3 screen gaming

[tabuburn]

2x 680's and the 3770K would be my choice then, however I still have some months and I don't really know what the prices will do with the 680's or Titan or even what the 770/780 will perfom

The last generation's prices won't be affected when a newer one comes out until a few months later.

[RaVenBelgium]

The last generation's prices won't be affected when a newer one comes out until a few months later.

So basically, I better wait a few months after the 700 series come out? 

[tabuburn]

So basically, I better wait a few months after the 700 series come out? 

With the release of the 700 series really close, I'd wait and see how they perform and what they would cost. The 600 series prices won't drop right away but will gradually go down over the passing months. Titan's price won't likely be affected. It's barely 3 months old.

[unidentical]

Titan Benches showing performance in 5760x1200

 

http://anandtech.com/bench/Product/764

[RaVenBelgium]

Titan Benches showing performance in 5760x1200

 

http://anandtech.com/bench/Product/764

2 680's are better than a Titan? If that's the case, 2 680's it is  :o

[The Last MeMe]

if you run BF3, all on ultra & 5760 x 1080, can a single 660ti give more than 30FPS?

No I wouldnt think so, you will probably have to crossfire/sli if you want to do something like that unless you buy a super high end card like a 7970 or something like that.

[unidentical]

2 680's are better than a Titan? If that's the case, 2 680's it is  :o

Not necessarily the case. 2 680s may perform better but multi gpu is touchy, some games will see no benefit, some games may see a decrease in performance. it all depends on drivers and how the game was coded in the first place.

 

single GPU performance is where the party is at.

[RaVenBelgium]

Not necessarily the case. 2 680s may perform better but multi gpu is touchy, some games will see no benefit, some games may see a decrease in performance. it all depends on drivers and how the game was coded in the first place.

 

single GPU performance is where the party is at.

Ok, this is getting a little complicated but I think I can follow... what do you suggest I would go with?

[Godlygamer23]

Ok, this is getting a little complicated but I think I can follow... what do you suggest I would go with?

For compatibility, I'd go with a single 7970 with 6GB of VRAM(if you plan to play Max Payne 3 anyways) or perhaps a Titan.

[unidentical]

Ok, this is getting a little complicated but I think I can follow... what do you suggest I would go with?

To be perfectly honest, given that you're not 100% familiar with the differences between SLi and single gpu and the pitfalls there you should be aware that multi monitor and multi GPU configurations are not fully supported.

 

By that I mean that the companies making games know that only a small percentage of PC games operate a surround gaming system and so they really don't test for it. Typically resolutions up to 1920x1200 on a single GPU card will work perfectly and be smooth and easy, when you get in to non-standard configurations you're going to be spending time messing around with different driver revisions, ini files, all sorts of stuff.

 

So with your lack of familiarity with these issues my suggestion would be to get a nice single monitor and a 660ti or a 670 or comparable AMD card, and just have fun gaming.

 

And if in the future you want to start playing around with multi GPU or multi monitor you can do some research and wade in to it rather than diving in to something very expensive that will probably just cause you headaches.

[RaVenBelgium]

To be perfectly honest, given that you're not 100% familiar with the differences between SLi and single gpu and the pitfalls there you should be aware that multi monitor and multi GPU configurations are not fully supported.

 

By that I mean that the companies making games know that only a small percentage of PC games operate a surround gaming system and so they really don't test for it. Typically resolutions up to 1920x1200 on a single GPU card will work perfectly and be smooth and easy, when you get in to non-standard configurations you're going to be spending time messing around with different driver revisions, ini files, all sorts of stuff.

 

So with your lack of familiarity with these issues my suggestion would be to get a nice single monitor and a 660ti or a 670 or comparable AMD card, and just have fun gaming.

 

And if in the future you want to start playing around with multi GPU or multi monitor you can do some research and wade in to it rather than diving in to something very expensive that will probably just cause you headaches.

Well I like to learn more about multi monitor & multi GPU's so if you can/want, please explain  ;)

[unidentical]

Dealling with setting up the multi display side is relatively simple, pictured below is nvidia's control panel for it. You select the monitors, the configuration there's is an option for bezel correction (so the game renders the space between the screens so that movement seems more fluid) the complications come when trying to run games

 

Some games simply aren't coded to natively support such resolutions, now sometimes you can force it, the game may have a configuration file where resolution value can be manually, but even then I think some games will simply do black bars on the dies (I saw a review of assassin's creed 3 with an ultra wide res and it wouldn't go wider than 1920)

 

Then you have your multi GPU. MOST games are coded for console and ported to PC, and even games that are PC only devs usually build their games to work with the majority of systems so crossfire and SLi are often left by the wayside, drivers have to be added after the fact to squeeze performance and stability out, I've run SLi and crossfire in the past and the amount of time you end up spending updating drivers, rolling back when they don't work, playing around with different settings is obscene.

