Which card is better for 3xHD eyefinity?

[sideshowbob]

Hi, this is my first post here..
I'm trying upgrade my system and install 3 = 1920x1080 60hz
monitors..

I'm planning to power them with either these two:

1. VTX3D Radeon™ HD 6670 2GB Graphics Card
http://www.maplin.co.uk/vtx3d-radeon-hd-6670-2gb-graphics-card-591647

2. ASUS AMD Radeon™ HD 6570 1GB Graphics Card
http://www.maplin.co.uk/asus-amd-radeon-hd-6570-1gb-graphics-card-528774

the first one is the obvious choice, cheaper and better?
not quite sure.. any opinions on these cards?
which one is better for an eyefinity 1920 x1080 = 3 monitors ?

I have a Phenom x6 core
with 4gb ddr3 ram
500w psu
FOXCONN AV88GMV Mobo
http://www.foxconnchannel.com/ProductDetail.aspx?T=motherboard&U=en-us0000504#

 

[AdioKIP]

Do you plan on gaming? If so both of those cards are WAY underpowered for EyeFinity resolutions. Out of the two you picked they're both low end cards, I'd go with the more powerful of the two the 6670, but even this wont allow you to game at EyeFinity resolutions.

 

[sideshowbob]

yeah.. mostly diablo 3, starcraft 2, 2 yr old fps maybe borderlands 1... what budget card do you recommend? im just aiming at 60fps maybe above average resolution

 

[sideshowbob]

how about a Sapphire Radeon HD7750 there currently £79 at amazon.. would that be somewhat enough? Also, I was thinking about installing two of the VTX3D Radeon™ HD 6670 2GB Graphics Card would just cost me around 45 x 2 = £90... problem is im not sure if my mobo would be able to accept two of these...
http://www.foxconnchannel.com/ProductDetail.aspx?T=motherboard&U=en-us0000504#

 

[sideshowbob]

probably not.. i do just have one pciex16

But I am looking at swapping my setup to my friends setup
mobo = P5N-D
http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5ND/
with dual PCIe2.0 Dual x16

but I would have to downgrade my phenom x6 core
to a Quad Core 2.66ghz processor

but if that what it takes to get a 5760 x 1080 60 fps
on probably.... mass effect 3??

i've seen videos where they have high settings on 6950 crossfire...
i'm not sure if it crossfire 6670 would work...

problem with getting 7950 or 7970 is the possibility of a bottleneck because my mobo can only support pci e 2.1.. am i correct with this?

 

[thently]

No PCI-E 2 is all that is needed till you get to dual cards ala 7990 or 690. I just setup a 670 with 3 monitors the res is 5990x1080 with bezzle correction and it dips down a bit at times in the frame rate. Truthfully you need two good cards to do well I would start at 2x7870 or 2x660TI (If they ever come out).. I know both are prob not an option for you but with what you are suggesting you will not have a good time of it unless you play a fairly low settings.

THent

 

[purple stain]

Honestly I find RTS games to be very disorienting in eyefinity.Yes it gives you more landscape but it's just not the same as a FPS.But that was just my own personal finding.You may like it.But isn't that why sought our help/advertise in the first place?

My concerns about your setup/what you want to be...

Both motherboard support only 1 graphics card.And if you get a more powerful single graphics card to power it at 60fps like you want it would be bottlenecked by either CPU.

Please!!!! I/we are here for you.Express your concern's and we can help you through it.

If your are upgrading the PC to meet your new standards,what is your budget?

 

[Ohmybad]

there is no way to do eyefinity cheap... when spending ~$150x3 for monitors(on the cheap), you need to spend the same/more on a GPU or Xfire setup.

 

[AMD Radeon]

pci 3.0 card can run on pci 2.0 mobo without any bottleneck

go with 7950 instead without swapping with your mate

 

[Kamen_BG]

You dont really need an AMD card to play on three monitors.Nvidia cards have a similar future called "Surround".This card is pretty much the starting point for such high-res gaming.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-074-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=

The next card i suggest you take a look at is the Gainward GTX 580 Phantom.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-149-GW&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=
It's all you need to play your games at high settings.

And the last card is the His HD 7950 IceQ.It's as fast as the GTX 580 but overclocks better and uses less power.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-054-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=

 

[purple stain]

Kamem...Just to let you know surround as a "single" card is only available on GTX6xx series cards.Something the OP...

