What video card option should I use for 7680X1440

[Zardnok]

My third monitor will be here Wednesday, so now it comes to finding the horsepower to run this many pixels. I know my current 670GTX won't handle the duties with the eye-candy I am used to, so I am looking for upgrades. I can spend $1,200 to $1,500 on video cards if needed. I have a Seasonic X850 gold that I will be using for power. If I go with the AMD cards, I would attempt to off-set some of the cost by mining. I worry about the potential Display Port issues with AMD in Cross-fire though.

Option 1: Buy another used GTX670 and run SLI just to get by until mining craze crashes and new cards come out reducing pricing. ($200)

Option 2: Buy a single 290X to get by now and pick up a second when the cards come down in price ($700)

Option 3: Buy two 290X to run Crossfire and be done with it. ($1,400)

Option 4: Buy two 290s to run Crossfire and be done with it. ($1, 250)

Option 5: Buy a pair of GTX 780s to run SLI and be done with it. ($1,100)

Option 6: Buy a pair of GTX 780 Tis to run SLI and be done with it. ($1, 400)

 

[Jimzz]

I voted another 670 for now.

Do that and wait for the newer cards to come out and also, hopefully, the bitcoin to die down so the 290's drop back to a sain level.

 

[EliteRetard]

Gonna have VRAM issues with 2GB...Id say sell your 670 for $200 and take the $200 you would spend on SLI and get a R9-290. Except they almost never sell for $400 anymore.

That makes me think it's best to just wait and run a single 670. So what if the games look a little worse. I don't think it'll be that long before you have better options.

 

[ColonelBlimp]

Gonna have VRAM issues with 2GB...Id say sell your 670 for $200 and take the $200 you would spend on SLI and get a R9-290. Except they almost never sell for $400 anymore.

That makes me think it's best to just wait and run a single 670. So what if the games look a little worse. I don't think it'll be that long before you have better options.

Agree with this, 290's are great, just not at the current inflated prices

 

[nwo]

Voted for another 670. 2GB of RAM may be limiting for 1440p, but it's the most cost effective solution out of the ones you listed.

My advice would be to sell your 670 for $200 and find a site that has 290s backordered for ~$400. A single 290 would be a huge upgrade for 1440p over what you have now and should last you a while until the prices drop to sane levels.

 

[Headfoot]

2x 670 in short term until 20nm GPUs come out and then switch to that

 

[TreVader]

2x290. No reason to wait, Mantle is here.

 

[Attic]

Can't imagine 2gb being anywhere near suitable for that 3x 1440P resolution.

290 or 290x now and another now or later.

Could do 1 now at inflated price and back order one for closer to MSRP.

 

[_UP_]

I think it depends on what games you play. 3 x 2560 x 1440 gives you 11,059,200 pixels. That is significantly more than 4K/UHD (8,294,400). That means that any single card option is pretty much out the window especially the 670 you have.
I'd check some reviews that have UHD results (say this one), and check the games you play. For example, you can see a 770 will give 48.2 fps in BF3 (an old game) with medium quality.
I'd also consider future games (I preferred Nvidia for this generation, as I'm expecting Witcher 3 to play better on it, not to mention the Physx support). You'd still get lower frame-rates then these results, as you will be running roughly a 33% more pixels, but that would at least give you a ball-park estimation. To get good results, you'd probably have to go with at-least 3 cards (which, in theory, is possible, if you manage to get the R9 290s for MSRP).
This one might be interesting as well.
I'd probably go with AMD for your setup though. You will need that 4GB with a bigger bus.

 

[KingFatty]

Can someone just clarify where each display will be plugged in? Is there a way to provide three dual-link DVI ports or are the displays using displayport? This could be an issue if you are using the low-priced Korean displays that only support dual-link DVI.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Personally I'd try to wait for 20nm and see what your options are. Might be able to get a 20nm card that could do it. Might find 780/780ti/titan or something selling on forums. Some people upgrade very often.

 

[dangerman1337]

Depends on what games you want to play and if you are willing to play on lower settings, I don't think even two 290 Xs are going to cut it and the way people are treating cyrptocurrency to make money off (though that's another discussion), you would be better off just getting another GTX 670 and wait till 20nm high end Maxwell/R9 390 Xs. I have a feeling that Crysis 3 is going to be reflective on how intensive games later this year and the next two on how intensive they are going to get.

 

[Zardnok]

Can someone just clarify where each display will be plugged in? Is there a way to provide three dual-link DVI ports or are the displays using displayport? This could be an issue if you are using the low-priced Korean displays that only support dual-link DVI.

I will be using two DVI-D outputs and the third monitor will be driven by an Active DisplayPort to DVI-D adapter. I have not purchased the adapter yet as I have not done enough research to form an opinion as to one being better quality than another.

 

[KaRLiToS]

Can someone just clarify where each display will be plugged in? Is there a way to provide three dual-link DVI ports or are the displays using displayport? This could be an issue if you are using the low-priced Korean displays that only support dual-link DVI.

