Best card for gaming at 1650 by 1080

[dadzilla]

Having given up on my insanely expensive quest for eyefinity (and the 5850 is mythical, kind of like a unicorn) I am looking for some thoughts around what is the best card for gaming at 1650 by 1080 which is the resolution of my two 22inch lcd monitors. Secondly, is there a way to use both monitors for games - split screen style instead of the three way for eyefinity? I currently have an XFX 4870 with 512MB - seems quite adequate for my needs, but I am looking forward to getting a new GPU in the next month or two, just for the heck of it. I should also add that I am looking forward to playing AVP3 and Mass Effect 2, so that will be the primary purpose for the new card.

[CMetaphor]

5870 fs.... who? what? lol...

Maybe look for a 5770? Equal or higher power than a 4870 with newer features, smaller size, less heat.

For gaming across two screens? Short story: You can't. Long story: Games all use the "primary" monitor to display the game and turns the others off (in most cases, there are a few exceptions). The reason Eyefinity/TH2Go works for games is that they "trick" Windows into thinking its got one super-wide display. So when you enter into the game, that one huge display is still the primary, even if it is - in fact - three displays physically. Hope that clears that up.

[dadzilla]

OK thanks - by the way, I would buy that 5870 no problem, if I had a monitor that could use it. With the gear I have, it would be like shooting Quail with a bazooka.

[CMetaphor]

Originally Posted by dadzilla

OK thanks - by the way, I would buy that 5870 no problem, if I had a monitor that could use it. With the gear I have, it would be like shooting Quail with a bazooka.

But then you don't have to chew it! GL finding a new card then.

[Zero82z]

There is absolutely no point in getting something more powerful than a 4870 for that resolution. You should be able to max out just about everything as it is.

[dadzilla]

That's what I think too. So I might just wait a bit and see if the 5770 drops down to maybe $150 or so after xmas. I think that DX 11 might be kinda good in Mass Effect 2. Plus sometimes I just want to tinker.

[Zero82z]

The 5770 would not be a worthwhile upgrade over a 4870 no matter what. If you want to go with a DX11 card, get a 5850 at least.

[Thund3rball]

Originally Posted by CMetaphor

For gaming across two screens? Short story: You can't. Long story: Games all use the "primary" monitor to display the game and turns the others off (in most cases, there are a few exceptions). The reason Eyefinity/TH2Go works for games is that they "trick" Windows into thinking its got one super-wide display. So when you enter into the game, that one huge display is still the primary, even if it is - in fact - three displays physically. Hope that clears that up.

Hm, I know I have split my game between 2 monitors and I think I did it just using the Nvidia control panel. I am not 100% sure that's how I did it but I think it is. It was some months ago, when I got my GTX275. But I found with only 2 monitors the experience kinda sucked. You get the frame right down the middle of your FOV so lining people up in the cross hairs etc... was kind of a pain.

Is there no way to do this with the ATI control panel? No idea as I haven't owned ATI in many, many years.

[dadzilla]

Dunno - I never actually tried it. To Zero82z - ah yes, the mythic 5850. There is a rumour that once upon a time, these were actually in stock. However, that has yet to be confirmed. :)

[Zero82z]

By the time Mass Effect 2 is released, hopefully they'll be easier to find.