Three monitor isn't about "macho" imo at all, but just a part of the constant evolution of gaming. I saw a guy at NCIX's display at a tech show in Vancouver running 3 42" LED size TV's with a quad SLI setup...now THAT I would classify as showing off/macho, but tons of people I know are running 3 screen, and none of them have even HEARD of Aces high, much less play it.
That said, I'm a believer in what Chalenge is saying, 100 percent. The more I'm fiddling with this, the more I'm realizing that it is the CPU holding back performance. Also, I don't know anyone running "adaptive" power settings, unless they haven't read up on anything regarding video card performance settings. As for the anti aliasing, I just want to be sure I understand what Chalenge is saying, that the best setting is to just leave it to application control, in terms of Aces High at least.
I've been saying what Chalenge has said regarding the 4gb 680s since I bought them, on the advice of somebody who is a tech/gamer and builds all of NCIX's systems, and has his own uTube tech channel. That with 3 monitor gaming, the 4gb 680's SLI are better than the 690 option, which is why I traded my 690 in for the 680's in the first place, as I wanted to run a cheap (24" Asus LED) 3 screen setup (sorry, I didn't buy any MACHO high end monitors) just to see if it was really worth going to a higher end 3 screen setup at some point. I already had one of the Asus screens, and they had a bundle on sale for buying 2 of the exact same model for 150$. How can you go wrong with that? I would say that it is, as so many other games are really cool with the extra screens. As for Aces, I'm still undecided if it is worth the performance hit and the strangeness of how every thing seems and looks. Of your setup configurations possible, what would you recommend Chalenge to a person looking for a high end box/upgrade in terms of Aces High? I understand you points regarding the 2011 x79 at this time, but considering that some people are investing in this platform awaiting the new stuff coming out, what would you think the best cpu/gpu set up would be for both current platforms, ie 3770/2600k 3820/3930k?
When someone says "I can get..." it is not a very scientific statement because "can" clearly is saying there is a time when "cannot" occurs.
I'm not sure if that is directed at me, I'm not trying to win the science fair, and I've been pretty clear about the scenario I'm talking about with regards to fps in Aces High at max settings (multiple friendly and enemy cons both as aircraft and gv's, low alt over smoking town/base nearby). I would consider it understood that at higher altitudes with less action that any of the cpu/gpu in the last few pages of the thread would suffice for sustained max FPS with vsync on with a 1080p or similar monitor at 60hz, I realize the 120hz monitors will perform differently.