New 2nd graphics card recommendation

[randomkid]

My monitors are currently having an output of
17 inch: VGA
24 inch monitor: HDMI/VGA
23 inch: DVI/VGA

I assume I could also use this card with an hdmi to displayport converter for the 24 inch:
http://www.yoyo.com.mt/en/video-graphics-cards/4572-sapphire-radeon-hd5450-512mb-ddr3-4895106250451.html

would that do the job?

Sure. Its an AMD in the 5XXX series. It will support up to 3 monitors so it suits your need in a very cost effective package.

& yes on the HDMI to display port adaptor too.

 

[drtanz]

Thanks, will going for a higher end card like the 6770 or 6790 affect the performance of the tools I use e.g. Photoshop? Or is the difference mainly seen in gaming?

Would I be able to use the current card (GT 240) I have in tandem with this Radeon hd5450 card? If so I could just leave the GT240 in there and use it to run the hdmi monitor, which is my main monitor. I believe the GT240 is better than the HD5450 from a few reviews I've seen.

 

[randomkid]

That is interesting question & made me realize that you are not interested about eyefinity or surround vision. So perhaps another nVidia card ( may or may not be the same as your 240 ) will be better option so you only need to install only one driver. You can follow this thread which involves setting up 3 monitors using 2 different nVidia cards.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/299221-33-monitors-nvidia-cards

 

[drtanz]

Just one final quesiton, I found the ideal card
http://www.scanmalta.com/eshop/512mb-evga-g210-pci-express-video-card.html

Will it fit in the second slot on my board?
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/837/img2418u.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/641/img2417z.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/685/img2416b.jpg/

I'm slightly concerned that the heatsink wont fit due to the PCI slot beneath which is more protruding than the PCI-e slot.

 

[randomkid]

It should fit. The heatsink will be cleared of the PCI slot.
I saw that you got a 210 which is much weaker than the 240. Because it is weaker, you might notice some slowing down when you drag from a monitor that is connected to the 240 into the monitor connected to the 210.

Get a 430 at the least so you will have more or less the same performance irregardless of where you drag your application.
http://www.scanmalta.com/eshop/512mb-evga-geforce-gt-430-pci-express-video-card.html

It will be some 25Euro more expensive but I think it is worth it. Honestly, the 210 is a waste for its price. It only have 16 stream processors at around 600Mhz versus 96 streaming processors at 700Mhz on the 430. So that is more than 4x processing power at less than double the price.

 

[drtanz]

Thanks I see your point, my reasoning is that the new card will only be powering the 17 inch monitor, which I will only use for basic browsing of sites or PDFs, I can't see myself moving Photoshop over onto it when I have two other bigger monitors who render colour much more accurately. I'm also wary of having a fan instead of passive cooling, I don't want to add more noise to the setup.

If in a year or two I'll see the need for something more powerful I'll ditch these two cards and go for a good Radeon that can support 3 monitors on one card.

 

[drtanz]

Bought and installed the 210, the solution works perfectly, thanks for all the help.