Ello,

I want a multimonitor solution, however the Matrox TrippleHead and the SoftTH methods doesn't appeal to me - primarely because I would have to drop the quality/resolution and I really don't like want to do that.

I was thinking:

I currently have a 8800GTS - how about if I buy me another one, but don't use it as SLI and instead use it for additional2 monitors?

One adapter for the primary monitor, and the other one for the rest. It should be possible, but then I read stuff like it might be dangerous (as in you could have a fire ).

8800GTS costs about the same as TH2G, and I should have better quality and better FPS - however - would LFS even support this?

Any issues with this solution?

You can't span the image of game over two separate graphics cards. So if you want to span a game over 3 monitors you need either TH2G or SoftTH.

Bummer

Thanks for the reply.

For SoftTH the other card JUST displays an image, and all the hardcore work is done on one card.

If you want an upgrade, then you could go for a TH2Go and SLi'd 8800GT's

Myeh..

That would be around 900USD for another 8800GTS + TH2G. Then 3 monitors on top of that.

About 3000USD in total... auch. I can afford it though, but seems so expensive :|

I never really understood SLI - does it work for any 3D app/game?

How much control do I have with TH2G? What If I want certain app/game to run on certain monitor(s)?

I prolly won't do that, but for that kind of money, I expect some flexibility in how it can be used.

SoftTH is more configurable than TH2G but comes with a performance hit (as it's software), and as mentioned you can't utilise the power of the second card. That at least means you can get a cheap second card, helping reduce costs. If the main card is powerful enough, you should be able to run the same resolutions as you are used to.

I'd imagine a 8800GTS has a fair bit more kick than my X1800XT, yet that will run triple 1280 with maximum settings (so long as FSAA is disabled) - in LFS at least, Oblivion is another matter.

The 8800GTS will run LFS (and Oblivion for reference - not that it should be a reference as it's terribly coded) with SoftTH at acceptable framerates (30+ in Oblivion).

i agree with bob, get a cheap second card and use softth instead. your 8800 gts will be able to run LFS fine.

What will it take to run TH2G + 3 monitors + full LFS quality (maybe lower it to 85% as minimum) + full gfx driver quality (FSAA and AF)and expect at least 45FPS @ full grid on a though track?

Am I dreaming?

Quote from r4ptor :

What will it take to run TH2G + 3 monitors + full LFS quality (maybe lower it to 85% as minimum) + full gfx driver quality (FSAA and AF)and expect at least 45FPS @ full grid on a though track?

Am I dreaming?

you're not dreaming. i'll assume you're going to use 3 1280x1024 monitors so that puts you at 3840x1024. right now i'm running 4440x1050 with everything maxed out in game and FSAA at 2x and AF at 8x. i never drop below 40 fps and i am doing this with softth and 8600 gts, so you already have my graphics card beat, plus you would see less of a performance hit using TH2Go.

Nice!

But back to my SLI question: Does it need to be supported, or will SLI work (better performance) in all (DirectX/OpenGL) apps/games?

I do lots of 3D work too - I won't be spending that much money for LFS/gaming only

Edit: SLI + SoftTH = worth giving a shot? Does it work? anything else?

SLI + softth does not work because only one card does the drawing, so SLI is not supported. softth in general only works for directx games i believe, and even then not for all of them. the only game i even use it for right now is LFS.

as far as doing 3D work, you should be fine with whatever you choose as long as you plan on keeping your main window on one monitor. i don't know how well it would work spanned across multiple screens, windows doesn't exactly have the greatest multiple monitor support. i've used 3d studio on my setup and i'd keep 3d studio on one screen, photoshop or some other program on another, and then the third for random internet windows. i'm pretty sure you could even drag all of the 3d studio dialog boxes onto an extra screen so you could keep them all open. if that's what you're looking for then you won't be disappointed with multiple monitors.

i can't comment much on SLI because i don't use it, i thought it was just supposed to work for everything though, with at least some sort of performance improvement.

Quote from UncleBenny :

...if that's what you're looking for then you won't be disappointed with multiple monitors.

It basically is - I wouldn't like to have a the monitor borders in the middle of the 3D viewport anyways - one monitor for each app, or splitting up the app (windows/dialoags/whatnot) is how I always work.

Quote from UncleBenny :

i can't comment much on SLI because i don't use it, i thought it was just supposed to work for everything though, with at least some sort of performance improvement.

Might be - I somehow have the impression that SLI needs to be supported

Edit: It does work with everything http://in.slizone.com/page/slizone_faq.html#s2

I don't know why people are saying that you need an 8800GTS or something to run LFS on three displays at 1280x1024 with full settings. I am running LFS on TWO 1280x1024 displays with full settings on my 4 year old 6800GT and getting upwards of 60 fps in some spots (usually 40-ish). It is more than playable (I don't notice any framerate issues except with lots of cars in maybe an area like South City.) I'd imagine then that you wouldn't need something ridiculously more powerful for a third screen... but I don't know.

