Hi duders. I am considering adding a third monitor to my setup to dip my toe into surround gaming. I'm wondering from users out there who have triple monitor setups if it's something that has had a big impact on your enjoyment of playing your games. I'm just batting around ideas, I have a budget of around 200-ish to spend on myself thanks to tax season (rest goes into savings!) and nothing else is really popping up for me. My primary monitor is a nice Dell IPS and my secondary is a crappy Acer TN. I might be able to stretch to grab another IPS monitor preferably but we'll see.

I'm aware of the performance hit it's going to incur. My hardware is currently:

Asus Maximus VI Impact

Intel Core i5 4670k OC'd to 4.5Ghz

Radeon R9 290

8GB DDR3

It's a fully custom watercooled system I built a while back. Pics of the build log can be found here for anyone interested. I'm mostly interested in the experience and immersion that comes with a triple setup. I don't mind turning down some settings if I have to.

Um for gaming? I don't know about everybody else but my 2 screen setup is more than enough. I think you only need more than 2 screen if you are a stock trader. How do you envision to use these 3 screens?

Well, if you actually want to play an FPS with that eyefinity stuff enabled, I'd probably not want to play it with less than three monitors, since with two monitors the dividing line would be right in the middle of your field of view, whereas three monitors would make the two side monitors your peripheral vision, with the central monitor being the center of your attention.

That said, I've never felt the need for more than two monitors myself, as I was content playing the game on one monitor and maybe having a browser or IRC open on the second monitor. For the past 5 years I've stuck with a single monitor setup without feeling all that bad about it either, after having used a dual screen setup for a decade.

I have a less traditional setup. I have a 32 inch tv a 22 inch monitor and a 24 inch monitor attached. TV is angled and used for watching something while playing a low impact game. The 22 Inch monitor is used when I need to see something in portrait or I need to have some text document available. Finally, the 24 inch is used for gaming and my main desktop. They are all different resolutions and refresh rates and what is impressive to me is that my graphics card can handle that at all.

Explaining the angled stuff a little more. I have the tv tilted towards me at a 30 degree angle and my monitor is at a 10-15 degree angle so I can have the TV just within view.

I am pretty sure you want a more homogenous setup. I have used one a few times and don't particularly find them interesting at all with the exception of say driving or flight simulations. Anyways, that is my spiel about triple monitors.

Thanks for the replies so far. I should also add that I am a CAD user and can definitely get use out of the additional screen for productivity. I'm also very interested in games like Elite Dangerous and have always been curious about trying 3 monitors. I assume most triple-A titles such as Far Cry 4 and Mordor should work fine with 3 monitors?

@fisk0: Waa eyefinity... somebody has high gaming aspirations eh? what games have that btw?

Once you get three monitors, you'll wonder how you got by with only two for so long. Do it. There will be so much room for activities.

That was just the brand name I remembered for it, I think it just means that the games make sure to place the UI elements on the central monitor. Just about all 3D games from the late 90's and onward supports super wide resolutions to be split across multiple screens, but some of them will get the UI messed up or placed in awkward locations like the health meter in the lower left corner of your leftmost screen which may be out of your field of view.

I'm thinking I'll do it. I already own a Dell P2314H and I like it quite a bit. Might go for a U2414H though, for the very thin bezels and the superior overall screen quality.

I'm also kicking around the idea of a 144hz monitor so I can go down to 1 monitor with a super high refresh rate when I want to experience that. However spending 300 on a TN panel makes my teeth hurt.

@zohar: Acer's XB270HU will be out in a couple of weeks, and it's IPS, 144hz and 2560x1440. It's not cheap, but it's not unreasonably priced considering it has everything people have been asking for for years in one package.

I'd be a lot more interested in that than a triple monitor setup, if I was in the market.

@zohar: That u2414H is a good bet.

If I were you, I'd recommend not splurging on some crazy high-end display. You'll have one awesome display with the other two looking inferior by comparison.

@zohar Honestly man, if you want to upgrade I would just save and throw down for a really big 1440 monitor. I recently upgraded my little 26" ASUS to a 32" HP ENVY and am loving the difference. While it's not as big as the eyefinity stuff, the lack of black bars between monitors combined with the overall size and fidelity increase for videos, media editing (dear God, how did I use Premiere before?!), and just browsing make a huge damn difference. Outside of gaming I can't really see an advantage for 3 monitors, so seeing as you already have two you could either sell off the old one to recoup some of the cost, or just go three monitor that way if you have the space (I don't).

Seriously, this huge screen is incredible. Can't recommend it enough.

I'd love to have something like that or a big 1440 monitor like InfamousBIG mentioned, but I just can't justify spending $500-$700 on a monitor. I really am limited to around $200-$250. I think my best bet is going to be a new desk and the P2314H. I'd love the have the Ultrasharp but I can put that money towards a bigger desk, which I think I might need.

I think the biggest problem you'll encounter is the number of games that don't take advantage of even two screens let alone three. If you see yourself spending the majority of your time in star citizen or elite: dangerous go for it, else I would just stick with one monitor for games and a second for browser stuff like Netflix.