What kind of GPU setup would be required to play BF4 on three 27" monitors at max resolution?

[geetaradam]

Anyone here doing that or something similar and, if so, what are you using? I'd think the most economical way to do it would be to SLI/Xfire two mid/high-end cards like, maybe a couple GTX 770's or R9 280X's. I'd just like to hear more educated thoughts on it.

 

[raikoo]

GTX 770 SLI would be the most economical way, you should completely throw AMD cards out of your consideration due to very high demand from miners.

 

[huilun02]

At least two R9 290 or 290X in Crossfire. A single 280X will start to struggle beyond 1440p. One and a half 1440p screens each? Naaah

If you want to run three 1440p monitors on an Nvidia setup, good luck and may the force be with you.

 

[chemmajorp53]

I'm assuming that these are 1080p monitors? The 280X is faster than the gtx 770 in BF4 anyways and has more VRAM as standard. I would suggest crossfiring 280Xs if you can find them over 2GB gtx 770's because you will definitely be using more than 2GB. Try the 4GB version or running one r9 290 or 290X is an acceptable option too. Raikoo is right about the miners, you might want to wait a few weeks for the nonreference 290 series if you want to go AMD.

 

[geetaradam]

Thanks for the answers. This project is on a longer time-line, more like a year or two, so it's just hypothetical, as I'm sure their will be new and more relevant choices by the time I do it. I just wanted an understanding of what kind of GPU power would be required. Huilun02 put it in a way that made a lot of sense. Basically, if one card isn't up to a screen-and-a-half at a given resolution, then 2 aren't up to 3 monitors. I wasn't sure if it worked like that, where two cards gives you twice the power. I had actually been planning on getting a R9 280X for a single 1080p monitor for the time being, but this douchebaggery with the prices has forced me to change my plans, so unless they drop back down $100, I'll be getting a GTX 760.

 

[chemmajorp53]

Thanks for the answers. This project is on a longer time-line, more like a year or two, so it's just hypothetical, as I'm sure their will be new and more relevant choices by the time I do it. I just wanted an understanding of what kind of GPU power would be required. Huilun02 put it in a way that made a lot of sense. Basically, if one card isn't up to a screen-and-a-half at a given resolution, then 2 aren't up to 3 monitors. I wasn't sure if it worked like that, where two cards gives you twice the power. I had actually been planning on getting a R9 280X for a single 1080p monitor for the time being, but this douchebaggery with the prices has forced me to change my plans, so unless they drop back down $100, I'll be getting a GTX 760.

An r9 270X is a great option for BF4 at one 1080p screen and some on newegg come with the game, it's worth a look! The GTX 760 is a great GPU but if you're gonna spend $270 why not spend 60 more on a 770 and add another later?

 

[geetaradam]

I have been planning this build for a couple months now, and have actually decided on both of those cards at one time or another. I had finally settled on the R9 280X, so I bought a 750w psu to prepare for one, then this craziness with the prices happened. I have been toying with the idea of a 770, but if I got one, I feel like I should go ahead and get one with 4gb vram so I could SLI in the future and still have plenty of ram. If I do that, though, we're talking almost $400, and that's just more than I can spend, as I have a budget of around $500 and I still have to get some other components. It might be wiser, then, to just get the R9 270X, but I want to be able to run BF4 at ultra 1080p smoothly, and that card won't do that, will it?

 

[chemmajorp53]

I have been planning this build for a couple months now, and have actually decided on both of those cards at one time or another. I had finally settled on the R9 280X, so I bought a 750w psu to prepare for one, then this craziness with the prices happened. I have been toying with the idea of a 770, but if I got one, I feel like I should go ahead and get one with 4gb vram so I could SLI in the future and still have plenty of ram. If I do that, though, we're talking almost $400, and that's just more than I can spend, as I have a budget of around $500 and I still have to get some other components. It might be wiser, then, to just get the R9 270X, but I want to be able to run BF4 at ultra 1080p smoothly, and that card won't do that, will it?

Depends on what you consider smoothly. I have an HD 7870, which is the same card. It will run BF4 at ultra around 50 FPS and high around 65. I just leave it on high as the FPS is so important in multiplayer.

 

[huilun02]

Battlefield 4 benchmarks, at Ultra and High.

http://www.techspot.com/review/734-battlefield-4-benchmarks/page3.html

 

[geetaradam]

Well, considering I've been playing BF3 on low settings at around 25 FPS average on a Radeon HD 6670, I think ultra at 50 FPS would seem VERY smooth! lol Buying a GPU for $200 would also allow me to upgrade my cpu to a FX-6300. Right now I'm running a FX-4100 @ 4.5 ghz, so that would be a welcome upgrade.

 

[chemmajorp53]

Battlefield 4 benchmarks, at Ultra and High.

http://www.techspot.com/review/734-battlefield-4-benchmarks/page3.html

I don't run AA past 2x, I guess my numbers are probably higher than these but these are at 1200p which is 10% more pixels. BTW an FX 6300 probably won't help much in games. I'd wait for mantle to show up and see how good it is. An fx 8320 would be a MUCH better use of your money if it's actually using all 8 cores.

 

[huilun02]

Guru3D benchmarks at the same resolution, Ultra but with only 2xMSAA

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/battlefield_4_vga_graphics_performance_benchmark,7.html

If you worry about the 10% more pixels, just assume 10% more fps at 1080p.

 

[geetaradam]

Yeah, I almost scooped up an FX-8320 when they dropped to $129 on newegg last month, but wasn't able to shake up the money, so now I'll just have to see what sort of specials they have around Christmas time.

 

[chemmajorp53]

Yeah, I almost scooped up an FX-8320 when they dropped to $129 on newegg last month, but wasn't able to shake up the money, so now I'll just have to see what sort of specials they have around Christmas time.

I already have a 4670k and I almost bought one last month because they were on fire sale at microcenter for $95 and 4770k's were $200! Would have given it to my brother or something but it killed me to already have a great processor lol. Seriously wait for mantle if you can though. If it sucks, then your processor with any of these graphics cards will be fine. If it's great like AMD is promising, an r9 270X and an fx 8 core might be pretty epic. The great thing about the graphics card market right now is that between $200 and up you really can't go wrong.

 

[Nada190]

Just go nuts and get 3 GTX 780TI's.