Tri-Monitor $2500 Build Advice

[SeanK67]

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: within the week

Budget Range: 2000-2500

System Usage from Most to Least Important: reliability over at least ~5 years, Gaming, dual-boot linux off SSD, 3d modeling

Are you buying a monitor: Yes, 3 (as in subject line)



Parts to Upgrade: Custom build looking for advice on parts changes

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: been using newegg.com to look at parts

Location: City, State/Region, Country - we need to know where these parts are being assembled and whether there are good store-only deals available

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: No, not likely in the future

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: games such as Anno 2070, Soase, CK2, little FPS's, modeling mainly through 3ds Max

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Been on a laptop for a while and would like to move back to a desktop that will last me hopefully for quite a while.

Build so far:

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K
Motherboard: ASUS Z77 Sabertooth
Case: Cooler Master Haf X + Cooler Master 200mm Megaflow fan
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 680
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaw X 16GB
Monitors: ASUS VE228H 21.5"
SSD (boot drive): Samsung 830 128GB
HDD (windows): Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB
HDD (Linux): Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB
DVD Drive: ASUS Black SATA 24x DVD Burner
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM
PSU: Cooler Master Silent Pro m600
Mouse: Razer Deathadder
Keyboard: Logitech 920 Wired

 

[manofchalk]

Youv got it pretty right, but gaming on triple monitors requires a lot of resources, which includes GPU RAM. The GTX680 only has 2GB of it. Video RAM usually doesn't matter on a card, but if you run out of it frame rates will tank.
Not much you can do about it except get EVGA's 4GB model which is significantly more expensive and runs on stock cooling, which isn't good for a card that will be running quite hard to power three 1080p screens.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130801

I would suggest getting the HD7970 from AMD, there up to $100 cheaper, much better availability compared to the 680 and most importantly come with 3GB of RAM. A driver update means that with a small overclock (which you should do anyway) it will trade blows with a GTX680 for performance.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7970-ghz-edition-review-benchmark,3232-19.html

I would get the Gigabyte model personally.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125413

Another advantage for the HD7970 is that it supports Eyefinity, which is a program for using multiple screens which is miles ahead of what Nvidia offer.

 

[bigcyco1]

Get this you have to do it soon sale won't last the 7970 is only 370$ with battlefield 3 and other games.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3419957&sku=V261-7972FREEGAMES&cm_re=Homepage-_-Spot%2009-_-CatId_28_V261-7972FREEGAMES otherwise you need this card for three monitors EVGA 04G-P4-2673-KR GeForce GTX 670 Superclocked+ w/Backplate 4GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130785#top

 

[N4villu5]

My suggestions would be to go with a 7970 over the 680. As others have said, the 7970 will be better for three monitors, and with the latest drivers + mild overclock, should outperform a 680. With the money saved in getting the 7970 over the 680, get a slightly beefier power supply (maybe a 650W that is gold or silver certified), and a better CPU cooler. Personally I've had great results with this cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118075
but you can find it other places cheaper than newegg.

EDIT: Also, it may be a better idea to go with a single 1.5 or 2 TB drive rather than a 1TB + 500GB drive. Just partition it.
Finally, the HAF X might be overkill if you don't plan on going crossifre.

 

[bigcyco1]

Change your PSU to one of these take your pick XFX Core Edition PRO650W (P1-650S-NLB9) 650W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207014#top

Antec HCG M Series HCG-620M 620W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371059#top

SeaSonic M12II 650 SS-650AM 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Semi-modular Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151106#top

SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095#top

 

[TheBigTroll]

at 3 monitors (i would never run 3 monitors myself), picking up a 7970 is a much better choice given how all 7970s are already around the 400-450 dollar mark. if you ever plan on crossfire 7970s, id suggest getting a 750w psu like a hx750 or the xfx xxx 750w

for the gpu, i personally prefer the xfx double dissipation 7970 or the gigabyte windforce 7970

 

[SeanK67]

Sorry for the little clarification in the main post, the triple-monitor setup is for general work on the computer. I realized that a triple monitor setup would likely be pushing the memory and card a little hard. Thus was only expecting to use one monitor mainly for gaming itself.

The main reason for the gtx 680 had been that at the beginning of the process of putting this together I'd been interested in allowing expansion to a sli setup. However at this point that's probably not happening so yeah, whatever GPU gets the most bang for my buck is what I'm looking for at the end of the day.

Thanks for the other advice though.

 

[viridiancrystal]

If your doing 3d modeling, that would be another reason to go with the 7970, Nvidia's general compute this generation is way behind AMD's.

 

[dudewitbow]

Sorry for the little clarification in the main post, the triple-monitor setup is for general work on the computer. I realized that a triple monitor setup would likely be pushing the memory and card a little hard. Thus was only expecting to use one monitor mainly for gaming itself.

The main reason for the gtx 680 had been that at the beginning of the process of putting this together I'd been interested in allowing expansion to a sli setup. However at this point that's probably not happening so yeah, whatever GPU gets the most bang for my buck is what I'm looking for at the end of the day.

Thanks for the other advice though.

the one reason why amd tends to handle multiple screens better is the fact that they have worked on eyefinity on a single cards longer than nvidia has(and tend to pack more vram in their products in general for its price). nvidia recently jumped on the single card to display multiple screens, but nvidia is a long term player in making 3d displays, which amd is now starting to get into.

 

[TheBigTroll]

If your doing 3d modeling, that would be another reason to go with the 7970, Nvidia's general compute this generation is way behind AMD's.

technically, nvidia is being a ass and not letting the geforce lineup do any kind of compute. example is that a quadro 6000 is based off of a 560ti 448 chip but has 10x more compute power than a 580