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Eyefinity Resolution question. 3 monitor setup.

orion23

Platinum Member
Hi!

Just got an HD 5850, and I'm using an Asus 26" 1920X1200 LCD.

Very curious about eyefinity and wonder what the resolution would be while using 3 X 1920x1080 monitors?

How do the numbers work?

I believe the horizontal resolution would be 3 X 1920, but what about vertical?

Thanks!
 
Hi!

How do the numbers work?

I believe the horizontal resolution would be 3 X 1920, but what about vertical?

It's very simple actually.

Setup #1 (3 displays set horizontally, along one another like this: http://www.beritateknologi.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/eyefinity-eyes-on-000-rm-eng.jpg)
Imagine a rectangle that's 1920x1080. Now extend that rectangle 3x its length, while keeping the width constant. Your area (A) = Length (L) x Width (W) = (3 x 1920) x (1080) = 5760 x 1080 = 6,220,800

Setup #2 (3 displays set vertically, stacked on top of one another similar to this: http://zedomax.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/dual-monitor-stand.jpg)
Imagine a rectangle that's 1920x1080. Now extend the height of the rectangle from its base, while keeping the base constant. Your area (A) = Base (B) x Height (H) = (1920) x (3 x 1080) = 1920 x 3240 = 6,220,800

Setup #3 (3 displays set horizontally, while inverting length and width: http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/video/ATI/5870/re5eyefinity.jpg)
Imagine a rectangle that's 1080x1920. Now extend the length of that rectangle 3x, while keeping the width constant. Your area (A) = Length (L) x Width (W) = (3 x 1080) x (1920) = 6,220,800

In both situations, the area is the same. In other words, the definition of "vertical" is relative to monitor positioning. The videocard still has to shade the same area.
 
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Hi!

Just got an HD 5850, and I'm using an Asus 26" 1920X1200 LCD.

Very curious about eyefinity and wonder what the resolution would be while using 3 X 1920x1080 monitors?

How do the numbers work?

I believe the horizontal resolution would be 3 X 1920, but what about vertical?

Thanks!

it depends on how you set them up = portrait or landscape

in portrait you have 1080+1080+1080=3240x1920
in landscape you have 1920+1920+1920=5760x1080

--if you had your 1920x1200 as the center LCD flanked by two 1920x1080 displays it would run at 1920x1080 as all 3 displays must run at the same resolution

That is actually what i am planning to do as i already have 1 - 19x12 and 1 - 19x10 LCD; both are 24", so the extra 120 pixels on the center LCD shouldn't make that much difference.
--But i am looking for a 120MHz LCD with Displayport so i can run both Eyefinity and 2D Surround (as well as 3D vision on a single panel). They aren't cheap.
 
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Thank you guys...I'm very tempted to play with this...it sucks to get new toys...

Do you think it would be a good idea to dump the Asus 26" and replace it with 3 1920 X 1080 monitors for a portrait setup?

Portrait meaning 3240x1920 Is this correct?
 
Portrait meaning 3240x1920 Is this correct?

Yes, that's setup #3 in the pic = (1080 base x 3) x 1920 height.

You either get 2 more 1920x1200 monitors, or 3x 1920x1080. The choice is yours and depends on the price difference. But a single 5850 is not going to provide smooth gameplay for 3 monitors at such high resolution. You may want to get a 2nd 5850. I belive you also need an active displayport adapter for the 3rd monitor. Apoppin can clarify this.
 
Yes, that's setup #3 in the pic = (1080 base x 3) x 1920 height.

You either get 2 more 1920x1200 monitors, or 3x 1920x1080. The choice is yours and depends on the price difference. But a single 5850 is not going to provide smooth gameplay for 3 monitors at such high resolution. You may want to get a 2nd 5850. I belive you also need an active displayport adapter for the 3rd monitor. Apoppin can clarify this.

Yes you are correct.

5850 would be fine for older games and few of the non-demanding new games at 3240x1920. You just have to realize that this is a really high resolution and 5850 CrossFire would be an excellent idea.

You really do need an active Displayport adapter for the 3rd LCD. Some people have been able to use a passive DP to VGA adapter but not to DV-I (generally; YMMV)

Most users report after awhile the bezels 'disappear'; some return to 25x16 and playing on a single monitor - but most appear to like the experience. Eyefinity does not work with many games ooB unless the game is optimized for it or AMD works on it. Sometimes the crosshair is off or the images don't match perfectly across 3 screens.


it is a work in progress; i am looking forward to trying it. Since i have 2 24 LCDs already, i would need one with DP (or an adapter). Since i am going to evaluate 3D vision, it will also need to be 120MHz - but the OP would not have that issue. i am also going to "mickey mouse" mine by using 1 - 19x12 (as 1080) with two 19x10 LCDs just to see if i have to have all 1080.

i think ideally 3 projectors would be perfect for Eyefinity or Surround; no bezels - i saw it at CES and i like it.
 
Yes, that's setup #3 in the pic = (1080 base x 3) x 1920 height.

You either get 2 more 1920x1200 monitors, or 3x 1920x1080. The choice is yours and depends on the price difference. But a single 5850 is not going to provide smooth gameplay for 3 monitors at such high resolution. You may want to get a 2nd 5850. I belive you also need an active displayport adapter for the 3rd monitor. Apoppin can clarify this.

