Eyefinity: recommended Resolution and Monitors

[dynamicruss]

I currently have a Radeon 5870 with 3 x 17'' Samsung LCD's. The max resolution for each is 1,280x1,024 (In Eyefinity 3,840 x 1,280). My questions are:

1. In order to utilize Eyefinity successfully how important or a role does screen resolution play in the configuration?

2. Can anyone recommend a monitor/monitors that they are using in their Eyefinity configuration?

 

[Yuriman]

Question is kindof vague. What do you want to know about resolution?


I think 3 24" or 22" widescreen LCDs would be lovely for eyefinity, but I'd almost prefer a single 30".

 

[Cheex]

The only thing you miss out on with Eyefinity is the vertical pixel sizing of larger monitors.
For example, 3 x 22" LCDs = 5040x1050. No matter how much pixels you gain horizontally, it is always going to be the same vertically. Then again, you can get 3 x 24" (1920x1200 x 3 = 5760x1200) for less than the price of a 30" @ 2560x1600.

 

[ayabe]

I think 24" would be the best, but I'm not so sure you can get 3 for less than a 30", not anything decent anyways at 1920x1200.

 

[NoQuarter]

I currently have a Radeon 5870 with 3 x 17'' Samsung LCD's. The max resolution for each is 1,280x1,024 (In Eyefinity 3,840 x 1,280). My questions are:

1. In order to utilize Eyefinity successfully how important or a role does screen resolution play in the configuration?

2. Can anyone recommend a monitor/monitors that they are using in their Eyefinity configuration?

I played on 3 1280x1024 and it was still awesome, the 5:4 screens still get the job done well enough, I will say I prefer 16:10 for Eyefinity though over my 16:9 ones.


For monitor, the Dell P2310H 23" is probably the cheapest native DP monitor (I got one for $185 before shipping) BUT it is a TN panel which makes portrait mode tricky. You probably want an IPS screen if you want a really good experience in portrait mode as well as landscape, for that the NEC MultiSync EA231WMi 23" is suppose to be one of the best deals, it's around $300 and has native DP and IPS panel, but it is a 16:9 1920x1080 which isn't quite as ideal as a 16:10 panel.


Also for the posters about 30" displays, the point of Eyefinity isn't necessarily the larger display, it's the enlarged viewport - 5760 horizontal pixels shows you a lot more of the world around you than 1920 or 2560 horizontal pixels even if it's a 60" screen.

 

[Attic]

I've been hearing about screwed up FOV with eyefinity. Can anyone who uses an Eyefinity setup share their experience with some games and say if the FOV is adjusted approiately when going from a 16:10 screen ratio to something like 48:10 used in common Eyefinity setups?

 

[dank69]

I think I'd get three 24" 1920x1200 monitors that can rotate into portrait position. That way you can have 5760x1200 or 3600x1920 for different situations.

 

[cbn]

The only thing you miss out on with Eyefinity is the vertical pixel sizing of larger monitors.
For example, 3 x 22" LCDs = 5040x1050. No matter how much pixels you gain horizontally, it is always going to be the same vertically. Then again, you can get 3 x 24" (1920x1200 x 3 = 5760x1200) for less than the price of a 30" @ 2560x1600.

If the three monitors are used in portrait configuration rather than landscape the vertical increases quite a bit. For example, three 1920 x1200 monitors would come out to 3600 x 1920 resolution if used this way.

Of course, a person needs monitors with equal sized bezels all the way around to use "portrait".

 

[NoQuarter]

I've been hearing about screwed up FOV with eyefinity. Can anyone who uses an Eyefinity setup share their experience with some games and say if the FOV is adjusted approiately when going from a 16:10 screen ratio to something like 48:10 used in common Eyefinity setups?

It depends on the game. Technically there's nothing harder about making a game support ultra-widescreen aspect ratios over just 16:10, it's just having the foresight to not arbitrarily limit your fov and interface to 16:10 to start.

A lot of UE3 based games have problems because it's a somewhat old engine that was designed for 5:4 ratios in mind. Even then it's an easy fix on the game engine end, a little more work on the gui artwork end. Still waiting on a Mass Effect 2 patch though.

If you go over to widescreengamingforum.com they have a whole list compiled of hor+ widescreen friendly games. Also check the Widescreen Fixer tool which has a list of games it can edit the FoV in memory to make proper (yes it's an easy enough fix that only 1 or 2 memory values need to be changed, and you can even do it manually with a memory editor yourself if you're patient enough to track down the value). Also every MMO I've tried has perfect hor+ widescreen.