Wanting to build a pc with 7.1 sound, and at least triple screens

bevo · December 2009

I want a PC that will output at least 7.1 over HDMI, and has the ability to do at least 3 screens for racing games. What are some good suggestions on where I should start?

I have never built one on my own before, and my friend says that an integrated sound board will be fine and he doesn't know about the triple screen. I really don't see an integrated card doing what I need, but he knows more then I do.
As far as my budget goes, I'm not really sure, I don't want to spend 3000$ but I imagine it's going to be over 1000$ . I plan on building it over the next 2 or 3 months, so if I need to spend a nice chunk on 1 piece I can. Sound is really important in this build and so is 7.1 because I would like to incorporate a blu ray player, so I'll need a card that does DTS master audio and dolby true HD. It doesn't have to decode it, but it at least needs to be able to pass it through to my receiver. I'll be using the PC with the setup in my sig.

Another question is, do any sound card and graphics cards come together so I can use a single HDMI cord to pass both the sound and video? I plan on hooking it up to a 50 inch plasma for the time being, and then going to 3 32-42 inch screens when the prices get low enough to buy 3 of them.

Any help with this build would be appreciated. I have looked online at pieces, but I really don't know what I'm looking at.

I started to post in the other recent pc thread, but I want the 3 screen setup and didn't want to hijack his thread with info he doesn't care about.

ryanjoachim · December 2009

You should be looking an ATI/AMD 5000 series card. The 5870 (I think) is relatively well-prices, does up to 3 monitors (not all through hdmi though).

The ATI cards also have an audio chip built into the card, so it can do 7.1 and 1080p through the hdmi cable.

comfortablycurt · December 2009

Does having multiple screens even really serve any purpose other than wow factor? I would think you'd be best off with a single larger screen.

Seems pointless to me...but to each their own I suppose. Enjoy.:)

bevo · December 2009

comfortablycurt wrote: »

Does having multiple screens even really serve any purpose other than wow factor? I would think you'd be best off with a single larger screen.

Seems pointless to me...but to each their own I suppose. Enjoy.:)

I'm actually building the PC for mostly gaming. Here's a link to why I want to use 3 screens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hkf9BqYtto&feature=PlayList&p=41E608CDCFA8ACCA&index=1

I will admit that it is pretty ridiculous, but I love sim racing games. Almost all PC sim racing games support at least 3-5 screens. Several console games also support the feature but you have to own 3 consoles and 3 copies of the game. The only difference with me is that I would like to use 3 projectors to get rid of the sides of the monitors meeting. I Have enough lcd tv's around the house now to do it with them, but in the future I would like to make the switch when projectors get cheap enough. 3 screens make the field of view much larger, and really adds to the feel of making the game as real as possible. It would blow your mind how far you can take PC racing sims. My 3 monitor setup wouldn't even be that crazy when compared to what other people do. But I will admit that it is pretty crazy, but I'm sure people think the same of our HT addictions.

comfortablycurt · December 2009

Wow...that's pretty cool actually. The black lines between the screens would drive me crazy though.

sTiLlLeArNiNg · December 2009

Simply put: Radeon 5890 and Asus Xonar HDAV1.3

greg2350 · December 2009

comfortablycurt wrote: »

The black lines between the screens would drive me crazy though.

This would solve that problem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWivZEtH6-c&feature=related

greg2350 · December 2009

This would work.
http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/th2go/?productTabs=1

john E · December 2009

If you can find one the new ATI HD 5850 is supposed to run three monitors ,but I would just go with a large monitor if you have a 50"plasma that should look pretty good.Three 42" seems like overkill plus you just have a 1920x1080 resolution,you can get some 28" monitors for as low as $250 when they are on sale and you could have 1920x1200 resolutions.I had a 24" Dell 2405FPW and I got a I-INC 28" monitor and was surprise of how good it looked .

bevo · December 2009

john E wrote: »

If you can find one the new ATI HD 5850 is supposed to run three monitors ,but I would just go with a large monitor if you have a 50"plasma that should look pretty good.Three 42" seems like overkill plus you just have a 1920x1080 resolution,you can get some 28" monitors for as low as $250 when they are on sale and you could have 1920x1200 resolutions.I had a 24" Dell 2405FPW and I got a I-INC 28" monitor and was surprise of how good it looked .

The triple screen is a must for me, It's really the only reason I'm building the PC. To do it with the ps3 or 360 would cost more money, plus there aren't near as many games that support the 3 screen setup.
I will probably start out with 3, 32 inch lcds and then move to 3 projectors when the prices drop a little more. I'm hoping to have this project done in about a year, so It's not going to kill my wallet while I'm building it. The projectors will take a little longer though, because I will wait until I get my house built to add them.

