Triplehead2go, any alternatives?

[computerbuildin]

I put this in graphics because I have a few questions that relate to it. I currently have 2 monitors and im looking to add 1 more and buy something like a triplehead2go to make it the best gaming ever. I was wondering if there is any alternatives like software or whatever. I also was wondering if something like a single GTX 560 can handle that. I think its obvious it wouldnt be able to handle some games, but im fine with that, if its just lower graphics. So if anyone knows any alternatives that would be great. If not, thats fine. Also to clear it up im looking for something like this so I can stretch one thing across 3 monitors nicely as if its all one screen(like a game). With a setup like all 3 monitors plugged into the graphics card you can only have windows make it so its just like 3 separate screens for more workspace.

 

[3DVagabond]

With nVidia you need The latest Kepler cards to do 3 screen surround on one card. (There were a couple of Galaxy Fermi cards that did surround, but that was a special Galaxy only feature.)

 

[computerbuildin]

Odd, because some guy on youtube did an amaaazing video of 3 screen surround playing a game with 2 GTX 460's. But im guessing having 2 cards, they couldve handled the workload on it.

 

[KingFatty]

Also to clear it up im looking for something like this so I can stretch one thing across 3 monitors nicely as if its all one screen(like a game). With a setup like all 3 monitors plugged into the graphics card you can only have windows make it so its just like 3 separate screens for more workspace.

Are you suggesting that a single video card will not be capable of doing what the triplehead will do?

You could buy a current-gen video card and probably be able to play all current games on a triple-screen (if you are willing to turn down some settings). It would behave just like a triplehead option, but without a need to buy the triplehead. So you'd connect the monitors directly to the video card.

Either Nvidia or AMD cards would work.

Another option you may be able to take advantage of now is SoftTH, which stands for Software Triplehead. That could use your current card, and perhaps your integrated graphics if you have it (or some other cheap card).

I'd rank the options as:
1) Direct to video card (Eyefinity on AMD cards seems to have more flexible support for dissimilar monitors, and Surround gaming on Nvidia is nice too but I think you need to have the same resolution monitors)
2) SoftTH, see here (go to the forums for more info): http://www.kegetys.fi/SoftTH/
3) Triplehead hardware box adapter

I rank the triplehead last because options 1 and 2 are just more elegant and/or cheaper.

 

[computerbuildin]

Im going to have all the same monitors. I have asus' VH236H. Im just looking for something to make it so its all one big resolution. like if I had something like 5360x1200 or whatever. Its just one big screen across 3 monitors.

 

[3DVagabond]

Odd, because some guy on youtube did an amaaazing video of 3 screen surround playing a game with 2 GTX 460's. But im guessing having 2 cards, they couldve handled the workload on it.

You asked if a single 560 would do that.

 

[computerbuildin]

Hmmm. well theres my answer. Im gonna see as an experiment if softTH is good on 2 monitors, what I have now. Im just going to buy a monitor and upgrade to a newer card later on since that will save me like $250 for not buying a triplehead2go

 

[KingFatty]

Whoa whoa, for $250 you could buy a very competent video card today (check hot deals), and then sell your 560 for some extra cash, and plug 3 monitors into that video card for one big display.

Also I think the Nvidia cards, one card by itself, lets you run 4 monitors where you span the game across 3 of them like one big display, and the 4th monitor is like your status display or something where you show a map or whatever. Sorry haven't tried quad monitor, that's just what I've heard.

Today's cards, yes they definitely do exactly what the triplehead2go can do, all by themselves. So it's just obsolete now. There was a time when it served a purpose, but that was years ago.

I've used a 5850 to run 4800x1200. I played all of Bioshock like that, just like I had one big display for the entire game to span across all my monitors at that widescreen resolution. You could buy that card used today for say $70 but it's slow by today's standards. If you have $250 budget, things are good for you, especially if you sell your 560 and get some cash to perhaps bump your budget up to $300+?