 

[inanition02]

I can game in eyefinity with my 6870 with decent settings- but I would say you shouldn't go lower than something like that.

 

[sideshowbob]

Honestly I find RTS games to be very disorienting in eyefinity.Yes it gives you more landscape but it's just not the same as a FPS.But that was just my own personal finding.You may like it.But isn't that why sought our help/advertise in the first place?

My concerns about your setup/what you want to be...

Both motherboard support only 1 graphics card.And if you get a more powerful single graphics card to power it at 60fps like you want it would be bottlenecked by either CPU.

Please!!!! I/we are here for you.Express your concern's and we can help you through it.

If your are upgrading the PC to meet your new standards,what is your budget?

my current budget is not more than £100 for a single card...
im just hoping at the most to play diablo 3 in full settings in eyefinity for a few months and just play my fps in my xbox in the meantime..
i know I can just save up for a like £200 + for a good card but even if I can it's just too much money for me..

 

[AdioKIP]

Sorry, but there isnt a sub $100 card that is going to guarantee you 60 fps at 5760x1080. If your budget is that tight have you thought about a used card? If you could find something like a used 5850 that would atleast give you playable performance (I had one for 2 years before upgrading to my 7950), but it definitely wont max most current games. Diablo 3 is pretty easy to run, but you're still going to need more than a cheap $100 card to get it to stay at 60fps in EyeFinity resolutions. Basically its like one of the previous posters said, EyeFinity isnt something that can really be done cheaply. I've been running EyeFinity since before ATI made it official (2x 4850's using SoftH). I can definitely say its demanding on hardware and you get out of it what you put in. If you dont have the money for it I'd stick to one screen for the time being.

 

[a little black duck]

Sorry, but there isnt a sub $100 card that is going to guarantee you 60 fps at 5760x1080. If your budget is that tight have you thought about a used card? If you could find something like a used 5850 that would atleast give you playable performance (I had one for 2 years before upgrading to my 7950), but it definitely wont max most current games. Diablo 3 is pretty easy to run, but you're still going to need more than a cheap $100 card to get it to stay at 60fps in EyeFinity resolutions. Basically its like one of the previous posters said, EyeFinity isnt something that can really be done cheaply. I've been running EyeFinity since before ATI made it official (2x 4850's using SoftH). I can definitely say its demanding on hardware and you get out of it what you put in. If you dont have the money for it I'd stick to one screen for the time being.

+1
Couldn't agree more.

 

[sideshowbob]

I'm really getting confused with the naming of these cards.. at first I taught all 7000+ cards are better than all 5000+ but it seems like a 5950 card is still better than let say a 7750 card.. is that correct? or is there something I missed?

Also I'm looking at a gumtree ad locally here.. someone is selling a used
VTX 3D AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB GDDR5 for £180...
would that be a good deal?
because I'm willing to skimp on the monitors and just invest £80 more on the graphics card if it will save me from upgrading for another two years or so...

 

[AdioKIP]

I'm really getting confused with the naming of these cards.. at first I taught all 7000+ cards are better than all 5000+ but it seems like a 5950 card is still better than let say a 7750 card.. is that correct? or is there something I missed?

Also I'm looking at a gumtree ad locally here.. someone is selling a used
VTX 3D AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB GDDR5 for £180...
would that be a good deal?
because I'm willing to skimp on the monitors and just invest £80 more on the graphics card if it will save me from upgrading for another two years or so...

Yes, a 7970 is the best card you can get for EyeFinity and should last you a few years.

Being from a newer generation doesnt guarantee a card is faster than a card from a previous generation at all. A high end card from a previous series will easily beat the low end cards from a new series and are usually tied with the mid-range of the next series. AMD also changed the numbering of the series starting with the 6 series.

5-Series
58xx High End
57xx Mid Range
56xx or below, low end

6-Series
69xx High End
68xx Mid Range
67xx or below, low end

7-Series
79xx High End
78xx Mid Range
77xx or below, low end.

 

[sideshowbob]

Honestly I find RTS games to be very disorienting in eyefinity.Yes it gives you more landscape but it's just not the same as a FPS.But that was just my own personal finding.You may like it.But isn't that why sought our help/advertise in the first place?

My concerns about your setup/what you want to be...