SLi wouldn't work on SoftTH, but it would on TH2G. I suggest getting something like an 8800GT and TH2G, even though the cost would be high it would definatly be worth it.

one other thing, there is a great program called Ultramon that adds a bunch of features to the windows desktop with multiple monitors, which you might want to check out

I don't have a triple monitor set but I just bought and built a computer with the GeForce 8800 in it. I have an old monitor right now and am thinking about buying 2 monitors when I get some more money so that I can have a nice dual screen setup. I am not sure whether I want LFS on both screens as I usually use the other screen for other windows - this prevents IMs from popping up and a bunch of other minor things. I had a question however about a dual/triple screen setup in LFS or other games - don't the monitor lines get in the way? I have never tried it but the 8800 supports 2... so thinking about buying 2 monitors...

Quote from blackbird04217 :

I had a question however about a dual/triple screen setup in LFS or other games - don't the monitor lines get in the way? I have never tried it but the 8800 supports 2... so thinking about buying 2 monitors...

It's only problem if you only have two screens. Then the bezels of the monitors are right in middle of the view, so it really is obstructing. Three screens are much better because the bezels are on the sides and I have heard from many owners of such setups that you don't really notice them when playing.
So my recommendation is either 1 screen or 3 screens.

Conserning SLI and SoftTH. It works in theory. You need a third graphics card for the third monitor though. Altough last time I heard from someone trying it, it resulted in very bad framerates.

Something about the things involved how things work: Windows only supports hardware acceleration of graphics only on one graphics card which which is why need to use some trickery to get more than two screens accelerated.
TH2G tricks your computer to thinking that there is only one very wide monitor attached on a hardware level, which makes it pretty invisible to the rest of the hardware which in turn makes it work with pretty much anything.
SoftTH on the other hand tricks the computer same way, but on software level. It uses the primary graphics card to render the image and the other one simpy to display the image.
SLI tricks the computer to thinking that there is only one powrful graphics card so it can use both cards to render the image. That is done on software level. Which is probably why SoftTH has problems with SLI.

Thanks for all the replies, guys - and UncleBenny, thanks for the link. I'll check it out when I have more monitors.

The fact that I use my computer for lots of different things, makes it more difficult for me to make a decision. Even though I would get a way better driving immersion and view in games, the lower 1024 resolution essentially means less working space vertically, and I'm now thinking that I might not be happy about that in the long run.

As far as I know, it eaither all the way (3 monitor), or none at all (single monitor, but can be much larger).

I guess SLI + 2 monitors is the only compromise (size vs. resolution)?

Quote from r4ptor :

As far as I know, it eaither all the way (3 monitor), or none at all (single monitor, but can be much larger).

i agree with that. my friend had a dual monitor setup and we messed around with playing games on both screens one time and i thought it was horrible, the bezel in the middle was really distracting. on 3 you really don't notice the bezels much because they are off to the side. in my opinion getting two monitors is only good for desktop application type stuff, not gaming.

maybe a good compromise would be to get a larger widescreen monitor? widescreen will give you a slightly wider viewing angle, without the hassle of upgrading to 3 monitors.

TH2G makes Windows think I only have a single monitor. Can I do the same with 2 or even "turn TH2G off" so I use a single monitor if I wanted to, whenever I wanted to?

I don't want to compromise on image quality too much (I'm still on CRT because of that), so I'm thinking: 2 middle class monitors, and a single (primary) good quality monitor.

I could then use this primary monitor, or perhaps primary + a single middle class monitor for random stuff, and all 3 monitors for games only.

What would happen if my primary monitor is bigger/have higher native resolution? Will it simply use lower resolution, to be able to span?

http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/ar ... _8_megapixel_desktop.html

Quote from r4ptor :

What would happen if my primary monitor is bigger/have higher native resolution? Will it simply use lower resolution, to be able to span?

With SoftTH yes, with TH2G no, as it only supports 1024(x3)*768. Also the DVI version (if it's out yet, I can't remember) costs a lot.

If it was me I'd go for a 24" or 27" Dell (or a 30" and drop some money on a 2nd graphics card) and be done with it. I've used a tripple monitor setup before, including playing LFS, and while it was good fun I'd much prefer a single bigger monitor.

I use either a dual monitor setup or one big (24") monitor pretty much every day at uni and I'm not sure what I prefer for work, but for anything other than work I prefer the bigger screen.

UncleBenny: Yeh, I "know" those displays, however theres virtually nothing to be found about them from reviewers.

pb32000: Would you prefer a single large monitor because of personal preference, or because running with 3 wasn't good enough?

I'm now looking into the 2x20"+1x30" setup as displayed in the ubergizmo review. I would chose a single larger monitor as well, and was actually doing just that when I stumbled upon that site - didn't realize it was possible at those sizes to run with 3 monitors

Gaming experience and image quality is the big concern too - even at those sizes, I can still afford such an setup (my very first look at monitors was towards pro/very high-end gfx monitors - which are pretty expensive, but I quickly realized that they don't perform well for gaming).