Need Video Card for 3 monitors

[arsenal009]

Hi guys,

I have an Asus P5QL/EPU motherboard. I would like to purchase a video card that will allow me to use 3 1080p monitors w/o any issues.

My current video card is an amd radeon hd 6800 series. But i have problems with it when I try using 3 monitors. My budget is ~$200, any suggestions?


Thanks

 

[3DVagabond]

What is the problem the 6800 is having?

 

[arsenal009]

It used to work ok w 3 monitors, there was noticeable choppiness at times while watching movies. But now it doesn't work anymore. I can only get 2 monitors to work. I tried another active dp cable, but no change. So i'm guessing it's the video card.

 

[3DVagabond]

OK. Well both AMD and nVidia offer 3+ monitor support. Pick a price or performance level. A 290 would give you the biggest boost for the most reasonable outlay. Any of these three would be good deals. I'd personally opt for the Sapphire purely on the performance of the cooler. XFX offers the best customer support though and it's cooler is perfectly acceptable.

 

[arsenal009]

Hey, do you think you can recommend me something that is max $200?

 

[3DVagabond]

AMD 280, 285 and nVidia 960 can all be had for $200 or less. These are the least expensive I could find from each model.

960 uses the least power.
280 has 3 GB of RAM where the other two have only 2GB. This might be important at your resolution. Older design though so it doesn't have the latest feature set from AMD
285 is the fastest at high res (within it's VRAM limit), but not by enough to really matter. It does have 2x DVI where the other two only have one. This might make it easier to connect to your monitors. It's the newest AMD design and has more features and a more modern uArch than the 280.

You can't really go wrong with any of them. Personally, if I were near $200 though, like the 960 and 285, I'd go a little more and get a 290. It's ~50% faster than the other cards here and has 4GB of VRAM compared to 2 or 3 for the others.

 

[RussianSensation]

Are you going to be gaming much? If you just need to watch movies/shows, and don't mind mixing up VGA + DVI + HDMI, you could get a $40 card.

If you need all digital connections, $90 GTX750 + $2 adapter for miniHDMI port.

 

[Headfoot]

The 290/x can run 3xDVI or HDMI due to its beefed up video output, other modern cards are not going to do 3x HDMI, instead you'd have to go 1xDP + 2xHDMI/DVI.

Otherwise pretty much any modern card can do 1-2xDP + 2xHDMI/DVI

 

[arsenal009]

Are you going to be gaming much? If you just need to watch movies/shows, and don't mind mixing up VGA + DVI + HDMI, you could get a $40 card.

If you need all digital connections, $90 GTX750 + $2 adapter for miniHDMI port.

Hey, I want to be able to use 2 DVI monitors & 1 HDMI monitor. No DisplayPorts.
I like your 2nd suggestion, but I also want at least 2gb of vram (so it will be an upgrade to my current card).

Can you suggest me one with at least 2gb of vram?

 

[VirtualLarry]

I like your 2nd suggestion, but I also want at least 2gb of vram (so it will be an upgrade to my current card).

Can you suggest me one with at least 2gb of vram?

Are you using this for gaming? Or desktop usage? For gaming, then get a more powerful card too. If for desktop, more VRAM is more-or-less useless.

It's designed to "sucker" people into thinking that a card (a non-gaming card) with 2GB VRAM is somehow better than one with 1GB.

 

[arsenal009]

Are you using this for gaming? Or desktop usage? For gaming, then get a more powerful card too. If for desktop, more VRAM is more-or-less useless.

It's designed to "sucker" people into thinking that a card (a non-gaming card) with 2GB VRAM is somehow better than one with 1GB.

I do gaming, but I play games like Pro Evolution Soccer or FIFA. That's why I would like at least 2GB vram, so it's better than what I currently have, but I don't need top of the line either.