Possible triple screen setup?

  • Thread starter Thread starter RobJackson85
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left888
So Mayaman what kind of frame rate do you get in iRacing?
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I think he said somewhere else that he doesn't play iRacing. I'm not 100% sure on that.

Also, remember frame rates largely depend on what car you are in as well as how your vertical screen positioning is setup.

Go into a test session, sit in the pits, and try different cars, you'll see differences right away. Now also try moving the screen height up and down (I think the factory setting is Shift+[ and ] but I might be wrong). You'll notice even changing the screen height can have a significant impact.

I actually decided to test this officially with a lap of Suzuka at different settings and will post final results in a minute in the iRacing forums.
 
left888
If you are using 2 GTX 580 in SLI you do not need any th2go trickery.
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He's on a budget so 2 GTX580 is kinda out of his reach. And when I say "trickery" I'm not saying it in a negative connotation. I am saying that it won't increase the load on your card, its a great device. And the good thing is that even when your graphics card is obsolete, you're TH2G0 wont be.

And I don't play iracing. But I've run pretty much every game I can think of including almost every racing game out there. You're going to get ridiculous frame rates, don't worry. It won't dip below 60.

And yes your GTX580 is dual link. Any game card is for the most part.

5760x1080 is enough resolution for anybody. I mean people are talking about resolutions double this?

Hope this helps.
 
Mayaman
It won't dip below 60.
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Don't be so sure about that.

On my old GTX560Ti SLI setup as well as my current overclocked 7970, a full field at Daytona (~40 cars) with graphics set to max will choke ANY current graphics card setup down to 15 or 20fps. Each car you have in your vision will effect FPS, just imagine rendering 40 cars ahead of you, and each one drops 1-2fps off your max. It's an awesome sight sitting in the pits at Daytona Road with 40 cars in front of you or sitting at the back of the field at Daytona oval in a full field, but it does absolutely kill FPS. I had to back off to only being able to view 20 cars to make sure that didn't happen again.

If the game PROPERLY supports SLI/Crossfire with an OFFICIAL profile from Nvidia or AMD, this will be much less of a problem, but as of right now, we aren't seeing the full performance benefits of dual GPU setups. Hopefully soon though!

5760x1080 is common now, people are already experimenting with resolutions like 7680x1600 and 9600x1080 (my setup will be 9600x1080 in about a week or so).
 
zedfonsie
Are your screens 60ghz or 120ghz? Those are sony bravia's your using correct?
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Yes they are the 55" Bravia's and they are 120hz but since they connect via HDMI they only support 60hz



Mayaman
He's on a budget so 2 GTX580 is kinda out of his reach. And when I say "trickery" I'm not saying it in a negative connotation. I am saying that it won't increase the load on your card, its a great device. And the good thing is that even when your graphics card is obsolete, you're TH2G0 wont be.

And I don't play iracing. But I've run pretty much every game I can think of including almost every racing game out there. You're going to get ridiculous frame rates, don't worry. It won't dip below 60.

And yes your GTX580 is dual link. Any game card is for the most part.

5760x1080 is enough resolution for anybody. I mean people are talking about resolutions double this?

Hope this helps.
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I run minimum 100 FPS in iRacing @5760x1080 resolution, and up to 150 FPS. In a race with up say 25 cars I still get 75 FPS.
 
As far as I know, none of the current consumer-grade televisions actually support a 120hz input. Their 120hz comes from processing the image, not like a 120hz computer monitor which actually accepts a 120hz video signal.

Something new might have come out recently though.
 
60Hz, not GHZ. :)

As far as what's the point of going past that......well, that's a huge debate in itself, one I am not getting into. :)
 
superbike81
As far as I know, none of the current consumer-grade televisions actually support a 120hz input. Their 120hz comes from processing the image, not like a 120hz computer monitor which actually accepts a 120hz video signal.

