What video card option should I use for 7680X1440

[leeb2013]

well my 2x 7950 only just drives 3x 1680x1050 monitors at 60fps in BF4 at stock clocks (fine if o/c) and use 2.7GB of memory, so I think 2x670 2GB is nowhere near enough for your monitors. I think you should consider 2x770 4GB, 2x780 or 2xR9-290...... and did the right thing ordering 2xR9-290

 

[KaRLiToS]

Gotta love the flood of votes for the 670 right after I order my pair of 290s.

Good choice my friend, if you need any help setting the cards and monitors and/or ocing them, let me know.

 

[tolis626]

Good choice my friend, if you need any help setting the cards and monitors and/or ocing them, let me know.

I suppose with all the trouble you've gone through with your setup,you must have become THE expert when it comes to troubleshooting the R9 series. 😛

 

[Zardnok]

Ivy is back among the living! I decided to do a full rework of my system while I had everything apart. I delidded my CPU and lapped it to a mirror finish. I also applied 10 sheets of sound dampening material to my case. I also upgraded my old Corsair to a new Seasonic X850 I got a few months ago on sale. There were a few hiccups along the way and a few major scares delidding, but I finally have her back up and running.

First impressions using my old quality settings (Ultra and High) in WoT gives me 40ish FPS. I will turn off AA and reduce shadows to see if I can get back over 60 consistently. I will say that having a full 180 degree view range in game might induce vertigo if I am drinking too heavily one night!!

I will keep you all updated as I play with it.

 

[Cobra Khan]

Ivy is back among the living! I decided to do a full rework of my system while I had everything apart. I delidded my CPU and lapped it to a mirror finish. I also applied 10 sheets of sound dampening material to my case. I also upgraded my old Corsair to a new Seasonic X850 I got a few months ago on sale. There were a few hiccups along the way and a few major scares delidding, but I finally have her back up and running.

First impressions using my old quality settings (Ultra and High) in WoT gives me 40ish FPS. I will turn off AA and reduce shadows to see if I can get back over 60 consistently. I will say that having a full 180 degree view range in game might induce vertigo if I am drinking too heavily one night!!

I will keep you all updated as I play with it.

Hey,

I have found myself in a very similar situation that you were in a while ago.

Would like to run 3x 1440p monitors as well, but only have $1.2k (GPU Budget) to do so.

How has your rig performed so far?

Basically the only games that I will utilize all three monitors on will be Asseto Corsa, iRacing, and DiRT 3. All other FPS games will be played on a single monitor.

I basically just want the games to look as good as possible within my budget. If running lower resolution with more money to dedicate towards graphics will get me a better overall picture, I would prefer to go that route. However, if going that route only increases the picture by a negligible amount, I would prefer to go with 1440p monitors as I will be using them mainly for trading stocks and not gaming. I don't "need" to have everything on Ultra. I just want the best picture within what my budget can afford.

I should add, I have access to R9 290X's that I can get for $750 for the pair

Thanks in advance for any advice/input!

 

[Shmee]

You could try going with the 2x 290x, or possibly 3x 290s, if possible and compatible. Also, what are the rest of your system specs? That much video power would require some serious, PSU, motherboard, and CPU specs. And a good compatible case as well :O

 

[Cobra Khan]

You could try going with the 2x 290x, or possibly 3x 290s, if possible and compatible. Also, what are the rest of your system specs? That much video power would require some serious, PSU, motherboard, and CPU specs. And a good compatible case as well :O

As of right now, my build looks like this:

CPU: AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo)| $179.99
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($187.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($168.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($134.99 @ Best Buy)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case ($129.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 1050W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHBS112-04 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($79.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1183.90

Monitors will be 27" Tempest X270OC

 

[KaRLiToS]

Why did you get a FX-8350 if you want to run at that resolution? I would have gotten an i7 3770k or 4770k.

 

[Cobra Khan]

Why did you get a FX-8350 if you want to run at that resolution? I would have gotten an i7 3770k or 4770k.

To be honest, I had a 4770k originally on that list, but thought I could save a couple hundred by getting an AMD card without sacrificing much, if anything at all.

Was I wrong? Maybe I didn't research enough?

Regardless, nothing is set in stone or paid for yet so I am very open minded to changes!

 

[Zardnok]

To be honest, I had a 4770k originally on that list, but thought I could save a couple hundred by getting an AMD card without sacrificing much, if anything at all.

Was I wrong? Maybe I didn't research enough?

Regardless, nothing is set in stone or paid for yet so I am very open minded to changes!

Absolutely go with an Intel CPU, the AMD will not be fast enough for this resolution. My advice is to get the fastest i7 you can. I got my i5 back when I only had one monitor and the games I was playing did not take advantage of the additional cores. Looking back I wish I had gone with i7 and been much more future proof.

