to the bezels and ignore them after a while. And I'm thinking I could maybe get 2 cheap monitors for the sides and keep a good one in the middle.
At first I thought WTF, but after watching the vid, it looks very good. But you do want to go the route of Eyefinity/Nvidia Surround, as you will get better FPS in full screen. SoftTH doesn't support SLI/Crossfire, so you would also be limited their. Cheers, Simon.
Absolutely not shelved whatsoever, it has many advantages over Eyefinity/Surround and new versions are still released regularly, v2.06a last week in fact. Support for new games is fine but yes unfortunately at the moment the DX9 limitation still exists. D3D10/11 is high on the list and should be available eventually. Totally completely worth it, I tried both triple and 3D, and triple by far is the most immersive. The bezels are a nonissue always raised by people who haven't tried it for themselves; seriously, the bezels are nothing compared to the massive size of the array and completely vanish when you're actually playing. Espcially with bezel compensation, it's totally unnoticeable and not a problem whatsoever. I would never ever go back to a single display no matter how big after jumping in, 3x 23" @ 5760x1080 is absolute gadget pr0n and I still cream my pants every time I sit down to play so it was worth every penny (and there were many!).
