Widescreen Gaming Forum

I am looking to build a multi monitor rig to replace my aging ASUS G72 notebook. I'm not one that demands an insane fps for gaming. I was running my G72 with a 22" monitor at 1650x1050 and getting 59 fps in iRacing. This framerate was more than acceptable to me. I even ran the fps down to 40 to get better detail and was just starting to notice that the frames were coming too slowly at times. I tend to lurk on Newegg and have purchased my monitors, all are 23" ASUS, one is a VS238 (no speakers) while the others are VH238 (with speakers). I was figuring on using the VH models on the sides and use their speakers as my front left and right for 5.1 surround sound. The only other purchases I have are a 2TB Seagate Barracuda that I got on a lightning deal over the holidays through Amazon and Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.

Here is the main question I have; When considering graphics cards to run 3 screens, would I benefit from a $300 card, or would 3 $100 cards get the job done? On a side note, how about using a mid range card for the center monitor and another mid range card to run both the side monitors?

Hopefully you can understand where I'm coming from. I don't want to spend a fortune. I'm an ASUS fan, so I plan to use the Maximus V Formula mobo and an Intel i5 3570k. I'm also leaning toward liquid cooling the CPU and 16GB RAM.

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

_________________
Finally built my 3 screen system.
ASUS Maximus V Formula
Intel i5 3570k
ASUS HD7950-DC2-3GD5-V2
Thermaltake Chaser Mk I
Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid RS-850
Corsair H100i Water Cooler
G-Skill Trident X - 2x8GB
Monitors: 1x ASUS VS238H-p + 2X ASU

Hi eRacer!

When it comes to triple-wide gaming with NVidia or AMD, all three monitors will have to be connected through one graphics card. So, you can't really have one card power one monitor and another card power the remaining monitors.

General consensus on the forums seem to be that, whenever possible, you should go with one more powerful card over multiple less powerful cards. I've personally run 2x Radeon HD 4870s, HD 5870s, and now HD 7950s and I really enjoy the extra framerates and graphic settings I can crank up with two cards. But, running two or more cards in Crossfire or SLI tends to cause issues. With AMD cards in Crossfire, you're more likely to encounter microstutter. Not all games can benefit from multiple cards - AMD and Nvidia usually have to program special profiles for each new game to take advantage of multiple cards and less obscure titles may never receive support. You'll also be dealing with a lot more power being required and have the cards generate a lot more heat if you've got more than one.

Depending on what you want to spend, I'd recommend looking at the Radeon 7870, 7950, and 7970 or the NVidia Geforce GTX 660ti, 670, or 680. You could also save some cash by looking at the Radeon 6xxx series, but you should probably avoid going back to the NVidia Geforce GTX 5xx series because they require two or more cards in SLI to support triple-wide. Even though I've been in the AMD camp for years, I'd probably recommend that you stick with NVidia cards given that the Asus monitors you've got don't have the displayport connections necessary for the best results out of AMD Eyefinity.

I'll benchmark iRacing on 1x 7950 and on 2x 7950s and let you know what kind of performance you could expect from them. It should be fairly similar to what you'd see from the Geforce GTX 670 series. What games are you looking to run besides iRacing? Do you care about antialiasing?

Edit: Ha, I rescind my welcome. I just realized you've been registered on the forums longer than I have! It's been a long while coming, it looks like, but you'll absolutely love racing in triple-wide once you get up and running.

Thanks Bifurk8. I wasn't aware that Eyefinity was dependent upon display port.

Besides iRacing and Simraceway, I like the Grand Theft Auto Series and Call of Duty Black Ops II. I have been mostly gaming on consoles lately, but if this system works out I can see going mainly PC.

I appreciate the Benchmarking!

_________________
Finally built my 3 screen system.
ASUS Maximus V Formula
Intel i5 3570k
ASUS HD7950-DC2-3GD5-V2
Thermaltake Chaser Mk I
Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid RS-850
Corsair H100i Water Cooler
G-Skill Trident X - 2x8GB
Monitors: 1x ASUS VS238H-p + 2X ASU

I just read this review http://www.wsgf.org/article/nvidia-geforce-gtx-670-review of the GTX670, and liked what I read. If I can get between 50 and 60 fps in 3 screens I'll be happier than a witch in a broom factory. I was trying to stay in the $300 range for my graphics card, but satisfaction is more important than saving a few bucks. I am finding a few 'open box' versions of the ASUS GTX 670 on ebay for $340. I'll probably order the bulk of my components today, then get the graphics card when i find the best deal. If I buy a new one, the bonus is a lame deal of $150 in-game credits for 3 games that I have no interest in playing. Might wait to see what the offer is on March 1.

Hopefully by this time next week, I will finally be

_________________
Finally built my 3 screen system.
ASUS Maximus V Formula
Intel i5 3570k
ASUS HD7950-DC2-3GD5-V2
Thermaltake Chaser Mk I
Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid RS-850
Corsair H100i Water Cooler
G-Skill Trident X - 2x8GB
Monitors: 1x ASUS VS238H-p + 2X ASU

You might want to consider a 7950 or 7970 also. The review you linked is based on the older AMD drivers, since the 12.11 drivers AMD has given their cards a nice FPS boost. Added bonus is that you get 3 GB of vram as opposed to 2 on the GeForce (something you'll come to appreciate with multi screen gaming). And you can grab a 7950 from $300, with Crysis 3 and Bioshock Infinite for free with it.

