I could greatly use some help in...monitor & graphic card setup for fsx. My goal is to create a very humble home built cockpit which will build up over the years into something more complex. As a start, I wish to add a new multi monitor setup. Currently I use a single 22" LCD only with a gtx 560ti.What I'd like to do is go with a 3 or 4 monitor setup for scenery using only one graphics card ideally. I'll keep the 22" to use solely as a panel/gauge display during flight. I fly a pretty balanced mixture of add-on heavies and add-on GA props.My two main questions/considerations:1. Should I choose 3x23" LED @ 1920x1080 OR 4x20" LED @ 1600x900 ?2. Related to question #1, should I switch to ATI 6950+Eyefinity OR keep my GTX 560ti and try to add TH2go or another 560ti in SLI?Are there technical conflicts with the above scenarios? any big issue I'm missing and should be looking out for instead?Just to throw out there, I also have the option to add a 2nd older computer with average gpu to run the 22" panel/gauge monitor if necessary....I'm leaning toward the 4x20" with lower res. and changing to ATI card...but I have concerns about whether the lower res. will affect my visual enjoyment or pc performance, along with the ATI card instead of Nvidia.If any other questions about my current build, you can probably find in my signature, or I'll be happy to answer. Please be gentle with the advice, as this is all pretty overwhelming when trying to think of all the possible configurations ;) lolThanks in advance for your help and insight towards this project decision.

I cant help a lot, other than to say I use the eyefinity with 3 monitors without a hiccup at all. With Th2Go that's just like having one large monitor right? So if you off set your gauges so it's above/below another monitor it would be awkward trying to mouse around. With Eyefinity you just tell it where your monitors are positioned (up down left right) so it's easier to use your mouse with them

I could greatly use some help in...monitor & graphic card setup for fsx. My goal is to create a very humble home built cockpit which will build up over the years into something more complex. As a start, I wish to add a new multi monitor setup. Currently I use a single 22" LCD only with a gtx 560ti.What I'd like to do is go with a 3 or 4 monitor setup for scenery using only one graphics card ideally. I'll keep the 22" to use solely as a panel/gauge display during flight. I fly a pretty balanced mixture of add-on heavies and add-on GA props.My two main questions/considerations:1. Should I choose 3x23" LED @ 1920x1080 OR 4x20" LED @ 1600x900 ?2. Related to question #1, should I switch to ATI 6950+Eyefinity OR keep my GTX 560ti and try to add TH2go or another 560ti in SLI?Are there technical conflicts with the above scenarios? any big issue I'm missing and should be looking out for instead?Just to throw out there, I also have the option to add a 2nd older computer with average gpu to run the 22" panel/gauge monitor if necessary....I'm leaning toward the 4x20" with lower res. and changing to ATI card...but I have concerns about whether the lower res. will affect my visual enjoyment or pc performance, along with the ATI card instead of Nvidia.If any other questions about my current build, you can probably find in my signature, or I'll be happy to answer. Please be gentle with the advice, as this is all pretty overwhelming when trying to think of all the possible configurations ;) lolThanks in advance for your help and insight towards this project decision.

Your second choice (4 monitors) displays about 8 % fewer pixels than the 3 monitor setup. And it is number of pixels that really determines performance.A yardstick I use with FS9 is that 2 monitors of scenery (2 different views) will eat up 30% more CPU horsepower than a single monitor. And 3 scenery monitors uses 50% more CPU than one mon.All of which sounds terrible- until you realize that only one view is being updated at any instant and the other two are static or perfectly smooth!!!! If the outer view angles are shifted to compensate for bezel widths, then the whole thing is seen by the brain as very smooth. After all, 2/3 of the whole is stopped all the time! As long as the displayed frame rate remains above 16-18 you are in good shape.Three 19" LCDs will give you a perspective width of close to 50" and a combined FS Field of View with bezel adj. of nearly 150º.The pic shows 2 17" LCDs with an 18" CRT producing a 45" perspective.And small, old LCDs are now pretty much giveaways!!AR

I cant help a lot, other than to say I use the eyefinity with 3 monitors without a hiccup at all. With Th2Go that's just like having one large monitor right? So if you off set your gauges so it's above/below another monitor it would be awkward trying to mouse around. With Eyefinity you just tell it where your monitors are positioned (up down left right) so it's easier to use your mouse with them

Thanks Noah: I'm kind of leaning towards the eyefinity for those reasons and having seen quite a few home cockpit videos on youtube with 3 displays+Eyefinity it looks pretty foolproof, which describes me perfectly ;) I just can't seem to find any examples using Eyefinity+4 displays for scenery...so it makes me wonder if something additional is needed to set that up? why doesn't anyone else use 4? too much performance drain? etc.

Your second choice (4 monitors) displays about 8 % fewer pixels than the 3 monitor setup. And it is number of pixels that really determines performance.

January: Thanks for the great info...I like the way you look at it considering performance and the 'big picture' (pun intended). I think you're absolutely correct in that my eyes wouldn't really discern between and 8% pixel loss overall....I wonder if 4 screens at lower res. vs. only 3 screens but at higher res. would more or less cancel each other out in terms of a performance gain/loss going with either set up....Thanks again!

-----------January: Thanks for the great info...I like the way you look at it considering performance and the 'big picture' (pun intended). I think you're absolutely correct in that my eyes wouldn't really discern between and 8% pixel loss overall....I wonder if 4 screens at lower res. vs. only 3 screens but at higher res. would more or less cancel each other out in terms of a performance gain/loss going with either set up....Thanks again!

