I just ran a benchmark on the Parhelia!!!

[Torghn]

I just got back from the AMD tech tour (by the way it was awsome, and I won a Radeon 8500 (built by gigabyte)). One of the coolest displays there was by Matrox, they had a Parhelia running Quake 3 on 3 LCD screens (it their surround 3d gammeing). The matrox rep was very hesitent, but eventualy he let us run the timdemo. He kept stressing that it was prototype hardware (and dirves), and that it was far from being done. I know these scores will be WAY off from the shipping speeds, but I still thought it was interseting. It ran 44.5 FPS, but keep in mind this was on 3 monitors, and it is very BETA hardware/drives. The entire system actualy crashed when we tried to change the resolution. Looks like a very need card, can't wait to see the actual benchmarks when the card ships.

 

[bobbybob]

yeah, I got the Q3 surround Video , and it looked kinda slow ..... But once the hardware is final and drivers updated, this should be good card ... Lets just see if ATI and Nvidia will jump on 3 monitor surround ........

 

[merlocka]

The entire system actualy crashed when we tried to change the resolution.
What resolution did you run the timedemo at?

 

[MrCoyote]

First this looks like a nice card. But please....all of you are nothing but talk sounding like bigshots. Be honest. None of you will ever have 3 monitors on your desk for gaming, etc. There are few people in this time that run two monitors!

 

[Torghn]

I'll admit Q3 wasn't as fast as it should be (but the card is far from being done). I think it was at 800X600 (x3 monitors). I did get him to load another demo (one built by Matrox for the Parhelia) and it looked amazing! It was a bunch of fish simming around and it was far superior to the Demo nVidia was running on there TI 4600.

 

[Mavrick007]

Originally posted by: MrCoyote
First this looks like a nice card. But please....all of you are nothing but talk sounding like bigshots. Be honest. None of you will ever have 3 monitors on your desk for gaming, etc. There are few people in this time that run two monitors!

I only have one monitor now, but have been thinking about getting a dual display going for awhile now. Since I saw some pics on the "surround" gaming, I was in awe and now have been looking for a desk that would be big enough for 3 x 19" monitors

So, don't be too sure that there won't be people going for that. For a grand I can get 3 x 19" monitors and they will last for years. A top of the line vid card costs $400+ and will be good for what, 1 year, 2 at most? This would just increase my enjoyment cause I always find that there's something missing in games even on a large screen.

 

[spanky]

i only got one monitor. and a kvm. 3 monitors? in my fantasy maybe

 

[Sketcher]

Originally posted by: MrCoyote
First this looks like a nice card. But please....all of you are nothing but talk sounding like bigshots. Be honest. None of you will ever have 3 monitors on your desk for gaming, etc. There are few people in this time that run two monitors!

I must be one of the "Few". Of course, I do have access to some resources that "Many" don't. But with the prices of 17"+ monitors dropping w/Flat panels becoming obtainable and gameable - 3 Monitor gaming Nirvanah isn't so "Pie in the sky".

Now, if we're talking 3 Monitor Gaming as in 3 "Flat Panel" monitors... right now that'd be a spendy proposition no matter who you are! - but remember, there was a time (not too long ago) that a 500MB hard drive was considered overkill - and cost an arm and a leg.

Regardless, there's nothing wrong with dreaming and drooling! Besides, todays dream is tomorrows benchmark.

-Sketcher

Originally posted by: Mavrick007
So, don't be too sure that there won't be people going for that. For a grand I can get 3 x 19" monitors and they will last for years. A top of the line vid card costs $400+ and will be good for what, 1 year, 2 at most? This would just increase my enjoyment cause I always find that there's something missing in games even on a large screen.

Agreed!

 

[js1973]

"First this looks like a nice card. But please....all of you are nothing but talk sounding like bigshots. Be honest. None of you will ever have 3 monitors on your desk for gaming, etc. There are few people in this time that run two monitors! "

Regarding the parhelia's three monitor support, do the monitors have to be LCDs? If not, I don't see the cost being very prohibitive for the people who frequent this forum. Especially when you consider that most of the forum members here are computer hardware whores who would sell their own mother into slavery to support their habit.

 

[richleader]

Good point on the price, Mav. Heck, you can get 3 crappy 19"'ers for $360. But they will still weigh a total of 150 pounds.

