Gaming build 3 monitors eyefinity, $600-900

[esoteric-NH]

Approximate Purchase Date: when I find the best

Budget Range: (600-900) Before or After Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: : work, web development/design and, gaming, currently play Rage and SWOTR

Parts Not Required: speakers, OS Windows Ultimate 64Bit, I may reuse my power supple if it'll do the job Antec BP500U 500 watt. Just picked up a, XFX HD-685X-ZDFC Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity I want to be able to run 3 monitors with no problems.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com or other depending the deals and quality of parts

Country: looking for quality no real preference

Parts Preferences: by brand or type (intel for the processor had a bad AMD experience)

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: yes

Monitor Resolution: I have 2 montiros runnung at 1680x1050 now and will be looking for a third for my card above

Additional Comments: : looking for smooth running, need expert advice

 

[rvilkman]

For regular desktop use the single 6850 will run 3 monitors reasonably. However for gaming if you really intend to play at 3x1680x1050, you need to be looking at least a 2nd 6850 for Crossfire, and even then it probably won't be enough to run any high settings. Generally a rig that is intended to run such a setup would be recommended to have two 6950's with 2GB memory which by themselves cost about 250 each and then a 750W PSU would be in the right ballpark to run a suitable setup with those cards.

As for the rest, currently Z68 based mobo with SLI/XFire support with i5 2500k and 8GB of ram is the way to go on that front, but even the 900 will be a stretch if you put in the 2 6950's. But yes, just giving you some generic info, maybe someone will give you a whole setup list.

 

[esoteric-NH]

Best answer selected by esoteric-NH.