I am really happy with my Eyefinity, with two ATI HD5750 cards in Crossfire mode. It still runs all my sims effortlessly, on 5884 x 1080. EXCEPT Rfactor 2. Constant stuttering, everything turned down low, and I just keep taking a look at every build and then leaving it again. It just is not playable. And everything I read seems to indicate it's time to change to an NVidia card this time. I can't really afford one of the £300 plus cards, I suppose I would be looking at £125 to £150 at most. Is there a good Nvidia that will run my 3 monitors well enough for rFactor? And are they easy to get up and running in triple screen? Or should I go for another ATI card, more powerful but a straight replacement? Views would be appreciated. It took a fair bit of messing around with cables and displayport adaptors to get my setup working a couple of years ago, I really want to just replace and plug it all in this time without the hassle if possible
Close to budget, and you never know a bit more hunting you may find one cheaper but this is the closest you'll get to cheap nVidia triple screen for running rF2 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Direct...5196651&sr=1-14&keywords=graphics+card+nVidia
You'll probably want 4GB instead of only 2GB if you're running 3 x 1080p monitors.... I've read that folks have had success with 2 x GTX660ti in SLI. Beyond that you'll have to go for GTX680 or above if you want eye candy at that resolution.
My experience would say that 4gb would be overkill so if your budget is really tight, 2gb VRAM should be fine. I have yet to see my VRAM usage go beyond 1.6gb in RF2 with all the eye candy on @ up to a 6010x1080 res. The latest DX11 games, especially shooters, will likely take you beyond 2gb though, so if you play any of those, go for more.
Thanks for the helpful replies, don't think I can stretch to 4gb at the moment, I'll take a look at the 660 if it looks like it will fit in my case. I could add a second one later when I can afford it.
I think with a single 660, you will only get 2 simultaneous outputs. You will still need another card to connect the 3rd monitor (doesn't need to be SLI or even the same brand of card). I think the 3 simultaneous outputs on the same card start with the 670 series... But I could be wrong. The 680 does it. Look for used ones. Lots of people here in the states are selling theirs to upgrade to a 690 or Titian.
Yes you are wrong, have a look at the specs in the link I provided. The 660ti is the base triple output surround ready from nVidia. The OP asked for the cheapest card that would would run triples for rF2 and that is it...From Nvidia anyway. Two gigs is fine for rF2, I run triples with all settings on max with my 670 and the 660ti is very close in performance.
Everybodys give you good advice here and since I'm also triple screener I'd like to give you my advice. I run approx 5980 x 1080p, Multiview on ( dont know how ppl drive without it with angled monitors ) HDR on, virtually all other settings at max, shadows medium - high. I always aim for 60fps with some to spare. I have my card Overclocked to 1250mhz and a small bump on vram speed. I also run Supersampling which makes a massive difference to quality I only use the first setting. Antialiasing and AAx2 I try sometimes AAx4 when I go AAx4 I get lag and this is because of my cards 2GB limit at AAx4 I am bounding over 2200mb vram usage depends what track I've seen portugal at 2600mb. I have a GTX680 so if you do venture this high in the chain of cards I recommend 4GB, I believe if I had 4GB I could run at AAx4 I think the cards good for it and 60fps. Hopefully if ISI optimise Multiview this could easily increase fps and maybe lower VRAM use. The GTX680 just about cuts the mustard IMHO and I'm happy with it but I wouldnt mind an upgrade to a Titan for pure bliss, if u wanna deal on a used GTX680 give me a shout the card is almost a year old but unused since november. I have receipts from scan.co.uk too. I also have I 5870 for sale but wouldn't recommend that for rF2 triple screen.
Thanks again for all the help, I'll bear your offer in mind Bart. Interesting that the majority seem to have the Nvidia cards, I must admit I am still finding it hard to move way from the ATI, it has served me well and the Eyefinity is excellent. I will think about it more while still saving my pennies, hope to be able to afford to upgrade in the near future.
60fps? Are you overclocking your CPU or anything else? With your settings (including the light GPU overclock) I'm getting closer to 35-40fps with a GTX680 4GB FTW at approximately the same 3 monitor resolution at Lime Rock, running the Clios in a 12 car race...using about 1890mb of VRAM. rF2 is the only racing title I have that I can't max out and get consistently above 60fps. It doesn't really seem worth it to upgrade to SLI or a Titian if its the only title I play that's going to benefit. I have a feeling it's just not optimized yet. Thanks for the settings, they do look good, and even at the slower frame rate, it seems pretty responsive.
