Matrox Tripleheadtogo

[roffi]

I've just bought a Matrox triplehead digital and would like to run at 3 x 1920 x 1080. Matrox spec calls for 50Hz monitors but most decent ones are 56hz minimum. How important is this? anybody running a triplehead at this resolution at higher than 50Hz.

[FLS]

Are you sure 50 isn't the minimum spec?

[roffi]

Not sure webpage says :-

"This mode runs at 50Hz which may be incompatible with some displays. Verify with your display vendor for compatibility"

[FLS]

Ok. Sounds like you need to run a lower resolution for 60 hz. Personally I think you're better off doing triple head with a new video card instead of the Matrox unit.

[roffi]

Dell with 350w power supply and GTS240 with i7 860 cpu.Limts my Graphics upgrade options.  AH runs fine never drops below vsync rate. I can find  BenQ 50Hz monitors but not my first choice.

Do you get any benefits running Ah higher that 1024?

[FLS]

If you're limited by your graphics card you might have a problem running AH at 5760 x 1080 anyway.

1920x1080 is 2073600 pixels.

3270x768 is 2511360 pixels.

5760x1080 is 6242400 pixels.

If you're using 1920x1080 now you can run it with V-synch off to check FPS and see how much headroom you have to increase resolution. 3270x768 is close enough to 1920x1080, and you'll have to decide if it looks good enough for you, but it looks like you'd get a big frame rate hit from 5760x1080.

The other consideration is that in landscape mode you're going to be seeing less vertical angle of view than you do now because of the difference in aspect ratio.

[roffi]

Currently running 1280 x 1024 with vsync off get about 500 fps when on my own and 200 fps when low and in company. GTS240 is HDMI capable with 1 GB ram so think it will manage ok.

Just wanted to know if anybody else running a triplehead digital at max res and if so what montiors they using?

[Tigger29]

Currently running 1280 x 1024 with vsync off get about 500 fps when on my own and 200 fps when low and in company. GTS240 is HDMI capable with 1 GB ram so think it will manage ok.

Just wanted to know if anybody else running a triplehead digital at max res and if so what montiors they using?

Come on.. that's simply not possible.. unless you have all other options set to minimal.  If you truly ARE getting those speeds with a GTS240 and a 350w power supply, then your video card must be built with fairy dust.

Granted it helps a LOT that you're only at 1280X1024, but you have to remember that resolution is about 1.3 million pixels.  Upgrading to a 5760X1080 triplehead setup requires five times more pixels so automatically your performance will be cut by five times.  That would bring your 200fps low and in company down to less than 40fps.  If you factor in the additional overhead and all loss of efficiency by using the triplehead setup... well I wouldn't be surprised to see a further 50-60% decrease in FR.  I wouldn't be surprised if you saw less than 20fps at times if it doesn't crash on you!  And this is all assuming that your claim of 200fps low with company is accurate.  I honestly don't believe it is.  God forbid you try to enable any advanced graphics options.

I don't know.. to me.. having unflyable, jumpy, low framerates would complete remove any benefit I could possibly gain with having three monitors.

[FLS]

Tigger 5760x1080 is moot because it won't run above 50 hz.

Roffi if you're getting 200 now you might be able to stay above 60 FPS at 3270x768. I don't know how it would scale but you could probably ask Matrox.

[noTch]

Ok, I have been running a Triplehead2go for around 2 years on 4330x900. They are Acer 20" monitors @ 60hz, I believe, and I love the resolution.  I do wish I had 26" monitors though. It would be grand.   But until I can get 3x26" monitors for $400, I'll just enjoy this setup

[roffi]

Thanks for the advice, I think I will go half way, found a couple of 1280 x 1024 monitors same as my current model on ebay. Will see how it works at this resolution.

[Pollock]

Thanks for the advice, I think I will go half way, found a couple of 1280 x 1024 monitors same as my current model on ebay. Will see how it works at this resolution.

Thats what I did. I use 3 19 samsung lcd at 1280 x 1024 X 3. I get 75 fps max.

[roffi]

I will have this running mid March, I'll post my results them.

[roffi]

To update I now have the tripleheadtogo digital edition running.

My system spec is below. I have the triplehead hooked up to computer by a double dvd-I cable  and by three single dvd-I cables to three Dell Ultrsharp FP1907 19" 4:3 monitors with a native res of 1280 x 1024 giving a total res of 3840 x 1024.

With terrain settings on high and water low Aces high holds at 60 fps most of the time dropping to 40-50 when there is a lot of objects in the sky.

The three screens improve the game immersion considerably, well worth it.

The advice given was well taken I will need to wait until I obtain a high performance gaming machine before trying with widescreen monitors.

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_rtm.101119-1850)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Studio XPS 8100
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         870  @ 2.93GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.9GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce GTS 240
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Display Memory: 4069 MB
Dedicated Memory: 997 MB
Shared Memory: 3071 MB
Current Mode: 3840 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Matrox TripleHead2Go Digital Edition
Sound Description: Speakers (2- Creative SB X-Fi)

[Tigger29]

To update I now have the tripleheadtogo digital edition running.

My system spec is below. I have the triplehead hooked up to computer by a double dvd-I cable  and by three single dvd-I cables to three Dell Ultrsharp FP1907 19" 4:3 monitors with a native res of 1280 x 1024 giving a total res of 3840 x 1024.

With terrain settings on high and water low Aces high holds at 60 fps most of the time dropping to 40-50 when there is a lot of objects in the sky.

The three screens improve the game immersion considerably, well worth it.

The advice given was well taken I will need to wait until I obtain a high performance gaming machine before trying with widescreen monitors.

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_rtm.101119-1850)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Studio XPS 8100
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         870  @ 2.93GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.9GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce GTS 240
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Display Memory: 4069 MB
Dedicated Memory: 997 MB
Shared Memory: 3071 MB
Current Mode: 3840 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Matrox TripleHead2Go Digital Edition
Sound Description: Speakers (2- Creative SB X-Fi)

You really don't need a whole new machine.. your specs are just fine, it's just your video card that is a bit on the low end.  Problem is that your Dell power supply probably can't handle any video card of better performace, but still... for $300 or less you can improve greatly with a decent video card and power supply without needing to build (or buy) a whole new system.  Your specs are FAR from obsolete.