New Graphics card

[lwidas]

With the Specs below I would like to add a New Video Card to my computer to help with video and to allow future expansion On Displays.
Currently I'm Running two monitors with just the onboard Graphics card. one Via HDMI and One Via SVGA. I will eventually have three or four displays. What is the Best Card for expansion and Such?

Specs
----------------------------

AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3

Cache Socket AM2+ 95W

ECS BLACK SERIES A780GM-A AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI ATX AMD

Motherboard - Retail

OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)

Dual Channel

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"

Internal Hard Drive - OEM

1 LG DVD Rom

Coolmax / V-400 / 400-Watt

 

[pepperman]

What kind of stuff do you do that you need the extra displays for?

 

[hunter315]

A 5850 and 5870 can each run 3 displays, if you wait for the eyefinity versions to come out each card will be able to run up to 6 displays, however before upgrading your graphics card, you will need to upgrade that PSU.

 

[pepperman]

What kind of stuff do yo use your computer for? That information can help us figure out what kind of (a) card(s) you need.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I am not quite sure how this eyefinity stuff is going to work w/ multiple displays....here the reviewer used 3.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5870,2422-8.html

"Configuring three displays to run in single large surface mode is intuitive under Windows 7 (it’ll also work under Windows Vista and Linux). I set my desktop to 5760x1200 and tiled the background to keep things familiar. This is the way you’d want to game, but it’s not the way you would want to use a computer. In SLS mode, you literally have the equivalent of one huge desktop. Maximize Outlook and you span the app across the whole surface. ATI says you can set hotkeys to toggle between SLS and independent display modes, but this must not be as intuitive, because I couldn’t make it happen. Criticism number one: there needs to be a smoother way to swap between an independent display “productivity” mode and gaming across the single large surface.

....But CrossFire doesn’t yet work. ATI’s driver team is looking at the issue, it says, but there is no ETA on when a pair of 5870s might be used to bolster performance further. Criticism number two: no CrossFire? Really?"

 

[cirdecus]

A 5850 and 5870 can each run 3 displays, if you wait for the eyefinity versions to come out each card will be able to run up to 6 displays, however before upgrading your graphics card, you will need to upgrade that PSU.

Agreed. The 5850 would be the best choice, but since you're focused on multiple monitors, I'd wait for the eyefinity to come out shortly.

You would have to make sure you have a PCI-e slot and a bigger PSU though.

Another questions would be, what are you using the card for? If you're thinking games, then your cpu, board and RAM are going to bottleneck most current video cards. If you're just doing work and spreadsheets, then i wouldn't bother with a video card.

I would get the Matrox Triple or Quad Head2Go. Its an expansion pack that connects to your existing video card and split the monitors 3 or 4 ways. Its much cheaper than a 5850

 

[lwidas]

The Reason I need the extra displays is I do Audio production with a DAW and would like to see my mixer play list and channels and Plug ins simultaneous. Multiple displays is not required however it does prevent getting lost in a very long song and greatly improves Efficiency. I also do some minor gaming and What Not Nothing to major. I knew I was going to have to replace PSU was already looking at a new corsair was also planning to put in a few more HDD and DVD Burners. But this is all a process.

 

[cirdecus]

sounds good. Then the ATI 5850 is a great choice when eyefinity comes out. If you think your current card is fine for the games you play, then you can save some cash and get the matrox