new hardware alternative to Matrox TH2GO

[RhodeNet]

You know.... I look at your avatar pic and I swear that my set up looks darned close to what you've done. Do you have any pictures available on line of it?

I meassured the total current draw of my current set up with 3 25.5" monitors and the computer with the ATI 485 last night. It was only 2.75 amps. Without the monitors running, it was 1.75 amps. I might be able to get by with my 600 watt power supply with the ATI 4670 card in there as well. I have to keep everything on that circuit under 15 amps. The silly nits that built this house (in 2001) only ran 14 gauge wire. I wish I would have known that was what they had planned and I'd have made them run 10 gauge! I know it is overkill, but.... well... you understandd

Michelle

Michelle

Hi folks, Love to join in here. I have Eyefinity running on a 5850, and I think Michelle has answered a question I had in my mind, since I now have a 4870 and a 4890, and only one is in use, I'd like to add the extra GPU horsepower with crossfire, with one these . Will this work and not mess up Eyefinity?

As far as the cockpit, 2d is disappointing, but I am using wideview (with FSUIPC), and the PM GA panel. Have to find something less expensive for the jets - can't afford PM's jet packages. Also using GoFlight panesl for control. Rumors are out that ATI is developing bezel management, can anyone confirm this?

Running an asus p6, i7 920 oc to 3.8, 12 GB Corsair DDR3 1600 Ram, 1000W Corsair psu, air cooling temps maxing out at 68-70 c. All on a desk now and Hope to see a pic of Twisted or Michelle's cockpit as I am in the planning stages now.

I appreciate your input and help

[twisted8]

Michelle here is a pic of my setup, I have updated several things but you get the idea. The 3 monitors on the top are hooked up to the 5850 and the 2 monitors for instruments are hooked up to the 4670 all in one PC.

As you can see my 2d panels are not streched out using this setup. You can run any aircraft in FSX and just drag the 2D panels to the bottom monitors without worrying about networking the gauges.
Have you guys tried simply resizing the 2D panel? you should be able to grab the edge and make it smaller until it looks proportionate.

RhodeNet, I've heardthat crossfire is a waste for FSX, it doesn't take advantage of it. Better off just running more monitors which is really nice to have, specially with your setup!
I run the Level-D 767 with nico's lekseecon and opencockpits hardware. Haven't had a need for networked PC's or expensive software.

I've heard too about bezel management but as of right now it's not there!

[RhodeNet]

Michelle here is a pic of my setup, I have updated several things but you get the idea. The 3 monitors on the top are hooked up to the 5850 and the 2 monitors for instruments are hooked up to the 4670 all in one PC.

As you can see my 2d panels are not streched out using this setup. You can run any aircraft in FSX and just drag the 2D panels to the bottom monitors without worrying about networking the gauges.
Have you guys tried simply resizing the 2D panel? you should be able to grab the edge and make it smaller until it looks proportionate.

RhodeNet, I've heardthat crossfire is a waste for FSX, it doesn't take advantage of it. Better off just running more monitors which is really nice to have, specially with your setup!
I run the Level-D 767 with nico's lekseecon and opencockpits hardware. Haven't had a need for networked PC's or expensive software.

I've heard too about bezel management but as of right now it's not there!

This is GREAT information, I really like the idea of using the video from a second non-crossfired radeon. I am going to give this a try.
Your cockpit, is essentially what I had in mind. It would great with some birch face plywood. Also your throttle quadrant is really nice, did you design that yourself?
Thanks
Chuck (Rhodenet)

[litebkt]

Michelle here is a pic of my setup, I have updated several things but you get the idea. The 3 monitors on the top are hooked up to the 5850 and the 2 monitors for instruments are hooked up to the 4670 all in one PC.

