24"-30" monitor HDMI - what gpu solution?

[TehGoober]

OK, so I'm planning a build that will happen a few months down the road (or maybe at the end of the year/early next year if a bunch of stuff will be released and drastically drop prices for the GPU/CPU or change the socket for the mobo.)

Planning on an OC'd i7, 6-12 GB RAM, blah blah, doesn't really related to this part of my question... monitor will be between 24" and 30". I don't know what those run at, but I'm going to assume it's going to be 1080p 1920x1200. This is for playing games. While I don't NEED to max settings out, I do need mid (maxed out) to high settings. We'll just assume Call of Duty WaW, Fear (or whatever the game is called) and Crysis for all intents and purposes.

What kind of video solution should I be looking at? SLI 9800 GTX+? 3 way SLI 9800 GTX+? SLI 260's? single 285? (ASUS P6T Deluxe as the mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131346 )

Assume budget is around $400-500. (For today's prices. I'm sure by the time I get around to buying, the prices will have dropped a decent amount.)

[liftedcj7on44s]

for a 24" your looking at 1920x1200.
for a 30" your looking at 2560x1600.
So based on those 2 resolutions i will suggest this and we will use Crysis as a base game because if you can max that game out at either of those resolutions then other games will be no issue.
So for the 24" the minimum i would settle for would be a GTX285.
For the 30" the minimum i would settle for would be SLI'd GTX285's.

Now new cards will be arriving later on this year.

This is assuming you want to go with the Green guy's.

[henzo]

This is assuming you want to go with the Green guy's.

I got a 4870x2 running 1920x1200 and it runs crysis at very high no aa and I get mid 40-ish fps (with fraps running) which is pretty good if you ask me.

If you are gonna go with 2560x1600, then definately go with 4970x2's in crossfireX or 2 gtx 295s for quad sli cause that res is gonna use it up. That is of course the pricier side of the fence , but I would want to have enough horsepowah for that res.

[TehGoober]

Thanks guys. So I'm thinking I'd be better off getting a smaller monitor then, only doing 1920x1200 and grabbing a GTX 285 (or 4870x2) then. Extra size on the monitor would end up costing me a hell of a lot more for the monitor + an extra GPU.

[liftedcj7on44s]

Crysis is a hard game to max out and get it 100% silky smooth. My 2 gtx295's did it no problem but dont base everything on crysis.

[henzo]

Thanks guys. So I'm thinking I'd be better off getting a smaller monitor then, only doing 1920x1200 and grabbing a GTX 285 (or 4870x2) then. Extra size on the monitor would end up costing me a hell of a lot more for the monitor + an extra GPU.

I was gonna buy a gateway 30" ($1000 from Best Buy), but my Hanns-G 28" (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254026) was less than half the price and it is an awesome display.

[liftedcj7on44s]

i have the hanns-g as well. it is an awesome monitor for the price.

[TehGoober]

I was gonna buy a gateway 30" ($1000 from Best Buy), but my Hanns-G 28" (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254026) was less than half the price and it is an awesome display.

Looks great. Unfortunately it's going to cost me $100-150 more if I want to get that due to the almighty Egg using FedEx and me not being in the continental U.S. (not to mention it's heavy and would probably cost a fair bit through USPS anyway.) Will have to get my case/monitor locally, I think. :( (Which is gonna make it very difficult to find a Cooler Master HAF + Hanns-G, I think. DOH!)

Was wondering about your RAM, you're unhappy with it? Did you just get a bad batch, you think? Was wondering if you have

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365

(Not to get too off topic, but I was looking at buying the set in the first link.)

[iLoki]

I'm stuck with one of my 2 gtx285's (RMA replacement I received was DOA) and there are a couple of situations where the GTX285 could use some help (Burnout Paradise with SSAO turned on...) with that at 1920x1200 I chug along at ~20fps, with it off it never drops below 60.

and Crysis is just beatiful at 1920x1200 with SLI GTX285's, never drops below 40 or 45fps depending on the level :D

1 will do you good, but I would get both :D

[nttdemented]

I have a single GTX 285 coupled to a 26" Samsung T260HD Monitor (1920x1200) and its a match made in heaven. Practically every game out there sails at or over 60fps with max settings. Currently I'm plasying COD:WAW with everything cranked at 1920x1200 with 4x AA and 16x AF and it RARELY dips below 60fps even with a lot of explosions, light flares and smoke nades in the area.

