Next Gen ATI Vidcard

Ooops, sorry guys i forgot to resize them myself

I have been testing my system for the last couple of days trying to find the best config for multi monitor support.

My base system is currently running vista64 (soon to be 7), AMD Quad with 8G of RAM.

I use it mainly for work but as i love Flight Sims and there just haven't really been any for a while especially Heli. When i happened on Black Shark i decided to see what was possible and not.

I have tested the following as far as video hardware :

I originally had dual 4850's and an on board 3300, i tried to read through the 22 page thread on multi monitor but couldn't figure it. I finally reached the conclusion (albeit wrong) that the only way to do what i wanted to do was to go out and buy 57xx or 58xx series ATI cards.

I had a really hard time finding them first of, so when i did i figured i would pick one 5770 and a 5870 as i was not sure how the frame rate would hold up.

I didnt have much luck getting it to work either. I seemed still limited to two monitors (i could not find an active DP to DVI adapter anywhere)

However i did find the Wiki in my serches (i dont remeber the authors name but THANK YOU)

I got everything working and began testing.

I played with many configs both in monitor layout and video card setup.

I found the FR was not any better running in eyefinity over spread across two independant displays by the way.

Because of the cost of the DP to DVI adapter i would not invest in it as the setup you are looking at is not using eyefinity and sets every monitor as individual display. The FR is low of course because of the resolutions im running 5760x3300. However pumping this form a single card using eyefinity I would think would produce the same FR as gowing over multiple single mointors from what i have experienced.

Any who, the skinny from my tests and im happy to run any more tests you would like, im new to the Sim so there may be better ways to test the performance.

Of course i would also like any tips for bumping the FR up as with the large res and six screens im down around the 10 to 12 mark :(

to give you an idea of the results:

Single monitor on the 5870, 1920x1080, 3cameras, FR 40,

Dual monitor single group (eyefinity) 5870, 3840x1080, 3cameras, FR 24

Dual monitors no groups 5870, 3840x1080, 3cameras, FR 24

Three monitors singles 2 mon 5870 + 1 mon 5770, 5760x1080 3cameras, FR 15+

six monitors singles 2 mon 5870 + 2 mon 5770 + 2 mon 3300, 5760x3300 3cameras, FR 8 - 12 depends on cockpit zoom

I also tried 2 x eyefinity plus two singles and had similar frame rates.

Robin

Layout and hardware:

5870 ------- top center, DVI (dell 24", 1920x1080)

|___ top right, DVI (dell 22", 1920x1080)

5770 ------- top left, DVI (dell 22", 1920x1080)

|___ bottom right, DVI (dell 22",portrait, 1920x1080)

3300 ------- bottom left, DVI (dell 22", portrait, 1920x1080)

|___ bottom center VGA (Samsung 22", 1680x1050)

I'm running the latest ATI driver 9.11 for the 5870

Note: i had the remove all previous ATI software and reinstall

Problems: My mouse does not work in the options and pre game screens ???

I probably have not found the perfect aspect yet also i run the game in 1Camera mode as the 3camera mode distorts everything a little to much and its hard to get the line up right.

I used the samsung monitor as its one I use in my kitchen and will get a dell 24" probably with DP just in case.

Robin

the only file i have modified as yet

C:\Program Files (x86)\Eagle Dynamics\Ka-50\BlackShark\data\scripts\options.lua

["graphics"] =

{

["multiMonitorSetup"] = "1camera",

["color"] = "32",

["heatBlr"] = 0,

["scenes"] = "low",

["water"] = 2,

["fullScreen"] = false,

["visibRange"] = "Low",

["aspect"] = 1.1,

["shadows"] = 1,

["textures"] = 0,

["display_mode"] =

{

["avi"] =

{

["bpp"] = 32,

["resolution"] = "640x480",

["full_screen"] = false,

["aspect"] = 1.333333333,

["height"] = 480,

["width"] = 640,

}, -- end of ["avi"]

}, -- end of ["display_mode"]

["effects"] = 2,

["haze"] = 1,

["lights"] = 2,

["height"] = 3300,

["resolution"] = "5760x3300",

["civTraffic"] = 0,

["width"] = 5760,

}, -- end of ["graphics"]

Comparison

I didn't really compare the video hardware at all,

TH2GO's inability to support 1920x1080 removed it from the running. As i mentioned above i initially thought the problem would only be solved by using ATI's eyefinity so Nvidia was out as well although in hindsight it would be just as doable as i don't use the eyefinity.

I will still see if i can get my hands on an active adapter finally just to see if there is a difference as you scale with the number of monitors.

Robin

Robin, thanks for taking the time to post all of that!

There are other folks on here who can offer more in-depth advice on how to improve your frame rates. One thing that jumped out at me was the

["water"] = 2,

Water has a large effect on frame rate, even when you aren't in sight of the water, due to how the game engine handles it. Some judicious searching in the forums should be able to show you the best settings to use. I'm pretty sure you should try setting the water to 0.

very cool thanks,

One question i had and i will search more but, as i have three very differnt cards in my machine right now (all ATI) how is the processing across the cards working ?

Is the whole thing at the merci of the weekest link the on board 3300 ?

Robin

That's a good question. Are you running any sort of crossfire at all? If not I THINK that everything runs off the most powerful card and the other cards are just used for inputs. What motherboard do you have that allows you to put in 3 pci-e video cards?

I have an ASUS M3A78T

It has an on board 3300 PCI-e plus 3 PCI-e slots on the motherboard.

I just swapped out my 5870 for a 5770 so i could do CrossFire again it was a huge mistake. I don't use cross fire usually because I lose two of the monitors that are on the second card, the testing i did did not suggest much of a FR difference on a dual monitor but there is a huge difference at 5760x3300.

I believe your right about the rendering done on the primary card when i replaced the 5870 with a 5770 my frame rate is dropped by half its now at 7 -8 :(, not really playable.

I really like the the game and getting used to the monitors i think i might spring for replacing my primary 5770 with a 5970 it apparently can do twice the performance of the 5870 ?

Robin

I am worry about their necks：）

:)

Necks, It's good exercise :)