Widescreen Gaming Forum

[-noun] Web community dedicated to ensuring PC games run properly on your tablet, netbook, personal computer, HDTV and multi-monitor gaming rig.
It is currently 15 Dec 2024, 14:24

All times are UTC [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: 02 Apr 2010, 09:00 
Offline

Joined: 02 Apr 2010, 03:14
Posts: 2
Ok this will probably get lengthy. Here is what I have
2 Dell 2408 WFP monitors
1 Acer 24" AL2416W (all the 24" monitors are 1920x12000
2 Dell 2005 WFP monitors 1680x1050

EVGA 680i with Q6600 G0 stepping, 8 gb Corsair Dominator Ram, GTX 265, Thermaltake 750w 80plus PSU, various drives and such.

Now lets look at my parts bin.
I have a 7600gt, 8800GTS 890, EVGA 780i MB (socket 775) and a few more ram chips. 3 Spare cooler master cases

Now lets discuss what I want to do.
I want to run the 3 24" monitors in an eyefinity setup and add the 20" monitors to the sides in Portrait mode. I do not want to stretch the game across all 5. I am a multitasker extreme. I like my MMO's. Used to play Galaxies, WOW, and have a lifetime LOTRO account. I like to game on my center screen and keep the sides for websurfing, ventrillo, and that sort of stuff. I would also like to be able to throw some higher end games on the eyefinity setup. I mean whats the point in having it if you can't show it off right? I am mainly thinking about the new Star Wars MMO coming out next year. So I am thinking of maybe building a new machine and throwing all my old parts in older cases for the craigslist pile to recoup some cash. Also there will br times I switch to extended mode and run all 5 screens individually. I love Ultramon.

Advice I need.
1. I was looking at the i7 860 CPU. Or should I think about the socket 1366?
2. What Motherboard should I get? I have a bullet proof Asus I have had for years. I am also growing very fond of Gigabyte boards. MSI I hate. I have never had luck with one. EVGA has a great warranty but I have never had to use it and I find the boards run hot. The 790 sitting in the parts bin is finiky as hell
3. For video cards looking at the XFX 5870. Good Warranty. The 7600g I have is XFX and when I purchased was a 6600gt. Great service. Should I just use that with my 8800gt to get the physx combo and use that to power the second two screens?
4. PSU, RAM, drives I can figure all that out. Hard Drives I have.

Ok lets try and keep it all under 1500 bucks and see what we come up with. I have lots of extra parts to turn the leftovers into seperate machines so lets focus on what I need. As far as space I am building this all in a 4u Server case so it fits pretty well. my 265 vid card has plenty of room. I am only slightly concerned about heat and noise. The EVGA board I have in there has the most god awful Chipsest fan so I am interested in getting things a bit quieter when I am playing. Ready aim Shop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Top
 Profile  
 


PostPosted: 08 Apr 2010, 02:01 
Offline

Joined: 31 Aug 2004, 15:33
Posts: 16
So, $1500. You got good ram. 4x2gb stick I am guessing. Waste to just ditch it all and start over with DDR3 when you've only gotten what a year or so of life out of it as it is. Not like your going to get an insane performance boost from going to i3/i5/i7 vs the Q6600 either, except for possibly higher clock speeds you could get. If you OC, I'd be all over upgrading as its much easier to OC now and you will get a very nice boost with something like a i7-930 at 3.8-4.2 ghz. At stock speeds it'll still be snappier sure but not insane.

Obviously the 5870 will be good, but considering the GTX 260 (?) is slow so you might not see a huge difference from just a video upgrade either. But opens up eyefinity and helps you all those screens for sure. Also not totally sure how you would run all 5 screens with the one card and multiple desktops.

Adding in a SSD boot drive would give you some solid performance increases.

Don't mess with the 1156 i7's. Get an i5 or just go all out with a real i7 and triple channel memory. If you got a Microcenter and can get a 920 or 930 for $200 or less thats way I would go. If not, i5 prolly the best way.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: 08 Apr 2010, 02:46 
Offline

Joined: 02 Apr 2010, 03:14
Posts: 2
well I built the Q6600 about 4 years ago so the ram is that old. I would split it up across the two motherboards I sell off so I would recoup a few dollars there. I do video encoding on occasion so that is why I was looking at the i7. I have a friend by a microcenter who can pick me up the 930 for 200 bucks so I am really looking at going that route. I just need a MB to go with it.

I used to run two screens on one machine and a 3rd on the other. I used the open source software synergy to run it all with one keyboard and mouse. It allows you to share it through the network and works very well for non gaming functions. I was thinking of dropping the second machine and just throwing in a second card to run the side 2 screens so they can be a different resolution. I have also read you can use physix if the second card is a nvidia card. Although now I am leaning towards just getting the 6 screen eyefinity version and running 6 screens the same size. Then I would game across 5 in portrait and leave the last as an extended on the side for web browsing while i game. Would probably sell off my 2 Dell 24 ultra-sharps and go with a different screen so I could match them easier for a lower price.

I am definitely leaning away from the 1156's now with all the info I have read. Thanks for your suggestions. Still hoping for more.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: 08 Apr 2010, 15:38 
Offline

Joined: 31 Aug 2004, 15:33
Posts: 16
Well there aren't really any bad 1366 boards. It mainly comes down to cost and features. The P6X58D I got has been very nice. The Gigabyte UD5 and UD7 boards are very good. The Evga 3 way boards are good, but your not going to get real 3x PCIE x16 ofcourse. If you don't want SATA3, USB 3.0, and extreme OC features I'd go with something in the $200 range like the Gigabyte UD3R.

Don't think you can mix and match AMDNV right now to get physx. Hydra was coming but appears to be dead now. What few reviews there were showed there were still lots of issues trying to pull it off. Maybe go with 2x 5858 crossfired?


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 

All times are UTC [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  




Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group