Hey all! I'm in the market for a new PC and I've got a few questions. I'm hoping you guys can shed some light on some of them! 1) To Quad or not to Quad - that is the question. I'm a gamer who also likes to multi task - should I go with a 3ghz dual core or a 2.5ghz quad? 2) I want to run 3 monitors - I'm looking at getting the GTS 260 superclock edition, can I just get a cheap (say 9400GT) card to put in another slot to run 3 monitors? The other option is running SLI/Xfire (for example, the X2 cards) and enabling/disabling for games. What do you guys think? 3) How much Ram should I get, and should I go for DDR3? I was thinking 6gb but I'm just not sure. 4) I've got a roomy P180 case with a good antec 650w power supply already - i'm assuming this will be good enough to run my setup, which will have a velociraptor and two 1gb green drives. 5) Do you guys have any good MOBO suggestions? Keep in mind I'll probably have to have slots for 2 vid cards. Thanks so much in advance guys, I'm looking forward to getting my components ordered later tonight!
1. A 2.5Ghz Quad, if you don't want to upgrade again in the near future. 2. You can. You don't need two cards to run 3 monitors, you can buy a Matrox TripleHead 2 Go, which makes the process much easier. 3. DDR2, 4GB is the typical standard these days. 4. It should be, but if you SLI or Crossfire two powerful cards, you might want to get something a bit beefier. 5. Gigabyte EP45-UD3P, Biostar Tpower 45.
Thanks for jumping in to help me! The problem with TripleHead2Go is that it makes your monitor one BIG screen, which isn't what I'm looking for - I want my games to run on just the main monitor. I'm thinking the best solution will be to buy a cheap card and put in the second slot on that Gigabyte mobo - I've got no experience with using 2 cards like this so I'm not 100% sure this works. Do you think I should get the 2.5ghz quad or the new 2.66ghz model that just hit Newegg - hardly any reviews on it so I'm not sure what to think or why it's the same price. Again, thank you!
Hmm perhaps. You could always run a triplehead to get two screens off one input, then plug the third monitor into the second port on the card. Or you could use just two better monitors The Q8400? It's an excellent chip.
Here is an option you might consider: I would not go SLI in this case, I would go with a 4870x2 and a 4650(maybe even less than the 4650). Run the side (non-game) screens of the 4650, and let the 4870x2 dedicate itself to the games...it is more than capable of running games with just one card. BTW...3 widescreens side-by-side-by-side or stacked verticaly will be very hard to view all at once. You might consider going side-by-side-by-side with the two outer screens turned 90 degrees. This will make it easier to see everything, and will also make it easier to display documents and most websites on them. RAM: DDR2...at least 4GB, but 8GB won't hurt. Idealy, you want to fill all the slots to allow for twin 128-bit operation. CPU: Get the quad and overclock it to 3ghz! [edit] fixed a spelling error.
