Surround Gaming on Smaller Monitor

[UaVaj]

considering getting surround setup for the kid's computer.

monitor is samsung 932BW 1440x900.

all the eye candy is not necessary for this setup. high settings will be fine, however 40fps is required. surround resolution is 4320x900.

what video card(s) could deliver this?

 

[p_monks33]

I would say that a 7950 would work well for this, I have seen a 6850 running that resolution before, and tried that resolution on a 7770 before, its not really what I would call playable. A 7870 I would say is the bare minimum I would want for 3 monitors. More info helps though, what games, what CPU, PSU Ect.

 

[KingFatty]

Yeah would depend on the game. Another strategy would be to find a good deal on a used 5870 or 6950/6970... I wonder if people who got new cards for xmas will be offering their old cards for sale on craigslist or ebay?

Part of me suggests going the used route because you can easily turn around and resell that card for about what you paid for it, so it's low risk. If you go buy a new card, you will take a financial hit due to the depreciation if it turns out your kid hates surround and doesn't need the higher performance and can use the old card due to the low resolution without eyefinity.

 

[UaVaj]

games is: bf3, crysis2, metro, cod, wow, sc2.
system is: i5-760, gtx560ti, 8gb, 128ssd, 550w psu.



p_monks33. to get a general baseline. what kind of performance did you see with a 6850 and a 7770? what about your minimum recommendation 7870?

btw. what kind of performance are you getting with your 7970CF at 5760x1080 with all the eye candy.

 

[BrightCandle]

A pair of 7970s can often run high graphics at eyefinity resolutions. In general I would say that running across 3 monitors takes about twice as much performance as normal resolutions.

I wouldn't want to try running at those resolutions with a game like bf3 with anything less than top end cards. Not unless you are willing to turn down the settings quite a bit.

 

[p_monks33]

With CFX 7970 I get pretty good performance even in high end games like BF3, I turn down the AA a bit and run SSAO instead of HBAO, I can keep it up in the 60's . The 7770 was a personal experiment I ran to see if the card would even run in eyefinity. BF3 all settings to low, resolution of 5760x1080 on the 7770 was an average of 25 FPS sometimes in the 30's , getting choppy at times in the low 20's . I would say that a 7870 is roughly twice as fast as the 7770 with the addition of more memory, you could probably run BF3 with medium settings and minimal AA at the 40-50 FPS range. Don't hold me to that though, its a rough guestimate.

 

[p_monks33]

Sorry, Forgot too add, I can maybe get you some numbers for a single 7850 , I5 2500K eyefinity setup this weekend. Lemme know a few games you want to see averages of.

 

[p_monks33]

Well, I just fired up some BF3 and at 5760x1080 with everything at lowest settings in single player on a 7850 clocked @ 1150 core/1400 memory I struggle to stay above 50FPS. If I turn everythin up to what I would call medium settings I can manage about 30FPS. I would think that a HD7950 or a GTX 670 would be the lowest capable card for this much monitor, you could play on the 7850/7870 but its not going to be the greatest experience.

 

[p_monks33]

I will see if I can get a custom resolution up and running.

 

[UaVaj]

just to be on the safe side. based on your testing. looks like a single 7970 or 680 should do it. thanks.