Something new might have come out recently though.
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Hey you got that one right. :D I speculate it will be 3 or 4 years before we see true 120hz HDTV's. There is actually troubling times in the Television industry right now. Sony might shut down their Television division all together if they can't turn it around. I do not necessarily think Sony TV's are all that good but the deal I got on these were hard to pass up.
 
If you are talking about iRacing just cap your framerate at whatever you want it at.

Or try using VSYNC. Some people have more problems with it than others, it can create input lag, but it's very video card and system dependent as to how bad it will be. Some setups you can't even notice it, others it makes the game almost unplayable.
 
I wonder if any of you can answer this question...

As the GTX 580 (as do many other cards) has two DVI outputs, would it be possible to use a Dual Head2Go to drive the two outer displays from one DVI output and the other DVI port to drive the centre?

I ask for a few reasons:

First, the Triple Head can't do 3x1680x1050 at 60Hz, only 57Hz, which might be damaging as novadave mentioned (I don't know if that's true), but the Dual Head can do 2x1680x1050 at 60Hz.

Secondly, if you could set it up like this then you don't need to use three identical resolutions, which might be good for me as I'd like to use my existing 22" 1680x1050 displays as the surrounds and have a 24" 1980x1200 (I think that's 16:10, anyway) in the centre.

Lastly, the Dual Head is cheaper than the Triple, £158 compared to £236.

So it seems to me that if you have two DVI ports then the Dual Head2Go, if it can be made to work in this way, is a better option (unless there's something else I haven't thought of). Can anyone shed any light on this please?
 
superbike81
Why not just get a cheap second video card and then use SoftTH to do what you want?
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Because the cheap second card would have to be very cheap. A Dual Head2Go is £158, which may be more expensive than a cheap graphics card, but if I did buy a cheap graphics card then I'd have to swap it if I upgraded my PC. As long as I use monitors it supports, I could use a Dual Head2Go for a lot longer.

Also a second graphics card would increase the heat inside my PC, which is already higher than I'd like, it would increase the current draw (the Head2Go would too, but it's 5V at 500mA (2.5W) at the most being USB powered as it is) and increase the noise.

I think my two choices are: Buy a Dual Head2Go if I can get it to drive the surround monitors only, if not I'll sell my 580 and buy a 680 instead. While the H2G puts less stress on the card in triple monitor play, I personally would only be using three monitors whilst my PC is next to my sim cockpit, the rest of the time I'd have it by my desk and I'd only be using it with a single screen, where the 680 would perform better whilst using less power and therefore it'll also be running at a lower temperature. As an added bonus I could use whichever monitors I'd like, which I think will be important as I want to change these 1680x1050 monitors as it is. Having to buy a third to keep a Triple Head2Go happy would be a pain as then I'd have to upgrade all three at once.

I don't mean to hijack the thread or anything, as I'm in the same position as the OP, he might like to know what I'm thinking, as I'd like to know his thoughts also.
 
superbike81
If you are talking about iRacing just cap your framerate at whatever you want it at.

Or try using VSYNC. Some people have more problems with it than others, it can create input lag, but it's very video card and system dependent as to how bad it will be. Some setups you can't even notice it, others it makes the game almost unplayable.
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I don't need to cap my frame rate at all, why would I? I get an awesome frame rate. I have raced (practice) with 25 other cars and had 100+ FPS.

I would never consider using VSYNC, it causes much more problems then it helps. BTW this isn't my first rodeo, had my first computer in the late 80's. I have built several since then.
 
left888
I don't need to cap my frame rate at all, why would I? I get an awesome frame rate. I have raced (practice) with 25 other cars and had 100+ FPS.

I would never consider using VSYNC, it causes much more problems then it helps. BTW this isn't my first rodeo, had my first computer in the late 80's. I have built several since then.
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Read one of the threads over on the iRacing forums about the benefits of capping framerates. I won't go into extreme detail, but just to give you a basic primer on it.....Capping the framerate will keep you more consistent. Many people say there is benefit to keeping framerates steady instead of jumping from 200fps in one section of the track to 100fps in another section. It's all about consistency with markers, braking points, turn-in points. The benefits are well documented. So for example, if your minimum FPS on a track is 100, it might be best to cap it at 100 for consistency reasons instead of letting it jump around the whole time.

