Widescreen Gaming Forum

Hey all, it's been a long time since I've stopped by, I hope you're all well! I still read the newsletter but sadly don't do much gaming at the moment!

My poor Core2Duo/8800GTX setup is on it's last legs (And needs to have the CMOS battery removed before every boot to get it to start up properly!) so I'm speccing together a new machine.

I'm still using my old Dell 2405 as my main monitor, but I'd like to be able to output both the video and audio to my main TV too. The main reason for this is so I can play emulators and certain games on the TV while still being able to use the monitor for games that demand the keyboard and mouse approach (and for VS2010 for when I need to work from home). I did think about putting a Asrock Vision 3D machine by the TV just for this use, but to be honest it won't get used enough to warrant the additional spend!

I've found a very nice converter that will patch a HDMI signal over a CAT6 cable into my living room, so theoretically this *should* work. I have however, come across a few problems :)

First, audio over HDMI? From what I've read, with the ATI/AMD cards at least I can bridge my audio so it comes over the HDMI output so the audio is sorted.

Secondly, and more of a problem, is how will I manage the monitors? If I use a mirrored mode, then I'd have resolution conflicts as the TV will be 1080p while the monitor will be 1920x1200. More of a problem though, even with mirrored displays, I'm lead to believe that the game output will only appear on the primary monitor?

I'll be quite happy to use some sort of application to switch between profiles, but UltraMon (which I use in work for dev stuff) doesn't seem to have that sort of capability and I'm not aware of others that can. I'm aware I could do it with the windows display properties, but I'd rather not have to do this every time I want to swtich between the monitor and TV.

Anyone have any ideas?

Cheers!

(oh and on another note, I was thinking of going down the i7 2600k, AMD 6950/ 16GB route, but would be willing to put things off a month or so if there's anything new coming out!)

You are right about the cloning, and having 2 different resolutions causing problems. My Pana VT20 is 1920x1080, my screen 1680x1050, they don't play nice with each other. However, clone does output the game on BOTH monitors.

The only thing I can think of is have a preset of 1920x1200 to use at the PC monitor only, and a clone mode at 1920x1080 for use at the TV.

I wanted to do something similar with my GF's system, didn't go so well, as hotkeys seem to be broken (via keys or the actual preset) in CCC at the moment. GG ATi.

On a second note, that PC spec would be great, just that AMD come out with new cards as soon as they can reliably get 28nm chips in good quantities. Should be just after christmas. I am waiting on that card!

_________________
P8Z68-V Pro | 2600K | HR02 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 128GB M4 + 6TB | X-Fi > HD595 | AX850 | Tai Chi | PB278Q | G110 + Deathadder 2013
P8Z77-V | 3570K | Mugen 2 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 500GB | X-750 | Fractal R3 | U2212HM | G110 + G400
P8H77-I | G860 | 4650 | 2x2GB XMS | 320GB | CX500 | Prodigy | T22B350EW | MX518
DC3217IYE | 1x4GB Vengeance | 64GB M4 | TX-42VT20E

Thanks Gilly! If clone will output the display to both monitors then that would be a great solution. I don't mind having to switch the res down, at least 1920x1080 on the Dell could just have some black bars on the top and bottom (and doesn't take long to do).

If that's the case with ATI then I'll probably stick with my 8800 GTX OC until then (or maybe use the on board graphics from the i7?). I figured since the current range of cards had been out so long, that an upgrade was bound to be around the corner.

I'm just looking forward to playing Skyrim, but I guess I can hold off a few months if I have to :)

I think if the yields are so bad, then it looks like they will only release the replacement of the 6970 and 6950. That might push it out of your price range when it comes out. I must admit, I dunno if I can wait for the 6870 replacement to come out. It might even be March by the time it ships, if the reports are anything to go by.

_________________
P8Z68-V Pro | 2600K | HR02 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 128GB M4 + 6TB | X-Fi > HD595 | AX850 | Tai Chi | PB278Q | G110 + Deathadder 2013
P8Z77-V | 3570K | Mugen 2 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 500GB | X-750 | Fractal R3 | U2212HM | G110 + G400
P8H77-I | G860 | 4650 | 2x2GB XMS | 320GB | CX500 | Prodigy | T22B350EW | MX518
DC3217IYE | 1x4GB Vengeance | 64GB M4 | TX-42VT20E

Ah that definitely sounds like too much of a wait.

I'm not really *that* bothered about the price, but I don't like the idea of spending more than £300 on a graphics card, and the additional performance of the 6970 over the 6950 didn't seem like it was worth the price.

Yeah I think I'll just get the basic stuff for now and leave the extra graphics card until I know what Skyrim runs well on. Realistically it's one of the few games I'm likely to buy.

Slight update on this!
I bought my new system:

AsRock Extreme7 Gen3
16GB Corsair DDR3
Intel i7 2600k
XFX 6950 OC
Corsair 120GB SSD
CM Hyper 212 cooler

I bundled it together with my old Antec TruePower 550w psu and Lian Li case and it's all runnig nicely!

Sadly it wouldn't allow me to output to both screens at the same time, but I solved it by creating two profiles in the Catalyst drivers and I can switch back and fore with the taskbar shorcut or the hotkeys (when they work...).

Sadly, the RAM isn't error free so that'll be going back this week!

_________________
P8Z68-V Pro | 2600K | HR02 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 128GB M4 + 6TB | X-Fi > HD595 | AX850 | Tai Chi | PB278Q | G110 + Deathadder 2013
P8Z77-V | 3570K | Mugen 2 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 500GB | X-750 | Fractal R3 | U2212HM | G110 + G400
P8H77-I | G860 | 4650 | 2x2GB XMS | 320GB | CX500 | Prodigy | T22B350EW | MX518
DC3217IYE | 1x4GB Vengeance | 64GB M4 | TX-42VT20E