2560x1600 Gaming

[Piano Man]

My work just got a couple of HP ZR30w for NOC monitoring, however I got to "test" them for a while before we eventually used them for their purpose.


Well, I'm having serious withdrawal right now. First, it was my first IPS display that I have ever seen, and my God, I couldn't believe the color difference. Sitting next to my 20" TN montior, it was night and day. Second, this resolution is oh so nice. Having four 1280x800 windows open is just amazing. Absolutely love it.

So I'm now really considering plunking down the cash to get either the Dell U3011 or the HP ZR30w for home. I will also probably flank them with two Dell 2007FPs (IPS version) in portrait mode so I end up having 3960x1600 of desktop.

Now, I like to game, and up till know I'm mostly a WoW player, but I do play SCII, and am currently playing the D3 beta, and will certaintly play that in the future when released. I used to play FPS when in college, but I'm not sure if I will again. I might try out RAGE or BF3 just to see the new 3D engines at work, but I don't see myself really getting into them at this point.

So my main concern with 2560x1600 gaming is that it usually means you need a serious GPU in order to get decent frame rates. Up until now I've always kind of limited myself to the $200-$250 range for my video cards, and will upgrade every 18 months or so. However, I've looked at some benchmarks of WoW, and even a GTX580 was only pushing 60FPS with 8xAA and all the goodies turned on at 2560x1600.

So my main questions are this:

1. Which 30" to get - the Dell U3011 or HP ZR30W (input lag is fairly important for games, but I'm no pro gamer)
2. What kind of GPU should I get for WoW, D3, SC2, and perhaps FPS games as well. (I'm down with Overclocking).
2b. Should I think Xfire/SLI? I don't want to deal with stuttering if it still exists, and I'd rather prefer 1 GPU instead of 2, but if the cost to performance ratio is high enough, I'd consider it.
3. Is this just not a good idea and should I instead get 3 24" Dell U2412Ms instead.

 

[uclaLabrat]

I don't know about the other games, but BF3 is supposedly pretty resource heavy, and I just got a 6970 for it about a week ago. Handles that game at 2560x1600 just fine. Before that I was running a 4870X2, which is comparable to a 5870 in most cases. Should be plenty of card. If you end up going eyefinity, I'd crossfire 2 6950 2GB versions and you should be flying.

 

[Grooveriding]

30" is the best.. imo, and I've tried all the other setups.

30" also means you need multi-gpu unless you are willing to compromise on image quality settings. If you were only going to play WoW, SC2 and D3; I'd say you could get by on a single card.

If you plan on playing any modern shooter, you will need at least two cards. You need to decide how much you want to spend.

The best value for a 30" monitor is 2 6950s in crossfire. Generally at 2560x1600 6970CF and 580SLI are so close the 6970s are a better buy because they are $100 less.

If money is no object I would get three cards.

If you really only ever see yourself playing WoW, D3 and SC2 as the games that you spend any real time on, then just get a single card and make sure it has at least 1.5GB of VRAM. So a 580, 6970 or 6950.

 

[HendrixFan]

30" is the best.. imo, and I've tried all the other setups.

30" also means you need multi-gpu unless you are willing to compromise on image quality settings.

This.

If you buy a 30" you will have to pay more continually for upkeep to have a system that will support it while gaming. However, if you aren't too concerned with the gaming aspect of it you can always lower settings. For the BF3 beta I ran at 2560X1600 but with most of the settings turned down to get a good framerate.

 

[LucJoe]

I play on a U3011 with a single (overclocked) 580 with no problems. Mostly SC2 these days.

I would highly recommend it. I still have my 24" 1920x1200 set up on another computer and its amazing how terrible it seems now after happily using it for years.

 

[yours truly]

How well does the U3011 scale down to 1920x1080?

I was thinking about getting one, and using it at it's native resolution for regular use but going down to 1080p for gaming for better framerates.

 

[HendrixFan]

How well does the U3011 scale down to 1920x1080?

I'm sure that is more of a subjective thing than objective. Personally I think games look better at 2560X1600 with settings turned down than at a lower resolution with settings turned up.

 

[Zorander]

How well does the U3011 scale down to 1920x1080?

I think the U3011 scales down to 1920x1200 (not 1920x1080!) very well. I have played DA2 and SPAZ on this resolution and I hardly notice the blocking/jaggies/artifacting normally associated with non-native resolutions.

 

[yours truly]

Thanks fellas, appreciate the advice.

