Buy 2nd 5870 or replace w/ 570 GTX for SLI later?

[Wreckage]

It looks like the 5870s are back up in the $300 range. Making the 570 look like a better option. (or a 470 for around $215).

 

[djnsmith7]

I concur with everyone that suggested upgrading to a 24"+ 1920x1080 monitor. Adding another GPU won't make any difference with what you have now.

 

[nOOky]

Yea, a new monitor makes more sense. It will be brighter and probably have a faster refresh (you know what I mean). If you think about everything you put into your computer is output on the monitor, so when you have all that horsepower in your tower you don't want to sit and stare at a crappy monitor, you want to enjoy the experience and get into your games. I'd try for a 24" at least, heck I'd saw corners off a crummy desk anyday to have more viewing real estate!

 

[cusideabelincoln]

it would take a 27 inch 16:9 monitor to match the physical height of your 19 inch 5:4. do NOT get a 21.5 inch 16:9 screen because it will look like a mail slot compared to what you have now. get at least a 24 inch or bigger. there are a couple of decent 27 inch 1920x1080 monitors for gaming out there including the 1ms Samsung P2770FH.

Nonsense. The extra on-screen real estate is well worth it and can make the screen appear bigger. For use as a monitor where you'll only be 1.5' away from the screen, 21.5" is fine. For a multi-tasked monitor, if it were to be used to playback media and be viewed from a larger distance, then bigger is better. Also 21.5" has a better pixel pitch.

 

[toyota]

Nonsense. The extra on-screen real estate is well worth it and can make the screen appear bigger. For use as a monitor where you'll only be 1.5' away from the screen, 21.5" is fine. For a multi-tasked monitor, if it were to be used to playback media and be viewed from a larger distance, then bigger is better. Also 21.5" has a better pixel pitch.

a 21.5 inch 16:9 is really tiny height wise when you have been looking at a 19 inch 5:4 for years. what I said to him about it taking a 27 inch 16:9 to match the physical height of his 19 inch 5:5 monitor is a MATHEMATICAL FACT. heck even a 24 inch 16:9 is going to look quite small at first so that is the minimum I would recommend him upgrading to.

a better pixel pitch does not have anything to do with what I am saying. you know if they made a 17 inch 2560x1080 monitor that would have a lower pixel pitch too but so what? I am talking about him getting a monitor that wont feel extremely physically small compared to what he has been looking at for years.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Some 5850's are dirt cheap. You can always CF that with you current 5870 and get a bigger monitor.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2133025

 

[five_seven]

Well, when in doubt test it out!

I took some cardboard and copied the sizes on two bezels at work today. One was a HP 24" and the other was an HP 22". I cut them out and attached them to my existing 19" to use as a stand, and then with a tape measure I used the product heights on some of the 22" and 24" LCD's at NewEgg to set the level of my test bezel. The viewable area is surprisingly exact, so short of thickness in bezels on other brands it's the height and viewable comparison I was after.

Here's the 22":

Here's the 24", height taken from an ASUS:

Both pics where taken at my approximate sitting position (~3'). Even with the 22" model I'm surprised it was a bigger difference than I was expecting given the some of the suggestions and opinions on it. I could go with either I guess. Damn, still not an particularly easy decision. Suppose I'll roam around NewEgg for a while.

 

[happy medium]

Dam smart idea my friend, and good luck.

 

[Termie]

Very cool experiment. Good thinking. From the shape of those bezels, I'm wondering if those HP monitors were 16:10 rather than 16:9. They seem relatively tall, so if you're getting dimensions from an Asus 21.5" or 23", you might be mixing and matching a bit. In other words, the 1080p monitors won't have that much screen real estate (they'll start further off the desk). Anyway, still a really cool experiment. Good luck, and props for taking our advice in stride. This is going to be a huge upgrade and well worth the money.

 

[Powermoloch]

get a new monitor, with those cardboard cutouts = smart plan.

then you can enjoy the full glory of 5870 CF or a single card 😛

 

[five_seven]

Very cool experiment. Good thinking. From the shape of those bezels, I'm wondering if those HP monitors were 16:10 rather than 16:9.

The 22" was an HP L2208w and the 24" was an HP LP2465, both of which were, in fact, 16:10. Good call on that!

 

[DNorth]

get a 24" and do away with the stand....

 

[zerocool84]

Do not go 22". I went from a 19" 5:4 monitor like you and got a 23" 1920x1080 monitor last year and I want to go bigger already.

 

[mosox]

Can you cut those 4 legs of the monitor stand and make them smaller?

 

[five_seven]

I've been doing some research on this all week, but let me quickly answer mosox: Yes, I can undo the four legs and remove the platform on the desk. I liked having the screen at eye-height, but a little lower wouldn't be a problem at all if I needed it.

--

So I found a link (forget from where) to the WSGF site and I did quite a bit of reading of their FAQ and reports on various games I own that I play, and I'm somewhat thrown off by the fact that some games have anomalies (most commonly HUD stretching) because they were designed for either 16:9 or 16:10. Some games (like HL2) are completely certified and adjust between the two without any problems. Others do not.

I can't seem to get a solid answer on this but it would likely instantly solve my purchase decision: If I get a screen that natively supports 1900x1200, if I set the resolution on 16:9 games to be 1900x1080 will the game/monitor set letterbox mode and shrink down screen, or will the monitor scale the 1900x1080 sans black bars and affect image quality?

I may be getting more into topics meant for another forum now, I'm sorry!