My experience with Tri CRT and Soft TH Setup

I am posting a video and pics soon for those who may ask. I'm spending the coming days playing the following games using SoftTH and 3 crt monitors. The goal for me is to determine the viability of using three crt monitors for everyday gaming use. I only game about 1-2 hours a day so power usage is not a big deal to me. Temps will be concern in my game room, but AC is set to 75fh. I am also trying to stay away from SLI CFX, NVSurround or Eyefinity if I don't need to use them. If I can play my favorite games with SoftTH then why bother with anything else? Lastly, to help those others who have always wanted to go three screens, but want to do it on the cheap with CRT monitors. The nice thing about crt monitors is the 4:3 aspect ratio. There's no stretching of the image on the side monitors so everything looks even.

The monitors:

2 HP P1130 21" CRT monitors

1Dell P1130 21" CRT monitors

All the monitors are calibrated and in excellent condition with max res of 2048x1536@80hz

The system specs:

Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

Core 2 Quad q9650@ 3.6ghz

EVGA GTX 570@ stock, Galaxy GTS 250@ 820c 2000s 1250m for primary rendering, plus an 8800gt@ stock for side disp

lay

6gigs Corsair RAM@ 800mhz

Seagate SATA HD 1TB 10600prm

Corasair 700W PSU with 75A on thee 12v rails

The crt's will be run at 1024x768@100hz for total res of 3092x768@100hz

and 1600x1200@100hz total res 4800x1200, and 2048x1536@80hz for total res of 6144x1536@80hz

The games:

Call of Duty 2

Call of Duty MW

Call of Duty MW2

Call of Duty WAW

Call of Duty BO

Medal of Honor 2010

Serious Sam TFE HD

Serious Sam TSE HD

If anybody has a game they'd like me to try let me know.

Awesome! i cant wait to see XD

I just want to nip this in the bud before it gets started. BEZELS ARE NOT AN ISSUE! I have been playing for the last couple hours and the bezels melt away after a few minutes of playing. Quite honestly, this was my biggest concern and it's been negated after just a few minutes. The "bezels" myth is just a myth. It does not interfere at all with my own personal gaming enjoyment. I know for some it may always be an issue, but for me it is no longer.

Why use a CRT these days? LCDs look heaps better in my eyes.....take up less space and even help the environment using less energy I hear....FelipeInside

Well without going into the old LCD vs. CRT argument let me just say why I personally am doing it.

1. FREE!!!!! I was able to obtain my crt setup at no cost.

2. I am able to run all three screens up to 2048x1536@80hz. An equivalent lcd would run me how much?

I personally feel the image quality exceeds anything else I've used. I know there are better LCD out there, but I can't justify

paying what would be at least a few hundred per screen for what may be close to what I have for free.

3. Heat is not a concern as my room stays cool.

4. Power would be a concern if I gamed all day long but I use my tubes about 1-2 hours per day.

[QUOTE="FelipeInside"]Why use a CRT these days? LCDs look heaps better in my eyes.....take up less space and even help the environment using less energy I hear....rush2428

Well without going into the old LCD vs. CRT argument let me just say why I personally am doing it.

1. FREE!!!!! I was able to obtain my crt setup at no cost.

2. I am able to run all three screens up to 2048x1536@80hz. An equivalent lcd would run me how much?

I personally feel the image quality exceeds anything else I've used. I know there are better LCD out there, but I can't justify

paying what would be at least a few hundred per screen for what may be close to what I have for free.

3. Heat is not a concern as my room stays cool.

4. Power would be a concern if I gamed all day long but I use my tubes about 1-2 hours per day.

Well without going into the old LCD vs. CRT argument:

1. FREE!!!!! I was able to obtain my crt setup at no cost.

Can't go wrong there, but if you think about it, these days it's really easy to get CRTs for FREE. They even dump them on the street....lol

2. I am able to run all three screens up to 2048x1536@80hz. An equivalent lcd would run me how much?

I personally feel the image quality exceeds anything else I've used. I know there are better LCD out there, but I can't justify

paying what would be at least a few hundred per screen for what may be close to what I have for free.

I still think (IMO) that LCDs look better. The colour is just so much vivid and "colourful"

3. Heat is not a concern as my room stays cool.

And double acts as a heater in WINTER !! win win...

4. Power would be a concern if I gamed all day long but I use my tubes about 1-2 hours per day.

Yeah, just that they do more harm than good for the environment.

sooo hows the lovely thing doing

Thumbs up for that project. I used to have a 21' CRT which I always replaced with a new one when it broke down until quite recently. I gave up as soon as I was not able to get any more CRT's from my area anymore :P

OK. Sorry about the wait but I'm going to be uploading the videos in the next day or so. I am pretty happy with the setup and it's performance. I think after you see the video that Softth and a three crt setup is actually pretty sweet!:)

2. I am able to run all three screens up to 2048x1536@80hz. An equivalent lcd would run me how much?

I personally feel the image quality exceeds anything else I've used. I know there are better LCD out there, but I can't justify

paying what would be at least a few hundred per screen for what may be close to what I have for free.

I still think (IMO) that LCDs look better. The colour is just so much vivid and "colourful"

FelipeInside

Ever seen a properly calibrated CRT? They kick LCDs to the curb. The only real advantage they have IMO is size, weight, and much less eye strain. Besides that LCD is still playing catch-up.