Two new graphics cards to support 2 CRTs, 2 TFTs and fast gaming..

[Syllopsium]

My second hand 8800GTX has died again, and I'm not baking it in the oven for a fourth time. I think it's time to go for a new card, which has to be ATI on principle as I don't agree with Nvidia's disabling of PhysX when an ATI card is installed.

Absolutely key is something with a really decent warranty and no hassle - so that rules out XFX for a start.

I was pondering either a 6850 and a 5450, or a 6950 and a 5450. I only have two 6 pin PCI-e connectors. The 5450 would run DVI-A to one CRT, and HDMI->DVD-D for one TFT.

I'm not exactly a high end gamer - Oblivion is the most demanding game I've been playing, and the hacked 7600GT sli configuration I'm running means the frame rates in that are basically ok. However, I do have Fallout 3 and L4D2 in shrinkwrap, and a couple of other RPGs on the way at times. Two 7600GTs aren't capable of handling stereoscopic 3D, either.

I have two CRT monitors using DVI-A, and two DVI-D TFTs. Two of these monitors need to be used for fast gaming - a Zalman 1280x1024 3D monitor, and a C220p 2048x1536 CRT. Due to the high cost and unreliability of displayport converters, it's cheaper to buy two cards.

Wondering whether it's worth spending the extra 70 quid to future proof with 2GB of frame buffer and better GPGPU or save the cash.

I have no interest in overclocking - low noise is far more important. What's the situation with decent customer service and warranty these days?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The HD6900 series does seem to have improved tessellation performance over the HD6800 series.

[Repressor]

AFAIK, the 69XX will support 4 monitors simultaneously. You'd just need two to run from DP. I believe the cost of the adaptors is around the same as a 5450 though. Still, less power consumption to pay for and a PCI-E slot freed up.

[Syllopsium]

AFAIK, the 69XX will support 4 monitors simultaneously. You'd just need two to run from DP. I believe the cost of the adaptors is around the same as a 5450 though. Still, less power consumption to pay for and a PCI-E slot freed up.

It'll run much more than four - the problem is the products to support it don't exist yet!

The reason I'm looking at a separate card is that up until very recently the DP converters simply didn't work reliably. However, after studying the reviews again it looks like conditions have changed. Not only are prices a lot more reasonable, but negative reviews about their performance have disappeared. Obviously things have improved..

Maybe I'll have to do a re-think, thanks!

[scaryjim]

Don't forget that one of the DVIs on the 6970 is single link only: may not make a difference to you (I think you should be able to use that one for the DVI-A without any problems) but it's worth remembering.

You're running your C220p at 2048x1536? I got fed up of squinting at mine at that res so I've backed off to 16x12@ 85Hz

[Syllopsium]

Don't forget that one of the DVIs on the 6970 is single link only: may not make a difference to you (I think you should be able to use that one for the DVI-A without any problems) but it's worth remembering.

You're running your C220p at 2048x1536? I got fed up of squinting at mine at that res so I've backed off to 16x12@ 85Hz

The single link DVI is DVI-D, so the only thing it'll do to a DVI-A monitor is report what timings it supports

Yup, still at 2048x1536. If it gets a bit much, I can always increase the custom text size