for the guys with three screen monitors

[|2ambo]

I was really thinking about setting up 3 monitors. it's going to take some money and time and I just want to be sure that it's worth it. so I'm asking anybody who has a three monitor setup you say it's worth it, or would you say that it wasn't the greatest? I've seen videos on YouTube but the angles are always at a different direction then it would be if you were sitting in the seat. I think would be nice to be able to just turn my head sideways instead of using Mouse look to look around.

can someon list the pros and cons

also do you think 3 47 inch TV'S are too big? should I go smaller like 32 inch? I have plenty of room so I can make it as big as I want

Thanks for any suggestions

Also I'm running g a GeForce 660 TI. Is that good enough or do I need a better card?

 

[Uueerdo]

Appropriate screen size will depend greatly on how close to the screens you plan on playing; for a typical desk I would think 32" screens would be a bit large, 47" ones might be too small for a indulgent home theater. Also, you might want to keep in mind it is harder to find multi monitor stands that accommodate larger/heavier screens well.

 

[Brett C]

Anything over 30 inches for a monitor, and you'll need to consider sitting further and further back from the screens. Unless you have to be _that close_ to the screen.

I have four (of these) monitors here. I only use my three right monitors when playing Elite Dangerous. Four adds in that annoying visual gap to my ship, which annoys the daylights out of me.

If you're wanting to do a true free-look sort of style, you'd be better off with VR hardware rather being limited by monitor view ports and manually using the mouse/HOTAS to move about.

The 660ti is slightly aged for Elite Dangerous, but it will still play the game without too much hassle; https://support.frontier.co.uk/kb/faq.php?id=227 - With EDH, the recommended PC spec for the GPU is a GTX770 at base. The Min requirement is the GTX470.

 

[Insomnia]

I was really thinking about setting up 3 monitors. it's going to take some money and time and I just want to be sure that it's worth it. so I'm asking anybody who has a three monitor setup you say it's worth it, or would you say that it wasn't the greatest? I've seen videos on YouTube but the angles are always at a different direction then it would be if you were sitting in the seat. I think would be nice to be able to just turn my head sideways instead of using Mouse look to look around.

can someon list the pros and cons

also do you think 3 47 inch TV'S are too big? should I go smaller like 32 inch? I have plenty of room so I can make it as big as I want

Thanks for any suggestions

Also I'm running g a GeForce 660 TI. Is that good enough or do I need a better card?

Your card is way below the min spec if you're looking at 1080p across 3 monitors, 1.0x SS...
I got a normal 660 running @5040x1050 and I get somewhere around 25 FPS in asteroid belts, and approximately around 15 on planet surfaces, everything on low. Upgrade your GPU.

That said, I really, really like having 3 monitors. One thing that might bother you though is the distortion around the edges. Planets get egg shaped, which lowers the immersion and is actually one of the few reasons why I'm only using one monitor.

 

[mojododo]

I was runnig 3x 27" acer xb1's (iracing rig) but the distortion on the sides was bad, so ive now got a single acer predator x34. Much nice in ED.

Would be awesome if ED could adopt how iracing do their side monitors, rendering each screen seperate instead of a single wide panel. Totally transforms the view in iracing.

 

[Yaffle]

You also get significant image distortion towards the side monitors. For some this is not an issue, for me I feel sick and can't play.

The main advantage over a VR setup is use outside the game. I don't see myself using Excel with a VT headset on.

 

[the100thmonkey]

I was really thinking about setting up 3 monitors. it's going to take some money and time and I just want to be sure that it's worth it. so I'm asking anybody who has a three monitor setup you say it's worth it, or would you say that it wasn't the greatest? I've seen videos on YouTube but the angles are always at a different direction then it would be if you were sitting in the seat. I think would be nice to be able to just turn my head sideways instead of using Mouse look to look around.

can someon list the pros and cons

also do you think 3 47 inch TV'S are too big? should I go smaller like 32 inch? I have plenty of room so I can make it as big as I want

Thanks for any suggestions

Also I'm running g a GeForce 660 TI. Is that good enough or do I need a better card?

