Do I go with a 27 inch, 34 inch, or Triple Monitor Setup?

[TomOrtlieb]

Hey everyone,

I am very close to purchasing a new monitor to be used for gaming (I am only interested in an IPS monitor), but I am torn between three options:

- Dell UltraSharp U2715H (1440p)
- Dell UltraSharp U3415W (1440p)
- ASUS MX239H 23 inch for a triple monitor setup (1080p)

My current setup is:
- GeForce GTX 970
- i7-3820 CPU @ 3.60
- Corsair Vegeance Blue 16GB DDR3
- Gigabyte X79-UP4

This is my thought process...The easiest thing is to go with the Dell 27" for price ~ $430 and I am comfortable that my current setup can run it. But, I am very intrigued by the 34" ultra ultrawide option, but I am concerned that it will be too demanding for my graphics card. Finally, the triple monitor setup, while not as high resolution as the 1440p, seems absolutely amazing.

So, if anyone can help me with this:
1.) Can my setup handle/run the 34" ultra ultrawide monitor?
2.) Can my setup handle/run the triple monitor option?
3.) Do you think the sheer size (amazingness?) of the triple monitor option is better than the improved picture quality of either of the Dell's?

Thanks for the feedback in advance!

- Tom

 

[skit75]

Triple monitor is actually the most demanding of those setups. (5760x1080p = 6,220,800 pixels rendered per second)

The 27" and 34" are equally demanding @ 2560x1440p (3,686,400 pixels rendered per second). The 27" will look clearer due to a higher PPI

I dont reccomend a triple setup with a single GTX 970... although you could do it at low/medium settings in a lot of games. A single GTX 970 with a 1440p monitor is a fairly good sweet spot but it is arguably under horse-powered for AAA titles @ High & Epic game settings where you begin to even saturate the 3.5GB (read 4GB) of the GTX 970's VRAM.

I'm not a fan of triple monitor setups. Maybe I tunnel vision too much but I find I rarely see or pay attention to the outside edges of the side screens anyway. In high motion games...flight sims and driving games those edges blur too much anyway.

Your GTX 970 will run the 34" just well as the 27" so the flavor is of your choosing with no performance loss between them. They are the same resolution but the 34" has more real estate. A triple monitor setup has the highest overall resolution of any of your suggestions and would be the most demanding for the video card.

 

[TomOrtlieb]

Really great information - Follow up question - Would it make more sense to stick with a 1080p monitor? I am not planning on updating my video card anytime soon. If so, do you have a recommendation? Or is the 1440p at lower settings still a better choice than a 1080p monitor that is maxed out?

 

[skit75]

A 1440p monitor with G-Sync would be the best solution to pair with the GTX 970(my opinion). That being said, I still enjoy & use 1080p but.... when I upgrade next year, I would like to move to a 1440p setup with a GTX 980 or GTX 980Ti.

G-Sync helps lower frame rates better than it does higher frame rates. A GTX 970 running a 1440p monitor would utilize G-Sync to its fullest potential. The monitor has to have G-Sync for it to work though and not all of them do.

 

[TomOrtlieb]

Thanks again - I will definitely be looking into that!