If the 4th monitor is used to display a 4th VIEW, there WILL be a significant impact on frame rate. I believe most users of quad monitors use the 4th to display the panel or various gauges etc- anything except a 4th view!Don't put too much emphasis on Frame Rate- it is only a RELATIVE indicator & doesn't really tell much about smoothness.To test this, I have many times taken a low altiude test flight with lots of scenery, allowing Frame Rate to stabilize -typically in the 16-20 range with 3 synched views: LFwd, Fwd, RFwd. Then I suddenly delete the two outer views and the Frame rate jumps into the 35-45 range. THERE IS NO PERCEPTIBLE DIFFERENCE IN SMOOTHNESS!This result is so surprising, that I have done this test many times to ensure it was not my imagination.Frame rate tells little about smoothness.And my machine is an ancient AMD 1.8 with 2 GeForce FX 5200 GPUS !You will also be surprised at how your landings improve when you have a natural wide field of view rather than a single FS view-that is like looking thru a mailing tube! Which of these pics will yield the smoothest landings?AR

You will also be surprised at how your landings improve when you have a natural wide field of view rather than a single FS view-that is like looking thru a mailing tube! Which of these pics will yield the smoothest landings?AR

I couldn't agree with you more! In fact, one of my main motivations to change the whole setup was the frustration of limited view when trying to turn base or final in my GA's. I can't wait for the wider field of view!! also agree about frame rates...lately I delete any fps read out at the top of the screen. I'd rather evaluate the 'sensation' of flying rather than what the number tells me.I guess to illustrate better what I'm trying to do...it's a combo of elements from the below two videos:If four monitors for scenery, I wish to set them up as split cockpit view between Captain and FO, similar to this video (I know it won't be exact setup for a GA single prop like a c172, but should still work well). The cockpit panel would be shown separate on the lower monitor (so really I would have 5 in total- 4 scenery and 1 panel- the center monitor and FO monitor as shown in video is something I would add later).

The 3rd and 4th scenery monitor would be placed on sides of Captain and FO, to give more peripheral field of view, similar to this video (to illustrate side views only):

Far as I'm concerned both these gents have incredible setups...and I'm wanting to incorporate some visual concepts from each. Just can't figure out if I should go 3 larger monitors or 4 smaller with greater fov to achieve the desired effect. Thanks for your feedback!!

A fourth VIEW will push a single computer CPU pretty hard- I suspect those videos are powered by multiple networked computers.However, it IS possible! Here is a screen shot showing an experiment displaying 5 different views on my 3 monitors. It worked but really overwhelmed my system and the outer mons with dual views caused the relative size distortion you see in the pics. (The wing tips display AHEAD here on triple monitors- with mons 4/5 angled beside you, these side views would seem normal.)My three monitors are powered by two video cards- I would have needed additional cards to put views 4 & 5 on separate monitors.I would highly recommend triple monitors for the forward views rather than just two. It is more natural- producing a field of view roughly eqivalent to what the real pilot sees looking ahead. Monitors 4 and 5 then would nicely display the side views.AR

I would highly recommend triple monitors for the forward views rather than just two. It is more natural- producing a field of view roughly eqivalent to what the real pilot sees looking ahead. Monitors 4 and 5 then would nicely display the side views.AR

That's fascinating the way the distortion is caused. So visually it slowed your system down enough to where it wasn't 'flyable'?I know on the 2nd video above, those are networked, but then again he's running about 7 displays just for scenery alone!! I'm not at all ready for that stage!In the end, I might do the 3 scenery monitors and 1 panel monitor. Then it's just a question of adding Nvidia SLI with another GPU or switching to ATI Eyefinity and putting the full load on a single GPU 6950 or 6970.Any thoughts on that? Thanks so much!!

That's fascinating the way the distortion is caused. So visually it slowed your system down enough to where it wasn't 'flyable'?I know on the 2nd video above, those are networked, but then again he's running about 7 displays just for scenery alone!! I'm not at all ready for that stage!In the end, I might do the 3 scenery monitors and 1 panel monitor. Then it's just a question of adding Nvidia SLI with another GPU or switching to ATI Eyefinity and putting the full load on a single GPU 6950 or 6970.Any thoughts on that? Thanks so much!!

Frame rate doesn't really tell much in this situation. In complex situations with lots of scenery nearby such as a night landing, the FPS could drop as low as about 7 and the plane flew quite normally and smoothly EXCEPT nearby objects such as landing lights flashing past wingtips develop quite a "chatter". That is, the airplane travels too great a distance between frame updates for the specific monitor with that object. In effect, close up scenery chatters, although airplane motion remains smooth.Below 7 or 8 FPS everything deteriorates to non flyable. Again, the reason seems to be that 2/3 of the whole image is always frozen and looks perfect while the other 1/3 shows the flickers & stutters of too low a frame rate.So displayed frame rate doesn't mean too much with multi monitors- other than a low number means you don't have much cushion if the scenery gets more complex or airplane motion becomes very rapid such as entering a rapid turn.So I select FS settings that will keep FPS above 16-18 (actually 30-40 with a single monitor/view.)Incidentally one of the neat things for multi mon flying is aerobatics- if you try it, keep a barf bag handy!And always ensure that any monitor is always viewed square on (line of sight from eyes to center point of the monitor). If not square horizontally & vertically, there is image distortion. Try sitting where a visitor might sit beside you to see this distortion!!!!! This is why multiple monitors must be arranged in an arc- just like the screen in an IMAX theatre.AR