If you look up the thread a little ways, I have a link to why I want 3 monitors. I already have 2, 32 inch lcds so that's why I'll use those first before I try to go bigger. You may be right though, 42 inch may be overkill.

Sherardp · December 2009

I would definitely go Asus Xonar for sound card. I'm using a D2 and it is worth the coin spent.

royalty · December 2009

Go for the 5xxx series of ATI. I have a 5870 and its amazing. The only real trouble is trying to obtain one.

sk1939 · December 2009

bevo wrote: »

The triple screen is a must for me, It's really the only reason I'm building the PC. To do it with the ps3 or 360 would cost more money, plus there aren't near as many games that support the 3 screen setup.
I will probably start out with 3, 32 inch lcds and then move to 3 projectors when the prices drop a little more. I'm hoping to have this project done in about a year, so It's not going to kill my wallet while I'm building it. The projectors will take a little longer though, because I will wait until I get my house built to add them.

If you look up the thread a little ways, I have a link to why I want 3 monitors. I already have 2, 32 inch lcds so that's why I'll use those first before I try to go bigger. You may be right though, 42 inch may be overkill.

Most games, even though they specify multi monitor support, have issues with such, mostly due to the difference in hardware, difference in resolution, and the difference in the way each PC is setup.

There's really no reason to get 3 screens, immersion or not. There are only a few games that really support multiple monitors ingame. You would have to spend serious money to get it running. While a Radeon 5870 will be able to drive 3 monitors, it won't be able to drive 3 monitors at full resolution and full graphics by itself. Not to mention the fact that you'll need a powerful CPU to be able to handle that. You'd be lucky to put such a system together for a few grand. The two 32" TV's you have would at most be able to do 1920x1080, and that will still take up alot of space. To have 3 projectors is ridiculous, depending on placement, your peripheral vision still won't be able to see everything.

Full-screen software can pose a problem on a multi-monitor configuration especially since many full-screen applications make use of the absolute edge of the display to control view movement, and may not work properly on a multi-monitor PC, for example by failing to track the mouse cursor properly when it continues onto the next display of an extended desktop, creating a drop in the cursor or other "errors", and can frequently be found in full-screen image viewers, 3D model editors, and RTS (RealTime Strategy) genre video games. However, many full screen apps, even when tolerant of multi-monitor displays, only cover one display area and relegate the other display to secondary use. This can create edge-scrolling problems when the cursor crosses between the display fields. One notable exception includes flight simulator software....

And no, HDMI from the video card (mostly it uses Displayport and DVI) does not provide audio, you'd have to get a separate soundcard.

To me, it seems like this endeavor is a bit excessive. If you really want an immersive experience, get a decent car and go to a racetrack. Nothing beats the real thing. I worked in a firm of architects, and the largest setup we had was for 2 30" displays, there was simply no reason for larger.

hastalavista · December 2009

bevo wrote: »

I'm actually building the PC for mostly gaming. Here's a link to why I want to use 3 screens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hkf9BqYtto&feature=PlayList&p=41E608CDCFA8ACCA&index=1

I will admit that it is pretty ridiculous, but I love sim racing games. Almost all PC sim racing games support at least 3-5 screens. Several console games also support the feature but you have to own 3 consoles and 3 copies of the game. The only difference with me is that I would like to use 3 projectors to get rid of the sides of the monitors meeting. I Have enough lcd tv's around the house now to do it with them, but in the future I would like to make the switch when projectors get cheap enough. 3 screens make the field of view much larger, and really adds to the feel of making the game as real as possible. It would blow your mind how far you can take PC racing sims. My 3 monitor setup wouldn't even be that crazy when compared to what other people do. But I will admit that it is pretty crazy, but I'm sure people think the same of our HT addictions.

DaYem

sk1939 · December 2009

You aren't going to make it for $1000, trust me on that, probably not even $2000 for what you want it for, since the video card isn't the only component that costs alot of money. I still don't know why you would want such a thing, and where you would put it, but still....

A correction on the audio, it appears that the Radeon 5870 does indeed pass through audio, although I can't vouch for the quality of it's controller.

Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz @ $289.99
EVGA P55 LE 123-LF-E653-KR LGA1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard @ $169.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory @ $99.99
Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000 1000W Power supply @ $164.99
Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM Hard drive @ $200
Western Digital RE3 WD1002FBYS 1TB 7200 RPM Hard drive @ $160
LIAN LI PC-A77B Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case @ $249.99
DIAMOND Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 @ $409.99
DIAMOND Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 @ $409.99
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit (REALLY IMPORTANT YOU GET 64bit not 32 bit) @ $174.99
Total Cost: 2329.92

Thats the computer you want (at least the parts anyway), if your serious about this...you still have to buy the displays, and thats additional coin.

ryanjoachim · December 2009

sk1939 wrote: »

And no, HDMI from the video card (mostly it uses Displayport and DVI) does not provide audio, you'd have to get a separate soundcard.

