Widescreen Gaming Forum

hey guys--i have been trailing these forums for weeks now and im still stuck,need help now as soon as possible.

I am new to this multi monitor setup(obviously)i am in the process of getting 3 monitors,1920 x 1080.
i currently have a GTX 285 card(brand new) i am looking to have a triple monitor setup that will play most of these games and games to come.
Bad Company 2,
Dirt 2,
Iracing
team fortress 2,
Left for dead 2,
Need for Speed Shift and the upcoming CRYSIS 2

Now the problem i cant decide is is which way to go in the interest of playing these games on HI detail etc and get great Frames Per Second (Multiplayer mostly).

What do you guys suggest i do in terms of card/cards?

1.Would another 285 card do the trick(remembering Hi res gaming)?
2.Should i go with Getting 2 x nvidia 460 cards?
3.Should i go with Eyefinity 5870?

I am honestly getting frustrated with this now as i hear so many things. I personally just want the best for Multiplayer gaming (pref on High detail in most games) Are any of the above any good for me to look into buying?
Would 1 eyefinity/Nvidia card run these with no problem?Or do i need 2 in my pc(space is a problem tho,my current 285 card is a beast)
i see a lot of videos with 1 card running games smooth? is that so?
Is it easy to setup(connection leads stc) on these card/s?


i would really appreciate any feedback at all guys now----im about to dive in and scared to buy the wrong card/s

Thanks in advance again

First of all, Eyefinity is proprietary to ATI....oops!!! AMD Video Cards beginning with the HD5xxx Series. One HD 5870 will do the job nicely.

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~Windows 7 x64 Professional~MSI X58A-GD45~Intel I7-950~6x2 GB DDR3 1600 RAM (Triple Channel)~RealTek Onboard~XFX HD 6950 2 GB GDDR5~3 ViewSonic 24 inch LCDs in Eyefinity~SATA Dual Layer DVD RW~1000 W PSU~And a Whole Lot More!~Done with Vista~XP Pro on the way out, too!~AND....250 GB XBOX 360~

This kind of depends on your budget and what spec PC you have already.
I am able to play all the games you mention just fine with details on high using a single 5870 2GB card.

One thing to know and look out for when running multi screen gaming is VRAM on the gfx cards.
As you bump up the surround resolution, you require more and more VRAM otherwise you start getting major performance hits.

Although adding another GTX285 would be the cheapest option, using a 2nd hand card as they are no longer sold in stores.
However of cause the have limited VRAM, so you may find that you wont get all your games running in high detail with high fps.

The 460's with 2gb VRAM are very good performers as Paradigm Shifter has kindly benchmarked the difference between 460's 1GB and 460's with 2GB. You will notice that when using Anti Alising at high resolutions with 1GB cards the FPS takes a great hit in comparison to a 2GB card.

Now the 5870 is a great performing card, and is a lot more flexible with what monitor configurations you can use. Again this card comes in 1GB and 2GB versions.

Basicly if you wish to play games with Anti-Alising switched on, then I would advise using a 1GB+ VRAM card (idealy 2GB).
I hope this can help you make an informed decision.
Personally I would go for either 2x 460's with 2GB VRAM each, or as I have now the 5870 with 2gb VRAM.

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Thanks guys for advice,heres my specs.

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 860 @ 2.80 GHz
8GB Ram
Windows 7 64Bit
Gtx 285 1Gb
Logitech G15 keyboard
Razor mouse
G25 Steering Wheel



so 1x 5870 would be fine for running in high res and for future games(albeit crysis 2 will be powerful and ill need to upgrade then)

It depends on exactly what you want. I made the unfortunate decision of buying a 5870 when they first came out, only to have the 2G version come out mere months later, and now I'm struggling to find anyone to purchase my 1G version and don't have the $ yet to upgrade. Personally I think 2 285 GTX's would perform around the level of one 5870, and it would probably be cheaper to just buy one more 285. The VRAM limit would be the only reason to look into the 5870 2G or the 460 2g's.

well i cant get another 285---there is no room whatsoever in my case(the 285 is a mighty beast) so ill be selling my 285 and look into getting a new gfx setup for the 3 monitors,

any more opinions would be apprciated and thanks already for the help :)

well i cant get another 285---there is no room whatsoever in my case(the 285 is a mighty beast) so ill be selling my 285 and look into getting a new gfx setup for the 3 monitors,

any more opinions would be apprciated and thanks already for the help :)

Well, the 285 is only 10.5 inches, the 5870 is 11 inches. Keep that in mind if you do get one.

is there room for another 285 on your motherboard if you get a bigger case?

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intel x79
2 way 780ti's under water
Intel 4760 extreme @ 4GHz
3 x 42 inch screens @5860x1080
16 gigs xmp ram @2200

the 285 is bulky---its width that is the problem---as i already have a sound card in in to.So if i could fit another in there would deffo be an air flow problem(tbh i doubt id fit another in.

Single 5870 will bottleneck methinks.
Also get 120Hz screens, they are great for competative fps.