Triple-monitor setup. Ideas & help?

[Dezerte]

Hello,

I'm contemplating setting up a triple-monitor setup for my PC.



Desk is 160cm wide. The plan is to have the middle monitor as the main screen where I do my gaming or watch movies, the right/left ones will be used for browsing/monitoring system/watching movies.

I was thinking going for 1920x1080 on them, size doesn't matter that much as long as they fit on the desk, if needed I can (and probably will for my viewing pleasure) adjust the side monitors so they tilt inwards (toward the edges) a bit. I'd like to spend as little as possible, but if I have to set a budget I'd say no more than 800€.

So, what monitors should I get? Keep in mind I live in Sweden and will only order from within my country.

Also curious what sort of performance drop I can expect when going from 1680x1050 to 1920x1080.

Thanks.

[BicycleMafioso]

• Do you keep the computer as it is, or will you be upgrading that as well?
• Do you intend to keep your current monitor, and is that the 1680x1050 you mention?
• Do you care about viewing angles or 120Hz? For monitors that you will look at in an angle, I recommend the first
• Mixing aspect-ratios (16:10/16:9) is a bad idea, but mixing resolutions doesn't need to be if it's in the same aspect-ratio

I'd recommend 3x http://cdon.se/hemelektronik/asus_pa...gn=prisjakt_se

EDIT: why not just game on all of them? =)

[Dezerte]

• Do you keep the computer as it is, or will you be upgrading that as well?
• Do you intend to keep your current monitor, and is that the 1680x1050 you mention?
• Do you care about viewing angles or 120Hz? For monitors that you will look at in an angle, I recommend the first
• Mixing aspect-ratios (16:10/16:9) is a bad idea, but mixing resolutions doesn't need to be if it's in the same aspect-ratio

I'd recommend 3x http://cdon.se/hemelektronik/asus_pa...gn=prisjakt_se

The computer has recently been upgraded (i5 3570k, 680GTX).
I wanted to get rid of my old monitor, which is a 22" 1680x1050 monitor that you see in the picture.
I don't care much about viewing angels or 120Hz, I'm assuming I'll be able to tilt the side monitors so that they'll face my position head-on.
I'd prefer if all 3 monitors were the same model, because it would look neat

I'll check that Asus out a bit, thanks.

[BicycleMafioso]

You could get cheaper monitors, but that is a good one. Pretty in-expensive considering it can be used for professional use.

[Deleted]

I use 3x BenQ XL2420T 120hz. Would recommend. My desk is also 160cm wide and they fit on the it almost perfectly.

If you want to game on all 3 screens with NV Surround / Eyefinity, you'll probably need to upgrade your graphics cards quite significantly.

[Deleted]

thing to look for is screens without edges on the side.(makes a tripple setup look allot better imo)
gtx 680 should have no problem supporting such setup while gaming.

[Deleted]

If you wish to run games over 3 x 1920x1080 displays, you'll need more than 1 GTX 680. I'm using 2 and it's just about sufficient performance for all games currently on the market. Certainly 1 GTX 680 just isn't going to cut it when running in fullscreen over 3 displays.

Dezerte - think about exactly what you want to achieve. If you buy 3 screens and you're only able to run games on 1 you may very well end up getting frustrated. Remember that if you run a game fullscreen you can't normally move the mouse to one of the side screens, you still have to alt-tab out of the fullscreen game to access them.

There are also issues with 3 monitors on a single card - check to make sure all outputs can support 120hz (assuming you're planning on getting a 120hz panel). If you're using DVI it has to be Dual-Link. NVidia cards have two DVI outputs and typically a single displayport. If you can use a displayport -> DVI adapter and it also supports your chosen display then it might work but definitely something that needs to be researched before buying anything.

My personal opinion - if you want to go 3 screens and you're a gamer, go the whole hog. Upgrade the screens and the graphics to support them. Don't take a half-way stance you'll only end up getting frustrated with poor performance or not being able to take advantage of your widescreen resolution.

There are a lot of considerations with widescreen gaming and operations. Decide exactly what you want to achieve, which modes you want the displays to operate in (Multi Monitor or full SLI/Surround). What do you ultimately want your desktop to do. Do you want a seamless single desktop spanned over all displays or do you want separately controlled displays and desktop areas. Different choices require different hardware performance.

Upgrading your system to support widescreen gaming can also have further implications - is your PSU capable of supporting the demand? There are also potentially CPU and memory issues related to running in such high resolutions. Lots to think about!

[Dezerte]

The reason why I'm not keen on gaming in a triple-monitor setup is the huge performance loss, and I have no interest nor money to spend on an even more powerful PC.

I've ran a dual-monitor setup before, gaming on the middle one and browsing on the side. Usually enabling fullscreen window mode on the game application should make it possible to switch screens without having to tab, is this not true any longer?

Maybe I'm better off just going for a dual-monitor setup if all I'm planning is one for gaming & one for browsing, going for three was mostly for the "neatness" effect I guess.

Thanks for the insights so far.

[Deleted]

well if a single extra screen you might want to look at this thread : http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...it-s-a-reality!

[BicycleMafioso]

Well, you could probably run even BF3 off of a single GTX 680 in triple-screen if you tone down the settings to half-good half-high.

[Dezerte]

This is what I ended up with:



Bought 3x BenQ 2411T (they were on sale).

[Deleted]

how is the gaming on it?

[blackblade]

This is what I ended up with:



Bought 3x BenQ 2411T (they were on sale).

Much better.

[Milkshake86]

This is what I ended up with:



Bought 3x BenQ 2411T (they were on sale).

BenQ is the official gaming brand, I mean the MLG monitor is pretty sweet really dig the headset holder on the back and the fact you can just snap it into portrait in seconds.

[Dezerte]

how is the gaming on it?

The colors looked washed out/poor to begin with (maybe because I was used to the glossy finish on my old), but I've twiddled a bit in my Nvidia panel (the monitor OSD seems rather poor when it comes to options) and I think I'm getting closer to what I want.

I was surprised that even when running games in sub-60 fps, I can still feel that it's smoother. I was under the impression you only got this effect when going over 60 fps on 120Hz.