Widescreen Gaming Forum

Hi all!

First post here, which is usually indicative of one having an issue that cannot be satisfied with several google searches. I'm stuck in deciding what my next upgrade will be. Currently, my system specs are:

CPU: i7 3770k @ 4.5
GPU: 7950 @ 1100/1300
Mobo: ASRock z77 Extreme4
Ram: 16gb Samsung 30nm @ 2133
SSD: 128gb Samsung 840 pro
HDD: 1TB WD Black (game drive), 3TB other storage
Monitor: 1x 23" Planar sa2311w (3dvision only, no HD3D compatibility)

I'd like to get into multi-monitor gaming, but am unsure where to go. Unfortunately, it looks like a setup of [60hz][120hz][60hz] doesn't work for eyefinity setups - otherwise I'd be set if I purchased 2 identical 60hz panels. My idea there was that I'd only really need "ultra-smooth" motion on the center panel, and could deal with 60hz on the sides. It looks like, however, I'd be restricted to a 60hz "single-display" setting, and wouldn't be able to do that (someone, please correct me if I'm wrong, as that, to me, is the most viable solution).

My 120hz Planar sa2311w is a 3dvision monitor, yet I use a 7950 (fan of amd/ati, not gonna lie). It works bea-utifully for 2d 120hz gaming .. I'll never, ever go back to 60hz. Doesn't matter which game or program, everything is noticeably smoother to me on 120hz. So .. there's my pickle. First question: should I ever even bother with 3d? If I were to, I'd either have to swap my monitor, or my gpu, and either of those sounds $_$ and a hassle to do.

Or should I, instead, keep my current hardware and somewhat "restrict" myself to 2d, 120hz gaming? I know a 7950 oc'd would have a harder time keeping up with 3 120hz panels, but adding another for xfire later seems like a better investment than potentially having to swap for 2 680s. 7950 just seems like a far better value to me.

Should I just get another 2x sa2311w's and shut up? That's what I'm leaning toward right now... and I <3 the monitor itself (just wish it wasn't restricted to Nvidia .. HATE proprietary crap (refuse to touch Apple, for example, sub.ed)). How do y'all think 3x of those, at 120hz 3x1 eyefinity, would fare when it comes to FPS on my system? Right now it's easy to hit 120fps on most titles with the candy turned up, but eyefinity would be adding a whole lotta pixels to the mix.

Appreciate any/all help you offer. Happy new member of WSGF. ^_^

Eyefinity/Surround will lock the monitors to have the same refresh rate so you can't use a 60/120/60 setup. Even if it did though, I wouldn't recommend it as If it actually did work, the left and right screens would tear like crazy since they're still locked at 60 even if the middle screen would be okay.

On to your questions;
1) Personal preference, really. I don't care much for 3D as I get headaches after using it for extended periods. Remember though, if you're going 3D + multi monitor, you're going to need an INSANE rig to run it. Multi monitor is already taxing, adding 3D is overkill unless you're running 3-4 cards in your system. I'm running GTX 670s in SLI and that can barely get me medium to slightly above medium settings in Surround.
2) Unless you're planning on adding more cards to your system, driving 120hz Eyefinity is going to be a hard task. If you have cash to blow, I'd do it. You're going to need a tri or quad card rig if you're planning on doing 120hz and decent settings though, unless you don't mind playing games on the low settings. If you're on a budget, stick with 60hz.
3) As for the question in your title, stick with Eyefinity. You already have a 7950 so might as well. Plus, microstuttering is supposedly fixed for AMD cards now with RadeonPro (so regretting switch to Nvidia for this build).