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#3982912 - 07/18/14 08:46 PM Video Card Help Needed  
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Azshal Offline
"Call me Az"
Azshal  Offline
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Current Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121400

I am looking to upgrade so I can have 3 monitors.

I haven't immersed myself in hardware in a few years, and I am a bit lost.

I would like to keep my existing MB, but I don't know if I have the room for a 2nd card of the same size.

What is the current hotness for multi-monitor setups?

Edit: Am I correct that if I wanted 3 monitors off the same card I would need a PCI 3.0 x16 MB? My current one is 2.0.

Last edited by phd_doc; 07/18/14 08:52 PM.
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#3982956 - 07/18/14 10:39 PM Re: Video Card Help Needed [Re: Azshal]  
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- Ice Offline
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Depends on the resolution of your monitors. I used to have 2 19" monitors (can't remember resolutions now) and a 24" monitor at 1920x1080 for display plus a fourth 22" touchscreen at 1920x1080 for instruments and it ran fine with BMS on a HD 6970 2GB card. I just wanted a bit more oomph so I upgraded to a HD 7970 3GB card and upgraded to 3x27" at 1920x1080 plus the 22" touchscreen.

If you want to run three monitors on one card, just make sure it can support three outputs. Sometimes, cards can have 4-5 output ports (not sure if I'm using the right term here) but can only really support three of them at one time.


- Ice
#3983562 - 07/20/14 05:25 PM Re: Video Card Help Needed [Re: Azshal]  
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Bokononist Offline
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No need to have a PCIE 3.0 to run 3 monitors, I don't think there are any cards on the market that saturate all 16 lanes on pcie 2.0, so while 3.0 is good future proofing it is not necessary for a three monitor setup. You have 3 outputs on your card so you would be able to run 3 monitors, but the 470 is getting a little long in the tooth to run modern games at the high resolutions you will be running with 3 screens. I run 2 460's in SLI which can run most things capably at 1920*1080, but if I were to move to triple screens I know I would be looking at either an Nvidia 780, or a Radeon 290x at the very least.
In short I would say a new card or two would be your main consideration, don't worry about PCIE 3.0.


"Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, 'Why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand." - A calypso.

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#3983583 - 07/20/14 07:17 PM Re: Video Card Help Needed [Re: Azshal]  
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Tarnsman Offline
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I'm looking to go triple screen aswell. Is SLI/Crossfire necessary to run 3 monitors or are there single cards that can do it? What about memory capacity?

#3983592 - 07/20/14 07:41 PM Re: Video Card Help Needed [Re: Tarnsman]  
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Bokononist Offline
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Check out this review of the 290x bit tech Now check out the framerates for the games at 5760x1080(3x 1920x1080), most of the games are around the 30fps mark (check out the graphs that list most of the single cards that are capable of running triples), now this is at ultra settings for each of the games. Now considering these are pretty cutting edge games BF4, Crysis 3 Bioshock Infinite, if you are prepared to dial down the settings a bit then you have the 290x, 780, 780Ti, and the Titan all capable of running 3 screens.
Edit: all of these cards have between 3gb and 6gb of VRAM, I would consider 3gb bare minimum for triples, and remember if you decide to go SLI/Crossfire remember that the VRAM for the two cards DOES NOT add up!

Last edited by Bokononist; 07/20/14 07:45 PM.

"Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, 'Why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand." - A calypso.

i5 2500K@4.5Ghz | MSI P67A-GD53 | 8G DDR3 Corsair@1600 | Gainward GLH 460x2 SLI oc | Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD | Antec Truepower New 750W PSU | Win 7 64bit | Black Widow HOTAS | Freetrack 2.2/PS3 eyetoy

#3984008 - 07/21/14 06:34 PM Re: Video Card Help Needed [Re: Bokononist]  
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Azshal Offline
"Call me Az"
Azshal  Offline
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Originally Posted By: Bokononist
You have 3 outputs on your card so you would be able to run 3 monitors,


I can only run 2 monitors off one card. I would have to get another card and run them in SLI, or get a newer type of card that can run 3 at once.

Originally Posted By: Bokononist
but if I were to move to triple screens I know I would be looking at either an Nvidia 780,


I was considering the same as well. my MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131660

A different thread said that I could run a 3.0 card in a 2.0 MB slot: Nephilim's Virtual Simulator

Is this true? If so, I might just need to upgrade my video card, add a couple more sticks of RAM to my box, and I should be good?

Last edited by phd_doc; 07/21/14 06:36 PM.
#3984898 - 07/23/14 02:56 PM Re: Video Card Help Needed [Re: Azshal]  
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Bokononist Offline
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I was reading a site the other day which compared high end cards in bith 2.0 amd 3.0 mobos. The frame rate difference was around 10 percent, which can be pretty much attributed to the faster processor in the 3.0 mobo, so yes pop any card into a 2.0 mobo and you should be fine, what processor are you running anyway?


"Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, 'Why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand." - A calypso.

i5 2500K@4.5Ghz | MSI P67A-GD53 | 8G DDR3 Corsair@1600 | Gainward GLH 460x2 SLI oc | Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD | Antec Truepower New 750W PSU | Win 7 64bit | Black Widow HOTAS | Freetrack 2.2/PS3 eyetoy

#3984906 - 07/23/14 03:07 PM Re: Video Card Help Needed [Re: Azshal]  
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The Nephilim Offline
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Well with NVidia any of the 6xx series or newer will run up too 4 monitors as long as they are all digital.. So what connectors does your Monitor have.. Also with NVidia Surround 2D can be a bit tempermental.. check NVidia website for the connection methods.. Also if you plan on gaming in HD 1080P you will need a lot of vRam the more the merrier..

I hear AMD is good with MultiMonitor setups as well..Not sure which AMD card would be good but both multimonitor setup's have their problems....

I have a 590GTX and use nVidias 3D Vision that is why I went NVidia.. but Don't count AMD out..

Remember NVidia more finick AMD more flexible to a multi monitor setup but both work..


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#3984926 - 07/23/14 04:15 PM Re: Video Card Help Needed [Re: Bokononist]  
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Azshal Offline
"Call me Az"
Azshal  Offline
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#3984929 - 07/23/14 04:19 PM Re: Video Card Help Needed [Re: The Nephilim]  
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Azshal Offline
"Call me Az"
Azshal  Offline
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Near VSFB, California
Originally Posted By: The Nephilim
So what connectors does your Monitor have..

Also if you plan on gaming in HD 1080P you will need a lot of vRam the more the merrier..


I am currently running a 27" Samsung at 1080P. It has both a DVI and HDMI input.

If I go 3 screen I will get 2 more of the same. Another option I have is to stay with a single monitor, but when I fly, hook up to a projector. Then I can fly with the image on a wall, and I can deal with a single "monitor".

#3984930 - 07/23/14 04:24 PM Re: Video Card Help Needed [Re: Azshal]  
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SkateZilla Offline
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I dont think the 470 Supports 3 Screens (ie nVidia Surround) from a Single Card.

You'd have to use Triple Head2Go or something or a 2nd Card.

My Advice,

Get a Card with at Least 3 MiniDP or a R9-290/X (as they can use 2xDVI+HDMI)

When you mix between DVI/HDMI and MiniDP you get tearing due to MiniDP having it's own Display Timing Clock.

My MSI Lightning 7970 Has 4 MiniDP->DVI Adapters to 4 Screens in games (DCS, iRacing, BF3, etc) no problems. (plus DVI-> HDMI to HDTV)

I added a 2nd 7970 so I can run some games at Higher Refresh rates, and will add a 3rd 7970/280X soon.

I plan to have 6144 Shaders for DCS/EDGE smile (right now I have 2x 7970 Lightnings and a 7950)

Last edited by SkateZilla; 07/23/14 04:38 PM.

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