Actually with ATI cards yes, HDMI does provide 7.1 surround sound with all the HD quality formats. I use it exclusively with my setup from my computer to watch 1080p movies, and doing a test with my blu-ray player and my computer, there's not a lot of difference between the two.

vc69 · December 2009

ryanjoachim wrote: »

Actually with ATI cards yes, HDMI does provide 7.1 surround sound with all the HD quality formats.

When did that happen? Can you tell me which cards specifically?

TIA

ryanjoachim · December 2009

It's been that way for a while actually, at least since the first 4000 series came out (I've got a 4870 that does it, and a 4650). It takes a separate driver install (available on ATI's website) to activate the sound output, but it does work.

vc69 · December 2009

Well I'll be a monkey's....

I have got to spend some quality time with my HTPC.

Thanks.

bevo · December 2009

sk1939 wrote: »

There's really no reason to get 3 screens, immersion or not. There are only a few games that really support multiple monitors ingame.

Full-screen software can pose a problem on a multi-monitor configuration especially since many full-screen applications make use of the absolute edge of the display to control view movement, and may not work properly on a multi-monitor PC, for example by failing to track the mouse cursor properly when it continues onto the next display of an extended desktop, creating a drop in the cursor or other "errors", and can frequently be found in full-screen image viewers, 3D model editors, and RTS (RealTime Strategy) genre video games. However, many full screen apps, even when tolerant of multi-monitor displays, only cover one display area and relegate the other display to secondary use. This can create edge-scrolling problems when the cursor crosses between the display fields. One notable exception includes flight simulator software....

To me, it seems like this endeavor is a bit excessive. If you really want an immersive experience, get a decent car and go to a racetrack. Nothing beats the real thing. I worked in a firm of architects, and the largest setup we had was for 2 30" displays, there was simply no reason for larger.

The flight sims and racing sims are the reason I'm trying to set this system up. The pc will be in a dedicated room and setup for racing sims, and maybe an occasional flight sim.

Something like these. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sJQKGLblho
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hkf9BqYtto&feature=PlayList&p=41E608CDCFA8ACCA&index=1

I'm wanting to go with either larger monitors, or projectors though so that they will be beside me more like in a real car.
As for buying a real car and going to a track, the closet track to me is 3 hours away, and I don't have no where near the time to go. Car's are also much, much more money then my setup will be, plus when you crash a real car you just might die. I don't think my wife and kid would like me dead, or to injured to work. If I had the time and was single that is definitely what I would do. My buddy bought a lotus elise last year and had a supercharger built for it. I've been in a few "fast cars" throughout the years, and nothing came close to touching the elise. It really made me want to take out a loan and buy a GTR, but my family and health are what's important to me. That's why it's triple screens and loud speakers for me. My buddy is single and probably paid cash for the car. So to him it was no big deal.

It does look like it's going to cost a small fortune though, but really when I think about it my sub cost almost as much as the PC will. I plan on stretching this project out for awhile though, so it really won't be to bad on the wallet. If I could get this up and running in 6 months it would be quicker then I'm imagining.

renowilliams · December 2009

Sherardp wrote: »

I would definitely go Asus Xonar for sound card. I'm using a D2 and it is worth the coin spent.

+1 on this, I have the D2X and its a great card.

sk1939 · December 2009

bevo wrote: »

The flight sims and racing sims are the reason I'm trying to set this system up. The pc will be in a dedicated room and setup for racing sims, and maybe an occasional flight sim.

Something like these. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sJQKGLblho
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hkf9BqYtto&feature=PlayList&p=41E608CDCFA8ACCA&index=1

I'm wanting to go with either larger monitors, or projectors though so that they will be beside me more like in a real car.
As for buying a real car and going to a track, the closet track to me is 3 hours away, and I don't have no where near the time to go. Car's are also much, much more money then my setup will be, plus when you crash a real car you just might die. I don't think my wife and kid would like me dead, or to injured to work. If I had the time and was single that is definitely what I would do. My buddy bought a lotus elise last year and had a supercharger built for it. I've been in a few "fast cars" throughout the years, and nothing came close to touching the elise. It really made me want to take out a loan and buy a GTR, but my family and health are what's important to me. That's why it's triple screens and loud speakers for me. My buddy is single and probably paid cash for the car. So to him it was no big deal.

It does look like it's going to cost a small fortune though, but really when I think about it my sub cost almost as much as the PC will. I plan on stretching this project out for awhile though, so it really won't be to bad on the wallet. If I could get this up and running in 6 months it would be quicker then I'm imagining.

Well if your sure, take a look at the components I listed (all are highly rated), they should suit your needs just fine. I tried to keep it reasonable, and this computer should be able to handle your simulators fine. It should also be able to last you for a couple of years before you have to update anything. Screen wise, right now just playing on a 50" plasma should be fine for temporary, but once you get your house built, get the projects, otherwise you will be shelling out money twice; first for a set of TV's, then for a set of projectors.

