Need a hand with poor mans eyefinity setup

[cainy1991]

Approximate Purchase Date: couple of weeks from now

Budget Range: honestly atm am not sure... will be trying to get as much as
I can...(sell old pc/monitor/some herb) but remember guys this is suppose to be a CHEAP build and includes monitors

System Usage from Most to Least Important:Gaming... dont use it for anything else

Parts Not Required: KB, mouse, SSD, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: something Australian *think PCcase,mwave etc*

Country: Australia

Parts Preferences: looking at around 20 inch monitors 1600x900 min res.

Overclocking: why not.

SLI or Crossfire: no issues in the past so once again why not.

Monitor Resolution: min of 1600x900 per monitor (4800x900)

Additional Comments: Im an FPS player in the most part soo games like metro 2033/bf3/bl2 at at least high setting are a must.


My ideas thus far include

CPU- i5 2500k -$189

Board- asrock z77m -$89(if only single gpu)
- asrock z77extreem4m- $114(for crossfire/sli)

RAM- any random 8 gig kit really set aside - $70

Screens-Samsung S20B300B LED- $115ea ($345)

Card/Cards- this is where I hit my snag... I dont mind if its nvidia or ATI one card or two... but I want to push the highest framerate I can across the three screens any and all input welcome.

PSU- dependent upon GPU config...

Case- once again dependent upon GPU config- refuse to spend over $100 on a case period."



At this point I require input on GPU/GPUS for a 4800x900 res gaming machine... setting dont NEED to be ultra just high but, trying to get best performance without breaking the bank... thanks in advance for any input guys

 

[cainy1991]

Bump

 

[UberFefa]

After a bit of research, it looks like you're gonna need a 7970, GTX 590, or 6990 to get decent frames in BF3, and metro 2033.

I am personally a fan of the 7970, and you can get a few games free (about $170 worth) if you get it with the promo.

Though to be honest, I don't know if the deal is available in AU.

http://blogs.amd.com/play/this-holiday-never-settle/

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-never-settle-game-bundles-cards-games,18628.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7970-benchmark-tahiti-gcn,3104-7.html

 

[cainy1991]

I was originally looking at the 7970 buut I can get two 6970's for the price of one 7970 which seems ti performs slightly better in all scenarios so far

 

[jmsellars1]

I think something like the HD 7870 would probably be OK. Either way you will want 2GB+ of VRAM. 4800x900 is 4.3 Megapixels, 2560x1600 is 4.1MP so framerates should only be slightly worse than those at 2560x1600.

http://www.techspot.com/review/550-best-gaming-graphics-cards/page4.html

The HD 7870 seems to average ~30FPS on ultra even on the most demanding games at 2560x1600 so with a bit of overclocking it won't have any problems with 4800x900.

The extra monitors don't tax the CPU any more than a single one would so you could probably save a bit there and get a Phenom 965 or something. I would suggest an i3 but an overclocked Phenom would probably be better value.

AMD Phenom II x4 965 - $99.99
2x4GB G.Skill Sniper 1600Mhz - $38.99
ASRock 970 EXTREME3 - $84.99
Sapphire HD 7870 Ghz Edition 2GB - $249.99
Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200RPM - $69.99
Antec BP550 550W Modular - $64.99
Antec Three Hundred - $54.99
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo - $35.99

Total - $699.92

You're looking at about $1050 after the monitors, not too shabby seeing as though you should get ultra on most games, maybe just tone down the AA/AF a bit for games like BF3 and Skyrim.

One note though, this rig is going to require overclocking to really get the most out of it.

EDIT: Sorry the Newegg links are useless, just realise you're in Aus.

 

[UberFefa]

Idk man, I looked and I couldn't really find any 6970s, and when I did they were the same price as the 7970s

Also if you can get the games, thats a pretty good deal

 

[cainy1991]

hmmm thanks for the input
your suggestion of a 7870 and a phenom have somewhat blown me away....

as I currently have a phenom x4 960t 6 core unlocked OCed to 4.5... do you think
this shall be suffice?
and even my GPUS currently are 6870's in trifire... it almost seems as if I could run the screens fine on my current set up...

if not.... would you really suggest a 7870/7970 over a 6970cfx set up? as this is not planned to be a future proof set up or anything more or less a throw away build wouldnt the extra few dollars over the 7870 to get the 7970 or 6870 crossfire provide enough power to play everything currently at ultra?

 

[jmsellars1]

The 6870's will be 1GB so they will struggle to be honest. Your CPU will probably be fine though.

I'd always suggest a good single card over dual cards. Less heat/compatibility issues. If you want to play everything at ultra, I'd get the HD 7950 3GB and overclock it.

 

[cainy1991]

well technically I have 2 gig of active Vram as the first two 6870's are part of a VTX 6870x2 that has 2gig of Vram on the one card.. the third gpu being a sapphire 6870 dosnt add on.

I have never had an issue with my two card set ups in the past(disregarding my first sli build) and for the price... of two 6970's being $358... only a few dollars more than a 6950

 

[cainy1991]

unless crossfire is effected worse in a tri screen scenario than in 1080p I cant seem to find anything more cost effective.

 

[jmsellars1]

Not quite sure how that works man, I do know you will want a bare minimum of 2GB vRAM though.

 

[cainy1991]

Best answer selected by cainy1991.

 

[jordonc]

Just as a heads up if you're still looking at crossfiring 6970's then you will need to get at least a 750w psu with all the appropriate cables. Believe me, if you are even thinking about crossfiring in the future, it's worth it. I'm talking from experience because if I want to crossfire my 7870 I'd have to upgrade my psu, and that's just another cost I'd rather not have.