Hi all,

I am looking into upgrading to a Triplehead setup, primarily for my racing sims and the extra immersion it provides. Before I take the plunge I was wondering if anyone here could offer advice on the following..:-

1. At the moment I use a 22'' Samsung 2232bw monitor. I cannot find this monitor on sale new anywhere, as it has been replaced with new models. Would buying 2 identical similar monitors for the left and right work, or would I notice significant colour differences when moving my view from the center monitor?

2. Can anyone recommend a cheap widescreen monitor to use alongside my existing 2232bw samsung? I want to make the setup 3x22'' 16:9 monitors, with resolutions of 1680x1050.

3. I do a lot of music production, and it seems there are several people around here that do too. Would it be easy to use the triplehead setup to spread my music software over multiple screens? For example, a mixer on one screen, a track view on another and, say, a score layout on the third?

4. I'm looking at getting the Matrox Triplehead2go hardware. How does this compare to SoftTH? Could I use the 3 monitors as an extended desktop as described above using SoftTH? Does using Soft TH use more system resources than the TH2Go? Does Soft TH even support the native res I am looking for of 5040*1050? (Sorry, lots of questions there! )

5. Where is the best place to get the TH2Go? Cheapest I've seen is £245 from scan.co.uk.

6. My current spec is an 8800gt 512mb, Q6600 and 4gb ram running Vista 32bit. Would this be enough to run LFS and iRacing etc at a decent lick across 3 screens, or would an upgrade be in order?

Thats all I can think of for now. Sorry about all of the text, and thanks in advance for your replies.

Andrew.

1. It wouldn't be too much of an issue really. I'm a bit of a monitor nut myself but I wouldn't mind using different screens for the sides, there may be some colour/brightness difference, but nothing a bit of tweaking won't make acceptable.

3. With programs like FL Studio etc that'll work fine. When you're in desktop mode (as in not running a fullscreen application or game) you can place windows anywhere on the three monitors. It'll be largely beneficial too for music production

4. The triple head systems will really only be in use for full screen applications, so either will provide the same functionality in a desktop scenario. SoftTH will support that res, with a Geforce 8 or better card (which I see you have). With a single card, there will be negligible/no difference in performance between SoftTH and TH2Go.

5. Not too sure but you must remember to get the digital version to support that resolution.

6. LFS will be fine with those specs, I have a similar setup (slightly older, 8800GTS 320 and a E6600) and I got good framerates. I don't know about iRacing though.

If you want a guaranteed solution that'll work across all games go for the TH2Go, if it's just LFS (and iRacing if it's supported) just go for SoftTH.

If TH2Go "fools" windows into believing you have one huge-ass monitor - can you still drag 'n drop windows and maximise them to a monitor, or does it just maximise them fully?

I wondered this, I reckon it'd maximise across all 3 monitors. Which would pretty much write it off if you spend a lot of time on the desktop and wanted fullscreen windows.

Thanks for the excellent advice guys. I've decided to plump for 2 new identical 22'' lcd screens and a generic PCI-E card. I might as well give SoftTH a go first, if it does everything I want I can save myself over £250 compared to the Th2Go!

Quote from Jakg :

If TH2Go "fools" windows into believing you have one huge-ass monitor - can you still drag 'n drop windows and maximise them to a monitor, or does it just maximise them fully?

SoftTH doesn't "fool" anything while you're in Windows, its only used in-game. So when you're in Windows its just like having 3 desktops, you can maximize to one desktop, etc. 3 monitor support is greatly improved if you install UltraMon, which adds a ton of features Windows is missing.

For the OP:

1. I would try to match specs as much as possible, but you should be able to adjust the monitors to match up close enough. My side monitors are a couple years newer than my main one, but they're close enough that when you are looking head on you can't tell much of a difference.

3. Yes, triple monitors are great for multitasking, as I mentioned already you should check out UltraMon, its a great piece of software.

4. Personally, I favor SoftTH. LFS isn't terribly graphics intensive, so the performance hit you take using SoftTH isn't very noticeable. SoftTH also seemed to be more configurable, and since I have normal aspect monitors on the side with a widescreen in the middle, the TH2Go wasn't much of an option for me. It also costs money while SoftTH is free.

