Eyefinity/Surround screen choices

DavidS14 · 12 Nov 2011 at 12:47

I've finally got my new spec sorted (I think) but the one thing that has me bamboozled (love that word

) is monitor choice. I play mostly FPS but also will be Skyrim, Mass Effect etc.

I'd like to go triple screen (fed by 2x 3GB 580SLI) and have read and read review after review but am not that much nearer reaching a decision on which screens to go for.

Here are some of my thoughts so far on the front runners:-

Hazro HZ27WC - Get a good one and most owners love them but am not sure about the resolution as it might need tri-SLI to drive games with all the eye candy on max.

Dell UltraSharp U2711 - Great warranty and support, same resolution issue as the Hazro, not too sure about the screen coating though but I do use Dells at work and they are not too bad.

Other 27" monitors at 1920x1080 - Not sure about these really for a couple of reasons. Firstly most are TN panels which although being fast are not very good off axis so I'd be worried about
colour shift on the two side screens. Secondly I'm using a 1900x1200 24" at the moment and am unsure about dropping the resolution but going up in screen size, will images lose some of their clarity
with the larger dot pitch ?

Dell UltraSharp U2410 - It's a Dell, same resolution as I'm running now, IPS screen so no off axis issues, not too slow so should be OK for gaming, good input selection, 16x10.

Dell UltraSharp U2412M -Cheaper than the U2410 (especially when buying three

) less inputs but not far off the U2410 picture wise, IPS, 16x10.

Then there are the others I've kind of looked at U2312HM, EW2430, VE278Q, S24A350H etc which all have good points and bad. The other limitation is bezel size as some screens have
mahooooosive bezels.

Been reading some of the specs of people posting on the widescreen gaming forum and there are plenty of people just running quite cheap triple displays but I'm not sure I could just sit
and play if I could see screen issues. I have a mate who plays a 360 on a 60" plasma and loves it, whenever I use it I'm seeing how the graphics look rather than the game :rolleyes:

I'm not too limited on price as long as the performance is justified, 120Hz looks interesting but not really interested in 3D.

So guys and girls where would you put your money ?

Axeia · 12 Nov 2011 at 13:33

There are (I think at least 2) people in the Hazro topic running a triple setup. Might want to ask them for their experiences on whether 2* 580 would be enough. At least they got a ton of VRAM which seems to a problem a lot of people run into when running at such ridiculous resolutions.
I haven't kept track on what's hot or not in the world of video cards for quite some time but going by how those things are priced and their AMD counterpart in the same price range I'd say things look positive.

The U2412M isn't 16:9 btw, it's 16:10 like the U2410. The U2410 is a bit of a waste of money unless you do professional photo editing.

lay-z-boy · 12 Nov 2011 at 16:19

Personally I would stick to a single massive screen for games. Go 3d if you want to dabble about.

I had a u2410 surround setup (still have it actually) and I got fed up of all the bugs, issues and work arounds you have to do. That's if the game will work in surround - Mass effect 1 & 2 didn't for me along with a ton of others. Not to mention the simply monumental amount of gpu power and vram you need to run it at high settings.

Hazro 27wc is a bargain. There is the hdcp niggle but if you can overlook it, it's a fantastic screen and if the glossy screen will work in your room lighting you will love the colours too vs the matte dells. As it doesn't have a million inputs or any scalers it also has very good input lag. Unlike the dell 2711/3011 or u2410 when not in game mode. (which looks horrid)

If you absolutely must go surround I wouldn't go for the 27" screens due to required desk space, cost and system resources. Stick to the reasonably cheap 1080p IPS displays like the u2412m and u2312hm.

DavidS14 · 12 Nov 2011 at 21:22

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated

I'll have to look at the Hazro info as suggested.

Desk space isn't really an issue as there's loads of room where it's going as I've been given the spare room to convert into a "man cave".

The Dell U2412 seems to be a good choice in terms of the screen you get and the price and I like the IPS panels, I've not had a TN panel before so am a bit wary of them really and I've got the money together so I can go IPS if it's not too much of a compromise with FPS.

I've also considered a 30" panel instead of the triple set up but it's pretty expensive when you look what you can get a triple set up for but as has been said it takes the multi-monitor support issues out of the equation. The choice seems limited though on larger panels with the ones reviewed being Dell, Hazro, LG and HP.

Axeia · 13 Nov 2011 at 12:15

Hazro is working on a refresh of their 30" model so that might be worth waiting for, even if they're not better suited for gaming they might still cause the price of the current model to drop temporarily. The HZ27WA was cheaper than ever just before OC UK stopped stocking them and replaced it with the HZ27WD at least.

Then again, no-one likes waiting and Hazro's time indications never make sense.

DavidS14 · 13 Nov 2011 at 14:52

Looking on the Hazro site the B seems to be a good choice as it's kind of between the A and C spec wise without introducing too much lag, it also has a thinner bezel so better for multi screen.

Problem is that on the Hazro thread they say that they are redesigning the B to give it a plastic rather than metal body to reduce cost but retaining the adjustable stand. Don't know what the bezel thickness will be like though or if the spec will change :confused:

Like the review of the current Hazro 30" but supply has been very limited and the price seems to be unstable but maybe better supply would smooth this out.

lay-z-boy · 14 Nov 2011 at 15:28

The 30" panels are pretty much the same IIRC. The price difference comes down to build quality, features and grade quality of the screen.

HP and Dell get the best but cost the most, the LG is a 'cheap' 30" panel and I'm not sure about the hazro's they seem to be hit and miss. You may want to try a 30" or 27", use the DSA if it's not what you're after.

Axeia · 14 Nov 2011 at 20:05

I don't quite get how you came to the conclusion that the B model is between the A and C model specs wise.

The 'A' isn't even produced/sold anymore. Its successor, the HZ27WD is the same thing with a displayport added to it so I'll just ignore the HZ27WA from here on.

Unlike the WC and WD the WB uses CCFL backlighting (the other two use LEDS) and it's a wide gamut display (useful for photo-editing/print work). Another difference between it and it's LED brothers is that the WB is a matte display, the other two are glossy (with an optional glassplate). Finally the WB doesn't have speakers unlike the other two but I doubt anyone is going to miss those.

The WB does does resemble the WC in that it only has DVI dual-link connection that doesn't support HDCP and has no scalers. I'd almost say it has more in common with a Dell U2711 (matte, wide gamut and CCFL) than a HZ27WD.

DavidS14 · 17 Nov 2011 at 21:46

Yes sorry I should have said D instead of A, I was looking at the reviews on TFTCentral for the comparison between the three

The way I looked at it was leaving the backlight differences aside the B and the D are sudo 10bit panels (8-bit + AFRC) and the C is 8bit but the B loses the extra inputs and OSD etc. compared to the D.

So the B is on a par with the D panel wise but has fewer inputs, no OSD, scaler etc which I thought would kind of slot it in between the D and the C ?

Axeia · 17 Nov 2011 at 23:35

Well I can see your reasoning now

I think we can agree on that it is just the odd one out, lacking speakers, being wide gamut, ccfl backlighted and matte.