OK, first let me say that I am in the middle of an Eyefinity build right now, only using 15" LCD's however; it's a spare parts build.
I even did a thread about it.
Odds are that I'm going to use a HD5770 or the HD6850, I haven't made up my mind yet.
resolution is only 1024x768..
AMD AMD/ATi Eyefinity (in development, mostly spare parts...)
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Athlon X2 7850 @ (3.2GHz) KUMA
ASUS M3A78-EM (AM2+) AMD 780G HDMI mATX
AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE OEM Copper Heatsink/Fan
4GB (2x2GB) Patriot PSD22G8002 DDR2 CL5 PC2-6400
- AMD/ATi Eyefinity gfx card -
WD Raptor 160GB 10K HDD WD1600ADFS
LG GH22NS40 22x SATA DVD±RW
MYOPENPC DOMA Pro PCI Black Transparent Acrylic Open Computer Case
RF-500WPS2 RocketFish 500-Watt Semi-modular Power Supply
3 - Dell UltraSharp 1504FP Flat Panel LCD DVI & VGA USB (height, pivot (rotation), swivel, tilt)
Windows 7 Ult. x64
secondly, I have played and seen some games in Eyefinity and that's why the parts build.
i got hooked.
my main gaming unit is an i5-760 build:
HEAVY HITTER
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Intel Core i5-760 @ (3.4GHz) Lynnfield
EVGA LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX
COOLER MASTER Intel Core i5 Gemin II S 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600
nVidia GeForce GTS 240 (OEM Product) 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 (phys-X)
EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
OCZ Vertex 2 80GB SATA II
2 x WD VelociRaptor 300GB (RAID 0)
SAMSUNG BLU-RAY COMBO 8X BLACK BD ROM/DVD WRITER
COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced - 2 x 140mm + 3 x 120mm fans
NZXT Sentry-2 5.25in Touch Screen fan controller
Rosewill RV2-700 700W SLI Power Supply
27in ASUS Black Full HD HDMI LED BackLight LCD Monitor w/Webcam
Windows 7 Ult. x64
being a former Dell 'flunky' for years, I had several Dell units that I maxed out.
I left Dell in like end of '07.
your 530 has some potential but in the end it's restricted because of the Dell BIOS.
You’re right on the Dell BIOS limitations.
I bought the Inspiron 530 direct from Dell in mid-2008. My customization was Core 2 Duo E8200, 2GB RAM, Radeon HD 2600 XT, 500GB. Going Quad-Core during customization was more that I could chew; therefore, I figured I would upgrade the processor later down the road and settled for a Core 2 Duo. After having had the system for two years and considering upgrade options, it’s when I knew of the PC Vendor hiccup – the upgrade path is RESTRICTIVE.
For instance, Dell shipped these 530 systems with either a G33M02 or G33M03 motherboard, with the former for Core 2 Duo and the other support up to Core 2 Quad. Since I bought a Core 2 Duo, Dell slapped in a G33M02 board – to my discovery, the board limited to 4GB RAM max upgrade whereas the G33M03 (for Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad) is upgradeable to 8GB.
What Dell (PC Vendors) don’t mention/specify on their web store is board flavours and specifications...this information can only be found out with a little digging. This upset me, and as a result, the 530 was my first and last vendor pre-built system purchase...I'm returning to the DIY route, which I haven't done in years. My first and second PCs were built by me (Pentium III and Pentium IV). The Inspiron 530 was my third PC.
If I were to go quad-core on the 530, it would require a motherboard swap and replacing the 300W PSU with at least a 350W.
To make the most out of my 530 system (considering the board’s limitations), I upgraded the 2GB 667MHz RAM to 4GB 800MHz. I also added two hard disk (500GB and 640GB)...storage is never enough. The mini-tower case allows two hard disks and two optical drives. Since the second optical drive bay was empty, I got hard disk mounting brackets for the third hard disk.
The two upgrades left are the GPU and PSU.
The monitor I use is a 19” LCD. I wanted to bump up and get a 23/24” LCD. I was going to be using both monitors with the 23/24”primary and 19” secondary (extended display). But after seeing the Eyefinity experience, I've dropped the 23/24” display purchase and will get two additional 19” LCD monitors.
I'm getting inspired by the specifications of your HEAVY HITTER system for my new build...and also interested of the outcome of your Eyefinity project build