3 projectors off 1 computer

[brianwilliamson]

Just wondering if anyone is using one computer to run 3 projectors on P3D ?

Any information would be appreciated, as it seems not many have tried it.

Regards..................Brian W.

[kingchiro]

Hi Brian,
Yep, my main computer that runs P3Dv4.5, has the three BenQ 1080 projectors AND a monitor that shows Windows 7. This is from an Nvidia 1080Ti graphics card and a 4790K cpu.
I originally used Nvidia Surround for a number of years but then decided that View Groups was the future. Fly Elise Immersive display /Calibration Pro combination was the way I went. Not cheap but the graphics now with 210 degrees view as against Nvidia Surround ( I think is about 135 deg ) is a no brainer.
The CPU is Oc'ed to 4.6.
I have a Learjet 45 cockpit from the boys at https://hangar45.net/.
So in order to run the avionics and spread the load, I have the avionics spread over another three computers. Most others use two computers for the avionics.
I have the Frame rate set for around 30 and that cpu has not let me down ( except for a bit of a slideshow around New York !). Best combination is overclock, Hyperthreading  ON. Liquid cooler and an Affinity Mask for the P3D.cfg. I have tried no AM or the wrong one and I tell you, you'll quickly know 'the wheels have come off', compared to the right combination. 
In summary three projectors off one computer is the only way I have done it.
Anymore detail needed just ask.
Cheers
Mark

[KyleH]

I'm not sure where you got that not many have tried it. I know of a several sims plus my own running 3 projectors off 1 PC.

[sagrada737]

Hi Brian,

I have been running three Optoma GT1080HD projectors from a single computer using a NVidia 1080Ti watercooled GPU.   It has worked well with good frame rates running P3D v4.5x.

Mike

[FredK]

Hi Brian

I believe this is a matter of expectations....

I run a multi-channel (multi-computer) view setup.  Four computers for visuals using SymSync...a server and 3 clients. Two other computers for avionics (SimA).  (I was previously using WideView but the freeware SymSync works better IMO, particularly for AI traffic).

Yes, that is a bear to maintain, but I frustratingly continue to put up with it only because I have never been satisfied with running 3 views off a single computer each time I have tried it.

My experience is that a triple view off a single computer can work reasonably OK for the base P3D with modest slider settings. Start pushing the sliders up, adding scenery and airport upgrades, AI traffic, and heavy weather it becomes the "slide show". 

Comparatively, in my case I have over 110 airport upgrades plus major city upgrades and other scenery upgrades. For the most part I fly in and out of those upgraded airports exclusively. It all runs buttery smooth using medium/high sliders. And even then I will see degradation if I move all sliders to max.

Intuitively of course you cannot ever expect to get the same results from a single computer as you would with multiple computers since P3D is CPU constrained. So as I say...it is a matter of expectations and what is most important to you.

Fred K

[brianwilliamson]

Thank you Mark, Kyle ( I should have said that I know about ! ) Mike and Fred for your replies.

I have a system basically the same as Fred's,

My interest in seeing some information on running a single computer, was an article on Simforums by NickN, who is one of the only engineer qualified people to give overclock advice that I would trust.

Basically he has written an article on overclocking a 10900K/3080 vid.

So the interest being would this be any advantage on a 3 projector setup rather than the way both Fred and I have gone with 3 computers.

Now I guess there will be a lot of opinions, but I feel we need someone to try it out !!

I was hoping that there maybe someone who has tried this out with a 10900K and a 3080 video card and give us some first hand information.

Anyway, food for thought.

Regards..........Brian W.

[kingchiro]

Good discussion...but... I have only ever run three and at most four screens off one computer i.e. originally four monitors and now 3 projectors and one monitor. Everyone that I know that is flying over at Hangar45 is using the main computer for the three views. We use the other computers, in my case three but almost everyone else 2 computers for the avionics.
On my main computer I have most ORBX products and Rex Skyforce and Environment Force. On occasion I'll fire up a Lorby product as well.
Let me repeat, this is on a 4790K, now OC to 4.6 but previously was mainly 4.4.
Now for the sceptical
Learjet45 Private flights version.
Mainly Fair Weather but can do storms.
Traffic both 50%
Cars 10%
FXAA Off
Texture res. High
Target Frame rate 30-35 range
Level of detail Radius Max 
Scenery Complexity Extremely Dense
Autogen distance high
Autogen Vegetation and Buildings normal.
etc
You get the gist.
These settings are pretty good with the hardware I have and the installed addon software.
Summary.
1/ I am living proof you can do it.
2/ Immersive display and Calibration Pro have made the Viewgroups.xml for me and warp the windows views.
3/ If I can do this with a 4790K than woohoo Brian with what you should achieve with your hardware !
4/ and before any one rips into me I am no nerd and I have just put MANY hours into testing and reading on lots of forums.
Dear old dearly departed Frank Cooper was very helpful in getting me up and going.
Here is a link to one of his videos.
  https://youtu.be/76Tp_2h1YN4

Cheers all,
Mark

[brianwilliamson]

Thanks Mark for that..........very interested in your setup. I had Frank around to my sim some time ago and was going to get in touch with him to get some info on his setup when he installed the single computer.

