Widescreen Gaming Forum

suiken_2mieu:
"5850 is more than enough for 5040x1050"

Riiiiiight. So i can max out bfbc2, mw2, fc2, crysis, crysis 2, avp, etc... with just 1 5850 at that resolution? I find that a bit hard to believe... Also, 30fps or dropping quality settings != maxed out. I like my games to run well and I definately like the ability to up settings on my older games.

I've been using the surround drivers for a bit and so far they're amazing. They just 'work'. No stuffing about or anything. All i did was install em, reboot, enable it, done. it's as simple as that. Not even my TH2Go was that easy - especially not with Windows 7 x64.

And this is with my 'old' tri-sli gtx 260s... and considering it's just a beta driver it can only improve from here.

I watercool my cpu currently, and am looking into video card watercooling for the performance and sound benefits. As a result heat and power isn't a problem. The whole watercooling process has been incredibly painless and fun to work on.

So although the thread title is overdramatic, it's true. nvidia surround performance DOES kill eyefinity. And not only that, they've 'backported' it to an entire previous generation of cards. AND done it using software... that alone is impressive.

I find it funny that people are suddenly concerned about power draw and noise. Cause after all, the FX series, and the HD 2xxx series were super quiet and didn't use much power :P

The adapter issue... in my case it would be an extra cost. I just got 3 new monitors, which only have DVI and VGA. They were however $100 or more cheaper than DP monitors, and the screen quality is fantastic. Plus they have a great warranty. Also, cause I want good performance, dual cards is more or less required, so the SLI requirement is also not an issue.

If I was on a budget, I could get 2 460, or 2 465, and get similar/more performance than a 5870. Probably won't have to watercool those either.

Well Said.

I mostly agree with the rest so I didn't quote it to not make an overly long post for nothing...
From a couple of persons experiences around here, it seems this surround feature works beautifully & was backported to previous generations
impressive feat Nvidia.However I'm still waiting for a full fledged review with more games & a larger overview.

I find it funny that people are suddenly concerned about power draw and noise. Cause after all, the FX series, and the HD 2xxx series were super quiet and didn't use much power :P

the FX series I didn't like... the HD2x series was probably a failure

You will find that some people care about power draw/noise/heat ... it's nothing new and in my case it's certainly not, hence why hardware.fr (which is one of the most popular French hardware enthusiast website) did invest in an infra-red camera (which is NOT cheap)
if no one cared about that, they wouldn't do whole articles on those matters...
it's all a question of budget + environment
my apartment can reach 35°C+ in summer I could buy an air conditioner but then a tube would pass through the slightly open window which means that heat would get back into the apartment through that window which means the electricity bill would be huge...

I also try to control carefully my budget therefore I often don't have enough budget left to get into watercooling

my apartment is also small (yeah I know I need a house...) which means noise IS an issue because my gf is in the same space as are the beds ...
plus on my own I don't like background noises to interfere with my listening experience, and I don't want to get up the volume just to drawn out those noises...

I didn't mean to talk about my personal situation from the start, but I'm getting annoyed at the generalities & assumptions I see in this thread
everyone situation is more or less specific & therefore each person criteria might be different from others

Therefore when reviewing or talking about a product it is always a good idea to get the bigger picture & include all the necessary subtleties that others might find worth.I myself made a mistake when I first replied to this thread, but I already recognized it...

Bottom line, I think we should probably close or rename the thread, the title begged for a flame war from the start
let's keep this forum a cool place to hang around...

Thread title changed. It was flamebait from first post.

Please keep it civil.

5850 is more than enough for 5040x1050.

Sorry but imo no way :shock: , 3 x GTX 480 seems to be "enough" now to me at 5040x1050. I wont spend 5 grands in a rig to be play on low / medium settings, no AA and all that crap.

[quote]5850 is more than enough for 5040x1050.

Sorry but imo no way :shock: , 3 x GTX 480 seems to be "enough" now to me at 5040x1050. I wont spend 5 grands in a rig to be play on low / medium settings, no AA and all that crap.

I think its a matter of personal preferences. Cheapest entry point where you can play most games on decent settings are a 5850 (check youtube) coupled with a cheap DP -> VGA adapter and 3X cheap TN screens from what I have seen.

You might feel the need of 3X GTX 480 and pay 5 grands for your rig so you can have the settings you want. However, using 3 x 22" Samsung 2233RZ TN's might be a turnoff for others that paid 5 grand for their setup.

Others might only need 2X GTX 470 and splurge a bit extra on some decent PVA or IPS screens.

Its all about preferences, so don't fight over that. :)

Its all about preferences, so don't fight over that. :)

Ah thats true, no doubt. :)

[quote]Its all about preferences, so don't fight over that. :)

Ah thats true, no doubt. :)

:cheers :)

suiken_2mieu:
"5850 is more than enough for 5040x1050"

Riiiiiight. So i can max out bfbc2, mw2, fc2, crysis, crysis 2, avp, etc... with just 1 5850 at that resolution? I find that a bit hard to believe... Also, 30fps or dropping quality settings != maxed out. I like my games to run well and I definately like the ability to up settings on my older games...

...

And this is with my 'old' tri-sli gtx 260s...

