PC Graphics Cards

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:03 pm

DB I really did try and search for a thread, this site search functionality befuddles me.

Anyway I'm looking to upgrade my video card to one that supports 3 monitors, does anyone have any experience or suggestions?

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:08 pm

Any of the "gaming" cards nowadays do. If you use an AMD set (unless they changed the requirement), at least one had to be using a Display Port or Mini Display Port. Nvidia cards are pretty easy to set up. You just plug the monitors into the available ports and go into the control panel and set it to display in Nvidia Surround.

I've run 4 and 5 monitor setups, and it's been about as easy as can be for the last couple years.

I think you use pretty beefy stuff, but I've got an Nvidia 780 Ti 3GB sitting on a shelf doing nothing. However, you can get the GTX 970s for cheap, but they don't have a "true" 4GB memory slot. They use 3.5GB in one channel and .5 GB in a slower channel. If you get into triple screen setups, you're better off going with a full-fledged 980.

But your question is sort of vague, so I don't know what price range you're looking at, what performance baseline you want to hit, etc. I ran triple screen setups with two 780 Tis in SLI, and it ran alright on medium or high. But if you want ultra settings in triple screen, you're going to be shelling out some pretty good coin to get that.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:12 pm

Most newer cards support triple monitor solutions and you don't need SLI if you are running lower resolutions and don't require 60 FPS. Nvidia is pretty strong with triple monitor setups.

Here are a couple of articles:
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id- ... tings.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0J2kxg05N4

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:21 pm

My PC while still beefy from a speed and memory standpoint is 3 years old, maybe 4. I have twin GTX 580's in my machine. I have 2 monitors hooked up right now. I'm going to replace my boot drive with a SSD drive. Actually been putting that off for a while because I'm scared to do it

Both my monitors right now are hooked up DVI I believe, there is an HDMI port on there. Are you saying that I could just hook up a HDMI monitor and I'm good to go?

Price is not rally a concern, I'm just looking for people who might have experience suggestions. I prefer Nvidia.

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:59 pm

If you don't have an issue with price, I'm pretty happy with the GTX 970s I've got. But SLI is always a nightmare in DX11 (maybe DX12 will help that if both cards are used as one big pool, instead of rendering alternate frames within each card's buffer), so maybe one big-boost card will do the trick. A fat 980 or something would probably be best.

And yeah, it's usually as simple as plugging another monitor in if your card has another port. But you won't really be gaming in 5760x1080 on GTX 580s. My 780 Tis chugged on it enough, that you won't have much luck with anything other than super-low settings on 580s.

But with the new Titan coming out that's supposed to dwarf everything and cost $999, there's that, too. I actually contemplated buying one of those when they're available, but I decided I like my nuts too much. I have a feeling my wife would cut 'em off if I tried to sell her on that. You won't even need anything huge unless you get into resolutions larger than 1080 in height, or 4K gaming, though.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 5:05 pm

Really gaming wise not much I play supports Triple Monitors. Just Elite Dangerous and Mech Warrior Online. I honestly can't think of anything else. Unless i am missing some inherent functionality that will splt any game to 3 screens, can think of a lot of strategy titles that would be nice with.

I need it more for video editing and PS work but I always like to purchase stuff that will last for some time. I'll look over the Nvida offerings and see whats what

Thanks for the help

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 6:42 pm

I went with the GTX 980 personally as I preferred a single card setup (not a fan of SLI personally). So either two 970s or one 980 should do the trick. Really simple to use multiple monitors as has been mentioned already.

This is the one I went with...because I love the STRIX cooling system. No fans at all under regular use. So damn quiet.

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-STRIX-GTX980 ... ce+GTX+980

And heres' the 970 version if you want to SLI.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NJ9BJ8G/ref ... B00O4S9NY8

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:39 pm

Thanks DB, very helpful.

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:39 pm

For the record, I have 2 of these. As Scott said, SLI is a YMMV type of thing. It's a lot of hassle when new games come out, most of the time:

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GeForce- ... B00NH5T1MS

F308GTB · Post by **F308GTB** » Sat Mar 28, 2015 5:14 pm

Danimal wrote:Really gaming wise not much I play supports Triple Monitors. Just Elite Dangerous and Mech Warrior Online. I honestly can't think of anything else. Unless i am missing some inherent functionality that will splt any game to 3 screens, can think of a lot of strategy titles that would be nice with.

I need it more for video editing and PS work but I always like to purchase stuff that will last for some time. I'll look over the Nvida offerings and see whats what

Thanks for the help

Check to see if the tools you use take advantage of the Nvidia GPUs for more than graphics. I work from home a couple of days a week and went the Nvidia route (770 as the 9xx series wasn't out yet) since the simulation codes I run at work can use Nvidia gpu power for number crunching even though these are command prompt driven, non-graphical apps. I'm talking at least a 2x bump in performance. The codes I use don't have a similar option for the AMD cards.

Bakes · Post by **Bakes** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 9:34 am

Looking for some advice here if anyone is willing - I haven't been in to PC gaming since my 486DX2 was top of the line. However, there are a bunch of games out now (some are older) that I'd like to be able to play. Off the top of my head - Pillars of Eternity, Cities: Skylines, Civ 5, Skyrim (for all the mods). What I'm looking for is a new graphics card that will fit my current system that will allow me to play these games on at least a moderate setting if possible. I don't need super 4k graphics or anything. I tried googling around but my head is spinning with all of the options and talk of PSU's, etc, etc.

Current system

Dell XPS 8700
Intel i7-4790 3.6ghz
8gb ddr3
1 TB hd
Nvidia GeForce GT 720 1GB (this apparently sucks)
460w pwr supply

Would a GeForce GTX 750Ti work?

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 10:00 am

Bakes wrote:Looking for some advice here if anyone is willing - I haven't been in to PC gaming since my 486DX2 was top of the line. However, there are a bunch of games out now (some are older) that I'd like to be able to play. Off the top of my head - Pillars of Eternity, Cities: Skylines, Civ 5, Skyrim (for all the mods). What I'm looking for is a new graphics card that will fit my current system that will allow me to play these games on at least a moderate setting if possible. I don't need super 4k graphics or anything. I tried googling around but my head is spinning with all of the options and talk of PSU's, etc, etc.

Current system

Dell XPS 8700
Intel i7-4790 3.6ghz
8gb ddr3
1 TB hd
Nvidia GeForce GT 720 1GB (this apparently sucks)
460w pwr supply

Would a GeForce GTX 750Ti work?

You'll need to to see if the length of the card will fit and make sure your power supply can handle the new card. Some of the newer cards require dual 6 pin connectors from the power supply.

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 10:04 am

There are some 750 Tis that will work just fine. I have one in each of my kids' computers---and the beauty of the reference card is there IS no extra power connector! It blew my mind when I saw that. It didn't require a new power supply like my 780 Ti that I wanted to put into their machines would have.

So as long as the card can physically fit in the case, it should work--unless you get one of the specific manufacturer cards that try to overclock it and those end up requiring extra connections. But it doesn't have a power input anywhere close to the current cards, so you'll probably be just fine.

Bakes · Post by **Bakes** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 10:29 am

Thanks guys. Here is the one I was looking at. It looks like length wise it is basically the same size as the GT 720 that is in there so it should fit. This one is a SC version but it still doesn't appear to require an extra cable that I can tell. Also the SC version is the same price here. Is there much of a difference?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IDG ... PDKIKX0DER

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 10:36 am

Yeah you should have no problems with that card.

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