3x 30" Portrait Crossfire Eyefinity vs SLI Surround Showdown

[Roadhog]

Can you run a few tests at 5760x1080 or close to it?

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/review...ty-vs-sli.html

[sniper_sung]

From these tests is it possible to show how the 3GB outperforms the 1.5GB? Could you run some tests with 3GB dual-card SLI?

[Callsign_Vega]

Can you run a few tests at 5760x1080 or close to it?

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/review...ty-vs-sli.html

Unfortunately with the nVidia driver problem I am having stalling the cpu it literally takes about 1-2 hours just to change back and forth between landscape and portrait mode surround. Otherwise I would run the benchmarks no problem. Hopefully the next driver release will have this problem fixed.

[skankinred]

Can you give more details of your setup? What are you using to clamp the monitors together? Is that joystick mounted to your chair? If so, what kind of chair is that? Do you have some kind of buttkicker under your chair? (http://www.amazon.com/Buttkicker-BK-...274631&sr=8-14)

[Callsign_Vega]

Can you give more details of your setup? What are you using to clamp the monitors together? Is that joystick mounted to your chair? If so, what kind of chair is that? Do you have some kind of buttkicker under your chair? (http://www.amazon.com/Buttkicker-BK-...274631&sr=8-14)

I just use regular spring workshop clamps on the back of the monitors. The joystick is a Warthog HOTAS by Thrustmaster. Chair is Herman Miller Embody. Buttkicker gamer under chair. Good eye.

Heres a repost of the setup on another forum:



Update of setup with flight controls:

I wouldn't call it a "pit", but the results turned out pretty good for a HOTAS mounting. I decided a center mounting of the Warthog Hotas would be too much of a pain as I like to move my chair around and get up frequently.

I side mounted the stick, which makes for easy ingress/egress of the chair. The arm support also help for those long flights and my arm weighs down the arm rest, not the stick. Less downward pressure on the stick works out quite well in addition to the Molykote EM-30L lithium soap grease I put in the stick.

Even though the real aircraft I fly is center stick, going to a side stick really isn't as strange as one would think. It works out quite natural, and you don't have to worry about "twisting" the angle of the stick as you would a center mount. I am contemplating adding touch screens to either side of the chair for Helios integration. Also, one center mounted touch screen under the main view screens. That would be a total of six screens, but the question of Helios being able to work somehow with the main display being a nVidia SLI Surround setup is still in the air.






















And a few images for those that like other types of games too:

BF2:BC Vietnam




So easy to snipe!




What? WoW?




Three different EvE clients up and running. Top one is main character, bottom left and right are alt characters. Center bottom is web browser to view while playing all three clients.



I have included some photos of my 3x ZR30W Surround setup. I have removed the bezels on the monitors.







Some photos of the back with the bezels/cases removed. I've used the original stands. To get the monitors in portrait all you do is rotate the Vesa 100mm plate 90 degrees.








Various flight simulator shot's. In the DCS: Blackshark screenshot, you can see the size of the pit against the can of Coke in the bottom right of the picture. Incredibly immersive experience! The pit screen in the center bottom I think is displayed larger here than in the real aircraft.




Age of Conan, everything is so large and detailed. Definitely makes you feel like your in the world.

So why did I go portrait over landscape you might ask? I first tried landscape, but the width was just too ridiculous. (That's what she said). It was nice having a large horizontal view of the game worlds, but turning your head constantly stinks. After about half the way going outwards on the side screens, it turned into a waste. That's about 4 mega-pixels I didn't even use.

A ton of games also have fish-eye problems going that wide, even with their field of view settings turned up to max. Portrait gives an awesome nearly 2:1 aspect ratio with bezel correction. This is a great field of view as virtually your entire vision area is filled, and filled with pixels you can actually see with very little head movement.

In my flight sim's the pit are so large and detailed it's almost like full size. I can spot enemy aircraft etc at much great distances with such high detail.

