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High end multi monitor set up

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  • Monitors
  • Systems
Last response: in Systems
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January 5, 2014 7:30:03 PM

Approximate Purchase Date: Within 3-4 months

Budget Range: 2.5k-3.5k lower the better

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming with multi monitors

Are you buying a monitor: Yes 3

PC from the ground up

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Any that are trusted and realiable. I really only know of newegg and microcenter myself

Location: City, State/Region, Country - 30 minutes southwest of Chicago. I do have a few micro centers close that I could get parts locally

Parts Preferences: I would like to have a Intel CPU and Radeon graphics

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Your Monitor Resolution: I want to run 1920x1080 but I am curious as to how much is required to accomplish 2560x1440 on 3 monitors

Additional Comments: I will be playing lots of games on this, every day use, dont really care for how loud it is, just don't want a vaccum sitting next to me. Most of the time I will have music playing. Speaking of that, I am going to be doing a 5.1 surround sound. I would like to run off a stereo so I do not know if getting a sound card is really worth it or not. I do want to use optical for my audio so that is a must on my board. I would like to go with the Haswell intel cpu, I don't think I can wait till Q4 of this year for the Haswell e chips. I would like to run all memory slots, and I have 8gb now, would like to more than double that. As far as stoarge goes, I would like a 256gb SSD for main drive and just a small HDD, maybe 1-3tb for internal storage. My main thing is, How much graphics is required to accomplish 3 monitors at 2560x1440. 3 GPUs? If possible, maybe get 3 monitors that can handle that and get 2 gpus in the begining and another down the line, to really get it going. Or can that even be handled with 2? I do not know thus why I am here.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: need to upgrade from this crappy HP laptop, can't do what I want to do.

More about : high end multi monitor set

January 5, 2014 8:35:33 PM

I waited a little for other people's responses because I'm quite new in building PC's and on this forum, but since nobody did, here's my build! I see you changed your initial budget from 2.2-2.8k to 2.5-3.5k. My build is 2.6k and runs triple 1080p monitors. This build is able to run 4k resolution at ultra settings with 60+ FPS so triple 1080p is no problem.
Here it is:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($161.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($146.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($457.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($457.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($128.31 @ TigerDirect)
Power Supply: Cooler Master Silent Pro M 1000W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($156.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VS228H-P 21.5" Monitor ($127.58 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VS228H-P 21.5" Monitor ($127.58 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VS228H-P 21.5" Monitor ($127.58 @ Newegg)
Total: $2631.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-05 23:34 EST-0500)
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January 6, 2014 6:05:13 PM

Thanks for the input!!! I actually really would like to use the i7 4770K, want to use the hyperthreading, and like that it has a bigger L3 cache. As far as cooling, I really don't want to do a liquid cooled system. Never had one and don't really want to mess with one unless it is completely necessary to keep my PC cool. Other than that I like everything you've shown me. I do have a question though, would 2 of those graphics cards be able to handle 2560x1440 on 3 monitors? or would I need 3?
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January 6, 2014 6:46:04 PM

I think you might need 3 290x cards for triple 1440p. The monitors I picked for you are 1080p monitors, since triple 1440p is over $1000, and then you might not even be able to run them at a decent framerate. I know for a fact that triple 1080p can be easily run by 2 high end cards, so that's a safer (and way cheaper) bet. Here are some benchmarks where you can see that dual 290x can't handle the heavier games on triple 1440p at a decent framerate. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290x-hawa...
Usually 3-way Crossfire and SLI doesn't scale very well and only gives you a marginal advantage. If you're really willing to spend that much on this setup (will be around $4k then I think), then go ahead, but I wouldn't, lol.
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January 6, 2014 7:05:57 PM

If you want to air cool go with the noctua nh-d10, it is one of the best air coolers out there and it is only 1-2 degrees warmer then a high-end closed loop water cooling

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January 7, 2014 8:13:19 PM

Well I am set on 1080p and 2 R9's. Way to much to invest to do 3 R9's and 3 1440p monitors. My next thing is, I would like the monitors be IPS, and since I am going with 1080, would like to try for 120hz monitors. I am pretty much looking at your build, i7 4770K instead as the CPU, and double the ram with what I am looking for in monitors and I am good.
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January 7, 2014 8:48:14 PM

I believe there is no such thing as 120hz IPS panels. I don't know a lot about monitors so I just looked up some stuff about 120hz TN vs 60hz IPS and it seems if you favor beautiful colors and crispyness, go with IPS and if you favor faster refresh rate, fewer to no visual tearing but are okay with compromising a little bit on the slick colors, go with non-IPS. TN monitors with high refresh rate are quite expensive though. The cheapest one is the Asus VG248QE at $265, for 144hz. It gets good reviews so it's not a bad monitor or anything like that. That would add about $400 dollars in total for all three monitors.

