Work & Gaming computer...

[biocmp]

I work with electronic medical records, often times I will access the system from home, (through a citrix client) and build or write reports, etc.

I'm wanting to build a computer that will allow me to run 3 monitors for work and I would like to game on it. Those are really my only requirements, I do a lot of basic office package work and I may get into some more information modeling.

Gaming isn't the biggest concern for me, I don't have to have things max'd out, but I'd like for the system to handle any of the current games.

I'd like to keep it around $1000 without monitors or externals (keyboard, mouse, etc) unless of course you tell me I should bump up or down.

[glc]

Right around $1050 shipped after rebates - close enough?

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Newegg.com - ASUS EAH6870 DC/2DI2S/1GD5 Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

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[David M]

If you do not have the monitors yet then Asus is making some great bang for the buck monitors. With a three monitor setup, ideally you want the same monitors otherwise you will see differences between the images which cannot be corrected out. Also, Eyefinity will default to the lowest native resolution monitor....so you want them all to be the same resolution if you have that option.

As far as providing enough power to run all the games right now, the 6870 will work, you just will not be able to max out many of the games with three monitors. If you game with a single monitor then yes, you can pretty much max out all the games out there with that card....but being able to see to the side in games is so much more fun. . The solution to this will be when the 6990 becomes available which will have two GPU's. The downside is that it will probably be a $600+ card, outside of what you wanted to spend.

One other thing is that if you buy monitors with a DisplayPort then you will not need the adapter. Be sure to check the size because there is also a Mini DisplayPort size. Eyefinity only requires that one of the three monitors be connected with a DisplayPort....this has to do with synchronizing the timing of the images. The other two connections can be DVI or HDMI.

[glc]

There's always the 6950 and 6970. I had to compromise with the 6870 when calculating the recommendations to keep the system close to $1000 without cutting other things.

At least you don't have to buy 2 cards, like you would with Nvidia to get a 3 monitor display.

[biocmp]

wow, that was quick. Thanks for the speedy replies.

I do not have the monitors, I was going to buy them after I had the system built depending on the best prices at the time. I would never game with all three monitors. At most it would be two and even that would be unlikely. The 3 monitors are really for my work. I am often referencing multiple tables from different programs and a 3rd monitor would be worth more than a 3rd arm, although that would be close

Are the 6950 and 6970 tried and true options or are they newer?

[Nuclear Krusader]

Even if you don't game with all three, the recommendation of them being equal models remains. It's really lame when you have to run a monitor in "letterbox" because its native resolution differs from any of the others.

[biocmp]

Thanks nuclear, I agree 100%. I absolutely hate low resolution and I wouldn't want to be limited by one of the monitors. Thanks for the reminder

[glc]

In order of strength, lowest to highest, it goes 6870, 6950, 6970.

[biocmp]

thanks GLC, what should I search on newegg? When I searched 6950, quite a few choices were returned.

[glc]

This is the best deal on a quality brand right now:

Newegg.com - HIS H695F2G2M Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

Note that this has mini display port, not standard, so you need a different active adapter.

Newegg.com - POWERCOLOR Video Adapter ACTIVE MDP TO SL DVI-D ADAPTER-C Mini DisplayPort to DVI Interface