As far as VSync goes, if you have a setup that doesn't give you terrible input lag using VSync (some setups do much better than others), VSync will give you the smoothest possible gameplay. Some people swear by VSync (even in iRacing) and others think it's a tool of the devil.

Personally, if I can get my setup to have minimal input lag while using VSync, I'll do it every time, the difference is incredible in smoothness.
 
neema_t
Because the cheap second card would have to be very cheap. A Dual Head2Go is £158, which may be more expensive than a cheap graphics card, but if I did buy a cheap graphics card then I'd have to swap it if I upgraded my PC. As long as I use monitors it supports, I could use a Dual Head2Go for a lot longer.

Also a second graphics card would increase the heat inside my PC, which is already higher than I'd like, it would increase the current draw (the Head2Go would too, but it's 5V at 500mA (2.5W) at the most being USB powered as it is) and increase the noise.

I think my two choices are: Buy a Dual Head2Go if I can get it to drive the surround monitors only, if not I'll sell my 580 and buy a 680 instead. While the H2G puts less stress on the card in triple monitor play, I personally would only be using three monitors whilst my PC is next to my sim cockpit, the rest of the time I'd have it by my desk and I'd only be using it with a single screen, where the 680 would perform better whilst using less power and therefore it'll also be running at a lower temperature. As an added bonus I could use whichever monitors I'd like, which I think will be important as I want to change these 1680x1050 monitors as it is. Having to buy a third to keep a Triple Head2Go happy would be a pain as then I'd have to upgrade all three at once.

I don't mean to hijack the thread or anything, as I'm in the same position as the OP, he might like to know what I'm thinking, as I'd like to know his thoughts also.
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Just trying to save you some cash.

If you are an iRacer, check the sticky thread in the hardware section about multi display setups. There is a wealth of info in there on different options. The cheapest way by far is just to go to the store and buy a cheap ($20) video card and use it with SoftTH. The second video card doesn't do any processing, so power consumption is minimal since it's not actually rendering anything, it's just functioning as extra ports.

But yeah TH2GO and DH2GO are different options as well. Each option has it's own positives and negatives.
 
neema_t
Because the cheap second card would have to be very cheap. A Dual Head2Go is £158, which may be more expensive than a cheap graphics card, but if I did buy a cheap graphics card then I'd have to swap it if I upgraded my PC. As long as I use monitors it supports, I could use a Dual Head2Go for a lot longer.

Also a second graphics card would increase the heat inside my PC, which is already higher than I'd like, it would increase the current draw (the Head2Go would too, but it's 5V at 500mA (2.5W) at the most being USB powered as it is) and increase the noise.

I think my two choices are: Buy a Dual Head2Go if I can get it to drive the surround monitors only, if not I'll sell my 580 and buy a 680 instead. While the H2G puts less stress on the card in triple monitor play, I personally would only be using three monitors whilst my PC is next to my sim cockpit, the rest of the time I'd have it by my desk and I'd only be using it with a single screen, where the 680 would perform better whilst using less power and therefore it'll also be running at a lower temperature. As an added bonus I could use whichever monitors I'd like, which I think will be important as I want to change these 1680x1050 monitors as it is. Having to buy a third to keep a Triple Head2Go happy would be a pain as then I'd have to upgrade all three at once.

I don't mean to hijack the thread or anything, as I'm in the same position as the OP, he might like to know what I'm thinking, as I'd like to know his thoughts also.
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I think we are both in exactly the same situation. Please, do not hesitate to hijack this thread. The more people who ask questions in here, the more info we will find out.!

superbike81
Just trying to save you some cash.