There are some issues running 3x 30" though, and some in portrait mode in particular. They obviously use a lot of power. Total is 450~500 watts. The heat output is not insignificant! Good in the winter, bad in the summer. Since these monitors, and virtually every monitor built today, has vertical pixels, cleartype text doesn't work properly in portrait mode.

The bezels are surprisingly easy to remove (if you know how). I used black-electrical tape on the edges to cover up the grey aluminum borders. I am definitely pleased on how it turned out. I've always hated bezels between screens but I think I got it down to a manageable level in which it doesn't drive me crazy.

I had a 120Hz BenQ XL2410T on a monitor swing arm for playing FPS. I then compared playing FPS like BF2:BC on both. While the 120Hz is nice, I found that I just could not beat the immersive and detail benefits of the main 3x 30" setup. I would struggle to see enemies in all the foliage on the "tiny" 24" 1080p BenQ compared to the portrait surround setup. Having 2560 vertical pixels is awesome for detail. Plus the ZR30W's input lag is so small that my game play wasn't hampered. As long as you keep your frames per second so it doesn't drop below 60, the main surround setup works just fine for FPS games.

Anyways, let me know if you have any questions.

[Roadhog]

oh my O_O

I need to do a hotas mount like that for dcs a10 too.

[skankinred]

Do you feel x8x8x8 is holding you back at all?

[luie]

Nice Embody chair.

Excellent job on the mount.

[Callsign_Vega]

I have changed the components of the computer system and I have a new thread on the build here: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=267277

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

Thanks for the comparison. I have one 30" and would LOVE to buy another two.

Where did you get the 3gb cards? I haven't seen any for sale in the States. My 470 doesn't have the umph is should have.

[fl0w3n]

If it isn't too much trouble...could you get a memory usage # for 2x 580 3GB in SLI with 1x 2560x1600 and all eye candy on in BF:BC2? I will be getting my 2x 580's soon (1.5gb) and my single 30" and I am wondering how the 1.5gb will affect this.

Also, where did you purchase the Palit cards from? Are the Gainward Phantoms more expensive? Those look like sleeek cards, and since I'm only going to be using 2 I could fit them easily. That is, should I be severely hampered by my 1.5gb.

[Callsign_Vega]

I purchased three of the 3GB cards at Newegg and had to get one from Overclockers UK. Newegg has been out of stock forever now and Overclockers UK sold out all of their Palit and Gainward 3GB cards. I think they might have been a low production run. Don't fret though if the Palit/Gainwards never come back as EVGA will be releasing 3GB 580s here in a month or two if you can wait.

I've played BF:BC2 on one 30" with settings maxed up to 4x AA without hitting vanilla 580 1.5GB limit. You'd really have to push 8x or 16x AA to hit the VRAM limit. Although, in games like Crysis and Metro2033 with just 4x AA you easily hit the limit. 3GB cards are definitely worth it for the breathing room as you know once the VRAM limit is reached, performance plummets.

[skankinred]

If it isn't too much trouble...could you get a memory usage # for 2x 580 3GB in SLI with 1x 2560x1600 and all eye candy on in BF:BC2? I will be getting my 2x 580's soon (1.5gb) and my single 30" and I am wondering how the 1.5gb will affect this.

Also, where did you purchase the Palit cards from? Are the Gainward Phantoms more expensive? Those look like sleeek cards, and since I'm only going to be using 2 I could fit them easily. That is, should I be severely hampered by my 1.5gb.

From all the benchmarks I've seen, even the 570 doesn't have problems @ 2560x1600 and below
BC2:


Metro2033:


From reading reviews, there isn't any way to visually see a difference beyond 4xAA @ 2560X1600.

[Rollo]

If it isn't too much trouble...could you get a memory usage # for 2x 580 3GB in SLI with 1x 2560x1600 and all eye candy on in BF:BC2? I will be getting my 2x 580's soon (1.5gb) and my single 30" and I am wondering how the 1.5gb will affect this.

