Hi All,

 

I am wondering how to set up my screens. I bought the GTX 680 4GB and i would like to have a good panoramic view.

 

I am doubting between getting 3 monitors to be setup with NVidia Surround, but here i am a bit afraid of the FPS hit.

On the other hand, a good LED TV with high resolution in combination with Track IR could be very good as well.

 

Please leave your advises and experiences here...

 

Thanks

A large TV would just give you larger view of what you see on your monitor. Too large for me.

 

I've run three 23-inch monitors for about 5 years under ATI's Eye Infinity, and I wouldn't, couldn't possible ever switch back.

 

I do wish that someone over at 3DGuru or ATI would give us a fish eye fix (it's really a reversed fish eye with the extreme edges of the outside monitors being "zoomed") , but you quickly get used to it and even learn to turn it to your advantage.

 

In case I wasn't clear in the above, I would / could never go back to single monitor. X3 is the bomb!

 

 

Dave

A large TV would just give you larger view of what you see on your monitor. Too large for me.

 

I've run three 23-inch monitors for about 5 years under ATI's Eye Infinity, and I wouldn't, couldn't possible ever switch back.

 

I do wish that someone over at 3DGuru or ATI would give us a fish eye fix (it's really a reversed fish eye with the extreme edges of the outside monitors being "zoomed") , but you quickly get used to it and even learn to turn it to your advantage.

 

In case I wasn't clear in the above, I would / could never go back to single monitor. X3 is the bomb!

 

 

Dave

Hi, thanks for your reply

 

What rig are you on? What was the FPS drop using 3 screens.

 

I would love to play on 3 screens, only if the FPS is decent.

The problem of a large TV is the resolution will probably be limited to 1920x1080. On a 50" display the fine detail in FSX may be compromised especially panels.

 

I changed from a Dell 24" 1920x1200 display to a Sony Bravia 32" LED at 1920x1080 and I'm delighted at the larger display but importantly, the panel instruments are still very clear.

 

But mine is a single display and even 40" would start to compromise the panel quality.

Just switched from 3x 26" to 3x 32" and wow what a view !

Just switched from 3x 26" to 3x 32" and wow what a view !

Hi,

 

What are your system specs? What is the average FPS you get?

 

In a single screen configuration at 1680*1050 at at busy airport with clouds i get between 14-22fps.

I would like to know how the 3 screen configuration would affect this performance

 

Regards

Just switched from 3x 26" to 3x 32" and wow what a view !

And are you using streched view?

Yes , I am using a stretched view.

Wideview in fsx.cfg NOT enabled.

Zoom around 0.5-0.6

Yes , I am using a stretched view.

Wideview in fsx.cfg NOT enabled.

Zoom around 0.5-0.6

Hi,

 

What are your system specs? What is the average FPS you get?

 

In a single screen configuration at 1680*1050 at at busy airport with clouds i get between 14-22fps.

I would like to know how the 3 screen configuration would affect this performance

 

Regards

Hi,

 

What are your system specs? What is the average FPS you get?

 

In a single screen configuration at 1680*1050 at at busy airport with clouds i get between 14-22fps.

I would like to know how the 3 screen configuration would affect this performance

 

Regards

I get about a 30% reduction in frame rates going from one 24" to 3x24"s in Surround

with a gtx670 and 3.3 CPU.

Your 680 might do a bit better.

 

gb.

I get about a 30% reduction in frame rates going from one 24" to 3x24"s in Surround

with a gtx670 and 3.3 CPU.

Your 680 might do a bit better.

 

gb.

What is your average frame rate at busy airports?

What is your average frame rate at busy airports?

 

Don't think I can really give you a meaningful figure to compare with. Too many variables.

Just take 30% off the frame rates you are getting at your airports as a probable outcome.

Might be time to overclock  

 

gb.

Don't think I can really give you a meaningful figure to compare with. Too many variables.

Just take 30% off the frame rates you are getting at your airports as a probable outcome.

Might be time to overclock  

 

gb.

I have already overclocked my CPU from 3.4ghz to 4.2ghz. But busy aiports don't get above 20fps. So i'm afraid to use 3 monitors to get to 14fps...

