New Gaming Video Cards Out (Handles 6 30" Monitors)
The next generation of AMD/ATI video card are out this week. The ATI Radeon HD 5870 can use run 6 30" monitors at once at full resolutions. Interestingly the new 5870 drops 40 watts power consumption at idle compared to 4870 and uses same amount at load. Of course it's the first card with DirectX 11.
<table class="articlecontent" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td class="articleimage" rowspan="2"></td> <td class="articletitle" colspan="2">ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB Graphics Card and AMD Eyefinity Review
I usually don't post about video cards here but this card has more power with less watts (and heat) and will soon be pretty affordable if people can wait until around Jan. I usually dont buy cards that are new since they follow the initial reference designs which can often be buggy with regard to fans and such. I like the aftermarket coolers.
Plus - AMD might be going bankrupt so I hope their card does well because I don't want to be left with just Intel making cpu's with no real competition (and I buy Intel cpu's).
Right now cards and cpu's do more than can even games make use of so using multiple monitors is where the "wow" factor is. I use a 30" for games now and wont use multiples until they can be set in a grid without the big bezel in the way.
I almost bought a 3870 but got a Nvidia 8800 GT instead. For past year I've had a ATI 4850 and it's more than I need being a casual gamer. I used to try playing 3 or 4 games at a time and never finished any of them because of it. Now I focus on one at a time (finally got through all of HL2 and HL2 Episode 1). Now I am trying to decide between Stalker (I have both Clear Sky and Shadow of Chernobyl) Fallout 3 or Bioshock. I'm a little weary of the dystopian thing but I already have these games.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
~JRR Tolkien
I've been around the block once or twice and this isn't my first rodeo...
AMD ate going under because they re being forced out of the market by intel which was a big court battle not sure if it still is. My laptop and my Pc are both AMD i won't touch intel so i will be gutted if they go under i will look at this in January when i should be able to afford a decent card for my PC.
Reminds of how much I need to get a dual monitor set up going.
And he brought me into a vast farmlands of our own midwest. And as we descended, cries of impending doom rose from the soil. One thousand, nay a million voices full of fear. And terror possesed me then. And I begged, "Angel of the Lord, what are these tortured screams?" And the angel said unto me, "These are the cries of the carrots, the cries of the carrots! -- Not a vegetarian
I don't know display situation in UK, but in US the prices came down a lot after the manufacturers were found guilty of keeping prices artificially high. Displays/monitors became a lot cheaper. I bought a 32" HDTV with 4 HDMI ports as a gaming/movie display and it cost half what it cost a year ago.
Haha, don't worry, I was the same until I broke my computer and worked out how to fix it myself (the internet is the ultimate source of information :P lol)
And I have noticed that AMD have been beat back a bit lately in the CPU area, so I might go with a core I5.
I almost bought a 3870 but got a Nvidia 8800 GT instead. For past year I've had a ATI 4850 and it's more than I need being a casual gamer. I used to try playing 3 or 4 games at a time and never finished any of them because of it. Now I focus on one at a time (finally got through all of HL2 and HL2 Episode 1). Now I am trying to decide between Stalker (I have both Clear Sky and Shadow of Chernobyl) Fallout 3 or Bioshock. I'm a little weary of the dystopian thing but I already have these games.
Play shadow of Chernobyl, it might be a bit old now but I still can't get enough of it, though I really haven't been gaming much lately at all.
Ok, any build suggestions?, I can't really salvage much from my current one, my 7800GT is it's best part, just to give you an idea of how old it is lol
</td> <td class="articletitle" colspan="2">ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB Graphics Card and AMD Eyefinity Review