I can appreciate you not wanting to crash and die, especially with a family. Me personally, I'm single and young so I can go rally racing in my Subaru to my hearts content

.

sk1939 · December 2009

ryanjoachim wrote: »

Actually with ATI cards yes, HDMI does provide 7.1 surround sound with all the HD quality formats. I use it exclusively with my setup from my computer to watch 1080p movies, and doing a test with my blu-ray player and my computer, there's not a lot of difference between the two.

I see and already corrected that. Cards for years though, before some of the newer ones came out couldn't pass through audio through HDMI, but that seems to have changed. I still don't know about audio quality though.

ryanjoachim · December 2009

sk1939 wrote: »

I see and already corrected that. Cards for years though, before some of the newer ones came out couldn't pass through audio through HDMI, but that seems to have changed. I still don't know about audio quality though.

I saw that you corrected it after I posted my comment (I was typing when you posted).

Audio quality, while not necessarily up to par with dedicated sound cards, is very clear and smooth. If a movie is ripped properly (same goes with music) all the soundtracks (DTS-HD, TrueHD, etc) are kept intact within the video file.

I have yet to do some hard testing on this vs that, but i'm sure someone on google has done it for me by now.

bevo · December 2009

greg2350 wrote: »

This would solve that problem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWivZEtH6-c&feature=related

I went and checked out that display. It looks like that when it came out in 2007 it cost 16,000$. Maybe I should just go buy a car and race for real.

sk1939 · December 2009

bevo wrote: »

I went and checked out that display. It looks like that when it came out in 2007 it cost 16,000$. Maybe I should just go buy a car and race for real.

At those prices, would probably be better.....just don't do street racing....

bevo · December 2009

I got to thinking about it and I could buy 2 more 50 inch plasma tv's, 2 more xbox 360's and 2 more ps3's for less then the PC I would need. It looks like I might just stick to console racing and forget about the PC. After talking to some guys who have the triple screen setup for PC's it sounded like you can't really get as big of monitors as I wanted anyway. I'm just going to start hitting ebay for refurbished 360's and ps3's and go that route instead. You can get 360's for 100$, and ps3's for 200$. That's at least 1600$ under what the PC would cost.

sk1939 · December 2009

bevo wrote: »

I got to thinking about it and I could buy 2 more 50 inch plasma tv's, 2 more xbox 360's and 2 more ps3's for less then the PC I would need. It looks like I might just stick to console racing and forget about the PC. After talking to some guys who have the triple screen setup for PC's it sounded like you can't really get as big of monitors as I wanted anyway. I'm just going to start hitting ebay for refurbished 360's and ps3's and go that route instead. You can get 360's for 100$, and ps3's for 200$. That's at least 1600$ under what the PC would cost.

Take a look around, but do be wary of refurbished consoles, especially if bought on EBay, for obvious reasons. It sounds like console racing is the way to go...there are only 2 REAL racing simulation games on the console imo, GRiD for the 360 and Gran Turismo 5 for the PS3, it depends on which one you like more in that case...

greg2350 · December 2009

sk1939 wrote: »

Take a look around, but do be wary of refurbished consoles, especially if bought on EBay, for obvious reasons. It sounds like console racing is the way to go...there are only 2 REAL racing simulation games on the console imo, GRiD for the 360 and Gran Turismo 5 for the PS3, it depends on which one you like more in that case...

Forza 3 for 360

bevo · December 2009

Shift, forza 3, GT5, ferrari challenge, race pro, F1CE, and dirt 2 all all pretty good racing games. The trouble is, I think only shift, forza and GT support the 3 screens but I'm not sure. A PC would be great, but I don't think the price of the PC is worth it. Who knows, after my wife finishes school and we have 2 incomes I might go for the PC.

I'm gonna have a couple friends bring over their consoles and games and try out the triple screen this weekend and see what we all think of it. I've also got a friend that has a PC that might do what I want. If I can get him to bring it over, I'll have a better idea of if it's worth it or not.

sk1939 · December 2009

bevo wrote: »

Shift, forza 3, GT5, ferrari challenge, race pro, F1CE, and dirt 2 all all pretty good racing games. The trouble is, I think only shift, forza and GT support the 3 screens but I'm not sure. A PC would be great, but I don't think the price of the PC is worth it. Who knows, after my wife finishes school and we have 2 incomes I might go for the PC.

I'm gonna have a couple friends bring over their consoles and games and try out the triple screen this weekend and see what we all think of it. I've also got a friend that has a PC that might do what I want. If I can get him to bring it over, I'll have a better idea of if it's worth it or not.

Try it and find out

Wanting to build a pc with 7.1 sound, and at least triple screens

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