Yup. I'll follow your lead on this one. Your setup looks very nice. Mine will be somewhat less cool. I've got the three large monitors up in back so that will be similar. However I'm planning on the dash landscape monitor right in front of the yoke, then some GoFlight controls to its right. Then I'll put another monitor in portrait mode directly above where the throttle controls "should" go. My Hubby got me a Logitech flight stick, pedals, and throttle for Christmas. The throttle is left handed. So, for a while, I'll use it on the left but I'll leave space for a throttle quadrant on the right. I'll disable the stick but keep the trim controls it has on it, so I'll need to find a place for it. My goal is to lower the top edge of the flight panel so that I can get the best view possible of the monitors behind it. Besides, one or two of those big monitors in back will have to perform double duty as a TV and computer monitor for other necessary stuff.

As you can see my 2d panels are not streched out using this setup. You can run any aircraft in FSX and just drag the 2D panels to the bottom monitors without worrying about networking the gauges.
Have you guys tried simply resizing the 2D panel? you should be able to grab the edge and make it smaller until it looks proportionate.

I can't display the 2D cockpit at all in my eyefinity setup (3D only). But that's okay because those 3 big monitors will be dedicated to the outside views which does work. However, I can call up any of the extra controls available from the menus. As for resizing them.... I haven't had much luck while on the eyefinity screens. We'll see when I get the new video card what I need to do. BTW, I think that I'm going to keep the 600W power supply for the moment. I really think that I'll be able to run both video cards off it. I'm metering current flow and it's less than 2 amps. I can't believe that this monstrosity I built is so power efficient.

...Haven't had a need for networked PC's or expensive software.

That's my direction. I don't mind spending a few bucks though if someone has gone through the effort to create something I'm interested. I know that there are some cool panels and such out there. I'll wait and see what I can do on my own first. I do know that there's a lot of free stuff as well.

I've heard too about bezel management but as of right now it's not there!

Bezel management is not an issue for me. My mind totally ignores the problem. The key thing is having that unobstructed monitor in the middle. If you had only two monitors, it would be staring you in the face every time you sat down.

I'm upgrading to Win7 today.... I'm sad to see my Itunes app go bye bye. I'll have to fire up one of my old machines to serve as my itunes music repository and update my Ipod.

Michelle

[twisted8]

This is GREAT information, I really like the idea of using the video from a second non-crossfired radeon. I am going to give this a try.
Your cockpit, is essentially what I had in mind. It would great with some birch face plywood. Also your throttle quadrant is really nice, did you design that yourself?
Thanks
Chuck (Rhodenet)

Glad to be able to help!
Thanks! the throttle is from a company called vraircraft, a beautiful unit but unfortunately they charge double the price for it now, not sure why. It used to be a good deal.
Good luck with your set up, you have a nice rig which is great a foundation!

[twisted8]

Yup. I'll follow your lead on this one. Your setup looks very nice. Mine will be somewhat less cool. I've got the three large monitors up in back so that will be similar. However I'm planning on the dash landscape monitor right in front of the yoke, then some GoFlight controls to its right. Then I'll put another monitor in portrait mode directly above where the throttle controls "should" go. My Hubby got me a Logitech flight stick, pedals, and throttle for Christmas. The throttle is left handed. So, for a while, I'll use it on the left but I'll leave space for a throttle quadrant on the right. I'll disable the stick but keep the trim controls it has on it, so I'll need to find a place for it. My goal is to lower the top edge of the flight panel so that I can get the best view possible of the monitors behind it. Besides, one or two of those big monitors in back will have to perform double duty as a TV and computer monitor for other necessary stuff.

Bezel management is not an issue for me. My mind totally ignores the problem. The key thing is having that unobstructed monitor in the middle. If you had only two monitors, it would be staring you in the face every time you sat down.

I'm upgrading to Win7 today.... I'm sad to see my Itunes app go bye bye. I'll have to fire up one of my old machines to serve as my itunes music repository and update my Ipod.

Michelle

Ah ok that sounds like a good idea, my setup is pretty basic and I enjoy it very much. I'm sure you will too. Def try the 600W PSU and see how it goes, it might be OK. At least if the PC gives you trouble you know where to start looking. Very nice of your husband getting you that stuff, does he use it too?