I watercool my cpu currently, and am looking into video card watercooling for the performance and sound benefits. As a result heat and power isn't a problem. The whole watercooling process has been incredibly painless and fun to work on...

So although the thread title is overdramatic, it's true. nvidia surround performance DOES kill eyefinity. And not only that, they've 'backported' it to an entire previous generation of cards. AND done it using software... that alone is impressive.P

It's really a matter of the quality you "need" and the games you play. I don't know about the other titles, but I did get FC2 to hit 39fps at max settings at 5040x1050 on a single 5850. I hit 56fps at 0xAA/High. For many people that would be fine.

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/ATI_Radeon_5850_5830_-_Featured_Review_-_Page_6

It's also a matter of what you play. Not everyone plays FPS games, and not everyone plays the newest. I realize not everyone plays through Steam, but their stats show a pretty interesting tale. Here are their most popular games.



MW2 does have the top spot, but considering that a single 5850 averaged 100fps in my HL2 tests at 5040x1050, I'm thinking it would be more than fine for CS, CS:Source, FT2, F4D2, Condition Zero, etc.

This user at HardForums averaged 45fps in BC2 with decently high settings - http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1500480

The problem is just because it is what you play, or what you would do, or what you would need - everyone else doesn't feel the same way. Some people don't have a motherboard capable of Tri-SLI, or have a PSU capable of pushing three video cards. Some many not even have a PSU capable of pushing SLI/CFX. For them, a single card solution would be the only solution. Now, they need to have proper expectations of what they can expect out of that system.

On the heat/power/noise issue, noise isn't a big deal for me. I live in a house with three kids. I can't game until they go to bed, and then have to do it with headphones. Power draw really isn't an issue either, back when I had a bit more money to throw around I got a 1k PSU. Not sure I would do that today.

For me, heat is the killer issue. My office ran about 5 degrees warmer than the rest of the house with the Mac, my screens and my work laptop running. Newer work laptop is much cooler. We had an AC supply and return added to my office last year. Even with that, running the E6 CFX benchmarks for hours made my office quite uncomfortable. I couldn't imagine pumping more heat in.

Since then we've put solar film on the house windows and fixed the attic ventilation, so everything is much cooler. But my office is still hotter than the rest of the house, even without the gaming PC running. I'm running an open case design for easy access and testing. That doesn't help. I have moved it so it's not under my desk at my feet. But I don't have the time, energy or money to pursue watercooling.

Is my situation unique? Yes. Does anyone share all of my issues? Doubtful. Are there people that can relate to some? Certainly.

There are plenty of people who...
... game with headphones
... are on a budget
... don't have the time, energy or interest to watercool
... need a single card solution
... don't need everything maxed out
... are happy playing Portal, L4D, TF2 or Torchlight.

Stop for a moment to see someone else's point of view. Even if it doesn't change yours, it helps with understanding. From Stephen Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" - Habit #5: Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People

Thread title changed. It was flamebait from first post.

Please keep it civil.

Really hahahhahahahha, why are people so upset with the title, if they didn't like it they didn't need to post in here. It is like people were actually crying by the name of the thread, and they got so upset, they could not control there anger and just had to post. Was it the word Kills, is that a BAD word? Or was it the fact that people just didn't want to see it? Because the truth is Nvidia Surround Beats Eyefinity, so why should the thread have to be changed.

This is the Nvidia Surround Section, if people that love ATI are going to come in here and flame my thread and ask for a title change, than that proves to me something. The only thing that was not civil in this thread was the people that were getting upset, and asking for a title change haha. Just boggles my mind that people can't see the truth. Ohhh heat, power, really everyone I have talked to says that is a bunch of crap. And actually there cards are running cooler then mine are because I have to run mine sandwiched together because the crossfire bridge is not long enough, good one ATI. Right now my top card is running at @ 61C, and bottom @ 40C.

So OMG I can't beleive how hot these cards are running geeez. And that power usage, that extra $10 a year is going to kill my savings..., and what they only tested all the best games out right now, why would they do that, I would love to see some WOW benchmarks, because everyone needs 480's to play WOW hehe just kidding on that one I hate that game and don't see how anyone could play it. But really, what other games you want, people always have to come up with some kind of excuses.

[quote][quote]5850 is more than enough for 5040x1050.

Sorry but imo no way :shock: , 3 x GTX 480 seems to be "enough" now to me at 5040x1050. I wont spend 5 grands in a rig to be play on low / medium settings, no AA and all that crap.

I think its a matter of personal preferences. Cheapest entry point where you can play most games on decent settings are a 5850 (check youtube) coupled with a cheap DP -> VGA adapter and 3X cheap TN screens from what I have seen.

You might feel the need of 3X GTX 480 and pay 5 grands for your rig so you can have the settings you want. However, using 3 x 22" Samsung 2233RZ TN's might be a turnoff for others that paid 5 grand for their setup.

Others might only need 2X GTX 470 and splurge a bit extra on some decent PVA or IPS screens.

Its all about preferences, so don't fight over that. :)

Never known anyone to have a preference for less performance though. Really I haven't, people are now turning this thread into something completely different haha. Was this a thread comparing cost, we could make another thread for that. Maybe I should buy a couple GTX470's and do some real test for everyone. But I am sure someone else is already doing that.