Also, where did you purchase the Palit cards from? Are the Gainward Phantoms more expensive? Those look like sleeek cards, and since I'm only going to be using 2 I could fit them easily. That is, should I be severely hampered by my 1.5gb.

One 25X16 panel is 4m pixels, 57X12 is 6.9m pixels, 75% more demand on framebuffer.

The VRAM use in this review shows that 1.5GB would be OK up to 57X12 4X AA in 10 of the 11 games they tested. So, you should be OK up to 8X AA at 25X12 easily.

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com...eatured_Review

[fl0w3n]

I purchased three of the 3GB cards at Newegg and had to get one from Overclockers UK. Newegg has been out of stock forever now and Overclockers UK sold out all of their Palit and Gainward 3GB cards. I think they might have been a low production run. Don't fret though if the Palit/Gainwards never come back as EVGA will be releasing 3GB 580s here in a month or two if you can wait.

I've played BF:BC2 on one 30" with settings maxed up to 4x AA without hitting vanilla 580 1.5GB limit. You'd really have to push 8x or 16x AA to hit the VRAM limit. Although, in games like Crysis and Metro2033 with just 4x AA you easily hit the limit. 3GB cards are definitely worth it for the breathing room as you know once the VRAM limit is reached, performance plummets.

Yeah I couldn't find them listed anywhere. Good to know EVGA will have some in the future.

Oh that is good to know then, I should be perfectly fine for what I am looking for then. I've never played or seen Metro2033 and don't really play Crysis, I love the Battlefield style too much.

I will see how my performance does, as I love eye candy, but if I don't personally see a difference visually with 4xAA vs 8x or 16x then I'll keep it there.

From all the benchmarks I've seen, even the 570 doesn't have problems @ 2560x1600 and below
BC2:
[IMG]http://www.sdilej.eu/pics/ae2dbf953376ac50647170b316f1ef73.png[/IMG

Metro2033:
[IMGhttp://www.sdilej.eu/pics/1d15ddced14c9a71a022640d1f64afd4.png[/IMG]

From reading reviews, there isn't any way to visually see a difference beyond 4xAA @ 2560X1600.

One 25X16 panel is 4m pixels, 57X12 is 6.9m pixels, 75% more demand on framebuffer.

The VRAM use in this review shows that 1.5GB would be OK up to 57X12 4X AA in 10 of the 11 games they tested. So, you should be OK up to 8X AA at 25X12 easily.

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com...eatured_Review

In response to both of you, yeah I've seen through some benchmarks/my research that 1 580 can run 2560x1600, but what I am worried about (and it's quite an important point to worry) is minimum frames. Having high FPS means nothing to me if I get some very low minimum drops at random times.

Specifically I have this graph in mind:


As you can see, a single 580 could drop down to 29.5 FPS which in my book is unplayable and not acceptable for a high end gaming machine. 43.8 from the SLI 580's is still very playable, but would still cause some tearing with VSYNC on.

[skankinred]

In response to both of you, yeah I've seen through some benchmarks/my research that 1 580 can run 2560x1600, but what I am worried about (and it's quite an important point to worry) is minimum frames. Having high FPS means nothing to me if I get some very low minimum drops at random times.

Specifically I have this graph in mind:


As you can see, a single 580 could drop down to 29.5 FPS which in my book is unplayable and not acceptable for a high end gaming machine. 43.8 from the SLI 580's is still very playable, but would still cause some tearing with VSYNC on.

Not sure what you're worried about. It's the highest performing single GPU. Look at the 6970's minimum. Also remember these are stock benches. The 580 OCs extremely well.

[fl0w3n]

Not sure what you're worried about. It's the highest performing single GPU. Look at the 6970's minimum. Also remember these are stock benches. The 580 OCs extremely well.

Shh, you are ruining my excuses for overkill

I just will not be satisfied if I get a drop to anything below 40fps even once during my gaming.

