Current state of simming and the Parhelia??

[wazoo]

I'm hoping Dexmeister stumbles across this thread as he appears from my browsing to be the Sim Guy with the Parhelia...

I am SOLD on triple head gaming for the Parhelia, but have several questions re: monitors, flight sim performance, etc.

First.... is SG working well with LOMAC and IL2-FB? I saw some threads over at Ubisoft that seemed to place this in question.

How about other sims? I am a HUGE Falcon4 fan.... but am aware that the first version was written in DX5 or 7 thus making SG not possible. What about the newer graphics mods like BMS 1.03? Or how about the upcoming Falcon Gold:OIR??

Do the racing sims run well? I played a Ferrari sim at and arcade recently that had 3 monitors and it was insanely immersive! Anyone have good experience on the PC with them?

Overall... what resolutions do you all run these sims at? Are the framerate acceptable? Does it turn to a slideshow if things get hairy? I'm one of those who was scared off early on by the Parhelia reviews that showed terrible frames; not because I'm a frame whore, but because I was concerned that the card could not handle SG at high res.

On to monitors. What is the optimal LCD configuration? Here is the current monitor I am considering *if* it would work well with the card and *if* the card will play the sims I like:

http://www.go-l.com/monitors/cinerama/features/index.htm

Would the three 1600x1200 panels be overkill because of how the Parhelia works... or should I just go with 1280x1024 panels?

Sorry for all the questions.... but I have been so excited by the prospects of SG that I want to get the views from the experts.

TIA.... and I'm sure I'll have more questions...

Wazoo

[Kruzin]

Well, I don't sim. I'll leave that to those who know about those things.
But as far as the monitors go, most of todays DFPs cannot do nearly the image quality of a CRT, and responce time is generally pretty slow, unless you go for a high-end unit.
While the display array you linked to looks really cool, and would be great for desktop apps, I think it would be less than desirable for gaming...and really expensive...

[az]

For monitors, I'd consider A NEC 1760NX or three, or 2080ux+ (the + is important), or Dell FP2001. That'll be cheaper, they all have low response times, great image quality, and thin bezels. I'd go for the smaller 17" model, because the P doesn't support the native 1600x1200 of the larger panels in TripleHead (though this would give you the opportunity to run your games at 3x800x600, and let the panels interpolate that, for better performance).

AZ

[az]

Oh, I forgot, there are also multi-monitor stands for panels with VESA mounts, which all of the three panels I suggested sport.

AZ

[wazoo]

Originally posted by Kruzin
Well, I don't sim. I'll leave that to those who know about those things.
But as far as the monitors go, most of todays DFPs cannot do nearly the image quality of a CRT, and responce time is generally pretty slow, unless you go for a high-end unit.
While the display array you linked to looks really cool, and would be great for desktop apps, I think it would be less than desirable for gaming...and really expensive...

Granted that image quality on LCD's is rarely as nice as CRT's.... however... I some some aesthetic issues I need to consider....

As far as these panels... the response time on is listed at <16ms and the contrast ratios are 700:1.

Would that not be fine for gaming?

Wazoo

[Pappie]

Wazoo,
OIR may work since it is supposed to be upgraded to DX8 but it will take a good tweaker to fix us up.
I have 4 of these 256 version cards ordered for myself and friends and I think I have read every statement on the net about these cards negative and positive. I'm going for it but I'll match them a 3.20 extreme and a dual 3.2 both from Dell so I expect a good gaming experience. Falcon is CPU demanding so I won't have that bottle neck. I have 3 Planar 23" flat screens coming for the dual and I'll run 3 CRTs on the extreme. Ordered 2 cougar flight control setups for each machine, and all because of this card. Falcon to is my game too, but LOMAC works now as do so many others that in about 2-3 weeks I plan on having some real fun. Here is some links to get more info:

http://chr79.free.fr/matrox/

http://www.firingsquad.com/print_article.asp?current_section=Hardware&fs_article_id=1086

[Pappie]

One more thing, I looked into those monitors and did as heavy a search on the net as one could do and I have a feeling this company is if not fake or fraud, a mess if nothing else and I would not buy from them. Some forums have discussed them over at Apple and no one can find anyone who ever purchased from them and some say they are a fake company. Sorry, I to was let down, they are beautiful.

[leech]

Originally posted by Pappie
Wazoo,
OIR may work since it is supposed to be upgraded to DX8 but it will take a good tweaker to fix us up.
I have 4 of these 256 version cards ordered for myself and friends and I think I have read every statement on the net about these cards negative and positive. I'm going for it but I'll match them a 3.20 extreme and a dual 3.2 both from Dell so I expect a good gaming experience. Falcon is CPU demanding so I won't have that bottle neck. I have 3 Planar 23" flat screens coming for the dual and I'll run 3 CRTs on the extreme. Ordered 2 cougar flight control setups for each machine, and all because of this card. Falcon to is my game too, but LOMAC works now as do so many others that in about 2-3 weeks I plan on having some real fun. Here is some links to get more info:

http://chr79.free.fr/matrox/

http://www.firingsquad.com/print_art...rticle_id=1086

Dude, where do you work to have that much money??? Could you lend me a few bucks?

Leech

[Paddy the wak]

Hello wazoo,
I have 3 x ViewSonic 19" with "THINEDGE ULTRA-SLIM BEZEL" they are great ! ......
No problem with the response time and the image quality is wonderful at 1280x1024
Although there are a few games that will run adequately at 3840x1024 ... it is only a few... so I'm not sure you would want to go to any higher resolutions if your rig is just for games.

here's a link...

http://www.viewsoniceurope.com/UK/Products/LCDProf/VP191b.htm

Cheers,
Paddywak

[gangster]

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=24-134-034&catalog=20&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1

I have 3 of these, can't beat them imo, especially if you need dvi.

[UtwigMU]

I disadvise LCDs for sorround gaming with Parhelia:

15" LCDs are too small
17" LCDs are 4:3 aspect ratio and scaling will be even crappier.
19" LCDs are too slow for gaming and Parhelia does only 1280x1024 in 3-head.

Now WRT to sorrund gaming - it incures a performance hit. Parhelia is not the best card out there although it's adeqaute, so expect to go 3x800x600 in some cases, at which LCDs will resort to scaling.

I recommend 3x Mitsubishi 930SB.