[Tech] Graphics card update

[Traxata]

@Trax: Yeah. The 8800 I've got atm is a gainward one I think IIRC. The 5870 on offer atm is an XFX one (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...tm_source=newsletter20110323&utm_medium=email) at £160, although that page says 2 year warranty. Or is that just the middleman warranty?

http://xfxforce.com/en-us/features/doublelifetimewarranty.aspx

 

[Wol]

So a "register for more warranty" thing. fair enough!

"*Double Lifetime Protection only available in North America " ?

http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/618950-uk-eu-residents-xfx-should-give.html

 

[Huung]

Yeah, just been researching that myself, Wol. Seems it is only for N. America and Canada - European law or some such means the warranties in Europe are the responsibility of the reseller, not of XFX.

I blame Trax for these laws.

 

[Wol]

I blame Trax for these laws.

So it would be 2 years warranty then

Silly trax.

 

[Traxata]

They've always held up the warranty with me

 

[thatbloke]

Does the 570 support more than 2 outputs, or would I have to leave my mobo in PCIe x8 mode, and run my 8800 on the other port to get three monitor outputs?

I'll be honest - I have no idea if nVidia have started supporting more than 2 monitors per card yet...

if you want a single card that does 3 monitors well then get an ATi card with Eyefinity.

 

[Traxata]

nVidia cards still won't run more than 2 monitors on a single card. my second 20" screen is ontop of my cupboard.

 

[Wol]

nVidia cards still won't run more than 2 monitors on a single card. my second 20" screen is ontop of my cupboard.

And I'm guessing you cant run games in mega widescreen nicely split across 2 nvidia cards. I tried it a while back with my current setup (8800 + 9600) and it just.... didnt. Died horribly and had to use other strange hacks to various drivers here and there.

 

[Traxata]

And I'm guessing you cant run games in mega widescreen nicely split across 2 nvidia cards. I tried it a while back with my current setup (8800 + 9600) and it just.... didnt. Died horribly and had to use other strange hacks to various drivers here and there.

if you try and stretch something across two graphics cards you're asking for trouble

Multi-screens are only worthwhile on a single card, and with nvidia, that was scrapped on vista onwards (for the most part).

 

[Spicypixel]

FYI the lolfps you're getting in TF2 could be attributed to the fact the frame buffer has to be copied between the cards over the constrained 8x bus just to output out to the 3 monitors. Do the right thing and buy a card with the ability to output to 3 monitors at once, anything less is subpar.