GPU Rec + how to set up for triple screen

[maniacalpha1-1]

So, I bought a 32" Samsung 1080 TV and it looks great. People said anything bigger than 24-25" was too big unless you went 2560 X 1440, and I suppose the desktop appearance is slightly meh, but games look good. Really good, Planetside 2 is looking awesome on this, Civ 5 is awesome, Orcs Must Die 2, and those are all my games I have checked out so far.

Anyway, my ultimate goal is to get two more of these,and run a triple screen setup, for racing games, for example, perhaps flight games too. Question number 1 may be a little dumb but I want to be sure. Nvidia control panel right now does not have an option to set up Surround even when I set my TV and monitor to the same resolution. I have a 560 Ti. I've seen info on EVGA's website that you have to have SLI for surround, is that right? Or would this option become available without SLI if I did have 3 TVs of the exact same make and model?

Question 2, I'm playing the long game here...assuming I don't need to have SLI, I was thinking I'd wait for a GTX 780 or HD 8970. I'm assuming that(again, if I don't need SLI) such a card would run anything that is out now and will come out for 6 months in 5760 X 1080 pretty easily.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

So, I bought a 32" Samsung 1080 TV and it looks great. People said anything bigger than 24-25" was too big unless you went 2560 X 1440, and I suppose the desktop appearance is slightly meh, but games look good. Really good, Planetside 2 is looking awesome on this, Civ 5 is awesome, Orcs Must Die 2, and those are all my games I have checked out so far.

Anyway, my ultimate goal is to get two more of these,and run a triple screen setup, for racing games, for example, perhaps flight games too. Question number 1 may be a little dumb but I want to be sure. Nvidia control panel right now does not have an option to set up Surround even when I set my TV and monitor to the same resolution. I have a 560 Ti. I've seen info on EVGA's website that you have to have SLI for surround, is that right? Or would this option become available without SLI if I did have 3 TVs of the exact same make and model?

Question 2, I'm playing the long game here...assuming I don't need to have SLI, I was thinking I'd wait for a GTX 780 or HD 8970. I'm assuming that(again, if I don't need SLI) such a card would run anything that is out now and will come out for 6 months in 5760 X 1080 pretty easily.

You need a GTX 6xx series GPU to run surround with one card. On the AMD side you can run eyefinity on all cards from the 5xxx series up.

Usually when you run games at 5760x1080 you have to sacrifice AA and some other settings if you only use one card. However multi card setups are prone to more problems especially when you run them in surround or eyefinity. Personally I don't see surround or eyefinity as a very attractive gaming option at this point as you will have to compromise either way you go.

My guess is the next generation of cards will handle high resolutions better then the current gen of cards and you may end up being quite pleased with the single card option.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

For surround 1080p I would consider 7950 oc trifire or above.

If budget permits then a 7970 ghz try/quad or 680 4gb oc tri/quad

Keep in mind if you are going with tri or above then a 3930k setup will have a huge performance gain, especially in real world smoothness.

At the bare minimum you will need a 7950 oc cf or 670 sli but I wouldn't recommend just dual gpus.

And I forgot, you are better off with a slightly lower nvidia gpu than a bit faster amd gpu for multiple gpus.

So stick to 670 multi or 680 multi

Pref at least 3

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

If I have to do multi GPUs then it will have to be a 690(or 790 by the time I do it), as my motherboard is one PCI 3.0 slot.

But I was thinking that a GTX 780, when it comes, or HD 8970, ought to do very well on any current game for multiple screens. Sure, I'm sure in 24 months there will be a game that chokes it coming out, but, right now my focus is going to be Planetside 2 and then some other miscellaneous games.

I didn't know that Surround wasn't single card supported on 500 series Nvidia, so that's good to know.

 

[Jacky60]

The 690 isn't a good choice for 3 screens at 2560/1440 due to its only 2 gb memory per GPU. You really need 3gb minimum for that resolution otherwise it'll choke on occasion. There are links to this but I'm at work so haven't time to dig them out but do some research and you'll see. Also 7970GE crossfire would be significantly cheaper and faster than the 690 with the added bonus of 3gb memory.
EDIT:I see you're at 1080 and have only one PCI slot after re-reading your post so ignore what I said lol