Hi adaptable1 sorry for the late reply, I presume your reference to 35-40fps is due to single player mode, I mainly play online, however I dont see sub 50fps as acceptable so I tweek my gpu to always hold above 50fps. Again the track makes a big difference I've heard Lime Rock to be excellent quality but a real killer on fps, I cant comment I havn't played in a while. You could be suffering past gfx driver file conflicts I always remove all references in registry to past files, folders and wipe of all physical gfx driver files before a clean install of a new gfx driver, windows uninstall and nvidia uninstall just doesnt cut the mustard. There are various sites on the web to show you how to do this properly, do not follow any sites that tell you to use driver cleaner or driver sweeper, they WILL corrupt your system eventually. Other than that I have a Q6600 OC to 3.4ghz a p5Q delux and dominator 4gb ddr2 ram also slightly OC, a very old system but I cant fault it, I read and follow all system optimisation guides for ultra fast gaming basically I load a profile that shutdown all non essential system processes while running games and prevents any from starting while playing, apps like game booster are great too and you also want to prevent any cpu down clocking in the bios. I plan for a Haswell 4770 or 4570 upgrade on release a cpu upgrade is long overdue for me. The GPU OC is nothing light a 1250mhz I run without boost I think my mem was 6500mhz just requires good airflow and low temps for stability. Use nvidia inspector works better than afterburner. Again from what I see I presume game still has plenty of optimisation left in it comparing to other titles, I know the physics are a monster of an engine but I think ISI could squeeze between 15-25% performance gain. Multiview is a real drag on performance I hope we can gain some good speed in this area when they get round to it.
Oh kmw btw nvidia surround vision is nothing short of eyefinity been there done that I also use the same active adapter
Thanks Bart! I followed your advice and wiped my system of everything NVidia, reinstalled the latest driver, overclocked only my GPU, and tuned to your settings and now my GTX680 is getting 50-60 FPS at Portugal in Clios and Formula Renault 3.5s. You are right about Lime Rock, it tends to drop to ~40 FPS. Certainly the tracks make a big difference. I'm hoping for a 20-25% increase in performance from ISI or NVidia (or both!).... That would pretty much put every track I use regularly at above 50 FPS. If you are running such an old CPU and are getting that kind of performance, it doesn't seem like a modern CPU (i7-3770k) like mine is going to help much for rF2. Maybe PCIe 2.0, but I doubt it would be a huge gain. Funny because I upgraded from a really old QX6700 and your CPU is even older. Goes to show that for these kinds of graphically intensive games, the most important piece of hardware is your GPU.
Personally I think 4gb vs 2gb on the card isn't going to make much difference for triple screen action. I think it comes down to brute strength of the GPU and ISI optimizing it. I run other racing games in triple screen and they barely use half the 2gb on my gfx card as it is. Optimization is going to be the key here. I overclock my 7870 (although lately I've had to back down my clocking because I've been running longer races than when I first started) and I get very good FPS depending of course track and what's happening on screen. I run my card at 2X Supersampling with all options maxed in-game except those last two and AA and maybe one of two others. Gotta check. I will have to tune down some stuff though with the longer races. Also I don't have HDR or FXAA on either.
I am always going to right about 2GB of memory in 2D on mine...3D definitely does above 2GB, but its more of a demo than something I can play long term.
OK, thanks again everyone, I really appreciate the information, but this is where the Nvidia owners throw rotten tomatoes and insults at me, as I have decided to stick with ATI. But all your comments were definitely noted, and I have managed to dig a bit deeper in my pocket - my new Sapphire HD7950 Flex 3GB OC with boost should arrive tomorrow for £260. If all is well I will then recoup a bit by selling my two HD5750s on EBay
Tomatoe thrown at ^. I have my 5870 on ebay right now, contemplating on letting my GTX680 go too but still not convinced a Titan (dare I spend that money) on its own will have enough punch for triples with multiview.
I think getting anything more than a GTX680 4GB might be overkill for 3 mointor racing. rF2 is the only game on certain tracks that I can't sustain over 50fps....and that may be a matter of game/driver/software optimization that could happen with a new release/update. The price/performance ratio is not there, considering that it looks and responds quite good now, and I can dial back a few setting and get more than acceptable performance. In my case, if I wanted to go SLI (with another GTX680) or get a new card like a Titian, I would spend twice my current investment on upgrading my GPU, power supply, and perhaps case & cooling systems. It's just not worth it for a single title that has the likelihood of working just fine in a few months with my current setup.
I know adaptable1 but I have a nice chunk of spare cash right now and I'm not sure what to do with it. My considered options are t500rs or CSW if I choose to upgrade wheel. New monitors really like the newish Benq XL2411T x 3 @ 120hz smooth gaming the reviews all say it transforms gaming kind of like upgrading from 1 screen to 3 screens. But heres the but and its a big butt I am bordering 60fps with my GTX680 at settings I like and not sure if I could go less I just really could do with some FPS multiview optimisation to help decide which is why I was considering a Titan. Or do I wait for intels new CPUs. Choices choices hmmm.