Depends on your IQ preference, I get 40-45 fps in BFBC2 on a single 5770 at medium settings 2x AA which is good enough for me, but sometimes my min framerate dips down when I have the AA on. A 5850 would get you fairly decent settings in a lot of games.

Anyway if you are doing portrait you will most likely want some IPS panels, the NEC EA231WMi is 23", 1920x1080, IPS, native DisplayPort and a little over $300. You can get by on cheaper TN panels but you have to be tolerant of viewing angle if you want to do portrait with them.
 
Depends on your IQ preference, I get 40-45 fps in BFBC2 on a single 5770 at medium settings 2x AA which is good enough for me, but sometimes my min framerate dips down when I have the AA on. A 5850 would get you fairly decent settings in a lot of games.

Anyway if you are doing portrait you will most likely want some IPS panels, the NEC EA231WMi is 23", 1920x1080, IPS, native DisplayPort and a little over $300. You can get by on cheaper TN panels but you have to be tolerant of viewing angle if you want to do portrait with them.

I'm glad you mentioned the viewing angle. My brother has an Acer 24" LCD and you cannot even move away from its center by a few inches, or else colors start to look funny...
Bezel width is another issue, but I guess I'll have to shop around.


Many things to have in mind, but the idea of running 3 monitors, extended, sounds pretty cool.

We'll see...but Thank you all for taking the time to reply!
 
The TN panels do fine for me in landscape but TN have a terrible viewing angle vertically especially below the monitor, which when you rotate to landscape becomes the horizontal and the left side. Still does ok for me considering you can get TN for half the price of cheap IPS panels.
 
Yes you are correct.

5850 would be fine for older games and few of the non-demanding new games at 3240x1920. You just have to realize that this is a really high resolution and 5850 CrossFire would be an excellent idea.

You really do need an active Displayport adapter for the 3rd LCD. Some people have been able to use a passive DP to VGA adapter but not to DV-I (generally; YMMV)

Most users report after awhile the bezels 'disappear'; some return to 25x16 and playing on a single monitor - but most appear to like the experience. Eyefinity does not work with many games ooB unless the game is optimized for it or AMD works on it. Sometimes the crosshair is off or the images don't match perfectly across 3 screens.


it is a work in progress; i am looking forward to trying it. Since i have 2 24 LCDs already, i would need one with DP (or an adapter). Since i am going to evaluate 3D vision, it will also need to be 120MHz - but the OP would not have that issue. i am also going to "mickey mouse" mine by using 1 - 19x12 (as 1080) with two 19x10 LCDs just to see if i have to have all 1080.

i think ideally 3 projectors would be perfect for Eyefinity or Surround; no bezels - i saw it at CES and i like it.

I just purchased an Alienware Aurora Alx. The specs are i7 960 3.2 Ghz, HD 5970 graphics card, 6gb tipple channel RAM. I am running 3 23" Dell monitors in portrait at 3240x1920. FRAPS says that I'm only getting around 20 FPS at this resolution while playing Battlefield Bad Company 2 on high settings. Does this seem low considering this is a 2 GB graphics card? I don't really notice any performace issues at 20 FPS. Should I just decrease the resolution or settings to get a better FPS or does it really matter? Thanks for your input.
 
Decrease the resolution? That would defeat the object of running Eyefinity. You could try lower quality settings as a test to see if you gain noticably more frames, but if as you say 20fps plays fine, then roll with it. BTW, is this with Vsync on?
 
Yes, Vsync and HBAO were set to on. Ya it's fine for now. I'm not really worried about it, I just thought it would be higher with such a powerful graphics card. I'm not completely sold on Eyefinity for multiplayer like BC. I might just buy an lcd tv so that I get a more uniform picture. The borders are kind of distracting.
 
Yes, Vsync and HBAO were set to on. Ya it's fine for now. I'm not really worried about it, I just thought it would be higher with such a powerful graphics card. I'm not completely sold on Eyefinity for multiplayer like BC. I might just buy an lcd tv so that I get a more uniform picture. The borders are kind of distracting.

Really, I love it. Can see people coming up on your sides, can look around while you sprint since you can't strafe sprint, and watch multiple doors without having to look back and forth.. I know I've seen people hiding in corners I wouldn't have seen as immediately had I not had the wider FoV.
 
Ya, it's just kind of hard for me to focus on such a huge display. Are you running 3 in portrait or landscape?

Landscape. I'm still not convinced on portrait cuz you just get the same FoV as a 16:10 monitor and I would think 30" 2560x1600 would probably be the way to go in that case. But I also can't try portrait to see how I like it till I do something about my 3rd monitor.
 
Well, 30:16 isn't quite the same FoV as 16:10 - it is still "wider". But nothing like the experience of landscape 48:10.
 
Landscape. I'm still not convinced on portrait cuz you just get the same FoV as a 16:10 monitor and I would think 30" 2560x1600 would probably be the way to go in that case. But I also can't try portrait to see how I like it till I do something about my 3rd monitor.

Post some pics? I'm running three dell 2310h's, but I'm wondering what other peoples setups look like.
 
If you guys are on Bad Company 2 my steam id is Bansheeman360. We have two servers on the west coast that usually need populating. Just search [SiX] and you should find them. One is rush and the other is conquest. Later.
 
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