Just got my GTX580 -- Purchasing triple monitor setup please advise

Okay guys,

I was lucky enough to be gifted a new workstation (Dell Precision T7500 style) recently so I promptly went out and purchased a GTX580 to replace the terrible Quadro FX card it came with. Everything so far is running GREAT!

Long story short I recently moved into a one bedroom apartment and sold all of my LCD monitors except one single 17" LCD I kept in the closet as a backup. For the last year I've been using laptops and honestly I never planned on building another rig, but now that I've had this fall into my lap I'm getting the itch to build it out further.

I mostly play MMORPG's and do network admin type work so I don't need something that is 100% color accurate or anything to that effect.

3 Monitors Minimum 23 or 24" -- either 1920x1080 or 1920x1200.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260027 -- I was considering 3 of these but I can't really find any solid reviews.

I would *REALLY* like something vesa compatible as I'm very interested in purchasing a mounting solution such as this or whatever else is recommended.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824994053&Tpk=XFX Tristand

I have also considered going the 3x27" LCD route but I dont think I would be able to find a nice stand for them. I'm currently not interested in the 30" options available due to cost reasons.

Suggestions welcome!

I can't comment on which monitors to recommend but I just want to make sure you realize that a single GTX 580 cannot run 3 monitors like AMD cards (eyefinity). Nvidia requires SLI (two or more cards) to be able to output to 3 monitors.

NICE GIFT!!!

At first I thought that maybe you only had 1 full size PCI-e slot but I checked the MB and it appears you have 2. I was thinking server rather than workstation. If you mainly play MMORPG type games have you considered a 2x2 monitor setup rather than a 3x1 setup? 2x2 and 3x2 works well with RTS (which is what I play).

Is there any reason why you went Nvidia this time? If you can return it do so and get a comparable Eyefinity capable card.

If you live near a Fry's they have advertised 23" LG monitors(E2360V-PN) 1920*1080 for 170 each(THEY ARE $200 IF YOU HAVE TO ORDER THEM THROUGH THEIR ONLINE STORE). If you are just a little handy with wood you can easily make a 2x2 monitor stand. The bottom 2 can stand on their own with a crossbeam for the top two, easily done in 3 hours tops painted and ready to use. Those stands are expensive, use the money for your electronic hardware. This way you can get the other GTX580 PAINLESSLY if you need to or decide to stick with Nvidia.

Wood should cost you less than $15.00

I am assuming Nvidia will allow you to go 2x2 if you decide to stay in the nvidia camp.

Okay cool guys thanks for the advice I was under the impression my 580 would be able to run three 24" displays. I will likely either return towards purchase of a 590 which should be able to do this or purchase an ATI equivalent to use eyefinity. Either way, as far as monitor recommendations, anything else guys???

hcforde: you assume wrong, with nVidia surround it's only 3x1 and you have to have at least two cards to do it.

suiken_2mieu;
THAT IS WHY I SAID ASSUME

The 2 card requirement was addressed in the previous post.


execF00F;
I would think twice before buying a GTX590, WAY TOO MUCH HEAT!!! A pair of Radeons in crossfire will generally perform better, be cheaper and more flexible at a comparable pricepoint over a GTX590. The best reason I can think of to get Nvidia in my opinion is if you are thinking about S3D. Radeon cards rule when it comes to Eyefinity/Surround technology though.

If you dont mind going AMD, a pair of 6950 2GB's might be right up your alley. Any nvidia solution aside from the useless gtx 590 (slower and hotter than the 6990) will require a minimum of 2 cards.

The issue with dual card setups is that I'm not sure if the motherboard is going to support SLI or Crossfire. The system DOES have two PCI X16 slots however, but it does me little good if it doesn't support what I need. To simplify my setup it I've been trying to stick to a single card solution.

I purchased the GTX580 because it had 3 monitor outputs (a bit deceiving.. ). If at all possible I'd like to stick with nVidia because of the better OpenGL support (I frequent Second Life... don't judge me) and driver stability. I purchased the card at CompUSA and i'm still within the 30 day return period. What does [H] think?

If you are not sure, get one of the dual GPU cards. The ATI version seems to be good.

You might also consider the EVGA custom dual 460 card - depending on how demanding you are.

Keep an eye on power consumption, when you get up into this range, the OEM PSUs are not always up to snuff.

Purchased a PC Power & Cooling 1kw power supply for my last rig. Pretty sure that would still be up to the task if I were to swap it out into the dell case.

Dell motherboards sometime are NOT standard and standard ATX PSU's will NOT power a Dell motherboard sometimes.

I am powering 2 5870 2gb eyefinity 6 cards with a 850 Corsair PSU and I am not even coming close to any power limits. The 6xxx's series of Radeons are even more efficient.



You are stuck at HAVING to get 2 cards to do a three monitor setup if you need Nvidia for OpenGL. However you do NOT have to do SLI for those 3 monitors (or 4) to work. For a 1 card solution ATI/AMD seems to be the only choice