As for my particular system, I am mostly happy with it. My GPUs are overclocked to 1150/5k now and my CPU is up to 4.8. My major problem is that World of Tanks does not allow Cross-fire, so I am gimped when I play it. I have tweaked my settings to get 45ish average FPS, but I miss 60+ and can tell a difference in some battles when there is slight stutter as it dips below 30.

If you can get a pair of 290xs for $750, jump on them and don't look back. They are probably the best current solution for 7680X1440. Looks like the rest of your parts look good, although I am not a fan of the budget Blue series WD drives, although I am a huge fan of the WD Black drives as they are worth the premium with longevity, reliability, and warranty. Swap that AMD for an Intel, maybe Devils Canyon, you already had an Intel Mobo selected, toss that pair of 290Xs in and you have a MONSTER!!

 

[Cobra Khan]

Absolutely go with an Intel CPU, the AMD will not be fast enough for this resolution. My advice is to get the fastest i7 you can. I got my i5 back when I only had one monitor and the games I was playing did not take advantage of the additional cores. Looking back I wish I had gone with i7 and been much more future proof.

As for my particular system, I am mostly happy with it. My GPUs are overclocked to 1150/5k now and my CPU is up to 4.8. My major problem is that World of Tanks does not allow Cross-fire, so I am gimped when I play it. I have tweaked my settings to get 45ish average FPS, but I miss 60+ and can tell a difference in some battles when there is slight stutter as it dips below 30.

If you can get a pair of 290xs for $750, jump on them and don't look back. They are probably the best current solution for 7680X1440. Looks like the rest of your parts look good, although I am not a fan of the budget Blue series WD drives, although I am a huge fan of the WD Black drives as they are worth the premium with longevity, reliability, and warranty. Swap that AMD for an Intel, maybe Devils Canyon, you already had an Intel Mobo selected, toss that pair of 290Xs in and you have a MONSTER!!

Excellent, thank you for your input. I will go with an i7 for sure.

As far as GPU's go, I have pretty much come down to deciding between 290x's and GTX 780's. Would I benefit more from the 6gb cards? I know the 290x overclocks really well, but maybe the 780's would be a better choice though?

 

[KaRLiToS]

Get 2 or 3 x R9 290(non x)
Paired with a i7 4770k or 4930k

 

[EliteRetard]

Excellent, thank you for your input. I will go with an i7 for sure.

As far as GPU's go, I have pretty much come down to deciding between 290x's and GTX 780's. Would I benefit more from the 6gb cards? I know the 290x overclocks really well, but maybe the 780's would be a better choice though?

For high res you need the extra RAM. The 290s scale better too (get more out of second card).

EdiT: Also the new Ivy-E is coming out soon (3 months?)...may be worth the wait since that platform is made for multiple GPUs.

 

[Cobra Khan]

Good points guys. I will be building this in 2-3 months so that may work out if they come out by late September or October.

 

[KaRLiToS]

EdiT: Also the new Ivy-E is coming out soon (3 months?)...may be worth the wait since that platform is made for multiple GPUs.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2388209

Its Haswell-e and x99 chipset aka i7 5930k. 😉 (8 cores)

September 2014

 

[EliteRetard]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2388209

Its Haswell-e and x99 chipset aka i7 5930k. 😉 (8 cores)

September 2014

Derp. And a typo.

I haven't bought a new PC since like 2000. I was gifted one in 2006 and I salvaged a slightly better one a year or two ago but at best it's 2010 hardware.

Personally I've been waiting for good hardware to come out. I've been reading about stuff as it comes out...but the years and years of no progress has me a bit unenthusiastic.

 

[Cobra Khan]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2388209

Its Haswell-e and x99 chipset aka i7 5930k. 😉 (8 cores)

September 2014

From my research it looks like only the 5960k will be 8 cores, the rest are six. Is that correct?

Also, would the new chipset really significantly improve the performance of my GPU's? I still plan on getting either 780's, 290's, or 290x's. If I wait for the new chipset I will have to go a couple hundred over budget and I would prefer not to do that unless I see measurable results.

 

[EliteRetard]

From my research it looks like only the 5960k will be 8 cores, the rest are six. Is that correct?

Also, would the new chipset really significantly improve the performance of my GPU's? I still plan on getting either 780's, 290's, or 290x's. If I wait for the new chipset I will have to go a couple hundred over budget and I would prefer not to do that unless I see measurable results.

Probably, but if current pricing is anything then you'll be able to get a six core for around the same price as the quad core i7. This "enthusiast platform" also has more PCI-E lanes so it's more suitable for multi GPU setups and will have DDR4.

