Reading the following request: I want one video card short-term (with my existing system). Before July I will buy a new system. I may buy an additional 2 Gfx cards + 5x1 eyefinity at this point, or I may wait out pricing and hold out for up to a year from now. The question is mostly about the graphics card(s), less so about the monitors.
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: between today and 4 months from now (1st) - ASAP. Between 3-12 months from now for 2nd+3rd cards + eyefinity 5x1 monitors.
BUDGET RANGE: $600 for the first (well technically that's euro's but w/e). Hopefully no more than $600 again for the other two combined. No more than $600 per monitor. Preferably quite a bit less for the monitors.
USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming - mixed (FPS, RTS, RPG, MMORPG, Racing, ...), watching movies
CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: NVidia 8800GT 512mb with 750W PSU. For 3x CrossFire I will buy a new PSU.
OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: Will be the cheapest Intel Ivy Bridge hexacore for the 3x crossfire, for now AMD Phenom 9950. Case is air cooled, about 18 120mm fans. New case will be fewer but should be sufficient
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Tweakers.net PriceWatch
PARTS PREFERENCES: Not particularly. 5x1 portrait -> AMD; 7950 pricing (especially after a year, for the other 2) seems a lot better; the Sapphire 7950 OC runs very efficiently, cool, and quiet (so I've read). So that's what I'm looking at, but I'm not dead-set on it.
OVERCLOCKING: Not at first, would have to see how 3x Xfire will run the 5x1.
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: YES
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1card: 1920x1080. 3cards: Hoping for 7200x2560, may need to economize down to 6000x1920 or even 5400x1920.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Must be built for 3card crossfire, eyefinity 5x1 portrait from the start. Because of this, I'm ruling out 3slot cards such as the Asus HD7970-DC2T-3GD5. Along with price/performance, running quiet-ish is a boon. Energy efficiency is of smaller import, but not completely unimportant. I have zero interest in 3x1 eyefinity.
I'm currently looking to buy a 7950 (the sapphire 7950OC looks very nice without me having to mess with it). I would buy one now, then later on would buy two more for eyefinity. A second for the additional average FPS, and a third to up the minimum FPS and reduce micro-stuttering.
I'm [probably - price/quality looks good] looking at 5x Dell UltraSharp u2412m or Dell UltraSharp u2711. 5x U3011 is definitely out of my price range. The big pro for the u2711 to me is the additional pixels (even if I'll have to have the power to push them) and 16x9 - 45:16 (2.81) seems a nicer ratio than 50:16 (3.13). I've been thinking of trying to find a store to check out the u2711, if the anti-glare filter looks okay this would be my prime choice despite the exorbitant price - more than double the u2412m.
The rest of the system is a non-issue, I've already budgeted an upgrade to a high-end intel platform in may (waiting on 22nm; my mind is set on the cheapest hexacore).
Additional Questions:
[ol][li]For optimal crossfire results, you need 2/3/4 times the same card. However, does this mean I would need 3 times the sapphire 7950 OC? Or would it mean I would simply need 3x a 7950? Or 3x a 7950, each with the same core/memory clock rates?[/li]
[li]I've read you can only use one card as output device. So if you have 5 monitors, you need (at least one) card with 5 or more outputs? So I couldn't just buy 3 cards and use 2, 2 and 1 of its displayports?[/li]
[li]How flexible is the eyefinity resolution? Suppose I get 5x u2711 making the resolution (before bezel correction) 7200x2560, but some game brings the system to its knees. How easy (if possible at all) would it be to run at 3600x1280?[/li][/ol]
Thanks in advance.
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: between today and 4 months from now (1st) - ASAP. Between 3-12 months from now for 2nd+3rd cards + eyefinity 5x1 monitors.
BUDGET RANGE: $600 for the first (well technically that's euro's but w/e). Hopefully no more than $600 again for the other two combined. No more than $600 per monitor. Preferably quite a bit less for the monitors.
USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming - mixed (FPS, RTS, RPG, MMORPG, Racing, ...), watching movies
CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: NVidia 8800GT 512mb with 750W PSU. For 3x CrossFire I will buy a new PSU.
OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: Will be the cheapest Intel Ivy Bridge hexacore for the 3x crossfire, for now AMD Phenom 9950. Case is air cooled, about 18 120mm fans. New case will be fewer but should be sufficient
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Tweakers.net PriceWatch
PARTS PREFERENCES: Not particularly. 5x1 portrait -> AMD; 7950 pricing (especially after a year, for the other 2) seems a lot better; the Sapphire 7950 OC runs very efficiently, cool, and quiet (so I've read). So that's what I'm looking at, but I'm not dead-set on it.
OVERCLOCKING: Not at first, would have to see how 3x Xfire will run the 5x1.
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: YES
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1card: 1920x1080. 3cards: Hoping for 7200x2560, may need to economize down to 6000x1920 or even 5400x1920.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Must be built for 3card crossfire, eyefinity 5x1 portrait from the start. Because of this, I'm ruling out 3slot cards such as the Asus HD7970-DC2T-3GD5. Along with price/performance, running quiet-ish is a boon. Energy efficiency is of smaller import, but not completely unimportant. I have zero interest in 3x1 eyefinity.
I'm currently looking to buy a 7950 (the sapphire 7950OC looks very nice without me having to mess with it). I would buy one now, then later on would buy two more for eyefinity. A second for the additional average FPS, and a third to up the minimum FPS and reduce micro-stuttering.
I'm [probably - price/quality looks good] looking at 5x Dell UltraSharp u2412m or Dell UltraSharp u2711. 5x U3011 is definitely out of my price range. The big pro for the u2711 to me is the additional pixels (even if I'll have to have the power to push them) and 16x9 - 45:16 (2.81) seems a nicer ratio than 50:16 (3.13). I've been thinking of trying to find a store to check out the u2711, if the anti-glare filter looks okay this would be my prime choice despite the exorbitant price - more than double the u2412m.
The rest of the system is a non-issue, I've already budgeted an upgrade to a high-end intel platform in may (waiting on 22nm; my mind is set on the cheapest hexacore).
Additional Questions:
[ol][li]For optimal crossfire results, you need 2/3/4 times the same card. However, does this mean I would need 3 times the sapphire 7950 OC? Or would it mean I would simply need 3x a 7950? Or 3x a 7950, each with the same core/memory clock rates?[/li]
[li]I've read you can only use one card as output device. So if you have 5 monitors, you need (at least one) card with 5 or more outputs? So I couldn't just buy 3 cards and use 2, 2 and 1 of its displayports?[/li]
[li]How flexible is the eyefinity resolution? Suppose I get 5x u2711 making the resolution (before bezel correction) 7200x2560, but some game brings the system to its knees. How easy (if possible at all) would it be to run at 3600x1280?[/li][/ol]
Thanks in advance.