2x Video Card Questions

[Aenar]

I've come to the conclusion that I need to upgrade my Video. I'm currently using two video cards, both 512MB XFX nVidia GeForce 8600GT. I don't use SLi and don't plan to as I upgrade. I run three monitors (2 slaves | main | 2 slaves).

I've been eyeballing this card recently as a possible upgrade:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150439

But there is no simple solution to running three monitors off one card. I've looked at external devices as well as cards with 4 DVI ports. I can't justify that cost to myself. So, my questions are as follows:

Can I run that 1GB card with one of my 512MB? I assume yes, as both are nVidia (And both made by XFX to boot).

Will Windows 7 utilize the 1GB card to full potential or will the card dumb-down to the 512MB level? I believe it should only dumb-down under SLi conditions.

Does it matter how I plug in my monitors, like my main monitor onto the 1GB for max settings with slaves only on the 2nd card (both cards have two DVI ports)? If it doesn't matter then does the OS & hardware determine which monitor has the most demand (50/25/25%) - or does it divide resources equally (33/33/33%), even though the slaves are capped @ 20fps & have low visual settings?

In Windows7 do I need to indicate to the system which card I want as primary? Or is that based off the order put into the motherboard (I remember ram slots had numbers like 1,2,3,4 or 0,1,2,3 - thinking PCIe slots might have something like that on the mobo).

Is the newegg choice sufficient or do I need to go bigger for smooth gameplay? It seemed after the $200 mark that its just diminishing returns as the price increases.

For reference, my pc specs
Power - OCZ 700w
RAM - 8gb of DDR3 1600MHz
Motherboard - Asus Evo...something or another
Processor - AMD Phenom II 3.2GHz Quad-Core
Hard Drive - 500gb Western Digital 7200RPM with 32mb cache
3x LCD Monitors (1x 22" wide-screen, 2x standard 19") 2x-1X-2x screen setup

[Sajuuk]

You can get so much more for the price of that card. Not going to go into specifics, don't have time as I should be leaving for school soon.

DO NOT BE AFRAID OF USED HARDWARE! If you're not picky you could get a 260 (216 variant) for less than the card you want to buy new.

If you have the new card in the first slot (The "primary" slot) it will do all the rendering, the second card will just allow the use of another monitor.

[burningforce]

You can get so much more for the price of that card. Not going to go into specifics, don't have time as I should be leaving for school soon.

DO NOT BE AFRAID OF USED HARDWARE! If you're not picky you could get a 260 (216 variant) for less than the card you want to buy new.

If you have the new card in the first slot (The "primary" slot) it will do all the rendering, the second card will just allow the use of another monitor.

if you buy a used card, what about warranty? if it asplodes you are basically out-of-luck unless it has a double lifetime warranty.

@aenar
I can not provide a answer to your question, sorry
you can order the card and try it and send it back saying it was defective or something if it did not work as expected


I am also interested in this, I was planning on getting a ati card that supports eyefinity. that allows you to use 3 monitors on one card. However, you have to use 2xDVI connections and 1xdisplayport connection. none of my monitors have a displayport and an "ACTIVE displayport adapter" is $100+. So the cost would be $350 + $110 and I just do not think this is worth it. so if you find out your answer, please post here

[Aenar]

Thanks Sajuuk & b-force for your responses. Spent more time looking around. Learning that the nVidia card I linked in the OP is just a rebrand/update of an earlier model. I couldn't really find another nVidia in my price range that was worth trying at this time. I did stumble upon a Radeon card that appeared to worth trying. So I placed an order and should have it arrive & installed this weekend (I just looked at the webpage today and noticed its now out-of-stock, hope that's not a bad sign).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150463