Confused with the choice

[bonkeydave]

Hi to everyone and a warm welcome.

My first post and of course i am sure i am one of the many people who ask the same question.

Time in life and i have decided to treat myself to a new PC, currently play on my XBOX alot but like a tinker on my PC - current one is a tad old.

I have been looking at all the different configurations of gaming pc ( crossfire, SLI etc ) and find it all very confusing. Also been looking at the eyefinity configurations which being honest do look very appealing.

To answer a couple of questions : -

a) I would like to play games on the machine
b) I do like the idea of three monitors from the eyefinity range, not just from three screens for games but also having lots of a desktop and different windows performing different tasks
c) Do video editing and conversions etc
d) Budget, not overally bothered but limit around £1500
e) If i got an eyefinity would it still perform just as well as the other type of gaming machines if i just used one of the screens for games ?.


Sorry for questions, i have had a search and seen very little results around eyefinty confgured machines. There was one which had pictures of there purchase and it looked very good indeed......

Any help would be fantastic

Thanks in advance

DAve

 

[Meds]

Hello & welcome to the forums!

For what you describe, I'd go for something along the lines of this;

Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500 Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD6970 - 2 DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W TX SERIES (TX850) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£99)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Monitor
IIYAMA E2473HDS 24" LED WIDESCREEN, 2 x HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£169)
2nd Monitor
IIYAMA E2473HDS 24" LED WIDESCREEN, 2 x HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£169)
Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech® Wireless Desktop® MK250 Keyboard and Mouse Combo (£18)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,436.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sandy-bridge-pc/

I have selected two monitors to allow you to use multiple screens when using different applications etc. However, running games in a multi screen environment will reduce performance and in my opinion isn't worth it (although it does look cool).

 

[PringlesInside]

e) If i got an eyefinity would it still perform just as well as the other type of gaming machines if i just used one of the screens for games ?.

well yes, you got 2 more screens so your graphics card is powering all 3 aswell... so assuming your playing at 1920x1080 resolution on main screen then if u think about it , it totals to: 5760 x 3240 ?

 

[Nemesis]

Nah it totals to 5760 x 1080 really, or 1920 x 3240
basically 3 x 1920 x 1080

Still 3x as demanding as far as screen space goes though

 

[TheFAQqer]

However, running games in a multi screen environment will reduce performance and in my opinion isn't worth it (although it does look cool).

Having enough monitors to set up your flight simulator so that it looks like a real plane is pretty nifty though

 

[Meds]

Sure is, one of the few scenarios that it serves it's purpose.

Playing FPS games on it though? I just don't see the point.

 

[bonkeydave]

Thanks for all the advice on this, time to digest i think

thanks

dave