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New graphics card advice.

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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Hello! So soon i will be upgrading my computer to fix some problems that i made with it, messed up some components as it was my first build.

So, i am unsure what graphics card to buy. I am wanting to have a triple monitor eyefinity setup for playing some of the newer games such as BF3 and EVE Online.

My current setup is as follows:

- Gigabyte GTX560 1GB
- Intel Sandybridge i5-2500K
- ASROCK H61ICAFE S1155 H61
- 4GB Corsair Ram
- 2 320GB HDD's
- 2 160GB HDD's
- 550W PSU

If i've missed anything out in this section - let me know.

So, the plan is to replace some of these parts with better things what i have decided is:

- Replace the 4GB ram with 2 4GB Sticks (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9-1600MH...)
- Replace the 4HDD's with a single 3TB drive(http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-7200RPM-Cache-SATA3-Dri...)

Now, this is the part where i need help.

With eyefinity i would like to be able to play games over 3 monitors, i have done some research and liked the look of this monitor (http://www.amazon.co.uk/HANNSG-HL198DPB-Hanns-inch-Moni...). Good idea?

The second problem is choosing a new GFX card, i like Nvdia but as my current card only supports 2 GFX cards i don't really have the money to go out and upgrade the psu to support another. I have heard from people about AMD cards allowing 3 monitors and only having to use one card. Inside the games, i'm not fussed about the graphics, i just want to be able to play on 3 monitors in the native resolution with a stable fps, even if it means having to run it on low. What card to choose from, i am not sure, i was thinking something similar to my current card. I have done some research into similar cards at a reasonable price:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-11200-07-20G-Graphics-...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/XFX-Radeon-HD-6870-HD-687A-ZDFC...

Again, is this going to be okay? My maximum on a card is about £150.

Thanks, hopefully someone can help, if any information is needed feel free to ask.

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Graphics card Authority

Two sticks of RAM is definitely a good idea. The monitor isn't one of the best, but if your funds are limited then it's fine. Main problem is I think you're maybe asking too much of these cards... triple monitor gaming is REALLY demanding. It definitely helps that you're happy to use minimum settings and a low resolution, but I think they may still struggle. This is worth a look:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/radeon-hd-7990-devil13-79...

Not the settings or res you're looking at, but just to illustrate how moving from a single display to three displays hurts framerates. GTX690's performance (£750 card) is getting cut in half with three monitors. Like I say though, minimum settings and low resolutions will help... if anyone finds benchmarks for triple screen gaming on low settings, it would certainly be an interesting read.
Graphics card Authority

For comparison by the way, 3x 1440x900 is a similar number of pixels to render as a single 2560x1600 display. But it probably won't be easy finding benchmarking with 2560x1600 combined with low settings. For retailers, these generally offer better prices than Amazon:

scan.co.uk
aria.co.uk
dabs.com
ebuyer.com
novatech.co.uk
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Graphics card Authority

Well a 6870 definitely isn't the caliber of card typically used for triple screen gaming, though it may do the job at low settings... I'd personally take a single screen and use the money saved to buy a quality monitor and mid-high end GPU. You also wouldn't then have two big vertical black bars right down your picture :-P If you're really determined to get a triple screen setup though, maybe it would be best to save a bit more and buy something more powerful (and with 2GB).
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