Seeking purchasing advice

[zcomuto]

Right, I'm in the market for a new graphics card and monitor.


Graphics card side of things: I'm looking at, maybe, a pair of AMD 6870's. My other options include a GTX580 or a pair of GTX470's, really I'm wide open to suggestions just now, but the 6870's are looking nice.

I'm wondering, considering what I'm after, if it's worth waiting for the 6970 series or potentially seeing if dual GTX560/570 or any card like that can put up a fight. Dual GTX580's are way out my price range - I'm ideally wanting in the £1200~range for Monitor + card(s).



On the monitor side of things, I'm looking at getting either a 2560x1600 or 2560x1440 display. The IPS panels from Dell and Apple are both looking attractive to me right now, as they suit my budget a bit more than the £1000+ 30" displays. Especially Apples, as with student discount I can get it for £740.

Any have experience with either of these monitors? I have a 27" iMac in the house, and I find the display stunning, but I've not seen the Dell in action at all.

As a side note relating to the Apple monitor: I'm aware of the issues it has, namely being MiniDP only with brightness options only being available to macs - I have one in the house, it's not a problem. If I decide to get a non-MiniDP card, however, I will obviously be getting the Dell monitor instead. These problems aren't really of issue to me, so I'm not discounting buying one. Yet.



The system I'm sitting on just now is an Asus P6T Deluxe (V.1) with an i7 920, and a 750w PSU. It's in an Antec 1200, so I have plenty room to play about with.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

My son is a photography student and uses the Dell U2410 IPS panel. It provides very accurate color which, oddly enough, many people find blah. When ya walk into a store with a line of monitors, most are over saturated to look half acceptable under store lighting. Like a boom box blasting sound out that is overly saturated with the lows and highs, these monitors are overly saturated color wise. Looking at an accurate display next to it will sometimes, on first glance, appear blah.

But if you need accurate color for say graphics design or photo work, your finished work will not look like what you saw on screen.

The sweet spot right now is twin 470's. With the super clocked models running only $10 more, it just makes sense to get that factory guaranteed oc rather than doing it yaself. With twin 470's though, if your overclocking that 920, ya may wanna upgrade to a CP-850

With about $1900 to spend, the first choice is the Dell U27 ($1000 US) or U30 model ($1500 US). The U30 and twin 470's would be $2,070 at current prices and that would equate to about 1300 GBP. The 27" model would drop you under 1000 GBP. Keep in mind however that abut every 3 weeks, there's lots of "special" deals to be found on Dell Monitors. Newegg, fatwallet and others list these deals for consumers on this side of the pond and they seem to run on a 3 - 4 week cycle. Wouldn't know where to look on your side.

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u3011.htm
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2711.htm

 

[purple stain]

What exactly are you into,is it for gaming or photo's?
I can't help you on the graphics cards issue as those cards are way out of my leauge.But i would suggest getting 3 monitors and using them, it will give you a wider view and it would be around the same price.Also would suggest a 3 D monitor.

 

[zcomuto]

It's for a bit of both, actually - gaming and some professional work.

The professional stuff I do game development with friends - I myself work as a coder, scripting stuff inside Unity, with a crossover to 3D modelling with Autodesk Softimage.

I've looked at dual monitors, It's something I'm semi-interested in but for the meantime, I'd like bigger res on a single screen. Even though it's primarily for use on my Windows running PC, I do sometimes plan on carting it over to be used with my iMac (Hence, interest in the Apple monitor). 3D is also out of the question for me, I have a slight defect in one eye that causes most 3D images to just appear blurry messes to me.

With about $1900 to spend, the first choice is the Dell U27 ($1000 US) or U30 model ($1500 US). The U30 and twin 470's would be $2,070 at current prices and that would equate to about 1300 GBP. The 27" model would drop you under 1000 GBP. Keep in mind however that abut every 3 weeks, there's lots of "special" deals to be found on Dell Monitors. Newegg, fatwallet and others list these deals for consumers on this side of the pond and they seem to run on a 3 - 4 week cycle. Wouldn't know where to look on your side.

Unfortunately, the U3011 starts about £1200 in the UK - eating up pretty much my whole budget. the U2711, however, is in the £860 region - leaving me with plenty room to play about with for a new graphics upgrade, as well. I really wish some of these sites shipped to the UK, as $1500 would be dirt cheap for the U3011.

 

[purple stain]

Are you intrested in LED monitors or just LCD?
I only see LED's in 1920x1080 though.
As for your graphics card i would suggest going with a pair of 6870's like you suggested.Maybe get a new motherboard and have x4 corssfire 6870's in the future.

 

[zcomuto]

Honestly not fussed about the tech behind the monitor, as long as it's good.

I've found what seems to be an amazing cheap 30" monitor - the Hazro HZ30Wi. I know the saying, you get what you pay for - but I've read a couple of reviews and people seem to be impressed.

I'm wondering people's thoughts on this?

 

[purple stain]

Why not 3 monitors for the same price?