Cons:

• Your card is too weak to give you decent FPS in stations. Forget about Horizons - high settings at 5670x1080 will give you 25fps on a GTX 970. The more pixels you have running, the more vRAM you need, and 2GB just isn't going to cut the mustard.
• Cost: you need a new GPU and new displays, which is expensive. It might perhaps be cheaper to go to the VR route. Mismatched displays due to your reusing one you already have can be really off-putting - they might all say "24 inch", but differences in pixel density mean they will not be exactly the same size and different manufacturers and models for the LCDs will mean that they have different brightness levels and colour responses, and it can be a right PITA to calibrate them so they look even similar.
• You'll also need to fiddle with the field of view settings in the config files - the slider in the graphics options is limited in range. However, setting a wider FoV to match the width of the monitors can make your cockpit look rather squashed. You'll need to tinker to find your happy medium.
• You're going to get fish-eye effects on the left and right monitors no matter what you do - ovular planets and ship stretching, for instance.
• 3x47" TVs is going to take up a lot of space.
• LCD TVs don't have great response times; it's not usually an issue in slower-paced games like E|D, but if you play anything faster-paced, the input lag can get you killed.
• If you go for monitors, getting the displays all neatly lined up can be an exercise in spleen-vomiting frustration, especially if you use mounting arms. You. Have. Been. Warned.

Pros:

• The stretching actually makes it easier to make out shapes on the left and right screens, which is useful in identifying ships if you're in combat, for example.
• It feels really immersive when you pick up movement in your peripheral vision too, especially on planet surfaces in the SRV.
• Using a smartphone and Opentrack gives you a real feeling of freedom - you move your head, the screen moves to reflect your movement.
• Visibility is much better.
• Your PC station will look awesome.

 

[Conch]

be aware, once you go triple monitor its verry hard to go back.

i got triple Asus ROG PG278Q G-sync monitor, so i play in 7680x1440. (one of them died on me 2 weeks back, the new one is on the way )
was doing it at first on one Titan X, and had to put the settings to high. last weekend my second titan X was installed so im gonna turn it to ultra once i get my monitor back.


the stretching was something i wasnt looking forward to at first, but it wont take long before you get used to it.
and you can use it as a zoom function to, by looking to one of the panels on the side.
also tried to mess with the graphics file, but didnt get the result i wanted.

 

[CMDR Reaper]

I have 3 dell ultrasharp u2414h which have a very thin bezel.

My GPU is a Radeon 280X R9 3GB and the resolution is 5760x1080.

I have recently bought TrackIr as well.

I'm very happy about the setup - and I would never go back to a single monitor. I think the next for me is probably gonna be VR, but maybe next year perhaps.

My GPU is doing fine in space and stations. In space I get around 80-90 fps, 40 in stations (i think), but on the planets with details set to low I get about 20-30 fps.

I'm definitely gonna buy a new GPU when the NextGen cards will be available. It will be exciting to see if it will be AMD or Nvidia who will have the best cards. I'm going to buy the winner

 

[Neutronium]

I have tripple monitor, actually tripple TVs, its really immersing, more practical and less tedious for the eyes/head than VR.
But I don't own a VR set yet so these are assumptions. However, I believe VR will be more immersive.
If you are going for tripple monitors or TVs make sure they are of the same brand, size and ideally model.
I am driving them with this card which is adequate for 5760x1080 as it has 6 gigs of VRAM which helps a lot. In fact this card performs marginally better then the original TITAN design (2% better performance then the original TITAN).
You will be far better off if you invest on a GTX-98x series but dont go on anything lower than 6 gigs of VRAM for multi monitor / VR setups.

PS: Also to minimize distortion I reccommend reducing the FOV from the settings menu as much as possible i.e. slider all the way to the left in the options>graphics section.

 

[Kizbot]

Having played elite using an Oculus dk2 for the last 10 weeks I can highly recommend you consider VR as a better solution. I have seen 3 monitor setups and although they can look cool, they really cant hold a candle to a VR setup with mic headset and Hotas. We are talking serious escapism here. There is nothing like being able to look down around your feet and see the moon surface scrolling beneath you, or looking around behind the chair and seeing the whole cockpit your sat in. I look to my left and the left panel pops up automatically. In a dog fight you get a distinct advantage because its easier to keep your eyes on the target. Resolution is not as sweet I agree, but once you feel that immersion that you get from VR you just can't go back to monitors no matter how many you have.

If you can afford a 980 TI and some second hand dk2 or wait for CV1/VIVE, its a winner!

 

[Insomnia]

Actually VR isn't the slightest tedious for my eyes. And with 3 monitors the side monitors ends up in my peripherals and I end up looking at the middle screen due to the distortion. I'm selling one of my monitors, getting a new rig and eventually get VR.

 

[the100thmonkey]

I actually went back from a 3x24" setup to a 1x32" 1080p setup for performance reasons. With headtracking, the switch back wasn't jarring in the slightest.

