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Advice on a dual monitor setup...

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  • 27-12-2010 9:13pm
    #1
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,167 ✭✭✭✭


    Hey Guys,

    Some of you no doubt will have seen my rantings about baking(reflowing) my cards. Recently the 8800GTX went again. Been using the 8800GTS since then but its locked twice on Burnout Paradise, even with very toned down settings.

    TBH though I was living on borrowed time. Using those cards to power my primary[Dell ST2210 22" 1920x1080] and secondary[Dell EP19XXX 19" 1280X1024](Always have to have my IRC open) all day every day and playing(at least trying) the likes of Paradise and Hot Pursuit.

    I will have to but a new card now, despite not really having the cash. Hopefully get a midrange card for circa €100 in the January sales. BA's or reccomendations for that welcome. What I'm wondering though is about using a second GPU to handle my secondary monitor. Its just used for browsing and an SSH terminal so it wouldn't have to do any work. Would splashing 30 quid now for a 2nd hand PCI card be a waste of time? If it would alleviate a bit of the workload on the main card that'd buy me some more time before replacing it, and give me better framerates when I do upgrade.

    Thoughts?


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    #2
    Overheal
    Registered Users Posts: 83,210 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    Depends on what you plan to dualscreen. Single ATI HD cards, 5-series and above, can support up to 3 monitors and play games on them that support Eyefinity, in growing numbers. A 2nd card might be overkill unless you are planning to run something that would benefit greatly from crossfire optimization or something.

    That and an ATI card won't have to be baked ;)


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    #3
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,167 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    For the foreseeable future the plan is only to game, on 22".

    Actually just had a thought though, I sometimes use the second as a preview window for premiere pro....:rolleyes:


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    #4
    Overheal
    Registered Users Posts: 83,210 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    APP?

    Probably be perfectly fine with the one card. I play on the same spec monitor with the 5770 and can run most things on nearly ultra settings; you could find one of those or similar in the price range you're after.


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    #5
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,167 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    Yeah, APP(F#cking dream after Pinnacle Studio).

    Thinking about it, if I ran the 19" off a second card, would APP be able to still use The CUDA realtime rendering on the main card? Its no biggie but its a nice thing to have.

    Gonna get rid of the Wii + goodies(Why I why did I buy it in the first place) so depending on how much I get I might get something slightly decent .


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    #6
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,167 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.26080


    How bad could it be.......


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