[Neova]

You have my exact dream gaming setup 3x30" 2560p in portrait mode! And I love the fact that your monitors show nearly NO variation in colors thus making buying quality monitors worthwhile. I've seen surround on the cheap and it really bothers me when I see all 3 screens with different color calibrations!

With your 2x CF setup and 2x/3x 3G 580 SLI setup, can you try to run at 4x and possibly 8x AA on the 580 to see if that is still possible? I'm just wondering if you still have headroom left for that, either memory or GPU power wise.

I'm running unlocked 6950 CF in only 1080p mode and I know it is overkill, but I enjoy my 60+ min FPS with 8x/16xAA. Looking at upgrading monitors in the future starting with either 1x 30" or if possible, 3x 30" like your setup.

People who cannot see beyond 4xAA need not respond. :P My eyes are sensitive and I love 8x/16xAA at max quality when I can use it.

[skankinred]

People who cannot see beyond 4xAA need not respond. :P My eyes are sensitive and I love 8x/16xAA at max quality when I can use it.

You can see the difference between 4xAA and 8xAA at 2560x1600?

[Neova]

Clarify : I can see a big difference between 4x and 8x AA at 1920x1080 LCD WS and 1920x1440 on a Sony GDM F500 series CRT so far. Harder to tell 8x vs 16x AA but you can see it after you get used to higher settings. Just try it yourself. Run all your games at 8xAA for 1 day. Then set it back to 4xAA... You can definitely tell as your brain will tell you something has changed even though you think it looks the same.

It is most noticable in FPS or 3D games where you walk around a lot in a wide open environment like Fallout, GTA, 3D RPGs etc...

I do not have a 2560 in front of me so cannot comment on that. But that will be my next purchase for more resolution, so was wondering if SLI or CF can handle 3x 30" surround at 8xAA.

[SoulsCollective]

Thanks for the really good comparisons

This confirms my suspicions earlier - the 1.5GB VRAM on the first 580s was really limiting performance at "extreme" resolutions. A pity the 3GB cards weren't out in Aust when I was upgrading last month - but fortunately for me, I've only two cards, which means that I've essentially double the bandwidth to allow for efficient Crossfire scaling at Eyefinity resolutions (5760x1080, in my case).

[Callsign_Vega]

With 3x 30", I sit further back from the screens so AA isn't as huge of a deal. Not to mention the the in-game image is shown over 13-Mega pixels (bezel corrected). Going from zero AA to 2x has the largest benefit. Going from 2x to 4x is barely noticeable and from 4x to 8x is virtually impossible to tell even with my face two inches from the screen. Remember, this is six times the resolution as 1080p so there are way-way more pixels making up the "lines" on an image that is like anti-aliasing my default.

[Neova]

Appreciate the info on AA levels. I have 2x unlocked 6950 in CF mode now so with your review, I can "BARELY" run 3x 30 in Portrait mode in certain games (30 FPS) but looks good in optimized games for the radeon architecture.

[RADCOM]

Does anyone know if a Radeon 6990 + 6970 or unlocked 6950 would suffer from the same bandwidth problems or should I be looking at the green team. Funilly enough the recent Custom PC review on tri monitor gaming with SLI found stuttering to be bit of a problem in certain games. Also does anyone else run a setup like this without the bezel mod, are the bezels that distracting?

[jeanjean15]

Does anyone know if a Radeon 6990 + 6970 or unlocked 6950 would suffer from the same bandwidth problems or should I be looking at the green team. Funilly enough the recent Custom PC review on tri monitor gaming with SLI found stuttering to be bit of a problem in certain games. Also does anyone else run a setup like this without the bezel mod, are the bezels that distracting?

Hello.

hardware.fr made recently a review with a radeon 6990 + 6970 and it seems that there is no problem to use these cards with eyefinity except that the scaling is not always very good :

http://www.hardware.fr/articles/829-...-quad-gpu.html