5,760x1,080 gaming
Far Cry 2
| Far Cry 2 - 5,760x1,080 - 4xAA 16xAF | |
|---|---|
| Sapphire Radeon HD 5870 1GB | HIS Radeon HD 5970 2GB |
| 35.87 | 50.94 |
Ubisoft's popular first-person shooter, Far Cry 2, delivered a mixed bag of results. We found that the in-game options panel didn't allow us to select a resolution of higher than 1,920x1,080 - the maximum supported by our independent displays. In order to get around the limitation, we were forced to feed the executable the desired resolution at the command line.
However, once up and running, the game makes full use of ATI Eyefinity and looks exceptional at 5,760x1,080. We found frame rates smooth enough to play on the Radeon HD 5870, whilst the dual-GPU Radeon HD 5970 provided very decent performance at the game's highest detail level.
Eyefinity comes into its own during Far Cry 2's driving missions, where the massive field of view makes for a stunning gaming experience.
Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X
| Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X - 5,760x1,080 - 2xAA 0xAF | |
|---|---|
| Sapphire Radeon HD 5870 1GB | HIS Radeon HD 5970 2GB |
| 46 | 65.5 |
H.A.W.X is a title that makes excellent use of ATI Eyefinity technology. Setup is as easy as selecting the 5,760x1,080 resolution, and the wide field of view makes implicit sense in a air-combat title. The scope of vision is excellent, and H.A.W.X proves to be a perfect showcase of Eyefinity's gaming credentials.
Of course, it helps that both the Radeon HD 5870 and Radeon HD 5970 are able to provide smooth frame rates - with the latter averaging above 60 frames per second. Impressive, considering the immense number of on-screen pixels.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - 5,760x1,080 - 4x AA | |
|---|---|
| Sapphire Radeon HD 5870 1GB | HIS Radeon HD 5970 2GB |
| 49.66 | 41.66 |
As stated previously, Modern Warfare 2 isn't yet supported by ATI Eyefinity - and it shows. Although we were able to select a resolution of 5,760x1,080 via the in-game menu, it provides an awkward aspect ratio, resulting in characters that look more like Oompa-Loompas than they do soldiers.
The results highlight that readers shouldn't expect perfect Eyefinity results with all games. It's a mixed bag as far as unsupported titles are concerned, and Modern Warfare 2 in an Eyefinity setup doesn't appear to leverage the power of the Radeon HD 5970's two GPUs - resulting in single-GPU 5850-like performance.
Nonetheless, framerates remain playable, and should an aspect-ratio fix come along, Modern Warfare 2 would be very enjoyable in a multi-monitor Eyefinity configuration.