If you are an iRacer, check the sticky thread in the hardware section about multi display setups. There is a wealth of info in there on different options. The cheapest way by far is just to go to the store and buy a cheap ($20) video card and use it with SoftTH. The second video card doesn't do any processing, so power consumption is minimal since it's not actually rendering anything, it's just functioning as extra ports.

But yeah TH2GO and DH2GO are different options as well. Each option has it's own positives and negatives.
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This is another way we have learnt since opening this thread. From what I read, I can still use my old 9800gt aswell as my GTX 580 to get triple monitors this way. Would this then make the 580 run as a lower spec card? Similar to using a 580 with a 560?
 
No not at all. You will get all of the performance of the 580. The second video card just acts as extra monitor ports.

Now you would get better performance if your 580 had three display support from the factory, but since it doesn't you have to use software to emulate this ssupport through a second video card. Software emulating hardware almost never performs as well as a hardware only solution, but you should still get excellent performance to minimal cost.
 
superbike81
No not at all. You will get all of the performance of the 580. The second video card just acts as extra monitor ports.

Now you would get better performance if your 580 had three display support from the factory, but since it doesn't you have to use software to emulate this ssupport through a second video card. Software emulating hardware almost never performs as well as a hardware only solution, but you should still get excellent performance to minimal cost.
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This could be the way I go, I'll have a browse over on the iRacing forums and see what people are saying. Even if I have to drop resolution slightly, or even cap frame rates or keep maximum cars on track to 20 this could be my best solution in going triple screen for minimal cost.
 
This is a well worth reading article...
Red Vs Green Vs Blue

Each solution has drawbacks and advantages.
I personally do not see the Matrox option as future proof at all. Not because of the product itself but mainly because continued future cards and their technology will continue to become more powerful and more affordable.

I certainly have no gripes in spending £500 on a gfx card, while it is quite a bit of money, heck if we can spend it on a steering wheel why not also a gfx card. Each gives the user a high end product and experience. To the OP, remember Rome wasn't built in a day, you can continue to save and get a 2nd card later.

As for the previous mentioned 120Hz / 120FPS comment.
Actually it is possible as many 3D capable displays will support this at the 720p resolution.

My own plans are to consider playing many games at triple 720p in 120Hz via 3x 60" screens using DLP projection and ramp up all the gfx effects to max. Alternatively yes 1080p will be sharper but it has much higher demands on processing too.

My Eyefinity is also working fine with dual 24" monitors @ 1080p 60HZ and a projector @ 720p 120HZ, running off the single card. ATI/Nvidia, I don't give a damn I will buy whatever product at the time seems maybe the best one to have. 680 does not apart from better 3D support seem to have much if any benefits over the 7970 and as some benchmarks have already shown the 680 loses out a bit in multiscreen framerates. 3D multiscreen is interesting but not enough games, never mind racing games really support it.
 
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The Matrox is more future proof than a new card. I've been using them for six years. From analog, to digital, to DP version. Gone through several cards in that time at work and home. Had only two TH2GO in that time. Especially recommending triple 720 projectors it works even better.

It's the simplest solution if your monitors or projectors support it's resolutions. I've also used multiple cards as a solution and that works fine as well.

In the end, I thought the OP wanted to get the most bang for his buck and the easiest solution.

I recommend doing some YouTube watching and comparing the options, this way you see it in action.
 
Yes but eventually a user may want a more powerful card for the latest games (not just playing a 2008 title / iracing) Take the newest and better looking games coming will be much more demanding to achieve high frames/max settings. Particularly with multi screens they as always will only get that on multiple mid range or high end cards.

If they purchase such then what is the point in having or needing a Matrox too?
In the UK the Matrox Digital TH2G costs approx £235
 
Mr Latte
As for the previous mentioned 120Hz / 120FPS comment.
Actually it is possible as many 3D capable displays will support this at the 720p resolution.