6. I have an 8800 GT and E6600 and I run LFS and iRacing on 3 monitors without any issues, so you should be fine with that setup. You will not, however, be able to use SoftTH without an upgrade. SoftTH requires 3 monitor outputs, and your graphics card only has 2. You would need a second cheaper card to use for the third monitor, which requires an SLI motherboard since you want it to be PCI-E.

Edit: Just saw your last post so disregard point 6, if you have two PCI-E slots then definitely try out SoftTH first. I think it will work just fine for you.

Quote from UncleBenny :

SoftTH doesn't "fool" anything while you're in Windows, its only used in-game. So when you're in Windows its just like having 3 desktops, you can maximize to one desktop, etc. 3 monitor support is greatly improved if you install UltraMon, which adds a ton of features Windows is missing.

I know full well what SoftTH does as I use it - I was asking about TH2Go (the Matrox hardware solution).

Quote from Jakg :

I know full well what SoftTH does as I use it - I was asking about TH2Go (the Matrox hardware solution).

I fail at reading.

Quote from Jakg :

If TH2Go "fools" windows into believing you have one huge-ass monitor - can you still drag 'n drop windows and maximise them to a monitor, or does it just maximise them fully?

Hi again!

Well, I tried the SoftTH approach and liked it so much I went out and got the TH2Go digital and a GTX 285. A quick go on COD4 with SoftTH (before it crashed...!) made me want the extra game compatibility and performance from the TH2Go and new GPU. The bezel management really does make a difference as well, especially in racing sims with the mirrors and dash etc lining up properly behing the bezels. I'm using the trackir4 with the triple screens at the moment. TBH you probably don't NEED the head tracking with the extra FOV, but it really takes the immersion up another notch.
You were right about the extra productivity as well, my music software is incredible to use over the extra screen real estate.
Got to say though, the TH2Go Digital took some trial and error to get working in Vista. If anyone wants a detailed run-through at how to set it up at 5040x1050 in vista send me a PM.
Oh, and to answer your question Jakg, there is bundled software that allows you to set up the behaviour of the 3 screens. I have it set up so that if you maximise a window, it maximises within that monitor, and new programs open up on the centre monitor by default.

Hope this helps...

I have 3x1280x1024 on three 19" screens Samsung Syncmaster (2x191T,1x194T) softth work perfectly 3840x1024 on my Ati HD4850 512mb and onboard Hd3200.

i am thinking of upgrading the center tft up to 27" and turn the left and right screens 90° in pivot that would result in 3968x3760 ^^ yikess

Quote from startkapital :

i am thinking of upgrading the center tft up to 27" and turn the left and right screens 90° in pivot that would result in 3968x3760

HOW?! i mean... do ur 19" monitors support 3760 in the horizontal spann? no i dont thínk so... so its impossible

Fictional:
Left: (turned °90) 1024x1280
Middel: 1920x1200
Right: (turned °90) 1024x1280

That would result in 3968x3760 ^^ it is possible with ati catalyst drivers and even with nvidia driver thoug

Quote from Feffe85 :

HOW?! i mean... do ur 19" monitors support 3760 in the horizontal spann? no i dont thínk so... so its impossible

Quote from startkapital :

Fictional:
Left: (turned °90) 1024x1280
Middel: 1920x1200
Right: (turned °90) 1024x1280

That would result in 3968x3760 ^^ it is possible with ati catalyst drivers and even with nvidia driver thoug

No it wouldn't, that would result in 3968x1280

Quote from startkapital :

I have 3x1280x1024 on three 19" screens Samsung Syncmaster (2x191T,1x194T) softth work perfectly 3840x1024 on my Ati HD4850 512mb and onboard Hd3200.

i am thinking of upgrading the center tft up to 27" and turn the left and right screens 90° in pivot that would result in 3968x3760 ^^ yikess

Just so you know, that 27" in the middle will be much bigger than the 19" monitors on the side I think. At one point I had a similar setup, I had a 24" in the middle though because sizes matched better.