I guess the U3011 is back on my wishlist..

 

[lavaheadache]

You say the 580 is only pushing 60 fps with 8xaa @2560 x1600. 8xaa? I don't think you need AA that high.

 

[alachua]

I've been running my Dell 3007 off a Radeon 4870 for years and have no complaints when it comes to gaming. Only recently have I started running into frame rate issues and that is mostly with Civ5. I play quite a bit of Company of Heroes, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 as well as Left4Dead2 and F1 2010. I played SC2 when it came out, but it wasn't really my cup of tea. In most games I have to keep the AA low and disable some of the less noticeable effects, shadow detail for instance. But overall, don't think you absolutely have to have the top tier of graphics hardware. Especially if you are playing Wow or Diablo 3, as neither are particularly hard on the video system.

 

[tviceman]

Sorry for the thread hijack, but I'm curious as to what people would rather have (if they cannot have both)

1. A good non-ips monitor with 120hz display
2. A good IPS monitor (like the U3011)

Some people say once they use a 120hz display there is no going back. Some people also say the same about IPS monitors. So which is more valued?

 

[heynow85]

Sorry for the thread hijack, but I'm curious as to what people would rather have (if they cannot have both)

1. A good non-ips monitor with 120hz display
2. A good IPS monitor (like the U3011)

Some people say once they use a 120hz display there is no going back. Some people also say the same about IPS monitors. So which is more valued?

It sounds like you're asking a very subjective question that is dependent on personal preferences and possibly professional ties.

Ask this question to anyone in graphic design or photography, of course it's going to be #2. Me personally, I'm a Web UI Developer, so my IPS monitor was an obvious choice.

 

[adairusmc]

my u3011 should arrive tomorrow, and is replacing my Samsung 305T that I currently use. 2560x1600 gaming is definitely where it is at, I cant wait to try out the new dell though.

I was able to get Dell to beat amazon's price on their own monitor, throw in 5 years of warranty, and additional overnight shipping at no cost after riding them for a little bit, in case anyone is thinking of ordering a u3011

 

[RobertR1]

I think the U3011 scales down to 1920x1200 (not 1920x1080!) very well. I have played DA2 and SPAZ on this resolution and I hardly notice the blocking/jaggies/artifacting normally associated with non-native resolutions.

They must have improved scaling considerably from the 3008 to the 3011 then. I quickly notice anything non native on my 3008.

OP, a 580GTX is a necessity. Sli desired but I'm not a fan of the mutli gpu setups so I rather turn down some settings such as AA which are taxing.

Get a 580GTX, learn to OC and it'll give you MUCH better performance than the stock card performance.

 

[lavaheadache]

Sorry for the thread hijack, but I'm curious as to what people would rather have (if they cannot have both)

1. A good non-ips monitor with 120hz display
2. A good IPS monitor (like the U3011)

Some people say once they use a 120hz display there is no going back. Some people also say the same about IPS monitors. So which is more valued?

I have both, You couldn't pry my 120hz asus from my cold dead fingers

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Having four 1280x800 windows open is just amazing. Absolutely love it.

You know I never looked at it that way. That would be staggering.

I think I'll hold off till we get 30" 120hz displays (if ever...)

 

[Shmee]

I have a HP ZR30W, and I am very pleased with it. I have 6950 2GB xfire, works nicely with it.

 

[pankajs]

WoW 2560x1600 Gaming,
I have played games on 1080p maximum and never tried to play at 2560x1600 but i would definitely like to play games on higher resolution than 1080p.

 

[RoboChobo]

I have the X1 Dell U3011 and got X2 GTX 580 3gb on it and works great so far.

I copied this setup from Baasha and this was the thread I was looking at, months ago

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2179318&highlight=gtx+580+3gb

He went all out!

 

[Carfax83]

my u3011 should arrive tomorrow, and is replacing my Samsung 305T that I currently use. 2560x1600 gaming is definitely where it is at, I cant wait to try out the new dell though.

I was able to get Dell to beat amazon's price on their own monitor, throw in 5 years of warranty, and additional overnight shipping at no cost after riding them for a little bit, in case anyone is thinking of ordering a u3011

I'd like to hear how the Samsung 305T compares to the Dell U3011, as I have a Samsung 305T Plus version.

I think the plus version has HDCP and a wider color gamut, but thats it. From what I've read, the S-PVA panels have better contrast ratio and lower temps than the S-IPS monitors, but the S-IPS monitors have wider viewing angles.