_________________
LG 34UM95-P (3440x1440) + 2x Dell U2412M; MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G in 2-SLI; i5 4690k w/ Mugen 4 PCGH; 16GB Crucial; MSI Z97-G45 GAMING; Crucial M500 480GB; Corsair Enthusiast TX750M; CM Storm Scout 2

Good point! The graphics card will be my last purchase, for sure. Want to make sure the whole system is working before I start depleting any return policies that might be attached to my gpu purchase.

_________________
Finally built my 3 screen system.
ASUS Maximus V Formula
Intel i5 3570k
ASUS HD7950-DC2-3GD5-V2
Thermaltake Chaser Mk I
Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid RS-850
Corsair H100i Water Cooler
G-Skill Trident X - 2x8GB
Monitors: 1x ASUS VS238H-p + 2X ASU

Oh, and make sure you grab an appropriate PSU
500-600W is more than enough for any one videocard already mentioned in this thread, if you plan to go SLI/Crossfire later down the road you can consider to be prepared for that and grab a 700-800W PSU instead.

Just make sure it's a decent brand, dont go cheapo or nameless. A bad PSU causes all kinds of shit.
My personal holy trinity is Seasonic, Corsair and XFX (theres a few more good ones though like Antec and some Cooler Master models).

_________________
LG 34UM95-P (3440x1440) + 2x Dell U2412M; MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G in 2-SLI; i5 4690k w/ Mugen 4 PCGH; 16GB Crucial; MSI Z97-G45 GAMING; Crucial M500 480GB; Corsair Enthusiast TX750M; CM Storm Scout 2

The PSU I'm buying is a Cooler Master 850W. Newegg has it marked down $40 and there is a $60 mail in rebate. Can't beat it right now.

The system I plan to build will include;
ASUS Maximus V Formula motherboard
Intel i5 3570k
Corsair Hydro 100i water cooler
G.Skill Trident X RAM 2x8GB (PC3 14900)
Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid RS-850 (Great deal on Newegg right now)
ASUS Blu-ray burner
ASUS DVD burner
and of course a graphics card that is still to be determined, but likely not less than a GTX670/HD7950

Any opinions about these choices are appreciated and considered.

Thanks

_________________
Finally built my 3 screen system.
ASUS Maximus V Formula
Intel i5 3570k
ASUS HD7950-DC2-3GD5-V2
Thermaltake Chaser Mk I
Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid RS-850
Corsair H100i Water Cooler
G-Skill Trident X - 2x8GB
Monitors: 1x ASUS VS238H-p + 2X ASU

All in all good choices in terms of quality, but also really expensive choices:

Cooler Master Silent Pro series are supposedly very good, only cooler master psu i'd consider. 850W is great if you're going sli or crossfire (now or later on), but a rather big waste if you're sticking to just one card.

i5 3570k is an excellent cpu, nothing to add. It would be my own choice too.

Corsair Hydro 100i is alright for a water cooling set but if you ask me a bit of a waste. Performance is on par with some of the best air coolers from what i can see but it's also twice as expensive. Personally i'd go with a Scythe Mugen 3 PC Games Hardware Edition or if you want to throw more money at it, a Noctua NH-D14.

ASUS Maximus V Formula is a nice motherboard but it's price is ridiculous, i'd grab another Z77 board like a MSI Z77A-G45 for HALF the price of that Asus and use the money you save towards a better videocard (or go nuts, towards a second videocard while you're using that 850W PSU anyway).

Asus bluray burner AND a dvd burner? I wouldnt bother with the BR burner when that money can be put towards your videocards, but if you got a good reason to want one, why bother with a dvd burner too?

All in all i'd you can probably buy a second videocard with the money you save on these things alone

_________________
LG 34UM95-P (3440x1440) + 2x Dell U2412M; MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G in 2-SLI; i5 4690k w/ Mugen 4 PCGH; 16GB Crucial; MSI Z97-G45 GAMING; Crucial M500 480GB; Corsair Enthusiast TX750M; CM Storm Scout 2

Sorry for the hold-up. My Logitech G27 has decided that center is about 10 degrees to the right and I got distracted yesterday trying to fix it before benchmarking. I did a test lap in iRacing around Lime Rock and got 110 min FPS, 309 max FPS, and 158 average FPS at 6048x1080 on 2x Radeon 7950s with all the in-game graphics options cranked as high as they'll go, including 4x antialiasing. When only running under one 7950, I got 74 min FPS, 103 max FPS, and 87 average FPS. So, I don't think you'll have any trouble with a single of any of the cards suggested so far.

I don't have BLOPS 2 to benchmark, but I did play it last week during the free weekend. With all the graphics cranked as high as they'd go in-game, I was at a constant 60 FPS with 2x Radeon 7950s at 6048x1080 (I guess I had v-sync on or there's a FPS limit, because it never deviated from 60 FPS).

Edit: If you do decide to go with an AMD card, be aware that you'll need an active displayport adapter to connect one of the monitors to. Eyefinity doesn't work without at least one monitor connected via displayport. Make sure it's an active adapter, too, otherwise Eyefinity still won't work.

I love AMD's Never Settle bundles. I got the Far Cry 3, Hitman Absolution, and Sleeping Dogs bundle. Now it's Bioshock Infinite and Crysis? Hell yeah!