Best single graphics card for 2 display setup?

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Kingkazma

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Feb 23, 2011
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i really want to run two 1080p monitors, one to play games and the other to work at the same time

yes i know, most likely i wont do any work ._.

nevertheless? what's the best card to use in a two monitor setup?

programs to run on 2 monitor setup
Aftereffects CS5
3ds Max 2011
Autocad 2010

Modern games... crysis... etc...


best if the price is under 320 usd.

heres teh specs of the rig im building

i7 2600k
p67 biostar
500watt continous power supply
8gb ram
2x 1080p led TN monitors (any suggestions?)
 
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A

Arkadrel

Diamond Member
Oct 19, 2010
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2 monitors isnt great for gameing because you get a bazel right in the middle, which is usually where your eyes are focused when gameing.

If you want to have a better visual experiance, gameing you really need 3 monitors.
*IF* you want to do that, you either need a AMD card, OR 2x nvidia cards in SLI.


afaik:
Autocad you can use ati/amd cards too.
3ds Max 2011, somethings can use cuda, not sure if they work with ati/amd cards.
Aftereffects CS5, works with ati/amd cards too.

(could be wrong about above though)


Crysis isnt really a modern game... it was released in November 2007.



Best performance card for under 320$...

that means 580 is out of the picture (~480$ ish)
next strongest card is a 6970 (339$, 20$ MIR with the MSI card).
almost as strong is a 570 (~334$ with 15$ MIR for a sparkle card)


Im gonna go ahead and say you already decided on a card, looked on newegg and saw the 320$ after MIR 6970 before comeing here to ask?

Id still recammend getting a 6950 and bios flashing it to a 6970, pocket the saved $.
 
9

96Firebird

Diamond Member
Nov 8, 2010
5,735
329
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Ark, he said he wanted to game on one screen and work on the other, simultaneously. You are going to tax your system quite a bit if you want to run those programs tandem with a game, but you know your machine better than I do... Since your running at 1920x1080, the GTX570 and HD6970 will trade blows - this also depends one what games you play. As for the programs, I'm not sure which, if any, use CUDA. Research it a bit and that may help you pick one over the other.
 
3

3DVagabond

Lifer
Aug 10, 2009
11,951
204
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You want as much VRAM as possible. Gaming @ 1080 plus running modeling/animation apps will use a lot of VRAM.

What's the specs for the rest of your system?
 
A

alcoholbob

Diamond Member
May 24, 2005
6,371
437
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Crysis is actually a very good benchmark.

1) The game has mature drivers
2) You know it pushes the boundaries of performance, has almost perfect GPU scaling
3) Is not a brand new technology demo which is probably optimized for one card or the other.

Anything brand new is likely to have been developed around either nvidia or ati hardware. You have the wait for the other company to come out with new drivers because the other has a head start.

So it's better IMO to use a mature benchmark like Crysis. It tells you alot about the card, especially about how the cards would stack up if drivers were all mature. It's a fair benchmark.

You have to realize all the DX11 tech is brand new right now and the games are heavily skewed performance-wise toward one vendor or the other.
 
K

Kingkazma

Member
Feb 23, 2011
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96Firebird said:
Ark, he said he wanted to game on one screen and work on the other, simultaneously. You are going to tax your system quite a bit if you want to run those programs tandem with a game, but you know your machine better than I do... Since your running at 1920x1080, the GTX570 and HD6970 will trade blows - this also depends one what games you play. As for the programs, I'm not sure which, if any, use CUDA. Research it a bit and that may help you pick one over the other.
Click to expand...
XD i can safely say im not going to run both 3ds max with crysis, however i want to know if i can run crysis and surf the web at the same time without lag on either programs.

and btw guys is the 570 worth the extra $$ vs the 560ti?
 
K

Kingkazma

Member
Feb 23, 2011
105
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so gtx 570 it is?

im just worried about power consumption... electricity bill's jacked through the roof with my old 980x.

EDIT: sorry i ment 980... 990 isnt old XD
 
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happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
Kingkazma said:
so gtx 570 it is?

im just worried about power consumption... electricity bill's jacked through the roof with my old 980x.