Both motherboard support only 1 graphics card.And if you get a more powerful single graphics card to power it at 60fps like you want it would be bottlenecked by either CPU.

Please!!!! I/we are here for you.Express your concern's and we can help you through it.

If your are upgrading the PC to meet your new standards,what is your budget?

So your saying if I was able to purchase let say a 6950 or 6970 I will still won't use it to it's full potential because I'm using a Phenom II x6 2.8ghz??
that's very demanding for a gpu...

 

[sideshowbob]

Yes, a 7970 is the best card you can get for EyeFinity and should last you a few years.

Being from a newer generation doesnt guarantee a card is faster than a card from a previous generation at all. A high end card from a previous series will easily beat the low end cards from a new series and are usually tied with the mid-range of the next series. AMD also changed the numbering of the series starting with the 6 series.

5-Series
58xx High End
57xx Mid Range
56xx or below, low end

6-Series
69xx High End
68xx Mid Range
67xx or below, low end

7-Series
79xx High End
78xx Mid Range
77xx or below, low end.

ok.. i've managed to stretched my budget on a graphics card to around 120-160 on a used one...
A new question then...

1. does ram size on a graphics card crucial to an eyefinity setup? im guessing yes??

2. also, I'm planning to get either a ASUS Radeon HD 6950 (1024 MB)
or a XFX Radeon HD 6950 (2048 MB) (HD695XCNDC)
or a
VTX3D 2GB Radeon HD 6970

I'm guessing the 6970 is the obvious choice but I just want to know maybe it's not that good. Also because of what you said
Im guessing a 6970 is a better choice compared to a 7950??
and that a 7950 will not have that much of a difference to a 6950?
is that correct?

 

[purple stain]

You need 2GB at the very minimum for a eyefinity setup.The 7950 is by far the better choice.It's faster than the 6970 and has more VRAM which is better for eyefnity.If you can afford the 7950 I would suggest getting it.

As for your CPU it will bottleneck at 2.8ghz.If your going for an AM3 processor it needs to be at least 3.6ghz.Also if you can spare it I would really suggest going for a better motherboard.

To be honest you can't really expect great or even good performance when going for a eyefinity setup that's based on a budget build.Eyefinity is considered something for top of the line systems.I think if you really want to get your moneys worth you should save up some more and do a proper build.

 

[sideshowbob]

yeah is suspect I would need to have a complete overhaul of my system... mine is quite old.. it seems like the more I look deeper into this the more I seem to get carried away...
so..
I've managed to get a good offer for my current setup..
and a local shop is offering me this setup... for £250

Quad Core AMD x 4 (3.6GHz) CPU FX4100
4.0g DDR3 (16g max)
500g Sata III 7200 Ultra Fast Hard Drive
ATI Radeon HD3000
22x DVDRW+/- DL
Motherboard: ASUS M5A78L-M AM3+
Galaxy Case Blue Bubble 450w
12 Months Parts and Labour Warranty

adding probably a 6950 or 6970 graphics card in a month or so...
would this finally let me play decent games at 5760x1080 on 50-60fps at full settings? I don't wanna play crysis 2 or whatever... just probably portal 2 or diablo 3, starcraft 2, may payne 3... things like that...

 

[sideshowbob]

Also, another setup I'm looking at is.. @ 280

Antec Three Hundred Tower Case
Asrock P55-PRO Intel P55 ATX LGA1156 DDR3 Motherboard
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=P55%20Pro

Kingston 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 (9-9-9-27) DIMM (Kit of 4)

Sony AD-7280S-0B 24x DVD+/-RW SATA Black
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/opticaldrives/satadvdwriters/ad-7280s-0b.html
Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) 4 Core Processor
http://ark.intel.com/products/42915/Intel-Core-i5-750-Processor-%288M-Cache-2_66-GHz%29

Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 5850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
http://www.powercolor.com/global/products_features.asp?id=216

580W Hiper Power low noise ATX2.2 Power Supply

Corsair H50 Water-Cooling CPU Cooler

Sound Blaster Audigy SE PCI Sound Card

 

[purple stain]

The motherboard and PSU in that PC aren't good.Can they just give you money for yours?

That 2nd build option is only slightly better than the first.But still not as powerful as you need it to be for eyefinty.

Like I said you can't base eyefinity on a budget build.You just don't have the resources for a eyefinity right now.Save up money and do it right or it becomes a money pit.