If you stick with 2 GPU's the current "mainstream platform" should work fine with the i7. It's entirely up to you, the 4790k is the fastest stock CPU to date. But Intel hasn't updated their "enthusiast platform" in over 2 years and it's really close now so it seems worthwhile to wait and see since you're building a high end system. There's a chance it'll be worth it.

 

[KaRLiToS]

From my research it looks like only the 5960k will be 8 cores, the rest are six. Is that correct?

Also, would the new chipset really significantly improve the performance of my GPU's? I still plan on getting either 780's, 290's, or 290x's. If I wait for the new chipset I will have to go a couple hundred over budget and I would prefer not to do that unless I see measurable results.

My mistake, I meant the 5960x.

I highly suggest the R9 290 for this high of a resolution.

 

[Shmee]

I would go with the Haswell E platform when it comes out. You may want to consider getting a SATA express SSD as well, assuming they are out and ready by then. You will need DDR4, not sure on the price of that yet, and I would avoid getting the WD blue drives, go with a WD Black or similar higher end drive. Also, I would make sure that the 1050 W PSU would be enough for 3 cards, if that is what you are looking at. It should be, but then we don't know for sure the power draw of an OCed 8 core with haswell E, plus 3 290s 😛

Oh, and for that high a resolution, I don't think 2 cards are enough. 3way or 4 way 290 crossfire is my recommendation. Again, may need a higher end PSU still. The 1200W Seasonic platinum might be good enough, but make sure of it if you go for 4.

 

[KaRLiToS]

. Also, I would make sure that the 1050 W PSU would be enough for 3 cards, if that is what you are looking at. It should be, but then we don't know for sure the power draw of an OCed 8 core with haswell E, plus 3 290s 😛

True ! :thumbsup:

I would consider 1300w for 3 x R9 290 and OCed i7 5960x.

Oh, and for that high a resolution, I don't think 2 cards are enough. 3way or 4 way 290 crossfire is my recommendation. Again, may need a higher end PSU still. The 1200W Seasonic platinum might be good enough, but make sure of it if you go for 4.

Shmee, believe me, 3 x R9 290 need at least 1300 watts and 4 x 290 needs at least a 1500watts unit.

Those are my 4 x R9 290x with an OCed i7 4930k to 4.5 Ghz. Cards are lightly OCed and this was captured during gameplay and 100% load on the 4 cards. (I have 3 pumps and 30 fans though)

And this is during heavy benchmarking:
-Lepa G 1600 (1600 watts)
-Evga SuperNova 1000G2 (1000 watts)
_________
Total: 2600 watts

 

[EliteRetard]

And this is why we need 200 volt 20 amp circuits.

 

[Cobra Khan]

I see you guys are recommending the 290 for the most part. Why would 290's be a better option than the 6GB 780? I was under the impression high resolution/multi monitor setups benefit more from having the extra Vram GB? If I were to ASSume here, I would think dual 780 6GB cards would scale better, run cooler, and be more energy efficient than three 290's. If not, how much better would tri 290's be?

I definitely would not be able to afford a 5960k at an estimated $1k price tag. The 5930k I might be able to swing.

 

[Cobra Khan]

So after reading around a bunch more I see why trifire 290's were recommended. However, being this computer will need to be very reliable I wouldn't even consider trifire without water cooling, and from what I am seeing that will be an additional $500 or so for three water blocks and the necessary accessories.

I think I will wait until the 5930k comes out and go with trifire 290's. From what I am reading that should really give me a very robust system with no weak points, and the new 5930k should be able to utilize the performance of the 290's better than the current chip sets. Until then I will keep an eye on CL for some deals.

This "enthusiast platform" also has more PCI-E lanes so it's more suitable for multi GPU setups and will have DDR4.

Does this also require a MOBO, SSD, RAM that utilize DDR4?

 

[Cobra Khan]

Well, after doing more research yet again, I have come to the conclusion that it would be better to go with current components rather than wait for the 5930k and other components. If I wanted to go that route I would need other DDR4 components and the initial cost will be too much for my taste. With the 20nm cards coming out and the new chipsets I will at least be able to take advantage of the DDR3 price drops (hopefully). This system is already spec's way above what I NEED, so anything else will just be a waste for me.

Here is what I am going with:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($331.56 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($187.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: PNY Optima 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.97 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1300 G2 1300W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($154.99 @ NCIX US)
GPU: 3x R9 290's ($1000)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill BLACKHAWK-ULTRA Gaming Super Tower ($165)
Monitors: 3x Tempest X270OC ($1,450)
GPU/CPU Water Blocks & Complete Water Cooling system: ($750)
Total: $4,428 (shipping & taxes included)