EDIT: sorry i ment 980... 990 isnt old XD
Click to expand...

Electric bill? Can you afford an extra dollar a month, thats about how much a gtx570 will cost you over a gtx560 or 6950.:confused:
 
happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
RavenSEAL said:
Getting a 6950 and unlocking it to 6970 makes getting the GTX570 look like a joke.
Click to expand...

wRONG UNLOCKING A 6950 GIVES YOU 2.9 % MORE PERFORMANCE. Its a waste of time and effort.:hmm: sorry for caps..

edit:
Sorry 2.7% more performance
 
R

RavenSEAL

Diamond Member
Jan 4, 2010
8,661
3
0
happy medium said:
wRONG UNLOCKING A 6950 GIVES YOU 2.9 % MORE PERFORMANCE. Its a waste of time and effort.:hmm: sorry for caps.
Click to expand...

LOL, YOU'RE PATHETIC. SORRY FOR CAPS.:rolleyes:


Personal attacks and insults are not acceptable.

Moderator Idontcare
 
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mnewsham

mnewsham

Lifer
Oct 2, 2010
14,539
428
136
-3Dmark11 Performance Setting

6950 Stock: 4652
6950 OC: 5078

6950 Shader Unlock: 4765
6950 Shader Unlock OC +20% PC: 5202

6950 w/ Full 6970 Unlock +20% PC: 5414

(+%20 PC = Power Control in CCC, this is very important to stabilize the 6950 and prevent damage)
Click to expand...

Meh unlock and OC gets you a nice gain for free.
 
K

Kingkazma

Member
Feb 23, 2011
105
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will things like 3ds max have support for AMD cards? thats the main reason im holding back on AMD because i think i remember someone telling me that theres CUDA support.
 
mnewsham

mnewsham

Lifer
Oct 2, 2010
14,539
428
136
Here is what the website says.
Some features of 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design 2012 are enabled only when used with graphics hardware that supports Shader Model 3.0 (Pixel Shader and Vertex Shader 3.0). In addition, Quicksilver hardware rendering requires additional GPU resources to work effectively. A minimum of 512 MB of graphics memory should be used. A minimum of 1 GB is recommended for the most complex scenes, shaders, and lighting modes.

The integrated iray® rendering technology from mental images runs well on CPU processing alone but can be accelerated by NVIDIA GPU CUDA technology. Check to see if your graphic card is CUDA ready here: http://www.nvidia.com/object/cuda_gpus.html
Click to expand...
 
K

Kingkazma

Member
Feb 23, 2011
105
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well now does anyone have specific card recommendations? (ex. asus gtx560ti newegg)
i live in Southern California for Frys and Microcenter are not THAT far away.

oh and newegg's free shipping gets to my house in two days. :D always awesome
 
mnewsham

mnewsham

Lifer
Oct 2, 2010
14,539
428
136
Kingkazma said:
well now does anyone have specific card recommendations? (ex. asus gtx560ti newegg)
i live in Southern California for Frys and Microcenter are not THAT far away.

oh and newegg's free shipping gets to my house in two days. :D always awesome
Click to expand...

If your main thing is doing work in 3D max and AUTOCAD i would recommend the Quadro 4000 It really is worth it for professional applications.
 
happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
Kingkazma said:
well now does anyone have specific card recommendations? (ex. asus gtx560ti newegg)
i live in Southern California for Frys and Microcenter are not THAT far away.

oh and newegg's free shipping gets to my house in two days. :D always awesome
Click to expand...

yea get the gtx570 I linked for 309$ and 2 free games,easy choice.
if you dont want the games sell them for 15$ each. 280$ for a gtx570 is a killer deal.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-370-_-Product
 
K

Kingkazma

Member
Feb 23, 2011
105
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0
mnewsham said:
If your main thing is doing work in 3D max and AUTOCAD i would recommend the Quadro 4000 It really is worth it for professional applications.
Click to expand...

it's super duper expensive :D

i'm not a professional, simply a student who wants to work AND play games.


my mentor has insane setups for me to use at the school.
 
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