4th Auxiliary Monitor - Yay or Nay?

[Cacao]

Hey guys, so I currently have 3x 24" monitors and one of my biggest issues with gaming in surround is that I can't have some podcast/movie/documentary/skype/map (etc.) open while I play some slow paced games. So I have a 27" 2560x1440 display that I'm not using and I was wondering whether it would be a good idea to mount it on the wall on top of my middle display? I know that I could simply play on one display, but I think surround really enhances the experience.

 

While I'm at it I might as well ask another question about surround, is there a way to have your HUD only be on your middle display when you play in surround? Battlefield 3 does this perfectly, when you play in surround your whole HUD is on your middle display just like it would be normally, the other displays are just there for peripheral vision (immersion), however no other game I've tested does this and it kind of sucks to have to physically move your head to look at the other monitors.

[Theo]

More screens are always a good idea imo, as for your second question ive no idea

[ConfusedDolphin]

at some point, unless (unless you actually need the extra screen space for work) it just gets a bit silly.

[UselessBread]

While I'm at it I might as well ask another question about surround, is there a way to have your HUD only be on your middle display when you play in surround? Battlefield 3 does this perfectly, when you play in surround your whole HUD is on your middle display just like it would be normally, the other displays are just there for peripheral vision (immersion), however no other game I've tested does this and it kind of sucks to have to physically move your head to look at the other monitors.

I think that is totally up to the game. some, like borderlands allow for adjusting the HUD, others don't.

[Hyakuren]

I have a surround setup as well and I find the 4th monitor to be extremely useful whether it's for gaming or for productivity. However, mine are all 1080p and I usually play slightly more CPU intensive games (like GW2), so I can't really comment on whether you'll take a performance hit in your games from having the extra monitor though. 

[criso8]

More screens = more better.

[Cacao]

I have a surround setup as well and I find the 4th monitor to be extremely useful whether it's for gaming or for productivity. However, mine are all 1080p and I usually play slightly more CPU intensive games (like GW2), so I can't really comment on whether you'll take a performance hit in your games from having the extra monitor though. 

You don't get a performance decrease from auxiliary monitors, that's not a problem. Thanks for your input!

[beefalo]

 

 

While I'm at it I might as well ask another question about surround, is there a way to have your HUD only be on your middle display when you play in surround? Battlefield 3 does this perfectly, when you play in surround your whole HUD is on your middle display just like it would be normally, the other displays are just there for peripheral vision (immersion), however no other game I've tested does this and it kind of sucks to have to physically move your head to look at the other monitors.

This is all dependent on how the game implements multi-monitor support.  Most games do at least support it now but very few implement the hud scaling.  Check out wsgf.org.  They have fixes for some games.  What you're talking about is one of the reason I usually use my surround setup in portrait.  It is just easier because triple wide aspect ratio support is not much of a priority for devs.

[R4STABAN]

While I'm at it I might as well ask another question about surround, is there a way to have your HUD only be on your middle display when you play in surround? Battlefield 3 does this perfectly, when you play in surround your whole HUD is on your middle display just like it would be normally, the other displays are just there for peripheral vision (immersion), however no other game I've tested does this and it kind of sucks to have to physically move your head to look at the other monitors.

 

Welcome to surround / eyefinity