What do I need for 3-monitor 7680X1440 set up?

[Zardnok]

I am currently running a single Shimian Achieva 27" 1440p monitor off a single Asus GTX670 Top. I want to move to a 3-monitor set up using 3-27" 1440p monitors in 7680X1440 resolution if such an animal exists. A buddy and I play World of Tanks together and he has 3-1080p monitors in Eyefinity and is constantly telling me what I am missing in my peripheral vision. If I am going to go with 3-monitors, I want to do it right and can not see myself dropping back to 1080p monitors after using the 1440p. I assume I need to buy 2 more Shimian 27s off Ebay and another GTX670 to use in SLI, but not sure what to do beyond this point.

Is there a 1440p monitor that is better to run in tri-mode than the Shimians? I could always buy 3 new matching monitors and replace the Dell in my office with the Shimian.

Would it be better if I moved from the GTX670s to 7950s or 7970s in Cross-fire to take advantage of 3GB Video Ram instead of 2GB?

If I do run with GTX670s in SLI, I know the GPU has to be the same, but I have read that only the memory on the primary card is used, so could I use a 4GB GTX670 in SLI with my current 2GB card and have it take advantage of the extra RAM?

The Shimian monitors only have DVI inputs and each GTX670 only has two DVI outputs, I assume the third monitor would connect to the second GTX670 or does it not work like that in SLI?

 

[blackened23]

670SLI will do the job just fine. Cards in SLI have to match, so you can't pair a 2GB card with a 4GB card. Well, you might be able to - but the cards will sync to the one with lesser VRAM. So if you want 4GB, you'll need 2 4GB cards.

If you're running surround i'm *pretty sure* that you need all three monitors hooked up to the same GPU. That means you may need different monitors, or an active displayport to DVI-D adapter. Someone correct me if i'm wrong - I've always used dual monitors and i've always had to connect them both to the same card. Not sure if that's different with surround, but I doubt it. You may want to double check on this, I could be wrong.

 

[DooKey]

At that rez you will have vram issues if you run high levels of AA and AF. You should consider nothing less than 3gb cards. This means going to 7950s or upgrading to 4gb 670s. I would go the 670 route because SLI is still better than CF.

 

[supremor]

At that rez you will have vram issues if you run high levels of AA and AF. You should consider nothing less than 3gb cards. This means going to 7950s or upgrading to 4gb 670s. I would go the 670 route because SLI is still better than CF.

I run 5760x1200 with 2GB 670's and I can tell you that depending on the game even 2x AA will be pushing his VRAM at that res and in some cases AA won't be an option at all.
OP if you're serious about this you really are gonna need more than 2GB of VRAM, I have been nothing but satisfied with 600 series SLI myself and I think 4GB 670's or even a single Titan will suit you well. I'm sure 7970 GE's would work fine too but I've never used Crossfire.

As for the monitors I'm quite sure they no longer need to be identical with 600 series cards although I prefer identical monitors for aesthetic reasons.
When running SLI+Surround you will actually NEED to use 3 DVI monitors with 2 going on the primary card and 1 on the secondary, it is possible to run all 3 from one card but that's irrelevant for you.

 

[Zardnok]

I was concerned about not having enough VRAM, in fact playing Skyrim with hi-def mod packs installed showed me that I already do not have enough VRAM with a single 2GB 670. I guess my best bet is to make this upgrade in stages and buy one extra monitor now and run both off my single card. Then as I get more money saved up, upgrade to either dual 4GB 670s or a Titan and buy the third monitor last. I was hoping I could get through this upgrade for $1200ish, but I can already see that I will be closer to $1700 before I am done.

Thanks for the tips and advice all.

 

[guskline]

I am currently running a single Shimian Achieva 27" 1440p monitor off a single Asus GTX670 Top. I want to move to a 3-monitor set up using 3-27" 1440p monitors in 7680X1440 resolution if such an animal exists. A buddy and I play World of Tanks together and he has 3-1080p monitors in Eyefinity and is constantly telling me what I am missing in my peripheral vision. If I am going to go with 3-monitors, I want to do it right and can not see myself dropping back to 1080p monitors after using the 1440p. I assume I need to buy 2 more Shimian 27s off Ebay and another GTX670 to use in SLI, but not sure what to do beyond this point.

Is there a 1440p monitor that is better to run in tri-mode than the Shimians? I could always buy 3 new matching monitors and replace the Dell in my office with the Shimian.

Would it be better if I moved from the GTX670s to 7950s or 7970s in Cross-fire to take advantage of 3GB Video Ram instead of 2GB?

If I do run with GTX670s in SLI, I know the GPU has to be the same, but I have read that only the memory on the primary card is used, so could I use a 4GB GTX670 in SLI with my current 2GB card and have it take advantage of the extra RAM?

The Shimian monitors only have DVI inputs and each GTX670 only has two DVI outputs, I assume the third monitor would connect to the second GTX670 or does it not work like that in SLI?

I ran 3 1920 x1080 24" monitors off of both a single GTX680 and 2 gtx670s in sli. Surround (Nvidia's version of AMD's eyefinity) can support 3 identical monitors off 1 GTX670/680/690 or Titan. You will need an active displayport to properly support the 3rd video card. I'm selling my 3 monitors and displayport because frankly the 27" Achieva Shimian I now have in rig1 is nicer.

IF you are committed to running 3 shimians you need 2 more Shimians (@ $650 minimum), a second GTX670 (@$350) and possibly a displayport (I paid nearly $100 for a good one).

When I ran 3 monitors at 5760x1080 (3-24" Acer LED 1920x1080s) it played well off a single GTX680 and really had oomph with GTX670s in sli.

You really up the pixel/resolution ante with 3-2560x1440 monitors.

If you are committed to this I would sell your GTX670, buy a Titan that has 6Gb Vram and then buy the Shimians.

I stand corrected you can run the 3rd monitor off the second gtx670 in sli