Minimum entry-point for triple monitor gaming

[pingAJB]

Hi all,

I have a great opportunity to build a new system, but I'm stuck when it comes to graphics card considerations:

I need to run two monitors for productivity, and this is (by far) going to be the PC's primary use. This work will involve Adobe CS and 3d modelling, and so a graphics card will be installed.

Now I'm also a little fond of the odd racing sim (Forza in times past) and Project Cars looks 'interesting' to say the least.

So... Let's say the two productivity monitors became three, coincidentally perfect for wrap around gaming...

The question is: what graphics card set up is required to play games across three monitors?

I will be using 3x Dell 1905fp monitors to start off with, and (hopefully) by the beginning of 2016 will be able to upgrade to 3x Dell P2414H's

1905fp is 19", 1280x1024
P2414H is 24", 1920x 1080
Both are rotatable to portrait mode

Now here is where I have struggled sourcing answers on forums... I don't believe I'm that fussed about playing games on ultra settings, and would happily sacrifice visual richness for framerates (particularly on the outer displays). Many solutions in forums appear highly focused on playing games at their highest settings.

Assuming games such as: Project Cars, Mass Effect, GTA, Battlefield (or similar) are to be played on MID-RANGE settings... ie they will be played for casual fun, rather than anything remotely hardcore.


Can one card do this?
Are two required?
How important is SLI/Crossfire in triple monitor gaming? (as this affects whether I can go AMD on mATX or not)

Or am I hugely misguided to be considering playing games on mid settings?

The rest of the build is likely to revolve around an FX6300, a motherboard that can take up to 32GB RAM, SSD boot, and (hopefully) a mATX case. This could evolve to be an Intel/mATX or an AMD/ATX config depending on the importance of SLI/Crossfire.

Thanks for your patience, and helpful opinions in advance.

 

[i7Baby]

You'll get a third of the fps that you'd get on one monitor.

To get smooth play, you will need a high end GPU eg R9 290X or GTX 970. And you'll need a CPU to support it. And PSU.

 

[pingAJB]

You'll get a third of the fps that you'd get on one monitor.

To get smooth play, you will need a high end GPU eg R9 290X or GTX 970. And you'll need a CPU to support it. And PSU.

Hey i7Baby,

Thanks for jumping on this so quickly.

So, in essence, you're saying that one card will do this just fine, as long as it can benchmark 100fps on a single monitor?

I was looking at the R9 270x 2/4GB cards - do you reckon the extra £80-100 is absolutely required for the R9 290x?

Alos, does anyone have their two cents on whether SLI/Crossfire is going to be a useful upgrade path for my intended uses?

 

[i7Baby]

BF4 is probably the hardest ask of the games you listed.

You can put PC specs into http://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=3060&game=Battlefield%204 and see how it'll play.

If you can get 100fps from a 270, then you should be OK. But as I said, I think you'll need a PC with more grunt than that.