Two monitors plugged into DVI outputs and the third one plugged into the display port VIA a display Port to DVI USB powered active adapter.

For a complete list of Supported Hardware (adapters)

http://support.amd.com/en-us/recommended/eyefinity-adapters

Such as this one.

 

[Zardnok]

Two monitors plugged into DVI outputs and the third one plugged into the display port VIA a display Port to DVI USB powered active adapter.

For a complete list of Supported Hardware (adapters)

http://support.amd.com/en-us/recommended/eyefinity-adapters

Such as this one.

After reading up on DisplayPort adapters for the past two hours, I just ordered the exact one you linked KaRLiToS! It was on the Eyefinity recommended list and seems to have the exact same issues that many of the others have. I get the impression they are all a bit luck of the draw with the quality of USB supplied power making the biggest improvement in flickering. Here is to hoping I am in the 80% that have no problems!

I have been playing around with mining calculators and wondering how quickly I could pay off a pair of 290Xs...

 

[KaRLiToS]

After reading up on DisplayPort adapters for the past two hours, I just ordered the exact one you linked KaRLiToS! It was on the Eyefinity recommended list and seems to have the exact same issues that many of the others have. I get the impression they are all a bit luck of the draw with the quality of USB supplied power making the biggest improvement in flickering. Here is to hoping I am in the 80% that have no problems!

I have been playing around with mining calculators and wondering how quickly I could pay off a pair of 290Xs...

Believe me, its driver issue for now... on my side at least.

I have two adapters like this, because the HD 7970 had two mini-display ports and one DVI-Dual Link, so I needed two. Both work flawlessly.

I can run them on my R9 290x just fine but only when crossfire is disabled and it works fine on each single cards (tested 4 and 4 slots are tested to work fine). If I try CrossFire / Tri / Quad, it gets out of sync for some reasons that I don't know.

I will make a vid of my issue today if I find the time.

 

[UaVaj]

without knowing. 1) how much eye candy and 2) which game.

hard to give adequate suggestion.

 

[Zardnok]

without knowing. 1) how much eye candy and 2) which game.

hard to give adequate suggestion.

Currently I am playing World of Tanks, which should not be very graphically intensive, although I am currently running a number of hi-res packs with it. I am currently pulling 50-70FPS in WoT with most everything on Ultra. Once I get this set-up, I will pick up BF4, just to check it out and then the next big title I will be playing is Everquest Next/EQ Next Landmark, neither of which I think will be massive system hogs considering their MMO nature, but being the "next-gen" MMO, they will need more than the current games. I am sure I will fire up Skyrim and Diablo3 just to check them out as well. Skyrim with my current GTX670 and the hi-def mod packs I was running would bog down and anger me with its lack of VRAM.

As for how much eye-candy, well I like pretty games and I am not throwing another $2kish at my rig to not be able to at least turn stuff up to high. I doubt I need AA with this many pixels, so that should take some pressure off.

My Ergotech monitor stand should be here today, my Display Adapter will be here Tuesday, and my third monitor will be here Wednesday. I will likely redo my desk next weekend to set everything up, so I will need video cards by then.

 

[UaVaj]

thanks for the explanation. you should revise post #1 to include that for better poll results.

with high setting and no aa. you are definitely on the right track with your poll.
either 780 sli or 290 xfire should suffice . pick which ever favor your want.

out of the box working = 780
much patience and some tinkering = 290

would also suggest going the extra $150. for the ti or x.

 

[Zardnok]

Looks like we are tied between another GTX670 and a pair of 290s. The 670s I was watching on Ebay went for more than expected so that swung my vote for a pair of Sapphire Tri-X 290s. With luck I will get them before the weekend!

Thanks everyone for voting and contributing to this thread. Once I get my set-up completed, I will post a couple of pics for you.

 

[Sohaltang]

I dont think dual cards will even be enough.

 

[apoe]

That is 25% more pixels than 4K. Therefore, multiple GTX 780 Tis :biggrin:

 

[Geforce man]

You can pick up used GTX 780's for about 400$ now, but even with that, new cards are coming out soon, I would probably buy a second 670 and hold off until the next gen is here / available. You might have to lower a few settings, but with the res that high you may not notice.

 

[OCGuy]

I'd take the easy upgrade path of 670 SLI, and then reevaluate the market landscape this summer.

If you are dying to change cards however, 780ti is getting down to ~$600 AMIR which makes inflated Hawaii prices look even more silly for gaming.

2x Titan Black would be ideal, but then we are back to the "silly for gaming" price/perf.

 

[Zardnok]

Gotta love the flood of votes for the 670 right after I order my pair of 290s. Doesn't matter now as I was watching a number of 670s and they were all going for $250ish instead of the $200ish they were selling for when I checked closed auctions.

I just checked UPS and my 290s are out for delivery now, so perhaps I skip my regularly scheduled Thursday night Poker game and install fun stuff after work!!