Recommended Hardware for Decent Frame Rates with 3 Screens

[ScienceMagic 0]

So I have a Dell G7 gaming laptop, that I bought three years ago.  It was the fastest that was available from Dell at the time (without going with their Alienware).
Processor:  i7 with 32 GB RAM, 2.2 GHz, turbo up to 4.1 GHz
Graphics:  GTX 1060 with 6 GB memory

At a small airport (3G4), I can get 39 fps using just one screen.  
At KOSH with Airventure scenery loaded, I can get 26 fps

With three screens, the fps drops to about 9, which makes the game unplayable.

I'm thinking of upgrading, but I need to stick with a laptop because I travel a bit, and use flight simulators in aviation classes.  I used to lug around a desktop back in the old days, and I don't want to do that again!

Where can I find recommended hardware specs, that will allow for decent fps (over 20) with three screens and medium to high graphics?  Or does anyone have suggestions?
I can get a Dell Alienware that has an RTX 1080 Ti graphics card, with up to 16 GB memory, but I don't know if that's good enough.
I know fps depends on many things, such as CPU speed CPU memory, GPU speed, and GPU memory speed.
Just trying to get an idea of what I'm going to need!

[ryanbatc 12,857]

MSFS doesn't do well with multiple monitors...  they say they are working on it though.

There's no good setup at the moment.  Even people with RTX 3090's and 12900K's are suffering with triple monitors.

[virtuali 4,421]

3 screens with a laptop is really stretching it.

Also, keep in mind thermal issues: unless you are doing a very short flight, a laptop will surely throttle down everything (cpu and gpu) to protect itself against heat, so the real performances will be much lower than a similarly spec-ed Desktop PC.

I'd say, if you really absolutely need a laptop, forget about multi screen.

Or, you might consider getting a single ultra-wide screen instead, a modern laptop should be able to handle 3840x1080 ( which is like two 1080p screens side by side ) and *maybe* a really good one, with a 3070/3080 should be able to go up to 5120x1440, and it will surely be faster than 3 separate screen and more practical to use than 2 side by side.

Be sure you get a G-sync screen: my laptop has one and, while it only has a GTX 1080, which is considered old today, sometimes it feels smoother than my Desktop with a 3090 on a 5120x1440 (non G-Sync) screen. The laptop has a 1080p screen, and I run it at High, while the Desktop is at Ultra. They are both locked at 30 fps but, the laptop feels smoother because, even when it drops below 30, is still in sync with the screen so, it "feels" good.

[ScienceMagic 0]

10 hours ago, ryanbatc said:

MSFS doesn't do well with multiple monitors...  they say they are working on it though.

There's no good setup at the moment.  Even people with RTX 3090's and 12900K's are suffering with triple monitors.

Yeah, I may just need to be patient and wait until more people have tried it, and MSFS settles down a little.  Multi monitors work great in X-Plane.

Edited August 1, 2022 by Ray Proudfoot
Reply moved outside quite.

[ScienceMagic 0]

3 hours ago, virtuali said:

3 screens with a laptop is really stretching it.

Also, keep in mind thermal issues: unless you are doing a very short flight, a laptop will surely throttle down everything (cpu and gpu) to protect itself against heat, so the real performances will be much lower than a similarly spec-ed Desktop PC.

I'd say, if you really absolutely need a laptop, forget about multi screen.

Or, you might consider getting a single ultra-wide screen instead, a modern laptop should be able to handle 3840x1080 ( which is like two 1080p screens side by side ) and *maybe* a really good one, with a 3070/3080 should be able to go up to 5120x1440, and it will surely be faster than 3 separate screen and more practical to use than 2 side by side.

Be sure you get a G-sync screen: my laptop has one and, while it only has a GTX 1080, which is considered old today, sometimes it feels smoother than my Desktop with a 3090 on a 5120x1440 (non G-Sync) screen. The laptop has a 1080p screen, and I run it at High, while the Desktop is at Ultra. They are both locked at 30 fps but, the laptop feels smoother because, even when it drops below 30, is still in sync with the screen so, it "feels" good.

Yes, I know I'm asking the laptop to do a lot, but they've come a long ways since my first Toshiba laptop back in the 90's!

X-Plane 11 actually works pretty well in my setup, although I DO have to watch the heat.  I've underclocked the CPU and lowered some of the settings to keep the heat down.  When everything is maxed out, the CPU runs at about 100° C, which is way too hot!

The problem with an ultra-wide screen is I don't get the immersive effect of having screens on both sides.  I've already got three 32" monitors, but I have no idea if they are G-sync.  How do you tell?

Thanks for the response!

[virtuali 4,421]

8 hours ago, ScienceMagic said:

I've already got three 32" monitors, but I have no idea if they are G-sync.  How do you tell?

According to this I found on nVidia knowledge base, even if they were all G-Sync, it won't work anyway, because it's only supported on the first screen:

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4766/~/does-variable-refresh-rate-work-across-mixed-monitor-configurations%3F

[somiller 694]

Hardware Gsync is an expensive option, but it gives one a lot of flexibility with how you configure refresh, frame-lock, vsync etc and yet remain perfectly stutter-free (from stutters caused by difference bet. frame-time and refresh frequency) as it forces refresh to match fps perfectly in all cases up to max monitor refresh rate.

[ScienceMagic 0]

Then I doubt my monitors are G-sync.  They were only about $150 each, three years ago.  Maximum resolution is 1920x1080, refresh rate is 60 Hz.