Widescreen Gaming Forum

Well I'm looking to upgrade my gaming setup. I have been running 6800gt sli rig for a year, but one of my video cards decided to die so it's time to climb the upgrade ladder.

Right now there is an extreme shortage of 5xxx Ati parts these days and the Nvidia next gen isn't out so I have time to contemplate the myriad of possibilities for me.

My main question right now is what people's opinions are on going with say 3x22" to 24" screens vs going with a larger 37"-42" HDTV running at 1080p. Right now I have a 32" 720p HDTV running as my gaming screen.

My concern is that going back to a smaller screen size will be a let-down, even though I will get the increase in horizontal view. I simply cannot afford 3x30" computer monitors. The other concern is the playable framerates on a triple-screen setup. So far the reviews are saying that the current cards can't really put out constant 30+ fps on a triple screen setup with a decent resolution.

Right now I have an older 8400 Intel dual core oc'd to 4ghz. I don't want to replace my motherboard so I am limited to a quad core model and hopefully could oc up near 4ghz again. I am running with 4gb of ram on windows 7 64bit.

With these stats in mind and really my cost ceiling being a single 5870 is triple screen gaming any likelihood or a larger HDTV display the way to go?

Hello and welcome :)
I always feel this is a strange question to ask. Doesn't multi-monitor gaming appeal to you so much that you know deep down it's what you want ? No ? Then go for a single 24" or 26" monitor (or a 1080p TV if that's your thing). Start with a comfy widescreen setup, enjoy and learn all you can about Hor+ gameplay - then ask yourself if Eyefinity should be your next move or not.

Hi

For me, I would never want to go back to a single screen setup, of any size.
I'm using 3 25.5" monitors, giving me 3 times the horizontal I had with one. It wouldn't matter how big a single monitor is, it will still only be 16:9 or 16:10. I would see the same image on it as I would on a 17" monitor. There would be no real difference, only in the size, but the image would remain the same.

3 25.5 give me 70" wide screen area. In racing, flight and shooters, a single screen just can't compare.
Single screens (of any size) look confined to a box, or as if one is playing with blinders on.
Triscreen will spoil you.

The only single panel I would be interested in would be like 80" diagonal with a aspect of something like 3:1 or something along those lines. That would nice, but probably not something we will see for awhile. Would be very expensive too, no doubt.

say 3x22" to 24" screens vs going with a larger 37"-42" HDTV running at 1080p. Right now I have a 32" 720p HDTV running as my gaming screen.

My concern is that going back to a smaller screen size will be a let-down, even though I will get the increase in horizontal view.

1 x 37"-42" and play at 1920x1080 16:9 or 3 x 22" or 3 x 24" and play at 5040x1050 or 5760x1200 48:10 surround gaming ? Pretty easy imo. :wink:

I keep both hanging around. I have 3x23" 1080p screens and a 32" 1366x768 set up. I use the 32" for anything i cant triplehead. The 32" is useful for console games, and watching movie, but really i don't tend to use it for computer games, except section 8 which doesn't keep it's FOV for anything.

Though if i got a philips cinema, I might not care as much as it is really wide and has a decent res.

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2560x1600 resolution on my 30 inch Dell3008WFP monitor is better than 5040x1050 on three 21inch monitors I used to get with SoftTH and TH2Go.

Mostly it's better because it works with more games. Also the gain in vertical resolution (1600 instead of 1050) is actually very nice.

It's a personal preference thing but I would heartily recommend going big on one monitor instead of dinking around with multiple monitors.

I have both myself, both have there merits.

If its a game that does not support surround for sure the single large screen is better, same for movies and stuff.

If the game does support surround the 3 monitors is better, or if its a game that there is not enough frames per second for surround. I have 3x24" monitors though so they are still pretty large, if i had smaller monitors like 20" and under I do not think I would like it nearly as much.

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It wouldn't matter how big a single monitor is, it will still only be 16:9 or 16:10. I would see the same image on it as I would on a 17" monitor. There would be no real difference, only in the size, but the image would remain the same.

That's it really.

If you wont to see MORE, get 3
If you wont to see MAGNIFIED, get a big one.

Depends on the game.

FPS and SIMs are way better in eyefinity.

RTS is better on a big screen.

Eyefinity has always been more about immersion for me, so any game that gives you a "personal" viewpoint is generally great.

depends on the games

triple is always better if the user can utilise the extra real estate