Anyway, I love my monitor. I'm going to be sad when it inevitably fails one day :'(

 

[Nemeth782]

I found a review here: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/04/11/amd_radeon_69906970_crossfirex_trifire_review/9

This shows a 6990 with a 6970 vs two 580s, so basically the same as 6970 tri-fire vs 580sli.

Seems to indicate that at 5760x1200 (so a high res) the 6970s have it by a clear margin, and I can have three 6970s for around the same price as two 580s.

Or I might just do the 6990+6970 thing for the space in my case...

Actually, now I'm tempted by 6990+6990..... I knew looking at GPUs was a bad plan.... I'm supposed to be buying motorbikes not graphics cards!!

 

[Carfax83]

I found a review here: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/04/11/amd_radeon_69906970_crossfirex_trifire_review/9

This shows a 6990 with a 6970 vs two 580s, so basically the same as 6970 tri-fire vs 580sli.

Seems to indicate that at 5760x1200 (so a high res) the 6970s have it by a clear margin, and I can have three 6970s for around the same price as two 580s.

Or I might just do the 6990+6970 thing for the space in my case...

Actually, now I'm tempted by 6990+6990..... I knew looking at GPUs was a bad plan.... I'm supposed to be buying motorbikes not graphics cards!!

All I will say is, mo GPUs, mo problems :whiste: Mark my words, if you get the tri/quad fire set up, you will regret it.

And HardOCP's reviews are suspect imo. They favor AMD in a subtle manner by jacking up the settings to ridiculous levels and calling it "playable," and then using under clocked CPUs in their test rigs.

They were caught out on that when they tried that same tri-fire set up against a tri-SLi 580s using the same 3.6ghz CPU, and of course, the results favored the AMD rig because Nvidia GPUs require more brute CPU power, presumably due to higher driver overhead.

After the outcry, they went and retested with a much faster CPU, and of course, the Tri-SLi 580s mopped the floor with the tri-fire one.

Personally, I wouldn't even run 580 SLi without a Core i7 clocked to at least 4.0ghz...even at 2560x1600

And funnily enough, since they swapped out their test rig for the SB @ 4.8ghz, Nvidia now does better in their benchmarks go figure..

 

[Grooveriding]

I found a review here: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/04/11/amd_radeon_69906970_crossfirex_trifire_review/9

This shows a 6990 with a 6970 vs two 580s, so basically the same as 6970 tri-fire vs 580sli.

Seems to indicate that at 5760x1200 (so a high res) the 6970s have it by a clear margin, and I can have three 6970s for around the same price as two 580s.

Or I might just do the 6990+6970 thing for the space in my case...

Actually, now I'm tempted by 6990+6990..... I knew looking at GPUs was a bad plan.... I'm supposed to be buying motorbikes not graphics cards!!

At high resolutions AMD is just plain better than nvidia. Every benchmark shows it, at 1920x1200 or 1920x1080 you'll see nvidia's 580s as faster than 6970s. Once you get up to higher resolutions the 580s and 6970s are equal when used in SLI/Crossfire. Each being faster than the other in a few games as well.

With the price premium on 580s they're just not worth it for 2560x1600 and higher resolutions with the 6970s being just as fast and $150 cheaper.

I would recommend three 6970s over the 6990+6970 though, so long as your motherboard supports it. The 6990 is going to run hot and be loud. You'll also get better overclocking headroom out of the three individual 6970s.

 

[lavaheadache]

At high resolutions AMD is just plain better than nvidia. Every benchmark shows it, at 1920x1200 or 1920x1080 you'll see nvidia's 580s as faster than 6970s. Once you get up to higher resolutions the 580s and 6970s are equal when used in SLI/Crossfire. Each being faster than the other in a few games as well.

With the price premium on 580s they're just not worth it for 2560x1600 and higher resolutions with the 6970s being just as fast and $150 cheaper.

I would recommend three 6970s over the 6990+6970 though, so long as your motherboard supports it. The 6990 is going to run hot and be loud. You'll also get better overclocking headroom out of the three individual 6970s.

That graph is quite interesting. The 5870 is putting up a very impressive showing. I know this is a beta game benchmark and the real deal is subject to change. Look at the GTX460. I remember all the people who said that the 460 was true competition the 5870, lol. Kudos to the people who bought a 5870 back in September 2009. Talk about a card with staying power.