So in the build you wanted an i7 4770k so I've replaced the i5 with that. I figured you might want some bigger overclocking potential, so I exchanged the Mobo for the Asus Maximus VI Hero. I've also exchanged the watercooling system for the best price/performance cooler out there, the Hyper 212 EVO. I also added the additional 16Gb of RAM you requested. Here it is:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($189.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($160.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($146.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($457.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($457.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($128.31 @ TigerDirect)
Power Supply: Cooler Master Silent Pro M 1000W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($156.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($266.99 @ B&H)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($266.99 @ B&H)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($266.99 @ B&H)
Total: $3259.10
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-07 23:44 EST-0500)
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January 11, 2014 12:24:58 PM

Thanks!!! Now if I may ask, how do you figure out which motherboards are better for OCing. I sat for a few hours on newegg looking at LGA1150 boards and theres nothing in specs. So I read reviews for the whole time basicaly, and never really found ones saying pros of being good for OCing, but nothing but ones in the con saying it is bad for OCing. The main most talked about is not having the ability to adjust actualy clock rates, just able to set the cpu speed up a little big. I want the monitors to be IPS panels. From what I was told by several people is that with TN monitors, looking from side angles can limit visiblity. I am not worried about doing 120Hz, because I will probably be able to hold 60+ easily with that set up. I will also be getting a blue ray player, just so if I come across a cd, I can rip it if I want too. And depending on the price, I could go up a little bit more for bigger monitors. 27" would be the biggest I would want to get.
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January 11, 2014 1:23:41 PM

Sorry if double posting and stuff isn't allowed, can't figure out how to edit posts. This is what you gave me and what I am going to end up going with. Thank you very much man. And if Cooling is an issue in the future I am going to add some fans in the case to help with air flow.


PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2zD4A
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2zD4A/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2zD4A/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($189.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($160.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($144.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($525.91 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($525.91 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($128.31 @ TigerDirect)
Power Supply: Cooler Master Silent Pro M 1000W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($156.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($62.69 @ B&H)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($82.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: LG 27EC33V-B 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($267.58 @ Newegg)
Monitor: LG 27EC33V-B 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($267.58 @ Newegg)
Monitor: LG 27EC33V-B 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($267.58 @ Newegg)
Total: $3431.44
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-11 16:22 EST-0500)
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January 12, 2014 7:42:11 PM

rootxbeer said:
Sorry if double posting and stuff isn't allowed, can't figure out how to edit posts. This is what you gave me and what I am going to end up going with. Thank you very much man. And if Cooling is an issue in the future I am going to add some fans in the case to help with air flow.


PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2zD4A
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2zD4A/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2zD4A/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($189.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($160.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($144.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($525.91 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($525.91 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($128.31 @ TigerDirect)
Power Supply: Cooler Master Silent Pro M 1000W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($156.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($62.69 @ B&H)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($82.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: LG 27EC33V-B 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($267.58 @ Newegg)
Monitor: LG 27EC33V-B 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($267.58 @ Newegg)
Monitor: LG 27EC33V-B 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($267.58 @ Newegg)
Total: $3431.44
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-11 16:22 EST-0500)


Looks good man! Good luck with your build, you'll love it I bet! Oh btw, do you need two seperate disc drives? If not, scratch the 20 dollar DVD drive, you don't need it if you already have a blu-ray drive right?
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January 12, 2014 8:43:52 PM

K33p0ut said:
rootxbeer said:
Sorry if double posting and stuff isn't allowed, can't figure out how to edit posts. This is what you gave me and what I am going to end up going with. Thank you very much man. And if Cooling is an issue in the future I am going to add some fans in the case to help with air flow.


PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2zD4A
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2zD4A/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2zD4A/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($189.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($160.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($144.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($525.91 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($525.91 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($128.31 @ TigerDirect)
Power Supply: Cooler Master Silent Pro M 1000W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($156.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($62.69 @ B&H)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($82.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: LG 27EC33V-B 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($267.58 @ Newegg)
Monitor: LG 27EC33V-B 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($267.58 @ Newegg)
Monitor: LG 27EC33V-B 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($267.58 @ Newegg)
Total: $3431.44
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-11 16:22 EST-0500)


Looks good man! Good luck with your build, you'll love it I bet! Oh btw, do you need two seperate disc drives? If not, scratch the 20 dollar DVD drive, you don't need it if you already have a blu-ray drive right?


I didn't know a blu ray could do that. Thought it was 2 completely different technologies. If that's the case I can save myself 20 bucks.
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January 12, 2014 9:04:58 PM

rootxbeer said:

I didn't know a blu ray could do that. Thought it was 2 completely different technologies. If that's the case I can save myself 20 bucks.


Haha no it plays Blu-ray, DVD and CD, so you're fine with just the BR drive!
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