Extra cash, time for upgrades

TushonTushon I'm scared, CoachAlexandria, VA Icrontian
edited August 2013 in Hardware
I've got some totally extra cash on my hands and a probably dying video card, so I'm looking to upgrade a couple things. The rest of my rig is quite capable, so I'm just concerned with video cards at the moment and I'm leaning heavily towards either 2x 7970GHz Edition or a single 7990. I've bought many of the modern AAA games, but the game that takes up the most of that time is EVE, many times multiple clients simultaneously. I'm wondering if it would be to my advantage to spend the extra 120 or so per GPU to get the 6GB memory editions vs 3GB. The reviews that I looked at indicated that crossfire 7970GHz was likely the best sweet spot comparing it against 7990 and GTX Titan. @Thrax and anyone else, any comments?

I'm also considering upgrading monitors and employing either a wall-mounted or desk-mounted monitor stand, so recommendations there are welcome [both monitors and any stand/mounts]. Example of one I was looking at here. I currently have two different 21" LCD and LED-LCD displays at 1920x1080. Would it be "worth it" to go to the 23" ASUS recommended to @ardichoke or "really" bump it up to the venerable HP ZR2440w? Neither monitor is currently experiencing issues, but it'd be nice to concentrate all my upgrades at the same time as well as have a monitor for my "other" PCs available. I know the upgrade to viewing area would be nice for playing Spreadsheets Online™ and some of the more and more frequent planning things I'm doing for a non-profit that I'm involved with, so maybe that's reason enough for size bumps. I also plan to sell off a bunch of hardware, so be looking for that thread soon™

Let me know what other info I can provide that would help with recs and thanks!

Comments

  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    gpu: crossfire doesn't work in windowed mode, afaik. something to consider.

    monitor: I have the zr2740w and it's awesome. I've also heard reasonably good things about the off-brand 1440p ips panels.
  • NiGHTSNiGHTS San Diego Icrontian
    shwaip said:

    gpu: crossfire doesn't work in windowed mode, afaik.

    ...wait, wat? @Thrax srsly?

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    Yes, CrossFire requires full screen.
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    That's a bummer. 7990 only acts as a single GPU, right?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    7990 is CrossFire on a stick. GTX 690 is SLI on a stick. All dual-GPU products expose two graphics cards to the system, bridged together with a PCI Express PLX to facilitate inter-GPU communication.
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    So what's the rub for my situation (i.e. running several eve clients in windowed mode) if I was to use 7990? No bueno? Most other games I can or could change to run full screen, but almost never will I run EVE full screen.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    No bueno. It will use one of the 7970 GPUs.
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    SLI works in windowed mode, apparently.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    I must say, the monitor Thrax recommended for me es muy bueno. My only regret is that I can't afford to buy 3 of them and a new GPU for maximum awesome.

    As for wall mounts, I'm planning to pick up a couple of these: http://www.amazon.com/Cheetah-Articulating-Bracket-Monitors-Includes/dp/B0088RIV1W/

    The Cheetah mount I got for my TV is very nice, and the price on them is awesome. Plus they come with all the mounting hardware you need and an HDMI cable.... because one can never have too many HDMI cables, amirite?
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    Nice! That is a great rec, thanks
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