How to best use my 2 old + 1 new graphics cards?

headbangeriam · Nov 8, 2014

I had set aside a budge of about £1800 to get a new build for home. but it just occured to me if there is a way i can save some of that money by simply upgrading one of the older computer.

i have 2 old desktops. first one has an old asus board and a fx 5200 card. the other one has asus p5n32esli [ http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5N32E_SLI/ ] and a 9800 gt. the cpu is e6300

Will i be able to plug in my 5200 card on the p5n32 esli mobo and be able to run 4 monitors running at 1920x1200?

i will only use this build to read my news and rss feeds. nothing demanding. i remember being able to play company of heroes 2 with upper medium settings without any problem on 1600x1200 res. will this work? or will i have to upgrade some component?

I have read that it is better to use 2 same cards to avoid any driver problem, will this matter if i do the above?

Another question i have is, if i do go for a new build and buy r9 290x, 4790k, and asus motherboard [ http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VII_FORMULAWATCH_DOGS/ ] (do i really need this motherboard? is there another mobo i can get which is not so much of an over kill? i just want a mobo that can take full advanate of the 4790k and the r9 290 plus atleast 16gb ram) and plug the 9800 gt on te same mtherboard, will i be able to run 4 monitors at the 1920x1200 res and will it effect my gaming performance even if i shut down the monitors connected to the 9800gt and use only 1 monitor connected to the r9 290x?

13thmonkey · Nov 8, 2014

using two of the same model is not needed unless you are SLI'ing. However...

The FX5200 and the 9800GT are both so old that the current nvidia drivers will not support them, they now don't support the 2XX series. Also those cards will suck power down horribly, but a modern low end amd/nvidia GPU will be much better from that standpoint like the one of these http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/all/gpu-amd/radeon-r5-230-pci-e could easily run windows on two screens.

Also AMD drivers and Nvidia drivers may not play nicely together.

BUT a 290X can easily run 2 of the screens and the igpu built into the mobo/cpu (depending on what you are getting) could run the other two.

What are you thinking of buying cpu wise.

Karl_oh · Nov 8, 2014

Are they also both compatible with the motherboard you are going to be putting them into?

It would probably be quicker to purchase a new card as these cards are now unsupported offically

huilun02 · Nov 8, 2014

Your old computers are not worth upgrading but they are perfectly capable of doing your "news and rss feeds"

As for the new build, you can save some money by going for an i5-4690k instead of an i7. The only difference is Hyperthreading which games don't benefit from.

And yes you don't need that expensive Maximus Formula board. Especially if you're not pushing very high overclocks or require all those frills features.

Most modern graphics cards should be able to run at least three monitors without a problem. Just don't mix AMD and Nvidia cards.

Karl_oh · Nov 8, 2014

huilun02 :

yeah you can get nice boards that do all that without that hefty price tag. The formula is like the top of the range fancy board with goodness knows how many extra features that most sane people dont need

headbangeriam · Nov 8, 2014

Thank you all for your replies.

13thmonkey you are right those cards are old. but the 9800gt runs the games i like to play very well. so even though most of the time i will be just using it to read my feeds, i would still like to play a game every now and then. i looked up this card from the link you provided:

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5037#sp

it says Digital max resolution 2560 x 1600. will it still be able 2 run independant screen at 1920x1200 res? if so, then all i have to do is get a new power supply and stick the card in.

if the above wont work and i do go for a new build, then the cpu i will get is i7 4790k. i usually keep my rig for 2 years so do not want to cheap out on the cpu. 4.0ghz standard and 4.4 onn turbo. i think that would be enough. for gpu i will have r9 290x and an asus mobo that is not so overkill but can still work well with both the gpu and cpu. maybe this one:

http://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VI_HERO/specifications/

will i need to get an extra card like the above r5230 with this mobo/cpu combo to run the other 2 monitors?

huilun02 · Nov 8, 2014

I'm a bit confused here. You say that with a new build you will get an R9 290X which is a very powerful GPU.

