Planning on getting a mid spec PC for sim racing

[Alexis Clapano]

I read some of the forums AMD Vcards not able to support 3 monitor setup on Rfactor...How true is this? What needs to be done to allow AMD cards to work with 3 monitor setup?

Planning on getting a 7850

tnx

P.S. I may have missed it but there could have been a thread about this already somewhere

 

[Jim Cole]

Not sure where you read that, but the AMD cards were capable of supporting triple monitors before nVidia cards were. What you need to make it happen depends on the card you purchased and what outputs it has. Most cards have a pair of DVI connectors as well as at least 1 mini display port. For those cards you would need to get an adapter to go from the mini display port to DVI and you would need to be sure it was an "Active" mini display port adapter.

Best bet would be to post the exact model of your card so it can be looked up and advice given properly for it.

 

[Alexis Clapano]

This is the specs im trying to get...Im on a limited budget of 860 euros

Procie: i3-3220
Mobo: MSI B75MA-P45
RAM: 2x4gb
HDD: 500gb WD Blue
EVGA GTX 660
Cougar 500watt 80 plus
3 x 22" LED

P.S. recommendations/changes is highly appreciated

tnx

 

[Jim Cole]

I have no clue on EU pricing as compared to US pricing as I live in the US, but that system should be good for that price range I would think. You will likely not get full HD monitors, but believe me, 22" monitors are still going to be quite large when you run triples.

 

[Alexis Clapano]

Would an extra 50/100watt of PSU advisable? I was also thinking of getting of 7850 instead of a 660 but I am not really sure which is better price wise and performance wise combined

 

[Jim Cole]

For the system you described with only a single GPU as well as an i3 CPU and minimal drives and peripherals, 500W will be enough to allow you some head room and not exceed 85% PSU usage. If however you plan on adding additional GPU's or several more hard drives/DVD drives, then you might want to consider a larger one. As for the graphics cards, either will do just fine and both are roughly equal price vs performance.

 

[Alexis Clapano]

thanks for the feedback jim

i have one more question though(maybe more in the future), do you know of any recurring issue about DVI - VGA monitor gaming issues? i found a very cheap VGA monitor and just want to make sure that i dont get any problems with this on setting up a 3 screen rig

 

[Jim Cole]

By VGA are you talking about the older style of CRT monitor? Just curious as it bears no relevance to the discussion CRT or Flat panel doesn't matter as far as I know, though I have done no research into a CRT triple screen setup. Today's systems are fully capable of knowing the type of monitor connected, and as long as you have them all connected and working you should be able to setup triples to race with.

 

[Alexis Clapano]

LOL not a CRT of course...still LED but only port available isVGA...no hdmi nor dvi port

 

[Jim Cole]

After doing a little research I am unable to come up with an adapter that will convert either HDMI or display port/mini display port to VGA. In order to run triple monitors you are going to need at least 1 adapter like that to make it work. The problem being that you have to convert the digital signal to an analog signal from what ever port is available. Going from DVI to VGA is easy as almost every graphics card manufacturer makes their own adapter for that, but going from any other port to VGA seems a very rare combination.

 

[Dave Flower]

After doing a little research I am unable to come up with an adapter that will convert either HDMI or display port/mini display port to VGA. In order to run triple monitors you are going to need at least 1 adapter like that to make it work. The problem being that you have to convert the digital signal to an analog signal from what ever port is available. Going from DVI to VGA is easy as almost every graphics card manufacturer makes their own adapter for that, but going from any other port to VGA seems a very rare combination.

I am using 3 x 19" vga monitors, with a 5770 that has 2 dvi and 1 mini display output. I got the display port adaptor off ebay for around 11 pounds, will find it on ebay later and post a link, using cheap dvi to vga leads to connect it all and I can confirm it all works well with rFactor, Race07 and various fps games.

 

[Rupe Wilson]

Hi, iv'e finally got myself 3 screens to go triple screen racing,
can somebody give me some links to what i need to buy to get it up and running.. adaptor ?
win7 x64 Nvidia Gforce gtx660ti 3gb 3x24'benQ monitors XL2420T 120htz
and any software that will be needed to run it.

.http://www.geforce.com/optimize/guides/how-to-correctly-configure-geforce-gtx-680-surround#1
http://www.nvidia.com/content/3d-vi...3DVision_Surround_GF_GTX_670_Apr12_single.pdf

the above info seems to different to the norm that why im a bit confused


At present im only looking to run GTL in triple or some of the older sims with the setting backed off a bit to keep the frame rate up ..
ill probably run sli when i get another gtx660ti3gb when the funds replenish themselves and the cards come down in price..
and buy a bigger PSU oh and a mother board that is sli compatible...

with thanks in advance..Rupe

 

[Jim Cole]

What the articles is saying is that if you wish to use the 3D, you are going to need to use dual link DVI and a display port for connecting your monitors as single link DVI won't have the bandwidth to handle what the monitor needs. In all likelihood you are going to need at least 1 display port adapter to go to dual link DVI unless your monitor has display port input.

You configuration will be 2 monitors with regular cables connected to the dual link DVI ports and 1 monitor connected with regular cable going to a display port to dual link DVI adapter.

 

[Rupe Wilson]

thanks Jim your a star..
i got so confused with all the different cables and methods and then the monitors have something inbuilt to allow 3D i know my present configuration is to weak for 3D but in a years time i may have the funds..
i assume im able to use the 3D cable route and run in 2D no point wasting money on a cable I need to replace eventually..

this bit still confuses me though
taken form first link
owners of BenQ’s XL2420T and XL2420TX 3D Vision monitors will be able to use the two DVI connectors and the DisplayPort connector without needing the DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter, as the BenQ monitors feature built-in DisplayPort 3D Vision technology.

so this means i can get a display port adapter to dvi or hdmi
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00433C5Y4/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002EW367Q/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

let hope ive got this correct ive just ordered this
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00433C5Y4/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Jim Cole]

What that link you provided is telling you is that you could use a display port cable from the card directly to your monitor so you wouldn't need an adapter. The adapter you linked would not be what you are looking for. The reason that adapter is not what you need is because it is only single link DVI not dual link. If you can cancel the order I would and just order a display port cable to connect straight to one of your monitors.

 

[Rupe Wilson]

Well it was to late to cancel, but the good news is that adapter works and i can run all 3 screens at 120htz.
The setting up was real quick and simple, the Nvidia system works a treat. no software to download and within half a hour i was driving.
For some reason i was expecting loads of issues, i have had to turn down a few setting to keep the fps up but when running GTL with 36 cars on track im still pushing 60 to 100 fps
60 fps at start of race on the start line but soon this goes up as cars spread out .
all in all im very happy,, thanks Jim once again for your help... now to start saving again for my next bits of hardware...

 

[Jim Cole]

Your welcome Rupe, glad to be able to help out.

 

[Alexis Clapano]

hi, i just recently completed my rig and I got a 7950 instead...i have a question though, will my i3 3220 bottleneck two 7950? im in the process of crossfiring

tnx