 

[Robbio]

i've had the dual-head thing going since it came out and i think that some of you guys have missed the point..have you failed to notice how nvidia and ATI jumped on the multi-monitor/TV-Out band wagon?

i dont think cost of the 3 displays will be an issue but desk space is definitely an issue

What i do see is connecting 3 display projectors to the card, if you're going to have immersion, lets do it right!

 

[jjjayb]

I've already got 2 nineteen inchers side by side with room for one more.
http://home.swbell.net/jjjayb/index.html
Just have to take the top off of my desk.
Dual displays are like microwaves. Before you got one you didn't realize you needed it. Once you have it you could never go back to not having it. Watch movies while surfing the web. Monitor mirc while surfing or watching movies or even playing a game. You can pick up a decent 19" monitor for a couple hundred bucks. I just bought the Kds xtreme flat 19" for $195. Sure it's not a trinitron but it works great for me.

 

[Soulkeeper]

i agree that with the prices of monitors these days 3 news monitors is a hard bullet to swallow
unless you really got a lot of cash growing on a tree somewhere or it is for a business environment (ie not surround gaming)
but yeah it does look very fun
woulda loved to be at that show heh
mmmmm surround gaming

 

[powerMarkymark]

I've got Four monitors and a laptop on my modified desk. Triple display gamming is not just a dream for me!

 

[HowDoesItWork]

It isn't just cost or deskspace (though those can be important factors). A fair number of people, many even most, would prefer to have a single, large, better quality monitor or LCD than 3 smaller, lower quality ones. If you are going to spend X dollars, you can get a single nice display, two decent smaller displays, or three kind of crappy-small displays. (Assuming X is under a couple grand anyway.) A lot of people are going to opt for a single display.

I run two monitors now, only use one for gaming, but we will see. I like dual monitors for reasons listed by others, but a 3rd monitor would be of marginal additional benefit, imo. What am I going to do, watch a movie, play Unreal, and surf all at the same time? MAybe if I grow a 3rd arm and learn to counter rotate my eyeballs. Law of decreasing returns.

Also, I would wager that the dual monitor crowd is less than 5% of the total computer market. It is growing, no doubt, but.... I think we will be gaming with VR goggles before even dual monitor gaming becomes mainstream.

 

[Sketcher]

I'm thinkin, yummy!!

One Big Screen, 3 Separate screens... One's better, but two ain't bad All boils down to cost.

Anybody know if that 3 panel - single monitor is a reality? Matrox hasn't e-mailed me back yet

I've used VR goggles in DVD and gaming. Granted, pretty cool stuff. But eye strain compared to tracking on larger monitors is currently a major factor.

I've run dual monitor on two of my workstations since Win2K beta. Just makes sense - if you have the hardware and like improved desktop realestate. I run a game server and multiple workstations in my HO. Once you get used to it, you only look for more!

I won't sell my mother for one of those fancy displays, or set of Flat panels, but I'd sell a whole lotta other stuff!

-Sketcher

 

[LethalWolfe]

Originally posted by: MrCoyote
First this looks like a nice card. But please....all of you are nothing but talk sounding like bigshots. Be honest. None of you will ever have 3 monitors on your desk for gaming, etc. There are few people in this time that run two monitors!

Build it and they will come.


Lethal

 

[Torghn]

3 monitors isn't the only feature this card has, though some will buy it just for that, the card has unbeliveable image quality. And it's not just 2D image, 3D is insane. It has a bunch of other really cool stuff, it's Direct X 8 support is BETTER then the Geforce 4s. It may not be quite as fast as the GeForce 4s (we'll have to wait and see), but it has a lot of other things going for it.

 

[HowDoesItWork]

No, I agree the card is cool, I just don't think tri-monitor support will be a major draw to gamers. Especially if the card isn't faster than a G4 and still costs $450+ (which is what I have heard).

Yeah Matrox has always had very nice visual quality. I don't notice it in 3-D, but damn, a $300 card should provide sharp 2-D text. Apparently Nvidia doesn't get that idea.

Another thing is the card isn't out yet, but it will not fully support Directx 9. Granted, after I watched a bunch of friends rush out and by G3s...and then wait a year before directx 8 games became available, it probably isn't a big deal.