But at the same time you seem to be saying that your old 9800GT is good enough, and considering the R5 230 which is essentially the polar opposite of the R9 290X.

Or is your objective simply to run four monitors with the ability to play your favorite games at 1920x1200?

A single R9 290X alone will certainly run three monitors. Four is a possibility.

13thmonkey · Nov 8, 2014

^ hang 3 off the 290x and one off the mobo.

headbangeriam · Nov 8, 2014

Huilen sorry for the confusion. i would actually prefer a build where i can run 4 monitors at 1920x1200 res of just one card.

the original idea was to see if i could use my old 5200 on the p5n32esli mobo without any problems. but after reading the replies and thinking about it, i will go for the new build which is i7 4790k, r9 290x and maximus vi. as far as gaming goes, i prefer just 1 screen. so whenever i game on this build, i will only be using just 1 screen.

13thmonkey if i do run 4 monitors off the new build, will there be any performance drop on the games even if i use just one screen? and would it matter if i had the other monitors turned off to give full performance to the game?

huilun02 · Nov 8, 2014

If you run your games on just one screen, with the other screens displaying other stuff, it will have a small impact on game performance.

With a R9 290X you should still be able to max out the game regardless.

Do note some games will force the other screens to blank out when run in fullscreen mode. To work around that you might have to run the game in borderless windowed mode.

headbangeriam · Nov 9, 2014

Sorry i have 1 more question. if i am going to connect 1 monitor to the motherboard, will 1000w power supply be enough? or will i have to get a bigger PSU?

huilun02 · Nov 9, 2014

Your monitors run on their own power adapter...

1000W is overkill just to run a single graphics card.

headbangeriam · Nov 9, 2014

In that case, would 750watt be more appropriate?

huilun02 · Nov 9, 2014

Yes 750 is still more than sufficient, but will run a second card if you ever get one.

Whatever PSU you get, don't get a rubbish unit.

headbangeriam · Nov 9, 2014

According to the list, the unit i will be getting is a tier 3 Crosair cx750m. however, i do not plan on getting a second card as i am sure 290x can handle pretty much everything for the next 1-2 year. in that case would a cx600m be sufficent? or should i just stick to the cx750m? it is only a £9 difference.

huilun02 · Nov 9, 2014

600W is sufficient. Just £9 for the higher rated unit is not bad either, because a component like the PSU can potentially serve you for many years, during which you might consider running more than one card.

13thmonkey · Nov 9, 2014

Please don't get a CX, they are believed to suffer and age prematurely. And you'll find that Maplin is normally ridiculously expensive.

This would be a much better buy: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w-seasonic-m12ii-hybrid-modular-80plus-bronze-1x120mm-silent-fan-atx-psu-dc-dc if you can step up to it. There are other very good PSU's in that price range, see what else you like the look of, remember it is the foundation of your system and can be reused for the next 2-3 upgrades, power usage is more likely to down than up.

The corsair that you linked to only has 2x 6 pin PCI-E, which is woeful for that size of PSU, and tells you something in my opinion.

headbangeriam · Nov 9, 2014

Thank you both for your replies.

I think you are right huilun. i will stick to the 750 wattage.

13thmonkey, i will actually be getting my build from http://www.pcworldbusiness.co.uk as i already have a business account with them. according to the list huilun linked, ax series is under tier 1. there is an ax760 available. would that be a better choice? its £130 but if its better than the one you linked, i will go for it.

i would prefer getting it from pcworld business because there is a megastore near my house so if something goes wrong with any items (like monitors for example which i will also be getting from them), i can take it in straight instead of mailing items over post.

13thmonkey · Nov 9, 2014

That's fine, just don't get unknowningly ripped off on prices, knowingly ripped off is ok if you are getting something in return

returnablility etc.

It's just the CX's that are a problem from those with the knowledge, the others are looked at as being ok. 6x8pin pci-e gives you a clue that they are confident in it, and that price is very good.

How to best use my 2 old + 1 new graphics cards?

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