 

[Sandmann]

On my desktop I've got 3x22" monitors running on an ATI R9-280X AND I use headtracking, works brilliantly. When I'm on night shift and playing on the laptop I really miss the extra screens. Don't think I'd wanna use something as big as 47" screens tho... unless you wanted to use them in portrait mode instead of landscape which would give you a 27:16 ratio instead of a 48:9.

Pros are obvious... you can see more, in EVERY game that supports it (and even some that don't, there's a dedicated group for hacking games like Fallout 4 that don't support it to work in widescreen/multimonitor). You'll also get a really wide desktop under windows which once you're used to it can make any single screen feel cramped.

Cons... the biggest one is that you'll get 1/3 the frame rate. For example if your card can currently only do 60fps on medium quality with a single screen, you'll likely only get 20fps on a triple one... however if you can do 60fps on the best quality you may only have to drop it to medium to maintain the framerate.

Whatever you decide to go with, consider getting a head tracker too, just to complete it. You can use the "EdTracker" designed by some ED players which you can buy pre-made, or build yourself for about $20 and which works with a bunch of games... Check it out at http://edtracker.org.uk/

 

[Ravenov]

if it's your plan to keep the game view fixed and turn your head then i think you'll be disappointed, the aforementioned stretching on the side screens will be less than ideal. combine 3 screens with a head tracker (TrackIR, EDtracker etc) and you'll find you keep your eyes on the centre screen and the sides become peripheral. It sounds like a waste but it really does add to the immersion. If i had to chose between 3 screens and no head tracking, and one screen with head tracking i would take the single screen every time.

Also, you will need a monster of a computer to run 60fps across 3 screens playing the 64bit client (as soon as the planet loads in the detail you'll take a fps hit, so if you're in a station in a close orbit you'll have a double whammy). I'm running a 690 and i have to drop down to a single screen if i want to get close to a planet and maintain 60fps.

 

[Neutronium]

While everyone is whinning about the fps drop that you get with 3 screens, the truth is that the 64bit is helping a great deal especially if you combine it with lots of VRAM. As I posted above, don't even think of going x3 if your GPU has anything less then 4GBs VRAM. However it is not only the fps that determine the game experience. It is the fluidity of the experience. And the 64bit here was the right move from FD. I am playing on Ultra and I get ~20fps on planet surfaces at 5760x1080 and it is not very noticable, because it is very fluid and with minimal stuttering and lag. If I was to choose between 60+ fps and stuttering/lag and 20 fps and no stuttering, I'd choose the 2nd. And thankfully the 64bit technology has brought just that. At last we can utilize the full potential of our machines!

However I agree with people advising to switch from multi monitor to single + VR. Immersion with VR is multiple times higher then multimonitor setups. I want to buy VR but I am still cautious. Best thing is to try before buy if you can.

 

[Archvillain]

I have 3. It's nice, sure, but meh, if you're thinking about a better graphics card, that's probably a better bet. If you're thinking about VR that's probably a better bet (if you're into immersion. If you want ultra-high resolution then you're probably stuck with screens). 3 screens is defintiely nice, but other things are even nicer (to me).

I would go for VR except that it blinds you entirely so you can't see your realworld cockpit controls, keyboard, pilot's logbook etc. I'm hoping there will be a solution that allows both VR and a screen to run or quick-toggle (a screen viewing the game properly - not just the VR feed), then I could hinge the goggles up when I need to take notes and still be in the game.

 

[Frank]

You also get significant image distortion towards the side monitors. For some this is not an issue, for me I feel sick and can't play.

The main advantage over a VR setup is use outside the game. I don't see myself using Excel with a VT headset on.

Actually VR isn't the slightest tedious for my eyes. And with 3 monitors the side monitors ends up in my peripherals and I end up looking at the middle screen due to the distortion. I'm selling one of my monitors, getting a new rig and eventually get VR.

A giant multi-screened VR spreadsheet experience might be quite a useful thing. It would be like Aero on steroids. The only downside would be the fact that you can't see your keyboard, but I'm sure they could have some sort of work-around. I wonder if anyone is working on non-game applications.

 

[guido1205us]

3 x 24" myself. I mainly use 5760 x 1200 at res zones. Along with TrackIR, it's fantastic. For doing everything though, I think a 2x20" 30" PLP setup would be best to deal with the side stretch:

http://plp-gaming.wikia.com/wiki/Big_Medium-Heavy_PLP_Layouts

Downside is Nvidia Surround doesn't support this so instead of a new build for PLP I'm going to wait for VR. With voice this sounds promising.

 

[Sandmann]

If i had to chose between 3 screens and no head tracking, and one screen with head tracking i would take the single screen every time.

Gotta agree with this. Triple screens is good, but head tracking is better (and doesn't hurt your fps).