Run 3 monitors off of GTX580?

[notty22]

You have to read the release notes on the driver your going to attempt to use.
Since they offer 3d also, there are combinations of surround / 3d / SLi /tri sli

Which work and also aren't available. Since support goes back to the gtx 2xx cards, sometimes only 2-way sli works for 3d surround.

Here is a good review of 3D GtX 480 SLI Surround ! (mouthful)
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1034/pg1/nvidia-surround-featuring-3d-vision-introduction.html

 

[notty22]

rofl, found this answer through google and all I can say is lame... I don't need to play games on 3 monitors, but I would like to run 2 monitors plus TV from a single card. ATI 5 series could do this for over a year now? nVidia still can't. Lame.

Nvidia's solution allows their legacy hardware to benefit. 2d / 3d surround is available for their gtx 2XX cards.
There are some drawbacks to display port implementation, but I don't want to debate that here.

 

[jackstar7]

wrong:


I get respectable framerates on my eyefinity setup with 1920x1200 monitors with a 5870. there are about 3 games I play that I end up using one screen for...

+1

 

[blastingcap]

+1

Make that +2.

I love how the people without multi-mon are arguing against those who actually use multi-mon. Yeah I guess we multi-mon people don't know what we're talking about, huh? I'll ponder that while I go play LOTRO at 5040x1050 with high res textures on Ultra with 8x AA, or Source games at 5140x1050 at 60-70fps without even overclocking my 6850. I still haven't played Fallout 3 on tri-monitor yet, maybe I'll give that a whirl next... I hear Fallout:NV uses the same graphics engine. As does Oblivion, which looks good in multi-mon.

Meanwhile, the non-multi-mon people can ponder this: GOOD games are not necessarily the newest or most graphics-intense. There's a reason why L4D2 and TF2 still dominate my gaming time. Sure (insert latest heavy game) runs horribly on tri-mon but it's not a big deal when I don't want the game in the first place.

 

[exar333]

Make that +2.

I love how the people without multi-mon are arguing against those who actually use multi-mon. Yeah I guess we multi-mon people don't know what we're talking about, huh? I'll ponder that while I go play LOTRO at 5040x1050 with high res textures on Ultra with 8x AA, or Source games at 5140x1050 at 60-70fps without even overclocking my 6850. I still haven't played Fallout 3 on tri-monitor yet, maybe I'll give that a whirl next.

You are playing games that are not very GPU demanding. Source is how old, 6 years old now? Fire up a modern game on 5040x1050 and watch it crawl with a high AA enabled. That's not an opinion, that is fact. Your needs are now everyone's needs. I play a lot of games one a single 1920x1200 monitor with a 5870 with high AA enabled and it just meets my expectations sometimes. Three monitors, forget it.

 

[blastingcap]

Your needs are now everyone's needs.

That's exactly my point. YOUR needs are not everyone's needs. (I assume you meant to write "not" instead of "now.") For SOME people, we decided to go single-GPU multi-mon and enjoy it. Not all of us want to play Metro 2033 on tri-screen in 3D at 60fps.

 

[taltamir]

Are you sure Tri-Sli even works with Surround? I've heard differently.

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=172712&view=findpost&p=1082186

And have never heard of Surround working with 6 monitors, either.

oops, seems I was wrong about going beyond 3 monitors with nvidia, you simply can't. thank you for correcting me.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/3dv-system-requirements-surround-technology.html
But nvidia at least claims that tri sli works with tri monitor.
According to that chart from nvidia:
1 GPU = 1 to 2 monitors
2 GPU or 3 GPU = 1 to 3 monitors

 

[Triggaaar]

If it's application-specific, this is what I would do:

1. Find out what the frames per second (fps) would be with one monitor at the settings you play at with the card you expect to get.
2. Multiply by 0.45.

Useful guide, thanks.

I have been happy with a HD6850 at 5140x1050 (bezel-corrected)

What's bezel corrected?

I think you should watch this: (5way eyefinity done right)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNkDX2pcg0U

I've not seen 5 monitors live, but while that looks like a very professional set-up, I'm not keen on the number of bezels visable, particularly that close to the centre of the screen. I prefer the idea of 3 monitor in landscape mode, giving just 2 bezels in view, as opposed to 4.

 

[blastingcap]

Useful guide, thanks.
What's bezel corrected?

You're welcome. It's a rule of thumb so some games may scale a bit better or worse than others.

Bezel corrected means you can tell the driver to correct for the bezels on the screen. http://www.anandtech.com/show/2940/4

 

[digitaldurandal]

You would need a second card. Honestly to run modern games on 3 monitors you need 2 cards anyway, whether it be crossfire or sli.
It is possible to run older games with one fast card, but I dont see it worth buying 3 monitors to replay old games.

FUD.

I can run eyefinity 5720x1200 with my 5870. I have played dirt 2, bfbc2, dragonage origins. All with one card. I have to run no AA and only 8x af. My average framerates are well over 30 and the games are playable.

 

[digitaldurandal]

You are playing games that are not very GPU demanding. Source is how old, 6 years old now? Fire up a modern game on 5040x1050 and watch it crawl with a high AA enabled. That's not an opinion, that is fact. Your needs are now everyone's needs. I play a lot of games one a single 1920x1200 monitor with a 5870 with high AA enabled and it just meets my expectations sometimes. Three monitors, forget it.

Turn down the AA, and see the fps rise... Once again, I am playing state of the art brand new games. CODMW2 BFBC2 DOA Dirt2 and they look glorious. MW2 I can even enable 2x AA

 

[taltamir]

FUD.

I can run eyefinity 5720x1200 with my 5870. I have played dirt 2, bfbc2, dragonage origins. All with one card. I have to run no AA and only 8x af. My average framerates are well over 30 and the games are playable.

i think FUD accusations is going too far, he obviously considers max AA and AF a requirement... which, if he uses a multi GPU multi monitor setup makes sense...

personally i can do with no AA, but I think every game must be at 16x AF. I prefer AA if I can though, but its not that big a deal.

 

[jackstar7]

i think FUD accusations is going too far, he obviously considers max AA and AF a requirement... which, if he uses a multi GPU multi monitor setup makes sense...

I think you're giving happy more slack than warranted. If he qualified his own statements it'd be a favor to everyone.

The OP didn't mention those requirements.

 

[taltamir]

I think you're giving happy more slack than warranted. If he qualified his own statements it'd be a favor to everyone.

The OP didn't mention those requirements.

I agree that he didn't qualify it and assumed others set the bar as high as he does. I just don't think FUD is appropriate here, FUD is a very strong claim, especially because it insinuates being a shill.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt