Graphic Card Choice

[Mustang]

That sucks! :shocking:

 

Yep, thats how it is in ripoff europe, when i see something for sale in US for $350 i can safely assume that here in UK it'll be 350 too, but in UK pounds to dollars conversion thats $548.66 (hope that made sense heh)

[celticcoho]

My 5870 Eyefinity 6 cards are still going strong, either in crossfire or single. Pushing a 27" main screen and 3 23" Touch screens...Just another option for you...Good Luck...

[Pilotasso]

Yep, thats how it is in ripoff europe, when i see something for sale in US for $350 i can safely assume that here in UK it'll be 350 too, but in UK pounds to dollars conversion thats $548.66 (hope that made sense heh)

 

Why do you think US is 1st economy in the world? :D

Edited February 23, 2012 by Pilotasso

[celticcoho]

Why do you think US is 1st economy in the world? :D

, LOL...They should be cheaper now!!!! But mine have rocked on for 3 yrs now...It is only Money...Cheers...

 

PS. I can only say....My setup works....and works well!!!

Edited February 22, 2012 by celticcoho

[WynnTTr]

I haven't played DCS in a long time and didn't know about this problem. Are you the only one that this has happened to? Looks like I may have to rework my budget to make sure I can get a 7970. But if the 6970 is ok for DCS then I might just do that. The only games I play are BMS, Arma, FC2 and DCS-BS 1/2 which I haven't played DCS-BS2 was waiting til I got my new computer, I bought it cause it was $12. A few days before I buy/build I'll look around and see what is going on with parts.

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=81177 for starters. You can click on the links in one of the replies there.

 

I get better performance with CF off and running on a single gpu. The game will still run with CF on but it runs smoother with no microstutters and with more fps with CF off. The game will still run it's just not optimised for CF.

 

I'll most probably be getting a 7970 as well. Sick of CF microstutter problems in games so I'll be getting a single card. If Nvidia release their next gen card that's able to handle 3 monitors off the one card I'll be going with them. But the only option for that is AMD.

[WynnTTr]

At the end of that thread I posted there's an official answer from ED regarding CF performance (or lack thereof):

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=1395308&postcount=24

[gizmo]

The 6990 is $350 at newegg.com, the 7970 is $550. Gizmo where are you located, this might help cause I'm looking at US $$$ not foreign. If for some miracle the 7970 drops another $50 bucks in the next few weeks...I think I'll go with that. As this system will last me for a few years.

 

 

Cali, im located in Singapore.

[Cali]

Cali, im located in Singapore.

 

Well that clears that up, so my prices aren't going to work for you.

[gizmo]

Cali, it might work for me as i have a friend who knows a supplier for PC peripherals.

[blackbelter]

Good to know that there are other people in Singapore flying Lock on...

[Cali]

Cali, it might work for me as i have a friend who knows a supplier for PC peripherals.

 

Well, hope he can hook you up with what you need. Looks like I'll be getting a single card for sure. COme to think of it, I had a 9800 which is a dual card and I couldn't get it to work properly.

[gizmo]

Cali,

 

Is single card better then a double? Isn't the 7970 a single? My apologies for the lack of knowledge on this area.

 

Thank you

[sobek]

Is single card better then a double? Isn't the 7970 a single? My apologies for the lack of knowledge on this area.

 

If the single card has comparable performance, then yes. But it might end up costing more.

[Cali]

From what wynntr said, double cards have a issue with DCS/FC. They actually get worse FPS then single cards. Yes the 7970 is a single cards and it's $550 in the USA. So, for me I'm looking at 6970, 7970 or nVidia 580.

[gizmo]

With 3 monitors i reckon a 6970 or a 7970 would be ideal versus a Nvidia 580 right?

[WynnTTr]

With 3 monitors i reckon a 6970 or a 7970 would be ideal versus a Nvidia 580 right?

Yes. With Nvidia you need to SLI to be able to run 3 monitors. With AMD you only need one card and an active display port adaptor - significantly cheaper than another vid card.

 

As I stated earlier, for DCS, I'd stick with one card to avoid microstutter as the DCS engine doesn't benefit at all from CF/SLI. You'll get better performance running one card. This might change with the new engine but I personally wouldn't depend on that when talking about 100's of $$.

[gizmo]

WynnTTr,

 

Thank you for the valuable advice. Appreciate it.

[EtherealN]

Correction: you do not need sli to run three monitors with nVidia. You need multiple cards, but they do not need to be running in sli. They also do not need to be of the same model when in non-sli operation.

[tintifaxl]

And with multiple card you need a motherboard that has at least 2 16x PCI-E slots. Most motherboards have one 16x and one 1x slot.

 

For a 3 monitor setup, go the ATI route. Preferably the 7970.

[EtherealN]

Actually, you do not technically need a 16x slot for a 16x card. If your motherboard either has "open" 1x/4x/8x slots, or you use some tools to remove the plastic end of the slot, you can run a card in an undersized slot no problem. The only effect will be reduced bandwidth available to the card, which may or may not introduce a bottleneck depending on which card it is.

 

That aside, yes, 3-monitor = AMD. (Again, NOT ATi. There is no such thing as ATi anymore. Not as a company, not as a brand.)

 

EDIT: And of course, taking tools to your motherboard will 100% void your warranty. :P

Edited February 24, 2012 by EtherealN

[Togg]

Yes. With Nvidia you need to SLI to be able to run 3 monitors. With AMD you only need one card and an active display port adaptor - significantly cheaper than another vid card.

SLI is required for "surround gaming" which is the equivalent of AMD Eyefinity.

[EtherealN]

Which is different from just "3 monitors". ;)

 

For example, if you are using one of those monitors only to display aircraft instruments through 3rd party software, which is common.

What eyefinity does is allow multiple screens to act like a single screen, similar to Matrox Triplehead and SoftTH etcetera.

[chardly38]

I've been running AMD 5770 at low settings with 3 monitors 5040x1050 res. The card is just getting buy. Just ordered a 6970 w/2g ram. Looks to be 40% more performance. I hope. 7900 a little to much for me. If im reading this fourm right it seems better to run one card than 2. ?

[MustangSally]

I now have 2 Gigabyte 7970's in my new system. I know CF doesn't work in A-10, but it does in other apps. Absolutley superb performance when in single card mode. Running dual 23" monitors with Helios btw.

[Bodo]

I finally went for it and got an EVGA Classified ed of the 560 448 core ti.

Having heard only good things about EVGA then I hope I'll be happy. Also they have a step up program so in 90 days I may be able to upgrade to the latest 6 series, if they release in time!! Just gotta pay the difference.