I used to fly with 3x24" screens.   Then I upgraded those to 3x42" screens for both racing and flying.

 

    Then I bought another rig for racing and put 3x27" screens on that.   They key thing for racing is that I cannot use trackir so having the large screens wrap around me giving nearly 180degrees is really important.

 

     For my flying rig I one day tried a single 42" screen in the middle with the others turned off.   This is the first time in years I have tried flying with a single screen.  My impressions changed the way I fly now.

 

     Without the sides there was something missing a bit.   It was the peripheral view.  I felt a bit like I had tunnel vision compared to having the side monitors turned on.

 

     The reality of the situation was this though.   The frame rates were much better, things were smoother.   I use trackir and while the sides give you some peripheral vision you are not ever really looking at them directly.   When you do you are confronted with the distortion, often big time.

 

      Having had triples I also thought I could never go back but a single 42" screen with trackir has shown me that this is the way to go.   It has the size that smaller monitors can not give you and the track ir makes up for your other views.

 

      So I have gone through them all, big triples, smaller triples, small singles and large singles.  IMHO the large tv with trackir is the way to go for now.

 

      Instruments are easily readable, no issue there.  Things are still crisp, just larger.  Things to get harder to read just because the image size is larger.   You do need to have your tv configured properly or you can get an image with poor quality.  I am sure some people have seen incorrectly set up systems.

 

      If you have the space, I would suggest a second touchscreen can be helpful, you can put some instrumentation on it as well as interact with it if you want.   I do have a 22.5" touchscreen mounted under my 42" screen.  It's not used in every sim I fly in but is nice when supported.

I used to fly with 3x24" screens.   Then I upgraded those to 3x42" screens for both racing and flying.

 

    Then I bought another rig for racing and put 3x27" screens on that.   They key thing for racing is that I cannot use trackir so having the large screens wrap around me giving nearly 180degrees is really important.

 

     For my flying rig I one day tried a single 42" screen in the middle with the others turned off.   This is the first time in years I have tried flying with a single screen.  My impressions changed the way I fly now.

 

     Without the sides there was something missing a bit.   It was the peripheral view.  I felt a bit like I had tunnel vision compared to having the side monitors turned on.

 

     The reality of the situation was this though.   The frame rates were much better, things were smoother.   I use trackir and while the sides give you some peripheral vision you are not ever really looking at them directly.   When you do you are confronted with the distortion, often big time.

 

      Having had triples I also thought I could never go back but a single 42" screen with trackir has shown me that this is the way to go.   It has the size that smaller monitors can not give you and the track ir makes up for your other views.

 

      So I have gone through them all, big triples, smaller triples, small singles and large singles.  IMHO the large tv with trackir is the way to go for now.

 

      Instruments are easily readable, no issue there.  Things are still crisp, just larger.  Things to get harder to read just because the image size is larger.   You do need to have your tv configured properly or you can get an image with poor quality.  I am sure some people have seen incorrectly set up systems.

 

      If you have the space, I would suggest a second touchscreen can be helpful, you can put some instrumentation on it as well as interact with it if you want.   I do have a 22.5" touchscreen mounted under my 42" screen.  It's not used in every sim I fly in but is nice when supported.

Hi Jason, 

 

Thanks a lot for your advice. According to all the posts i got, this one makes it clear indeed that a large screen with track ir would be the best solution in order to keep the game running smoothly.

 

Which resolution does your 42" screen have?

Do you need to move your instruments to the touchscreen on every flight? Do you lose fps by dragging them onto another screen?

 

Regards,

michael

Hi Michael, my screen is 1920x1080.

 

    The instruments do move about so you have to save them, then load that flight and change where you are.   Otherwise you can find some third party application to run on the touchscreen, like a g1000 glass cockpit.  This wont then have any real issues with the fps on the sim.

 

    There is some FPS drop putting instruments on the second screen if fsx is drawing them but it is not too bad.   Its when you add extra external views that things get really bad.

 

    No game running on this pic, but this is how I have the screens configured so I can use the touchscreen easily while using the 42"   https://www.dropbox.com/s/fy7fw8ada89tm4s/seat2.jpg