Widescreen Gaming Forum

Hey

I was wanting to get into this multi monitor gaming .

Mainly play BFBC2, L4D2, TF2, CODBOPS etc

I was going to get an obutto with 3x24" monitors. http://www.obutto.com/gaming.html

My current PC Specs are:
Windows 7 Ultimae 64bit
Motherboard - Gigabyte P35-DS3P
4GB RAM DDR2
Intel Quad Core Q6600 2.40ghz
GeForce 8800 GTX

I was going to upgrade my video card.
My question is will i need to upgrade my motherboard or can i keep my current board? and also which graphics card would you advise is best to run for me. Can i just buy one card using eyefinity i was thinking of getting a 5870 will that work or crash heaps? money isnt too much of a problem i just want it running smooth with as little problems as possible.

or do i need to get 2 nvidia cards or 2 ati cards ? I was looking ATI more because i dont really want 3D gaming 2D is fine for me is it correct if i got the nvidia surround sound i would also have to purchase 3x24" 3D monitors?

Also anyone else using an obutto cockpit that can advise of some good 24" monitors.?

Your help is much appreciated.


Cheers
Niggz

I think your board has a PCI-e x16 and a PCI-e x4 slot on it, so crossfire might work but I don't think the motherboard supports it.

To run 3 monitors with nVidia 3D surround you need 2 or more cards. With ATi's Eyefinity you only need 1 card.

I would say you can't go far wrong with getting a HD5870, BUT there should be a new set of 69 series cards coming out just about now, so if you can wait a little while you can expect better performance.

I would also just check your power supply, not that the 5870 uses much more power, but that is normally the problem a lot of beefier systems have.

Hope to of helped!

_________________
P8Z68-V Pro | 2600K | HR02 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 128GB M4 + 6TB | X-Fi > HD595 | AX850 | Tai Chi | PB278Q | G110 + Deathadder 2013
P8Z77-V | 3570K | Mugen 2 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 500GB | X-750 | Fractal R3 | U2212HM | G110 + G400
P8H77-I | G860 | 4650 | 2x2GB XMS | 320GB | CX500 | Prodigy | T22B350EW | MX518
DC3217IYE | 1x4GB Vengeance | 64GB M4 | TX-42VT20E

What's your budget for the PC part of the upgrade?

You might benefit from a newer board and CPU on the x58 platform. It would add a lot of cost, but imo it's the enthusiasts platform for some time to come. And having the option of both crossfire or SLI with the same board is nice for thinking ahead a bit. Also when dealing with multi-GPU set-ups, you get alot more bang from them when you can supply them with a fast CPU clockspeed and system bandwidth.

well if i was going to upgrade my motherboard thats alot of fucking around i guess so id want to get a good one for gaming and one that i wouldnt need to upgrade in awhile. whats some ones i can look at.
im in not much of a rush im happy still gaming with single so ill wait for the 6000 series.

im guessin that would then mean i need to get new ram cause it would be ddr3?
also what cpu are you thinking i7?

thank

okay sounds good ill hold off for the 6000series.

so if i was changing motherboard any you would advise.
if im changing that i dont mind spending abit because its a hassel taki8ng that out.
also what cpu i7 960? would that be okay.

cheers

I'd go with a core i7 950, the price is nice and I've built 3 systems with them that have all overclocked to 4.0gHz easily on just a hair over stock voltage.
For motherboards, there's quite a few to choose from depending how much stuff you want on it. Asus, Gigabyte or EVGA are the one's i'd look to for a solid x58 board.

The DDR 3 is coming down nicely in price lately, you can even get 12gb kits for the price I paid for 4gb last year :) I'd stick to 1600-1860 mHz speed on the ddr3, the super high speed stuff is just too stressful on the integrated mem controller.

Wait for Sandy Bridge that should be out in a month. The 4 core 2600K will be unlocked multiplier (this is the one "needed" for overclocking) and should out perform the i7 980 in all but the most of demanding threaded tasks, and will out perform any quad core i5/ i7.

Much better than getting an i7 this minute, IMO.

_________________
P8Z68-V Pro | 2600K | HR02 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 128GB M4 + 6TB | X-Fi > HD595 | AX850 | Tai Chi | PB278Q | G110 + Deathadder 2013
P8Z77-V | 3570K | Mugen 2 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 500GB | X-750 | Fractal R3 | U2212HM | G110 + G400
P8H77-I | G860 | 4650 | 2x2GB XMS | 320GB | CX500 | Prodigy | T22B350EW | MX518
DC3217IYE | 1x4GB Vengeance | 64GB M4 | TX-42VT20E

i've never overclocked before so i am new to it all so gilly your saying the sandybridge 4cores is going to be better then i7980x 6cores or only if it is overclocked?

with the motherboard i was looking at asus rog rampage iii formula
ive also currently got an 850watt real power coolmaster pro PSU. will that be sufficient enough to run this beast or a new one. jeez its looking like im gonna need pretty much new everything

how about cooling will i need that at all? the current case i have is the Antec P182SE if that helps aswell im thinking thats also gonna have to be replaced will the mother boad fit in it :S

many thanks for ur assistance guys

At stock the 2600K should out perform the i7 980 at stock UNLESS you can find a use for the extra 2 cores (4 threads with HT). Some video encoding software takes advantage of it, and games of the future might, but having 8 threads on the 2600K will be enough (compared to 12 on the 980) IMO. All depends on what you plan running.

But for multi-monitor gaming as your original post said, IMO waiting for Sandy Bridge will be best as they will outpace anything available now for that task.

_________________
P8Z68-V Pro | 2600K | HR02 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 128GB M4 + 6TB | X-Fi > HD595 | AX850 | Tai Chi | PB278Q | G110 + Deathadder 2013
P8Z77-V | 3570K | Mugen 2 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 500GB | X-750 | Fractal R3 | U2212HM | G110 + G400
P8H77-I | G860 | 4650 | 2x2GB XMS | 320GB | CX500 | Prodigy | T22B350EW | MX518
DC3217IYE | 1x4GB Vengeance | 64GB M4 | TX-42VT20E

okay well yeah it will be for gaming and also i want it to be future proof for abit aswell seeing ill be spending alot to getting it intially set up.