5760x1080 with a 690 or stay at 1440p

[bmad]

Hi.

Currently I game at 1440p with the 690 and it copes brilliantly. The wife has finally buckled and is allowing more than one monitor. The plan is to go for 3 1080p monitors much like the overclockers bundle of Asus monitors. My question is, should I keep the 690 or flog it now and pick up a 780ti. The grand plan would be to add another 780ti in a year or so when i can afford it. Another option is to sell the 690 and maybe stretch to 2x780's.

As I have not yet commited myself to any new kit I suppose I must ask, has anyone here gone from 1440p to a 3 monitor, 5760x1080 setup? I'm still not convinced it's the way forward but it looks so good!

Anyway, your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[straxusii]

Flog it when a game turns up that needs it for your setup.

Bear in mind there is a big difference between a game using all available vram and a game having performance issues due to a lack of vram, most people on this forum don't comprehend this fact.

 

[Silent_Scone]

690 GTX has 2GB VRAM. You will come into difficulties quite quickly at that resolution.

Her buckling couldn't of come at a more awkward time, you've got the 790GTX rumoured to be coming out next month which is essentially the dual GPU replacement of your card. 5GB per core, GK110 and ample fast to cope with that res.

I hate saying this normally but I'd be tempted to wait a few weeks chap.

 

[Rusty0611]

With a 690 on most games you won't have enough "grunt" to play games on max settings with MSAA. So if you are happy to game with max settings and, say, FXAA then the VRAM shouldn't even really come into it.

I had two 680s myself and even while massively overclocked I could barely manage 2x MSAA with playable frame rates in most games (even while using only 1800MB of VRAM) I think as long as you realise this from the off and adjust your settings accordingly you'll be fine.

It was only the memory bandwidth intensive MSAA which tonked my performance.

 

[eyetrip]

Having just taken delivery of 3 x 23" 1080p screens yesterday (having been on 1440p), I can say, it depends on game. I have not had huge amount of time to test games yet, but so far:
Batman AO - actually playable almost maxed and even in 3D with decent fps.
BF4 - Runs surprisingly well on high. Ultra it runs around 30 fps not surprisingly.
Assetto Corsa - very little time spent, but maxed in 3D was down to 40 fps. Will spend more time on it tonight

That is on SLI 780's. I wouldn't even consider it on a single.

With a 690 being a bit faster than single 780, I would say you should be just ok, as long as you don't try maxing things.

I will miss the vertical res, but I'll get used to it.

I will miss the larger single screen option, but will get used to it.

The big thing I need to work out is how it feels after lengthier spells of gaming. 3 screens is quite intense. Will take me some getting used to.

Edit: Actually, the only reason I went this way is I wanted a nice looking setup, wider and with 3D support. As the bundles you are looking at are not 3D, I would say hang on for the new LG 34" 21:9 3440x1440 screens. It's what I would have done if I didn't want 3D.

 

[bmad]

Thanks for the replies. I didn't realise there was a 790 due imminently. I must say the whole vram issue confuses me. My understanding is that, should I go down the 3 monitor route, I will likely need a card with at least 3gb vram. Is this reasonable to assume? That being the case I think I'll sell the 690 in a few weeks and see what's available then.

 

[bmad]

Thanks eyetrip. Didn't see your reply there. How much vram do your 780's have? That was one solution I was looking at and it sounds like your experiences are good.

 

[Rusty0611]

Thanks for the replies. I didn't realise there was a 790 due imminently. I must say the whole vram issue confuses me. My understanding is that, should I go down the 3 monitor route, I will likely need a card with at least 3gb vram. Is this reasonable to assume? That being the case I think I'll sell the 690 in a few weeks and see what's available then.

If you run max settings then, yes, you'll likely run out of memory.

The thing is a 690 is not powerful enough to run with acceptable frame rates at max settings anyway. Even if you had 16GB memory on it, your frame rates would not be good enough in the mass majority of games.

So my advice would be to try triple monitors with your 690 first and see how you get on. Try it on high to ultra settings without any MSAA. Use FXAA. You will have decent enough frame rates and memory won't come into it. Then you can see if you like the triple screen experience without getting a new card.

 

[whyscotty]

So my advice would be to try triple monitors with your 690 first and see how you get on. Try it on high to ultra settings without any MSAA. Use FXAA. You will have decent enough frame rates and memory won't come into it. Then you can see if you like the triple screen experience without getting a new card.

^^^
This

 

[bmad]

If you run max settings then, yes, you'll likely run out of memory.

The thing is a 690 is not powerful enough to run with acceptable frame rates at max settings anyway. Even if you had 16GB memory on it, your frame rates would not be good enough in the mass majority of games.

So my advice would be to try triple monitors with your 690 first and see how you get on. Try it on high to ultra settings without any MSAA. Use FXAA. You will have decent enough frame rates and memory won't come into it. Then you can see if you like the triple screen experience without getting a new card.

The monitors will likely get bought first so I'll certainly give it a go with the 690. I'm expecting to be disappointed initially. I know a new card or two will be needed ultimately.

 

[eyetrip]

Thanks eyetrip. Didn't see your reply there. How much vram do your 780's have? That was one solution I was looking at and it sounds like your experiences are good.

It's very limited experience so far.

But do you know anyone with a triple screen setup, or have you used one before?

 

[Rusty0611]

If you do get new card(s), I would have to recommend a nVidia set up over an AMD one for triple screen. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the AMD implementation but just little niggling things which aren't there on the nVidia side.

A 790 with 5GB per core would be a very good option but this isn't likely to be cheap (if it even arrives).

 

[bmad]

It's very limited experience so far.

But do you know anyone with a triple screen setup, or have you used one before?

No I have never seen this setup outside of YouTube. Don't know where I would see such a setup either. It certainly looks amazing from the various videos I've watched. I play iracing a lot too which seems to be implemented better than most other games which is handy!

With regards amd I'll pass for now. I've been with Nvidia for a good few years now and have never had any issues. I rather like shadowplay too!

 

[Silent_Scone]

If you do get new card(s), I would have to recommend a nVidia set up over an AMD one for triple screen. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the AMD implementation but just little niggling things which aren't there on the nVidia side.

A 790 with 5GB per core would be a very good option but this isn't likely to be cheap (if it even arrives).

Aye, a lot of stuff flying around at the moment what with 6GB Ti's and 790s but no real confirmation yet.

 

[eyetrip]

No I have never seen this setup outside of YouTube. Don't know where I would see such a setup either. It certainly looks amazing from the various videos I've watched. I play iracing a lot too which seems to be implemented better than most other games which is handy!

Same with me, I didn't know anyone with a setup, and didn't know where to see one to determine how much I liked it. So just went with it in the end.

For games like BF4, it's really quite disorienting when on foot, but awesome in a chopper.

Which is why want a longer session, as a little worried it's going to be too much.

It DOES look great though