Note for SoftTH you will need a second video card, but it can be a very old/slow card because all the rendering is done on the first card. So it's not like crossfire or SLI because with SoftTH, the secondary video card doesn't contribute any GPU horsepower at all, it's just working as a pass-through.

 

[computerbuildin]

So what you're saying is that I just cant do surround display right now because I have a 560 and that card doesn't support nvidia surround?

 

[serpretetsky]

I'm not as familiar with nvidia, but amd is simpler to understand.
so here we go

amd started natively supporting multiple monitor gaming with "eyefinity" technology. This was on the 5000 series of the cards (6000 and 7000 support it the same way). Any single or crossfire setup can support multiple monitors, but sometimes you have to be careful because with a single card most of the time one of your monitors will be running from the display port, and the other two from hdmi/dvi (you may need an active DP -> DVI adapter)

Nvidia added support for multi monitor gaming with "nvidia surround" on the 400 series cards and then scaled it down to the 200 series cards (I don't know if it goes farther than that). The only problem is these cards did not support single card surround setup, you have to have SLI.

For the 500 series cards, nvidia did not change this. You still need to have SLI to run surround. For the 600 series nvidia changed this so you can run surround on a single card, but you may have the same problems as amd where you will need to connect one monitor to display port and the others to hdmi/dvi

Performance wise there is no general fps difference between running "eyefinity" or "nvidia surround" vs running it through the triplehead2go. I have heard that the display port and the DVI's are sometimes not perfectly synced, but you will have to do more research on this because i don't run either setup. Also, i'm not sure the tripplehead2go will support as high of resolutions as "eyefinity" or "nvidia surround"

softTH only works for directx (last time i used it) and will give you a performance drop since it has to copy each frame over the pci-e bus to the secondary card.

 

[s44]

So what you're saying is that I just cant do surround display right now because I have a 560 and that card doesn't support nvidia surround?

It doesn't support surround *by itself*. It *does* support it in SLI.

You'll probably want to SLI on anything even mildly recent anyway.

 

[computerbuildin]

Thanks for the replies guys. I was lost. Im looking at a EVGA GTX 660 FTW SIG2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812189056
Since it only has 2 DVI's im just going to use a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812189056
http://redirect.anandtech.com/r?url...duct.aspx?Item=N82E16812189056&user=u00000687

 

[serpretetsky]

double check and make sure you can run 2x dvi and 1x hdmi on that card for surround. Like I posted, most cards require you use the display port for the third monitor. So you might need an active display port to dvi adapter, not hdmi to dvi.

 

[Schmide]

Why not get another 560 and go sli?

You can find evga 560 superclocks for $150-190.

I've seen other brands after rebate near $120 if you look around and bide your time.

For example Best buy is clearing 560s in Ohio for $125. Other places as well

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1251075/ Search your town.

I saw a zotac at tigger direct for $125 after rebate a week ago.

example $166 at provantage, $190 at buy.

Microcenter store pickup only $150-155AR

 

[Schmide]

double check and make sure you can run 2x dvi and 1x hdmi on that card for surround. Like I posted, most cards require you use the display port for the third monitor. So you might need an active display port to dvi adapter, not hdmi to dvi.

That's only AMD cards. Nvidia 6 series is not restricted to 2 and display port.

 

[serpretetsky]

That's only AMD cards. Nvidia 6 series is not restricted to 2 and display port.

good to know, thx!

 

[computerbuildin]

That's only AMD cards. Nvidia 6 series is not restricted to 2 and display port.

Also good to know, I kept trying to find an answer where I would find what ports it supported. And its either buy a superclocked at like 150 or 160$ and SLi it or just buy a new 660 ftw. So my choices could be SLi or for $70 more get an upgraded card, not sure what I should go with here.

 

[Schmide]

Well a 560sli is 20% greater than a gtx 580

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_560_sli_review,11.html

and a gtx 580 beats (or ties) a 660 with a few exceptions.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/517?vs=660

There are advantages to having a single card; but in pure horsepower, 560sli wins hands down.