Running three monitors for Project CARS driving Sim?

[steway]

Hello all

I bought my gaming rig from "pcspecialist" some 18 months ago now, (see signature) and I still love it to bits...Without so much as a tiny cough, she still works just as I bought her I have a question that I just cannot find an answer for I thought that maybe somebody here could help
Question: Will my graphics cards(in sig)be able to run 3xDell U2711@2560x1440? Like as in, "Just" run, or quite "Comfortably" run, or "Not" at all run?

The reason I ask this is, I have never ran three monitors before, so here lays a n00b I had bought myself and for this rig, a Dell U2711, at about the same time give or take two/three weeks (I did not know this) my parents also bought for me a Dell U2711 :wacko:...So I have been running the Dell that I bought, and stored the other Dell that my parents bought So now I would love a racing rig and have three monitors for playing Project CARS If this is possible on the Dell's (which I would love it to be) then I can buy one more Dell...If not, then I would sell my two Dells to buy three smaller resolution monitors @1920×1080p So can anyone tell me the answer, as I know buying another Dell is like £500, and I can buy three monitors @1920×1080p for that, and still get change

Thanks for any help

Swifty

 

[keynes]

Will my graphics cards(in sig)be able to run 3xDell U2711@2560x1440? Like as in, "Just" run, or quite "Comfortably" run, or "Not" at all run?

Depends on the game and settings but if you have 2 x GTX 580s you should be able to run 3 monitors.

 

[Grimezy]

It depends on how much 1440p x 3 will strain your graphics cards. Like Keynes said you should be able to do it with SLI 580's but whether or not you'll be able to get up to 60fps is a different story. I know that smoothness is key to racing games so you may benefit more from 3 x 1080p 120hz monitors but I would hate to get rid of those Dell's especially as the viewing angles should be better in a surround setup compared to a TN panel.

 

[steway]

Thanks you guy's for the info...Hmm.. been reading till my eye's bleed, and it's looking like a try it and see short of thing(on the three Dell's that is)..and like you say Grimezy smoothness is key to racing Sims, which I play like 23 hours a day Thing being, am I that much of a nut to spend £500 on another Dell just to try it and see? I'm also thinking about the viewing angels, if I was to buy 3x120hz monitors, and angled the end monitors at say 45 degrees to the center monitor, as you turn your head it be like you actually facing them? Sorry if I sound like a n00b, never wanted to do this set up until now, and now I can't wait to try it ...Just another question, could I not use LCD TV's...I mean what is the difference between TV vs Monitor? Right now I could buy 3x32" TV's for less than a 27" Dell

 

[Grimezy]

Well, I'll answer the tv vs monitor thing first. I first started playing on my rig with a 32 inch Hitachi LCD sat about 6 feet away from it. I really didn't enjoy it for gaming, it was great for the xbox but for the PC text would be pixelated and I wasn't wow'd by it's graphical display. The other problem with LCD's is they are prone to things like high input lag and refresh rates depending on the model you buy. Obviously they are more suited for distant viewing rather than intense gaming. I really struggled to become immersed in my PC games on my tv and always felt like I was a lot slower than people online as they'd always be one step ahead. I would definitely suggest staying with a monitor.

The advantage with your dell is the increased resolution and more accurate colours, I think you would definitely notice the difference instantly if you went from a 27 inch 1440p screen to a 32 inch 1080p screen. The Dell is expensive for a reason.

As for whether you should go for 120hz or stick with the dell's, it really is a tough question. You will no doubt have added smoothness on the 120hz screen providing you can push 120fps while using 3 monitors (keynes may be able to help more as he has a 120hz x 3 setup). Plus you will have a lower response rate on a 120hz TN panel as they are suited more to fast motion whereas the Dell's are aimed more towards productivity and colour critical work i.e. Photoshop. Therefore, the TN panels should give much better gaming performance but you will have to settle with 1080p and understand that the colours will not be as vibrant and even across the screen as your dell.

I hate to say it but as I've been typing this I've realised I really don't have an answer for you. 3 x 120hz would naturally be cheaper but you already have 2 Dell's so would only need to buy one more. Colours and viewing angles would be excellent on the Dell's and if you can run games properly they should still look great, but 120hz would look much more fluid and shouldn't be as taxing on your graphics card as 1440p. The only thing to say about the Dell's colours would be that not all games make full use of the Dell's colour palette so if you're not critical to that sort of thing the TN panels should be fine; providing you purely intend to game on it and don't use it for extended desktop use/productivity work.

My conclusion... You need to have a 'First World Problems' meme made about you

Edit: Also thought I would add that you're looking at £220-£300 for a 120hz 1080p monitor. My Benq XL2411T was £220 I think. I'm pretty sure they just released the 27 inch Benq XL2720T which are closer to £400 each. So you'd be spending £700-£1200 potentially on 3 120hz monitors depending on what you went for. Big investment for something you're not sure on.... You could also make use of the 3D feature if you bought the Nvidia 3D set providing the game you play supports it.

 

[steway]

I love that conclusion..:tt2: ....Not really looking to find any answers, I wish to be a sponge and soak up information and you guy's are full of that, and for that I thank you :yes:...So now I know about TV vs Monitor, great at a distance put cr*p close up..See, I learn quick I must admit though, I love the Dell I have, and yes just to remember why I had bought it in the first place But..as I have been looking, I may not need to have three monitors...Could I have your honest opinion on this: http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/monitors/1297987/dell-u2913wm I could sell both Dell's and then buy one Dell? To be quite honest the 3D thingy with glasses never has appealed to me, either watching films, (saw Avatar in 3D, but the headache I had after lasted hours) or playing games, so 3D is not an option :shifty:...Just really looking for more immersion, without going overboard

Thanks for your time

 

[Grimezy]

I would stay away from the ultra widescreen monitors. You will not get the same immersion that you would from a surround setup as you would be looking at a flat surface rather than angled and also it would be a bit pants for general desktop use as no webpages, etc would be optimised for it whereas with 3 screens you could just switch back to the central screen. Thinking about it, I think now that you've had an IPS panel you would not want to go back to a TN panel, and plus racing games are obviously not twitchy shooters like Counterstrike + Quake so that added smoothness is not absolutely critical, it would just look very nice while cruising at 180mph in your Audi R8. If you have played racing games on a console then you will know that they are capped at 30fps so really anything over that will be a smoother experience on the PC anyway and the surround setup should make things much more immersive.

If you are already happy with your current screen, I would just buy the third one and see how you go. It would make more sense then selling the two you have and settling for a panel that you may not even like looking at. And I think the 27 inch Benq is extremely overpriced for what it is anyway and I would much rather have an Ultrasharp if I were going to pay £400-£500. Out of interest, what sort of frames per second are you getting on your 1 monitor?

 

[steway]

The driving game I'm at, is still in development and has yet to be optimised, but just now, in Sli 140/160fps, on a single GPU 70/100fps...all other game you can maybe add 25fps on them numbers,...So all is really good on that score...Of course I also see what you say on the wider Dell, sometimes if you read things a second time, it don't look so good