My own plans are to consider playing many games at triple 720p in 120Hz via 3x 60" screens using DLP projection and ramp up all the gfx effects to max. Alternatively yes 1080p will be sharper but it has much higher demands on processing too.
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I didn't consider 720p in the equation at all. I know there are some people using 720p projectors @ 120hz (I was one of them for a very short time), and you are right, this lower resolution does greatly reduce the graphics and processing power required to run good frame rates.

But the most common resolutions people want to run are much higher than 720p.

The reason I think SoftTH offers the most bang for your buck performance is because if you already have a good older generation Nvidia video card, all you need is a spare DirectX compatible video card and an open port to run it. Even if you don't have one laying around, you can buy one for less than $20 no problem.
 
Coming from console I have no problems with 720p resolution, especially if adding effects to curtail the jaggies. Weigh up the cons/pros, sharper looking graphics with higher resolutions or the possibility of high frame rate, smoother running game. I will however likely keep my 3x 1080p monitors as an option eitherway.

Not looked at SoftTH, knew about it many years ago but again regardless of the method used to achieve the multiscreen effect a graphic card/cpu has to have the horsepower to make playing a game in such a way a good experience.

Is their a benefit in running SoftTH over just using SLI 580 and Nvidia's own "surround gaming"?
 
No, SoftTH should essentially be used as an alternative to TH2GO or other similar solutions. If you can afford it, you will get better performance from an SLI setup. SoftTH is software emulating hardware, which means you take a hit on performance.

The only benefit I can see is with SoftTH you can use completely custom resolutions. With Nvidia Surround, the monitors must all be the same resolution.

But now that Nvidia has finally switched to single card 3-display support natively, I think we will see less and less people using SoftTH and TH2GO over the next couple of years.
 
So does this mean no one knows if you can run the left and right monitors from the Dual Head2Go and centre directly from the graphics card? I've emailed the company to ask so I'll post what I find, but it looks like Rob and I are going for different solutions.

The more I think about it, the more attractive the 680 sounds, but it depends on me being able to sell my 580 (MSI Twin Frozr II) for enough so that the 680 isn't too expensive. Given that the TH2G is £230 and a good 680 about £460, I'd have to sell the 580 for £230 for the 680 upgrade to cost about the same... £230 seems way too low for a 6 month old 580, I would've thought.

I just wonder which performs better in triple screen; a 580 with a Dual Head2Go in one DVI port and a monitor in the other, a 580 with a Triple Head2Go or a 680. To be honest, AMD aren't an option in my opinion, no matter how well they perform or how cheap they are. My last card was an ATI 4870 and while it was a great card, it had driver issues with every new release, some games absolutely refused to work with it (and magically started working when I got the 580) and was a little bit more awkward to live with than the 580.


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superbike81
But now that Nvidia has finally switched to single card 3-display support natively, I think we will see less and less people using SoftTH and TH2GO over the next couple of years.
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As true as that may be, those solutions will probably always be used by someone, because all they do is add more displays. You never know, we might start seeing more people with 5- or even 7-display setups as a result! It might even be possible to run double height setups with SLI 680s and TH2Go units or something soon.
 
The 680 will absolutely give you better performance than the 580 with a DH2GO or TH2GO.

This is your ideal solution, buy a 680 and then sell your 580 to recoup some money.

Problem right now is, depending on where you live, availability can be very hit/miss with the 680 since it's a brand new highly anticipated card.
 
superbike81
Problem right now is, depending on where you live, availability can be very hit/miss with the 680 since it's a brand new highly anticipated card.
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That's the biggest problem I have right now, both Scan and Aria are awaiting stock. Actually, no, the biggest problem is that I can't afford the 680 until I've sold the 580, so I won't be upgrading just yet anyway!
 
funny you mention that, there are people using 2 TH2GO and running six screens. What ever you choose, good luck. I know I've tried almost everything and can only give you advice from trying stuff. Bottom line is you have to try it.
 

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