Three monitors and crossfire SLI for gaming?

[HerbalKiller]

I'm really pumped about a few games coming out later this year.
Battlefield 3
Star Wars The Old Republic
Diablo III

I've got a little extra cash and would like to pimp up my video setup.
ignore my signature I've upgraded since then.
I have a AMD x4 965 with 12 GB RAM on an ASUS mobo that supports crossfire.
I need a video card anyway so why not go all out.

Would I be able to purchase two Radeon's at a moderate price, crossfire them, then be able to setup and game across three monitors? I think two is possible but that seems like it would suck for FPSs cause the middle of the screen is where you are shooting!
I'm new to this area so please excuse any dumb questions.

Could I do this for say $500? If I already have one 19" monitor.

 

[Chinoman]

You can run three screens even on a single Radeon card. I wouldn't recommend going either that route or Crossfire until you have a processor which won't hold back the system.

 

[Chinoman]

If a CPU upgrade seems uneconomical at the moment, you could upgrade to a dual 6850 set up and buy both monitors. Make sure your power supply can handle it first.

 

[happy medium]

Buy 2 19 inch monitors = 200$
And a Msi twin frozer 6950 2gb ( I think that is the one that unlocks/overclocks).= 300$
Your cpu should be fine.

That should do it.

 

[Spikesoldier]

If a CPU upgrade seems uneconomical at the moment, you could upgrade to a dual 6850 set up and buy both monitors. Make sure your power supply can handle it first.

i disagree with the 6850 recommendation. the 6950 2gb is the better card as the 6850 only has 1gb and shouldnt be enough framebuffer memory for eyefinity x3.

 

[Chinoman]

Even at higher resolutions a dual 6850 configuration is much faster than a single 6950

 

[HerbalKiller]

Well. the price of 1 6950 or 2 6850s is right about the same. So I'm thinking one 6950 would be better just for case real estate.. then I don't have to worry about crossfire support in games either I guess.

What's the verdict on the cpu?
Chinoman says I need to upgrade but happy medium says I'm fine.. sure I could probably use an upgrade, but I desperately need video so that has to be first anyway.

Any good links on how-to's for setting up the three monitors off one card? do I need to use three of the outputs on the card one to each monitor? some kind of setup in windows?

Thanks for the help.

 

[BladeVenom]

Buy 2 19 inch monitors = 200$
And a Msi twin frozer 6950 2gb ( I think that is the one that unlocks/overclocks).= 300$
Your cpu should be fine.

That should do it.

Don't forget an active Displayport adapter.

 

[HerbalKiller]

Ok yeah and that's $100. I guess I just need one since the 6950 would have two standard DVI outs.. I would need one to convert the displayport to create the three outs I need. Correct?

 

[BladeVenom]

You can get an active adapter for under $30 now. At least one monitor would need to use Displayport.

 

[HerbalKiller]

Yeah I was reading up on that just now. According to the AMD Eyefinity website:

"Active dongles use true DisplayPort signaling to 'actively' translate and re-transmit the signals as the required outputs. Because they use the true DisplayPort signaling, they are considered a DisplayPort connection and meet the requirements to enable 3 or more displays.

DisplayPort to DL-DVI dongles require an external power supply which is usually through a separate USB connection (the USB connection must meet the USB 'high power' specification)."

So then the question becomes... does the DisplayPort to DL-DVI dongle count as an Active Dongle to satisfy the three monitor requirement?

If not... I have to go find a displayport compatible monitor I guess.

 

[HerbalKiller]

Looks like the answer is yes. Active adapter DVI converter.. perfect.

http://www.amazon.com/Accell-B087B-0...3785663&sr=1-2