 

If you have lots of time and you enjoy troubleshooting and tweaking as much as you enjoy gaming, then ya it can be worth it. but if you usually only have a couple hours at a time to play a game do you really want to be spending a half hour to an hour of that just trying to get it to run normally? 

 

I'll tell you what though, if you want a badass system that makes your buddies all look like a joke. Get a card with loads of vram, high end, like a 680 4GB or a 7970 and get a 2560x1440 monitor. it's still 16:9 so most games should have no support issues and it's single display and can run off of a single card.

 

[RaVenBelgium]

Dealling with setting up the multi display side is relatively simple, pictured below is nvidia's control panel for it. You select the monitors, the configuration there's is an option for bezel correction (so the game renders the space between the screens so that movement seems more fluid) the complications come when trying to run games

 

Some games simply aren't coded to natively support such resolutions, now sometimes you can force it, the game may have a configuration file where resolution value can be manually, but even then I think some games will simply do black bars on the dies (I saw a review of assassin's creed 3 with an ultra wide res and it wouldn't go wider than 1920)

 

Then you have your multi GPU. MOST games are coded for console and ported to PC, and even games that are PC only devs usually build their games to work with the majority of systems so crossfire and SLi are often left by the wayside, drivers have to be added after the fact to squeeze performance and stability out, I've run SLi and crossfire in the past and the amount of time you end up spending updating drivers, rolling back when they don't work, playing around with different settings is obscene.

 

If you have lots of time and you enjoy troubleshooting and tweaking as much as you enjoy gaming, then ya it can be worth it. but if you usually only have a couple hours at a time to play a game do you really want to be spending a half hour to an hour of that just trying to get it to run normally? 

 

I'll tell you what though, if you want a badass system that makes your buddies all look like a joke. Get a card with loads of vram, high end, like a 680 4GB or a 7970 and get a 2560x1440 monitor. it's still 16:9 so most games should have no support issues and it's single display and can run off of a single card.

 

Thanks, that helped a lot!  ;) So you say that I better pick a 680 with 4GB or maybe a 780, right?

[unidentical]

If you're going with a resolution higher than 1920x1200, then yes I would say go with a card with more vram

 

I think you can get 670s with 4GB. and that would also be an excellent choice

 

I can't comment on the 780 because there are no official specs or benchmarks yet so it may just be a very expensive but minor upgrade to the 680.

[Godlygamer23]

Thanks, that helped a lot! ;) So you say that I better pick a 680 with 4GB or maybe a 780, right?

That would certainly help. VRAM is extremely important when it comes to multiple displays/higher resolutions. I wouldn't say it's crucial that you wait for the 780. A 680 with 4GB of VRAM(surround or not) would be a great idea IMO.

[RaVenBelgium]

If you're going with a resolution higher than 1920x1200, then yes I would say go with a card with more vram

 

I think you can get 670s with 4GB. and that would also be an excellent choice

 

I can't comment on the 780 because there are no official specs or benchmarks yet so it may just be a very expensive but minor upgrade to the 680.

The 670 is a bit more worse than the 680, but the qualtity-price for the 670 is better, not?

[unidentical]

exactly the 680 is usually nearly 100 more than the 670 I think, but the actual performance difference is very small, like you're better off just getting a really good 670 with a good cooler and you're talking maybe 5 FPS difference. 

 

Here is a benchmark comparison:

 

http://anandtech.com/bench/Product/598?vs=555

[RaVenBelgium]

exactly the 680 is usually nearly 100 more than the 670 I think, but the actual performance difference is very small, like you're better off just getting a really good 670 with a good cooler and you're talking maybe 5 FPS difference. 

 

Here is a benchmark comparison:

 

http://anandtech.com/bench/Product/598?vs=555

But if I want a little more futureproof, I could go with a 680?  ;)

[unidentical]

If you want to spend the money.

 

If you want to go more "futureproof" I'd wait and see what the 780 is actually like

 

realistically, most games are made for consoles and a high end video card isn't going to have any trouble running games for quite a while to come.

[heineygoat]

Just made this post man, have a read if you haven't found the answer you were looking for:

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/15098-eyefinitysurround-misconception/#entry168727