Looking to eventually get a 3 monitor set up, looking for gfx suggestions.

[~SJ~ Xarg Talasko]

Title says it all. Currently running a 3870 (not overclocked I believe, got it off my brother)and have a second 3870 in the cupboard I'm not using, but mobo doesn't have a second PCI-E so no crossfire for me.

I guess what I'm asking is, for running a 3 monitor set up (thinking 3x 19" widescreen @ 1440x900 each), would 2 cards in crossfire run 3 monitors (new mobo and psu) or would I be better off getting a single gfx card with 3-4 monitor slots (I believe the 4870x2 does this) and a new psu anyway (think mine is 350w rated 400, so probably barely running what I have now). My cpu is an E7200 @ 2.53ghz Core 2 Duo. Is it worth overclocking this, and how far should I push it if so?

Edit: Additional system details -  3gb ram, xp 32bit sp3.

[[MPB]OM_Sannyasi]

only cards that support triple monitors are the ati 5xxx series. get a 5770 or better. triple monitors+crossfire isn't supported yet but it will be in the near future

[~SJ~ Xarg Talasko]

What kind of psu am I gonna be looking at? I'm sure the one I have now won't be remotely good enough for a card of that power. Not sure what model it is, pretty sure its 350w rated 400w. Can take side off and check if needed.

Also, will I need to look at additional cooling? Using the Pc Wizard 2010 tool, I'm seeing the following temperatures on desktop with 2 monitors, and only Firefox and Pc Wizard open at 3.40am, in a large room, door open to outside, and nothing obstructing the vents.

Processor Fan  1824rpm
Chassis Fan  912rpm
Power/Aux Fan  1824rpm

Intel Core 2 Duo (core 1) 50 degrees C
Intel Core 2 Duo (core 2) 50 degrees C

Intel Monitoring
Ich  33.8 degrees C
Mch 61.5 degrees C
Processor Fan  1076rpm

ATI Radeon HD 3870
GPU Temperature  57 degrees C

Hard Disk Monitoring
Hard Disk WDC WD2500AAKS-00VSA0 (Assembly) 32 degrees C

[Barbaric Soul]

Personally, I wouldn't attemp running triple monitors on anything less than the 5870. That high of resolution the triple moniotrs are gonna run needs the kind of power that you can only get from the 5870 or 5970, especailly a game like crysis.

Running triple monitors shouldn't cause any change in your CPU temps

[~SJ~ Xarg Talasko]

Thanks, been waiting an hour for you to come online, since Sannyasi is offline. I posted the temps to determine if my system is running too hot, which it might be. My motherboard only has 1 pci-e slot, will that be a problem for triple monitor? All the monitors I saw when I went looking only had 2 dvi inputs, and I'm somewhat noob at building my own computer, especially when it comes to finding the right components.

[Barbaric Soul]

What are you doing with your computer when it's running at 50'c? Is that on idle or under load? If it's on idle, persoanlly I'd want to be a lower temp. My Q9650 OC'ed to 3600 mhz on idle sits at around the 35'c mark, and under full load stays under 57'c.

The 5870 has 3 monitor connections on it, 2 DVI and 1 HDMI. If need be, you can get a HDMI/DVI adaptor.

[~SJ~ Xarg Talasko]

It is sitting idle with just me looking through webpages (hence the part about additional cooling, I thought it was too high myself, you might have just confirmed it though).

I figured the HDMI connector might come into it, but I thoughtt I'd ask to avoid being the retard who buys the wrong stuff

What kind of power supply should I be using? I'm not sure if my 350-400w psu is enough, not willing to try anything crazy until I get a new one though.

[sleepysheep]

It is sitting idle with just me looking through webpages (hence the part about additional cooling, I thought it was too high myself, you might have just confirmed it though).

I figured the HDMI connector might come into it, but I thoughtt I'd ask to avoid being the retard who buys the wrong stuff

What kind of power supply should I be using? I'm not sure if my 350-400w psu is enough, not willing to try anything crazy until I get a new one though.

