Need Some Help Answering Some Questions about the Sapphire 5870 Eyefin

[Madsafe]

Hey everyone its my first post here. Thanks for taking the time to read this post and help with some questions I have.

I'm building my first PC got some good deals on some parts. The last and undecided part is the Video Card. I know a place that's selling the SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 2GB, Regular 429$ on sale for 269$



My build is

Intel Core i7 950 Processor 3.06GHz
ASUS P6X58D Premium Motherboard
Patriot Viper Xtreme 12GB 2000MHz 3x4096MB
Western Digital Hard Drive1TB 64MB, SATA 6Gbs
Ultra X3 850-Watt Power Supply (Lifetime Warranty)
Thermaltake Armor A30 Case

Now I'm stuck on video cards.
I apologize if my questions seem a bit dumb. Only really started doing research on computers for the last week.

1) Will Eyefinity 5870 run flawlessly on just 1 monitor?, I will never use more then 1 monitor.

2) Will I right from the box be able to plug the eye 5870 into my motherboard and getting it to work with my monitor right away. Meaning also will I need an extra cables?

3) Will the card let me plug it directly into my TV? I just bought a 55" Samsung 120mhz LED. Will the right adapter come with it?

4) At 269$ you can't go wrong with that price, its almost the same has a regular Radeon 5870. I just wanna make sure it can run perfectly on 1 monitor.

5) Do you guys think its better then the regular 5870 card. Should I just get the regular 5870 and screw the eye Eyefinity?

6) Can the Eyefinitys be Crossfired?

7) Should I just spend the extra money and get the 5970, I just think that price is to good to pass up for that card.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post. Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys

 

[haxs101]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102888&cm_re=sapphire_5870-_-14-102-888-_-Product

250$ after rebate.. I had a single 5870 1gb sapphire before I upgraded to a single GTX 580. It ran perfect, I ran on a single monitor, 28inches, 1980x1200. You should be able to put it into the PCI X slot, plug the PSU in, install the drivers and go. I didn't have any problems with mine. I just wanted to upgrade. Also, 2gb is overkill for a single monitor even at 1980x1200. The reason why they put the 2gb, and all the display ports for 6 monitors is cause at very high res, you'll need that 2gb. And you're going to be running on a 55" tv? Whats the res on that monitor? Won't really matter, but I was just wondering, tv's don't have res's like monitors. Also yes it can be crossfired. 5970 is still pretty pricey I think, I got a gtx 580 for 500$ and it preforms the 5970 in some benches.

You pretty much have the same system as me, I have the p6x58d - e, 930 @ 4.1ghz, and same hdd, 6gb, 650watts, gtx 580, silverstone rv02.

 

[Madsafe]

Yeah your right my friend says its pure overkill and I think so. But my computer now is like 8 years old. I wanted something fresh lol. But for the price you can't go wrong right? Eventually I wanna get the 5970 I just can't afford it right now. Thats why I was thinking buying 2 of the Eyeinfinity crossfire for 4gb and crazy graphics speed.

I thought about Nvidia I just can't pull the trigger. I always liked ATI.

Native Resolution

1920 x 1080 what it says for my tv.

Its this one http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/samsung-samsung-55-1080p-120hz-led-hdtv-un55c6300-un55c6300/10141261.aspx?path=0a002169409b831247a3dd7733b3e696en02.

I just more when stream blue raid movies from my comp to my tv. Right now I have a 23" samsung LCD monitor 2ms that I bought last year. Should still be good with this card.

 

[Madsafe]

I forgot to add I'm in Canada so I get the Newegg.ca prices which are just a tad higher.

Just so confused everything I got down. Except the video card sigh

 

[haxs101]

You won't have "4gb" of memory for the crossfire setup. You'll still only have 2gb of memory. It doesn't just add up when adding crossfired cards. If I was you, I'd go with SLI gtx 460's, maybe even 560 since they just came out like a day ago. Or a single gtx 580. Don't try to stick with 1 brand, they're both great. Thing is with nvidia surround you'll need 2 GPU's. So SLI gtx 560/460 sounds nice. gtx 460s are VERY nice, and SLI'd they preform better than 5970, and gtx 580. For me, I don't like to bother with the hassle of crossfire/sli. If you plan on staying on the 55'' 1920 x 1080 I'd get a single gtx 580, sli gtx 460/560, 6870 crossfire.

Go here --- http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=614&Itemid=72 Its for a gtx 580, but also gives you ideas for other cards, you can also look up other configs, such as the ones I just mentioned.

Also, the gtx 560 is like the same price as a 5870.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=gtx+560&x=0&y=0

 

[haxs101]

Oh yeah also, the 6960 is 260$ on newegg, you can convert it into a 6970 with bios download I heard. Pretty neat, you get a "free" 6970 for the price of a 6950. You can also quad fire them since their only single GPU. For the price of you're looking at, it seems like a crossfired 6950 is the best. Make sure you get the 2gb version though if you plan on doing eyefinity. Hope this helps.