So that makes things interesting, as the10900K/3080 running at 5.2 Ghz should look ok.

The question maybe the quality of the projectors, as it appears that running projectors is a little bit different to video screens, but to what degree I do not have any info.

Many thanks........Brian W.

[kingchiro]

Brian,
Not having surrounded my cockpit with monitors I cannot tell you which I prefer, so we'll stick with what I know.
Your hardware specs are light years ahead of mine so I can assure you, and at 5.2 Ghz, you'll be loving life.
Advice on projectors, well...
4K projectors are in my dream so if in your budget I would do the research and maths.
Paint colour for the screen is an experience. not as straight forward when doing your research with differing opinions.
Size of the screen matters. My diameter is from memory 4.2 or 4.3 mtrs as advised by a 737 'legend'. As it turned out it is too big for my Learjet and so when I look out laterally I see the bottom part of the screen not illuminated. No big deal but maybe a little closer would've been better.
The brand of projectors. Mine are BenQ 1080st. they sit above the eyepoint so consider the 'throw' of the projector ie the distance from the eyepoint to the screen. in my case about 2.2 m. Why. Because the distance from the screen will determine the size of the picture and hence when you look out the screen do you see the top and bottom of the projection.
Next is the software. Fly elise Immersice display is what I use and is relatively expensive so you need to factor that cost. also 2 of my projectors heve visual artifacts which means trying to blend the three pictures is nigh impossible. I think they just need a service to remove dust but I can't bring myself to pull them down and send them off. Also you might/will need some sort of fan/aircon in your room as they can belt out some heat and will shutdown from overheating if you don't keep an eye on temps.
Other than all that the immersion is awesome as most others with projectors will tell you.
You will have a VERY steep learning curve and time required to do projectors, but well worth it. Just wait till we all go MSFS with the quality of the picture then !
Very happy to help if you require more information. But remember, any advice is relevant to me as others will have their opinions.
Cheers
Mark
ps I am in Gippsland if ever down this way.

[brianwilliamson]

Just to set the record straight I am not running 10900K/3080, just looking at the prospects of doing so. I am running 3 computers and 3 projectors etc, etc. Same as Fred K.

Fred K.......... perhaps you could comment on your thoughts when you tried the single computer, where were the biggest drawbacks. Was it CPU or GPU.
As we know , things have now moved a few big steps forward in this area, so which way to go is going to  take some figuring out !!

Regards..........Brian W

[FredK]

Just to set the record straight I am not running 10900K/3080, just looking at the prospects of doing so. I am running 3 computers and 3 projectors etc, etc. Same as Fred K.

Fred K.......... perhaps you could comment on your thoughts when you tried the single computer, where were the biggest drawbacks. Was it CPU or GPU.
As we know , things have now moved a few big steps forward in this area, so which way to go is going to  take some figuring out !!

Regards..........Brian W

The last time I took a look-see at this was about 3 years ago.  So admittedly this is not with the kind of hardware that is available today. That was the last time I did a major computer  hardware upgrade and I was curious if I could get away with a single computer before I made a larger investment.

The CPU was an I7-8700K overclocked 36% to 5.1ghz stable. The GPU was a GTX1080TI (superclock version). Sim was P3D4.4.

Three views using Fly Elise and ViewGroups.

The CPU was definitely the bottleneck. There was absolutely no contest versus what I was use to with multi-channel....not even close.

That computer is one of four identical ones that I am still using in my "multi" setup today.

The hardware developments since then have mainly been on the GPU side of the equation of things.  Since P3D is CPU limited that is why I am skeptical still today.  But I would love for someone to prove me wrong because multi-channel is a headache to maintain....as you well know.

Perhaps there is some hope down the road with MSFS2020 since it does a better job of off-loading to the GPU.  But MSFS2020 is not ready for prime time as yet for a cockpit application.

Fred K

[brianwilliamson]

Thanks Fred, sounds about right as the 10900K is only about 11% better than the 8700K.

We tend to think the CPU's have gone ahead in leaps and bounds, but I suspect it is only the advertising that has.

I had my IO Card DCMotor card that I use for my Trimwheel go ape recently so installed the DCMotor PLUS card.
Do you recall if you had to change the software at all for your trimwheel, or did the original software work ok ?


Regards..........Brian W

[FredK]

Thanks Fred, sounds about right as the 10900K is only about 11% better than the 8700K.

We tend to think the CPU's have gone ahead in leaps and bounds, but I suspect it is only the advertising that has.

I had my IO Card DCMotor card that I use for my Trimwheel go ape recently so installed the DCMotor PLUS card.
Do you recall if you had to change the software at all for your trimwheel, or did the original software work ok ?


Regards..........Brian W

I employed the OC DCMotor Plus card as the interface for my real TQ conversion project which was about 6 years ago. I wrote a SIOC script for it at the time which included the trim wheel operation. No hardware changes since then.

So I never used just the basic OC motor card for anything.  That said, the SIOC script logic for one should work for the other provided you make changes in the sioc.ini to identify the new hardware and also within the script to reference such.

Fred K

[brianwilliamson]

Thanks Fred, I suspected it should be the same, except to change the numbers.

The manual is always a bit confusing with the translation .

OK back to the drawing board..................Brian W.