I built my system recently thinking of adding the 2nd card as soon as possible but performance has been phenomenal with just one card and an O/Ced system. Just remember not to care to much about Crysis' performance, its practically the only game out there that almos forces you to have the second card to run it maxed out.

[jason4207]

For the monitor it's all about the resolution, and not so much the size. 1920x1200 is about the most you want to get right now unless you have some serious cash laying around.

Most 24" monitors are 1920x1200. The Hanns-G is 28" and still 1920x1200.

Beyond that you might want to consider a 32" 1080P TV. Bigger size, good resolution (1920x1080), and decent pricing if you shop around.

I would just get 1 GTX285. If you find that's not enough for you then go for another.

[henzo]

@TehGoober, I have the gold series and they wont hit 1600 now for the life of me. Anything over 1400 and it is bsod and game freezing even at stock cpu settings. I have a line of communication open right now with ocz and am working through their troubleshooting before they tell me what I already know. :argue: Hopefully I get some good news in my box on oczforums.

Back on topic:Jason4207 is right , if you wanna game at 30"+ and don't wanna drop a grand on the monitor and another $4-500 for a second monster gpu to run it, then an hdtv is your best bet. You might wanna readjust you sitting angle if you get one too big lol. Sometimes the white google screen and websites strain my eyes a little bit.

[ratbuddy]

OK, so I'm planning a build that will happen a few months down the road (or maybe at the end of the year/early next year if a bunch of stuff will be released and drastically drop prices for the GPU/CPU or change the socket for the mobo.)

Planning on an OC'd i7, 6-12 GB RAM, blah blah, doesn't really related to this part of my question... monitor will be between 24" and 30". I don't know what those run at, but I'm going to assume it's going to be 1080p 1920x1200. This is for playing games. While I don't NEED to max settings out, I do need mid (maxed out) to high settings. We'll just assume Call of Duty WaW, Fear (or whatever the game is called) and Crysis for all intents and purposes.

What kind of video solution should I be looking at? SLI 9800 GTX+? 3 way SLI 9800 GTX+? SLI 260's? single 285? (ASUS P6T Deluxe as the mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131346 )

Assume budget is around $400-500. (For today's prices. I'm sure by the time I get around to buying, the prices will have dropped a decent amount.)

Things change so much, even over the course of a few months, that picking a card now would be pointless. Your GPU budget of 4-500 may very well be enough for the next generation of cards, and who knows when those are coming?

[TehGoober]

Sorry, just wanted to get the ATI equiv cards if somebody can help me out.
260 - 4850?
280 - 4870?
295 - 4870 x2?

Hard to keep up. Also wondering if there would be a huge hit at this res using a 512MB 4870 vs a 1GB 4870. Maybe I should ask in the ATI forum...

[jason4207]

For 1920x1200 I would look for a card w/ more than 512MB.

The 260 and 4870-1GB are similar in performance. Certain games do better on one over the other. I lean more toward the nVidia camp at this time due to my experiences w/ the 4850. The newer ATI drivers are supposed to be a lot better, but I never tried them.

Above that it goes 280/285<4870X2<295...but I like to stick to the single-GPU cards.

[liftedcj7on44s]

I will agree with jason on this one. I owned a 4870 and the drivers killed it. Try playing Crysis on an ATI card. You wont be happy. Even 2 4870x2's struggle with crysis. Nvidia cards play it alot better. If you want a cheap route i would get 2 GTX260's. You can pick them up new for around 180 each.

[ChanceCoats123]

Sorry, just wanted to get the ATI equiv cards if somebody can help me out.
260 - 4850?
280 - 4870?
295 - 4870 x2?

Hard to keep up. Also wondering if there would be a huge hit at this res using a 512MB 4870 vs a 1GB 4870. Maybe I should ask in the ATI forum...

I would say the 4870 is more along the lines of the 260 (216 core 55nm) because they play pretty damn well. As for the OP, take into account the fact you want to run a core i7 with plenty of ram. That will take care of cpu intensive games right away, so I'm thinking that a single 280 or 285 should do the trick just fine.