5970 your need about 600 Wattage PSU. The 5870 400 Watts will probably cope, but I would buy more powerful to future proof your PC.

[~SJ~ Xarg Talasko]

Any particular brand of psu to look out for? Looking at prices, I think the 5770 is most suited to my price range, though I'd love a better one. Looking at Sapphire, heard good things about them. Any other good manufacturers to keep an eye out for?

[Barbaric Soul]

It is sitting idle with just me looking through webpages (hence the part about additional cooling, I thought it was too high myself, you might have just confirmed it though).

I figured the HDMI connector might come into it, but I thoughtt I'd ask to avoid being the retard who buys the wrong stuff

What kind of power supply should I be using? I'm not sure if my 350-400w psu is enough, not willing to try anything crazy until I get a new one though.

5970 your need about 600 Wattage PSU. The 5870 400 Watts will probably cope, but I would buy more powerful to future proof your PC.

Yeah, your temps are way to high for my liking. A aftermarket heatsink like the xigmatek 1283 rifle cooler would definently help your temps out.

I'd go with 700 watts for a 5970 and 600 for a 5870. I highly recommend Corsair, PC Power and Cooling, and Seasonic as brands to buy. Personally I'm running a PC Power and Cooling Turbo Cool 860.

[Barbaric Soul]

XFX double lifetime warranty is really nice.  If your gonna go with the 5770, you don't need more than 500 watts.

[~SJ~ Xarg Talasko]

Ill try draw up a list of applicable sapphire/xfx 5770s, that cooler you suggested, and a 550-600w psu, and see what sorta figure I come up with. Might have to get the psu and cooling gear first, then gfx, then blow my mind with 3 monitors. Is it worth attempting to overclock my cpu? I'm thinking no, but open to suggestions.

Edit: Suppose I should be looking for a 19" 16:10 with an HDMI or this all falls over flat huh.. would getting a slightly larger screen mess with the experience too much? For a laugh I created a multi-monitor bank with my 1440x900 and 1280x1024 screens, and loaded MWLL. Good Lord did it do a number on my eyes.

[sleepysheep]

Ill try draw up a list of applicable sapphire/xfx 5770s, that cooler you suggested, and a 550-600w psu, and see what sorta figure I come up with. Might have to get the psu and cooling gear first, then gfx, then blow my mind with 3 monitors. Is it worth attempting to overclock my cpu? I'm thinking no, but open to suggestions.

Edit: Suppose I should be looking for a 19" 16:10 with an HDMI or this all falls over flat huh.. would getting a slightly larger screen mess with the experience too much? For a laugh I created a multi-monitor bank with my 1440x900 and 1280x1024 screens, and loaded MWLL. Good Lord did it do a number on my eyes.

You want all the monitors to be the same size and same res. And ocing your CPU won't do much for crysis. GC is waaaaay more important. Make sure your case has room for the GC (They are very large) and have enough fans to keep the air moving in the case.

You don't need a super amazing cooler on the CPU, £30 is more than enough, if not too much.

[~SJ~ Xarg Talasko]

So I'd be looking at 2 more 16:10 monitors set at 1440x900, to match the Asus vw193t I have currently then, thought so. The 3870 I have in the case at the moment seems pretty big, and I've managed to fit it in there, I'll compare size notes on the existing card vs the 5770, hopefully it's the same size or slightly smaller.

Ok, running through the parts list, looks like something to the tune of

$100 for a 1283 cpu cooler (that particular name wasnt available, I did see HDT, Dark Knight and Red Scorpion under that number
$90-140 for the power supply (depending on manufacturer)
$270-300 for the 5770 (depending on manufacturer and viewport or not)
There don't seem to be any 19" HDMI monitors, how visually jarring would it be to use a 22" in the middle for the HDMI?

All prices are in NZD, so don't flip out when they look 150-200% higher than you'd expect

[Barbaric Soul]

You don't need a super amazing cooler on the CPU, £30 is more than enough, if not too much.

Price and performance is why I suggested the zig. It performs just under the TRUE 120 and only costs $35 usd