A good GPU for a dual monitor setup.

MrAcd

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I have a Intel i5-3350P and a 24 inch 1080p monitor at this moment, i stream and would like to view other stuff on another monitor, im planning to get another monitor but im not sure if i have a powerful enough GPU to run a game on and have a monitor open on the side. I want to game on one monitor and have Pandora, or the chat of something else on the side monitor.I want to max @60fps for a few years and do the dual monitor set up. I have two GTX 560's at the moment, but i cant max games while i stream, so adding another monitor is only going to put more stress on the GPU, i was thinking of the GTX 780, is that an overkill or should i choose something else.

Summary: I want to play games on one monitor and have a internet browser on the other, while streaming. and playing games at 60fps for a few years.
 
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PCGameFan2

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You would have much better performance since the 780 has 3GB VRAM and though you're not gaming on two monitors you sitll have pixels to push and 2GB VRAM is being pushed to the limit as it is in newer games. The 780 is a better investment for your setup and for the long term.
 

MrAcd

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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133500 This 770 has 4gb Vram, and is still a a ton cheaper than the 780, the 4gb Vram would be perfect, but doing what i want to do with it how long would it last? running maxed at 60fps?
 

PCGameFan2

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The 770 doesn't have the bandwidth to utilize 4GB VRAM so it's pointless to have. It's a marketing gimmick. If you want something cheaper the MSI R9 280X http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FR6XPL8 is a great card and will handle what you want.

I actually have this card and love it.
 

MrAcd

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I amnow considering the 280x is it better than the 770? it seems like the perfect in between, how better is the 780?
 

SeparatedZebra

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I have the GTX 780 ftw and im running dual monitor and i love it. i would stay away from amd gpus right now because of litecoin/dogecoins the pricing is all bad. and the 780 is one of the fastest card on the market right now beside the 780ti which cost close to 800.
 

PCGameFan2

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If you can afford an EVGA GTX 780 SC w/ ACX http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CUIVSNS it is well worth the price. At 1080p the 780 will last you for a few years and 3GB VRAM will never run it's course at 1080p.

Update: I actually have a R9 280X and it's a great card but really a toss up with the GTX 770. They perform similarly but it depends on the games you're playing as to which performs better.
 
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SeparatedZebra

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Yeah the GTX 780 FTW card is great. im not saying that AMD is bad but they are over prices as hell.if you cant wait about a month or two pick up a R9 290x same power as 780ti but 25% off

 

PCGameFan2

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Actually the R9 290X is slower than the GTX 780Ti unless you're gaming at ultra HD resolutions.
 

SeparatedZebra

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true but he wants to run dual monitor gaming
 

MrAcd

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Yeah stupid crypto currencies jacked all the AMD cards prices up, which i hate. so here is the final run down
780-if i can afford it
290 - if i can wait for prices to go down(who knows when though)
280x - if i want it right now.

Now between the 770 and the 280x i feel like the wider bus bit on the 280x would be the better choice on my choice wouldnt it?
 

MrAcd

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No im only gaming on one the other is for looking at my stream chat
 

SeparatedZebra

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OH ok then i would go with a GTX card because of shadow play. i would go with a gtx 770 2gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130921
the 4gb of vram wont help gaming and will save to $70
 

MrAcd

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Well still i dont stream with shadow play, but 3gb on a 280x would be better sine still just because its not gaming it s still using VRAM right? and the bigger Bus Bit would help the higher VRAM ?
 

paitjsu sadff

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shadowplay is indeed a very nice feature to have if you like recording some stuff to upload on youtube for example, i love being able to do that with my card...
that being said i too think the games in the future will use more VRAM and 2gb will defenetly be a factor, not really with the games that are out ATM, but in the future...that being said, lowering the texture settings by a notch will probably get you under the 2gb mark for a while...
 

MrAcd

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I use OBS for streaming I don't have a need for shadow play, and I want to run games maxed @60gps for a few years or so with an extra monitor on the side.
 

paitjsu sadff

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i'm sorry i got it wrong with all que ''reply'' that made this thread soooo long and soooo painful to read
i thought you where the one saying that shadowplay was something that you would use to stream your games...my bad.
But still shadowplay is nice cause it has MUCh less of a performance hit while recording than any other software there is...
we are talking about a 3% hit here...anyway. yeah, so you want a GPU that maxes games for a few years,
appart from watch dogs i don't know if that many new AAA games are announced to come on PC in 2014...
i know from experience that my GTX 780 wont max out crysis 3 or metro LL @60fps, i'm pretty confident it will max out watch dogs (at least i hope it will LOL) so yeah, only my opinion its give or take, radeon 280x has 3gb but no physics and no shadowplay, 770 2gb has great GPU for the price but lacks in memory, 770 4gb has the memory but at that price point you'd be better of with a 3gb 780...and depending on where you live the r9 290 (non ''x'') may also be a good choice but if you are in the US the prices are too high for what you get, they also run hotter and draw more power than similar performance 780's...the choice is yours...
 

MrAcd

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it is really high priced yes i hate it though okay so AMD is out of the question unless like tomorrow the prices come back to normal, so its either a gtx 770 4gb vs a gtx 780 3b, do you think the gtx 780 with a 384 bit with 3gb of VRAM is fine for what im doing? or do i need the 4gb on the lower bus?
 

PCGameFan2

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The reason is that the 770 doesn't even have the bandwidth to handle 4GB VRAM which renders the 4GB card useless. It's a marketing gimmick to make some extra money.
 

paitjsu sadff

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That is not true, they day that you throw a game at it that will need to use more than 2gb of vram the 1 or 2 fps difference will tranfer to a game that stutters, gets major framerates drops and maybe even crash to desktop on the 2gb card vs a game perfectly fluent and playable on the 4gb card...vram is just a question of having enough, as long as you have enough it does not matter how much you have, it's just like the DDR3 ram on your PC....having more does not make your PC faster, but having not enough will make your PC struggle.

ABout the 780 now, the OP should know the GTX 770 is a GK104 GPU, in other terms it's a slightly (very slightly in fact) overclocked gtx680 at a better price point...while the GTX 780 is a GK110 GPU just like the titan but with 1 more SMX unit disabled (titan has 1 unit disabled out of 14, 780ti and titan black are fully enabled GK110 and) so in theory a GTX 780 is about 12/13th as fast as a titan and 12/14th as fast as a 780ti clock for clock...at the end of the day, the GTX780 is over 30% faster than the GTX770...it is really worth it for the price difference, now doubt i would go with the 780.

 

MrAcd

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Thanks everybody for your input in helping me, So I will probably be getting the EVGA ACX GTX 780 3gb version, how long do you expect this card to last me? With the setup that I'm doing? How long can I max games at 60fps
 

paitjsu sadff

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impossible to tell...every games are different, as i mentionned already Crysis 3 and metro LL will not perform at 60 solid FPS on highest settings, it will be pretty close tho, while some other games will give you over 100fps...but in general i would say that games will run great at good framerates and mostly maximum settings for the entire PS4/xbox one era..