Regarding the lack of bezel management I'm doing this little trick where you put the 2 side monitors a bit behind the center monitors and it work's pretty good. You also get less bezel from the monitors. Something you might want to try. Here is a shot:

[Matt Olieman]

Clever idea, but it seems to work.

I've got to tell you folks, this has been a fascinating topic and am really amazed at the new video technology available, this is exciting!!!

Thanks for all of your comments.

Matt Olieman

Ah ok that sounds like a good idea, my setup is pretty basic and I enjoy it very much. I'm sure you will too. Def try the 600W PSU and see how it goes, it might be OK. At least if the PC gives you trouble you know where to start looking. Very nice of your husband getting you that stuff, does he use it too?

Regarding the lack of bezel management I'm doing this little trick where you put the 2 side monitors a bit behind the center monitors and it work's pretty good. You also get less bezel from the monitors. Something you might want to try. Here is a shot:

[ECMO1]

Very interesting read so far. Thanks for all the ideas. I'm facing similar issues: running (3)ViewSonic VA2323WM monitors in a 1X3 Eyefinity configuration with my XFX Radeon 5870 and (1) ViewSonic N2750W on my XFX Radeon 5770. I'm running Win 7 Pro 64 bit and according to Catayst (v10.2) this configuration works fine. I can display webpages and play video with media player through either card. I can drag stuff from one monitor to another (one card to another). When I attempt to run FSX (with Acceleration installed) I can get the 1x3 (on 5870) to run and display fine with DirectX10 selected. However, when I try to place a view/window onto the N2750W (via 5770) the image will not display and more often than not, locks the program. I don`t believe it`s an ATI/Eyefinity issue. More likely a FSX/DirectX issue. But, just in case: is there any known issue with running a set-up like this in conjunction with eyefinity? Do I need to use a second 5870 instead of the 5770 for compatability even though I'm not in Crossfire and Catalyst 10.2 supports both? I'm going to try deselecting DirectX10 as mentioned in a previous post. But Win 7 installs DirectX11 anyway. Is there a way to disable DirectX all together, and do I want to? Frustration with FSX has me considering a move to X-Plane but to get the right visuals would require slave PCs in a LAN since it won't display multiple undocked views (hope they fix this). As Michelle pointed out, I don't want to go there. Thanks in advance.

CPU: i7 920 (unclocked and cool: 102 Deg F)

MOBO : ASRock X58 Extreme

Memory: Corsair XMS3 (3X2GB DDR3) (unclocked)

GPU 1: Radeon HD5870 (Eyefinity 1X3)

GPU 2: Radeon HD5770 (Single monitor)

PSU: Corsair HX1000W

OS: Win 7 Pro 64bit

Driver: Catalyst 10.2

Directx 11

[rjvcarvalho]

Michelle here is a pic of my setup, I have updated several things but you get the idea. The 3 monitors on the top are hooked up to the 5850 and the 2 monitors for instruments are hooked up to the 4670 all in one PC.

As you can see my 2d panels are not streched out using this setup. You can run any aircraft in FSX and just drag the 2D panels to the bottom monitors without worrying about networking the gauges.
Have you guys tried simply resizing the 2D panel? you should be able to grab the edge and make it smaller until it looks proportionate.

RhodeNet, I've heardthat crossfire is a waste for FSX, it doesn't take advantage of it. Better off just running more monitors which is really nice to have, specially with your setup!
I run the Level-D 767 with nico's lekseecon and opencockpits hardware. Haven't had a need for networked PC's or expensive software.

I've heard too about bezel management but as of right now it's not there!

Hello, very good information, thanks for sharing.

Could you post your pc specs? I would like to know what motherboard are you using for non crossfire setup, thanks.

[RhodeNet]

Hi Kurby,
I am using an ASUS p6, I7 920, overclocked to 3.6ghz; 12 GB corsair RAM (OverKill, but I do some virtualization), 2 WD 1500, 10000RPM velociRaptor in a Raid 0.
Current video card, Sapphire radeon 5850 (Eyefinity) and will add a radeon 4870 for my instruments. Running Windows 7, 64 Bit