Do you think 3 27 inch monitors is overkill?

[toyota]

That is wrong. Games don't care, they are made to play at different ratios/resolutions, etc.

I've yet to see a modern game that has a problem with using both.

most modern games are indeed designed to be run in 16:9 widescreen. just because you can choose another aspect ratio does not change that fact. heck some developers even use anamorhpic just to make sure you will get the intended view even if you are not using a 16:9 widescreen.

 

[toyota]

I have only ever had a problem with one game - The Witcher 2. Every other game has worked correctly with 16:10, and I suspect they all still work with 4:3. Games are better in 16:10 as you see a bit more sky and floor and you use eyefinity/surround to increase peripheral vision. 16:9 is just cheap because its the same ratio as modern TVs.

Its tempting to go for cheap screens because you are buying 3 of them, but personally after having being forced to buy an IPS screen as a replacement I am now of the opinion you should spend the extra as the image quality difference is enormous.

I said 16:9 is better for gaming. I never said you could not use a different resolution or aspect ratio. heck you can play at 5:4 and cut off 1/3 of the intended fov from the game if you really want to. some games are 16:9 anamorphic though so you will be playing with black bars and running in 16:9 no matter what aspect ratio your monitor is.

 

[BrightCandle]

I said 16:9 is better for gaming. I never said you could not use a different resolution or aspect ratio. heck you can play at 5:4 and cut off 1/3 of the intended fov from the game if you really want to. some games are 16:9 anamorphic though so you will be playing with black bars and running in 16:9 no matter what aspect ratio your monitor is.

I have seen black bars once in 4 years and they fixed it within 2 weeks as a bug. Its simply not a problem in practice. Nor is it even close to the most prevalent hardware that PC gamers own. Take a look at the Steam hardware survey (http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey) and you'll get the following figures:
4:3 7.47%
16:9 24.98%
16:10 39.28%
Other 28.27%

The PC market is much more diverse than just 1080p, infact 16:9 is the third most popular category of resolution, with 16:10 currently being the leader. If games only worked properly at 16:9 only 1 in 4 people would have their games work right. 16:10 works perfectly and is the aspect ratio of the quality monitors, the cheap TN rubbish comes out at 1080p but it does not make it a good resolution to choose for a PC.

 

[toyota]

I have seen black bars once in 4 years and they fixed it within 2 weeks as a bug. Its simply not a problem in practice. Nor is it even close to the most prevalent hardware that PC gamers own. Take a look at the Steam hardware survey (http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey) and you'll get the following figures:
4:3 7.47%
16:9 24.98%
16:10 39.28%
Other 28.27%

The PC market is much more diverse than just 1080p, infact 16:9 is the third most popular category of resolution, with 16:10 currently being the leader. If games only worked properly at 16:9 only 1 in 4 people would have their games work right. 16:10 works perfectly and is the aspect ratio of the quality monitors, the cheap TN rubbish comes out at 1080p but it does not make it a good resolution to choose for a PC.

congratulations on being the 3rd person to miss the ENTIRE POINT. of course you can play a game at ANY res or aspect ratio you want. I never said you would have problems doing that. I am only talking about that developers basically design around 16:9 thanks mainly to consoles. that is why some actually choose to make their game anamorphic so you can see exactly what they intended for you to see no matter what aspect ratio your monitor is. so AGAIN modern games are better on 16:9 than 16:10, 4:3, or 5:4.

and you certainly have not played many games if only one game had black bars. there are at least 8-10 popular games that are anamorphic.

EDIT: here is a list right here of over 20 games I know are anamorphic. so are you actually saying you played none of these?

Splinter Cell: Conviction
Assassins Creed
Assassins Creed 2
Assassins Creed Brotherhood
Assassins Creed Revelations
The Maw
Condemned Criminal Origins
Resident Evil 4
FEAR 2
The Last Remnant
The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
Driver: San Francisco
Alone in the Dark
Dungeon Siege III
Bulletstorm
Bionic Commando: Rearmed
Roboblitz
Braid
Shank
The Secret of Monkey Island
Dark Void
Penny Arcade Adventures
Blacklight: Tango Down

 

[BrightCandle]

A lot of those are UbiSoft. I don't buy UbiSoft games due to their DRM issues and to add to that as you have shown they don't support PC resolutions well.

I haven't played a single one of those games (mainly because most of them aren't any good)! Those that aren't UbiSoft are third rate or clearly poor console ports, I avoid those as well.

 

[whoady4shoady]

I am right there with you OP. I am looking to buy 3 of the exact same monitor when they drop, and I only intend on sitting 2.5 to 3 feet away.