Monitor dilemma

[jezz369]

Hi,
My current PC specs:
EVGA P55 LE
i5 950 @ 4.0GHz
Gtx 480
4GB Corsair Dominator Ram
2x 60GB OCZ Vertex 2 in raid 0
Corsair hx650w
Samsung PX2370

Im looking at getting a new monitor, i like the concept of a 3 Monitor setup. But due to my current comp that is probably highly unlikely as i have to get another 480 and new mobo, which leads to a bigger psu. But then i could sell the 480 and buy an ATI Radeon card. So my options are:
1. Buy another PX2370 which then i can save up a bit more and get another PX2370 then sell my 480 and buy and ATI card.
2. Get a 27" and run that as my main monitor and have the PX2370 as secondary.
3. Get a 32" TV and run the comp of the the PX2370 and have the TV as secondary
4. Get a higher than 1080p resolution screen, which means sell my current screen and save for an IPS (Thats the only type I know of that has resolutions higher than 1080p) the only negative i see is the response rate.
5. Another suggestion by you readers

Thanks for your help, upgrading computer parts is hard while trying to keep it future proof.
Hope this is the right category for this thread, tried looking for peripherals.

 

[boiler1990]

What exactly do you plan to do with the multiple monitors?

Gaming at high frame rates on one GPU would be a bit difficut (even with AMD cards), because you're essentially tripling one dimension of the monitor (i.e. my 3 @ 1600x900 monitors will run at as one monitor @ 4800x900 using Eyefinity/NVidia Surround), and thereby increasing the GPU workload almost threefold. You'll probably require 2 GPUs if you're planning on gaming at 1920x1080, and you'll need cards like the 6950s/560Ti's at minimum in order to play with high/highest settings (dependent on the game).

For just general productivity use, you'll just need 2 GPUs of any kind. Then you just have to set up the monitors in the right order, which is simple. I had always expected multiple monitors to be inherently more productive, but my 3 monitor set up has boosted my productivity more significantly than I thought. I do a lot of lab reports, so I need to use Excel for data, Word for the report, and PDFs to reference the experiment, all of which is easily done with 3 screens (even 2 would have been an improvement).

I'd toss out the idea of an IPS monitor; they're just extremely expensive for features most people won't use (specifically better colors and viewing angles; main features over standard screen), and you'll get better use out of 3 above-average screens than 1 high-end one. They're also not good for gaming due to the refresh rate; I looked into the Dell U2311 at one point and it was not recommended due to some response issues.

 

[jezz369]

Im a Uni student so all I do is watch movies i have my blu ray surround attached to the Monitor, I play games and do my assignments. So with 3 screens it should improve my production time as in get more done due to the fact you can have a lot more displayed?

With getting a 3 monitor option it would cost the same if not maybe a bit more, due to my motherboard lacks SLI support so I cant get another 480. So I would have to buy a new mobo, and its REALLY hard to find a P55 Mobo due to the new Sandy Bridge processors. But what i can do is sell my 480 and get a good ATI card which could save me also getting a bigger PSU.

But what im intrigued with the IPS monitors are the high resolution, with this i can see more of the surroundings in games, and the bigger screen size is good for movies. So at both upgrades going to cost around the same amount of money, its quite a hard decision. I also read that the Dell IPS monitors are good enough for gaming even though their stated Response Time is higher than that of tft displays.

Thanks for your reply, I know this is more of personal preference. But im struggling to decide.

 

[boiler1990]

I'd definitely recommend multiple displays as a student. There's just so much more space to work with on your computer. It's hard to describe, but once you get them you'll never want to go back. Sometimes having multiple displays can make you extremely unproductive as well

You could get a second monitor (won't be able to do dual screen gaming) to boost your productivity more, and then wait a while to upgrade again. I'm not saying that getting something like a 6950 (will run on the 650W) would be bad, but it's all up to your budget and preferences.

If you went with Dell monitors, I would recommend the Professional series instead of the Ultrasharp. Although it is a lower resolution (1920x1080) and doesn't have the IPS display, it still has phenomenal color and won't stress your GPU(s) as much if you do 3 monitor gaming in the future.

It just seems that the Ultrasharps have too many things you want[i/] but don't need[i/], and are a bit pricey for your budget.