ATI eyefinity- actual users, a question

[clok1966]

I am really leaning towards an Eyefinity setup. But the best stuff on the web about it is with the very best equipment (duel GPU single cards or Crossfire) and $3-4000 machines.

I'm looking for people who are running singel 5870 cards, and (if its possilbe) 21" non -widescreen lcd's. You, know the normal "im not made of pure cash" setup.. fast but not bleeding edge. I know some will mention a eyfinity setup is $1000-1200+ .. I got that part covered, no worries on that, lets just discuss the setup below.

First are there any 21 or 22 inch non widescreen LCDs out there that have the correct connection? I would imagine there are , but? anybody using some and if so, waht?

Also, most games seem to run fine in all the videos i see (fps at least) but they are on $6-700+ video setups... I'm wondering how it runs on a singel 5870. Current setup runs anything i have 1920X1280 just fine (30FPS or more) with max detail (hmm maybe not crysis).

So anybody have a singel 5870 and can say how some new games run in eyefinity?

 

[daddy-o]

I can chime in, because I had the same problem, and bit the bullet anyway.

I'm running an XFX 5870 (rev2 with the fan in the middle) with 2 x Dell 2007WFP and 1x Dell 2005FPW. I paid $130 each for the 2007's and I had a 2005 already. I was definitely going on the cheap.

None of these monitors has the Displayport Input, so I have to use an adapter. I read up on the adapters over on the widescreengaming forums, and decided to take a shot on the $20 monoprice passive DP->VGA adapter. It works perfect. If the lcd's go into sleep mode, the VGA one will not wake without reconnecting the adapter, but it's a small issue, and I got around it by changing the power saver settings on the monitors. To confirm, in spite of what a lot of people are saying, the passive DP adapters do work at lower resolutions (1680x1050 in this case).

These are widescreen, and I"m running them in portrait mode. Landscape was just too wide. If you went with a non-widescreen panel, you probably would not have that issue. To be honest, I really wish I had the 2007fp's instead of the 2007wfp's. In portrait, because the screens are so narrow, I'm looking at a lot of bezel.

In terms of performance, I've played WoW, Dawn of War II, Company of Heroes, and Fallout3 at the eyefinity res of 3150x1680. WoW only slows down in Dalaran, but that's not really a video issue. Fallout3 was playable but not silky, but I was playing with all settings maxed out and 2XFSAA/AF. Also, I'm only running an E7200@2.8ghz, so my processor is a bit gimpy. At the res I run, I should be more GPU bottlenecked, but I think the CPU is hurting me a little bit. DOW2 and COH are awesome. Fully cranked up, everything is silky smooth.

Honestly, I'm considering going back to one large, only because the bezels drive me crazy. If anyone is interested in my panels, let me know.

Any specific questions?

 

[clok1966]

Specific:

Hmm not really, I play games 90% of the time on my home system and some mild web browsing. Can the taskbar be set for just he middle monitor? How is it when not gameing i guess is the question.

Bezels bother you that much that is not good, in the videos i watched when i was watching gameplay and not looking at the bezel allignement thing i relly didnt notice them, but a video and real life use are not the same.

I currently have a 26" so maybe this inst the way to go, but once a hardware geek, alwasy a hardware geek i guess.

Ran into many games that dont like it? Right now i play alot of L4D2, TFC, not to much else.. dableing in old school EQ (with the $2.50 steam deal) but doubt It will be long term. Have AvP, Metro2025(or whatever the name) and a few other FPS to get too, just havent yet. Got a list of games you have tired that do or dont work? My STEAM account has way to many games.. and i do somtimes fire up old stuff.

 

[daddy-o]

I think my issue with the bezels is the portrait mode and the widescreen format. I run a 3-monitor setup at work, with 4:3 monitors, and I never see the bezels. For the games I play most (COH/DOW), the portrait is better. I should have planned better. If I did FPS mostly, my setup would be awesome in landscape mode. The screens are beautiful.

If you want the taskbar in the middle screen, you have to setup an eyefinity profile for gaming and an extended desktop profile for desktop use. Easy to do, and you'll get all the functionality you want.

 

[NoQuarter]

You're actually better off price-wise with 1680x1050 monitors than 5:4 1280x1024 monitors I think. I also went with 16:9 1920x1080 monitors and feel 16:10 would be a better aspect ratio for both landscape and portrait, but it's still great.

I don't notice the bezel at all now, after 5 minutes you don't see it - but you will run into a problem with it if you use a 5:4 1280x1024 setup because the UI in many Eyefinity games sets the elements up within a 1680 or 1920 section inside your 3840x1024 "monitor" meaning many of the UI elements will be split by the bezels if your center monitor is only 1280 across.

 

[VirtualLarry]

How does WoW work with the bezels? Once they add "bezel compensation" into the drivers, then the games will allocate pixels where the bezels are.

In WoW, your bars show up across the bottom of the screen. Won't some of the buttons be lost in-between the edges of the screen, into the void of "bezel compensation"? Or will all of the button bars fit snugly into the middle monitor, and not exceed the sides of that one?

 

[daddy-o]

WoW was great once I installed the dominos addon and moved all my bars.

It depends on whether you go portrait or landscape really, as NoQuarter said. I get a lot of UI in the bezel area in DOW and COH, and there's no way to move it.

 

[Voo]

In WoW, your bars show up across the bottom of the screen. Won't some of the buttons be lost in-between the edges of the screen, into the void of "bezel compensation"? Or will all of the button bars fit snugly into the middle monitor, and not exceed the sides of that one?

Haven't played WoW for a long time, but almost nobody plays with the default UI anyway and you can configure it in any way you want, so that shouldn't be any problem