gfx card for a 30" monitor

[meticoeus]

I'm building someone a pc/business computer that won't be used for gaming but will be used for business applications and the like with a 30" screen, or two +20" screens. They're trying to keep the cost reasonable so I don't want to blow $250 on a video card if it isn't needed.

My question: What is the lowest cost model gfx card, nvidia preferably that I could use for a 30" lcd screen (2560x1600 res.) without impact to performance. I'm considering 7600gt or a 7900gs if necessary. The only graphics intensive stuff with be the occasional flash or powerpoint multimedia.

Current system specs (nothing ordered yet):
Core 2 Duo E6400
Corsair/Geil/G-skill 2GB DDRII 667
ASUS P5NSLI NVIDIA nForce 570 (unless anyone has a good recomendation for something similarly priced/featured)
Fortran 500W PSU
not sure about the hdd setup yet.

[simon275]

You need one that is dual head DVI so consdering the rez I would go with the 7900gs better be safe then sorry.

With the HDD you can get 320gb SATA drives for really cheap just over $100 US I think.

Are they sure they need 2GB of ram though?

[meticoeus]

They give a new meaning to the term multitask, so its better safe again.

I don't think they need that much space but I plan to set up a RAID 1, so I'm getting anything that large.

Thanks for the input, I guess I'll go for the 7900. Better to have a little more horsepower available than not.

EDIT: Actually, the 7600's with dual dvi aren't much less than the 7900 anyway.

[simon275]

But the 7600's dont have as much power I would say go with the 7900. As With a Dell 30" display at 2560x1600 it takes the load of the cpu more. But really it's up to you.

[OvRiDe]

I use a GF5600 to run 2560X1024 on 2 monitors at the office. It has plenty of horsepower to run all my apps, powerpoints, video etc. I usually end up with at least 6 appse running most of the time with no problems. Before that I had a TNT2 and an 8MB ATI RagePro to run the 2 monitors and didnt have any issues with that setup either. I don't have time to game at the office but for regular apps it doesn't really take a hardcore GPU to run non 3d apps. Before I upgraded my system at home, I had a 6600GT running the same res on my 2 LCDs and I could still game just fine. Bottom line with any modern card you shouldn't have any problems.

[Ronyx]

sorry if this is intruding into your topic but a small question if i may,
i'm considering getting a 7950GX2, would that be capable of running Dual Viewsonic VX922 monitors? and at what res will it begin to lag and lose it's capabilities. What res would be a safe resolution on which i could run like 3 apps and a game?

[CanaBalistic]

The 7950Gx2 is like Nvidias best card right now. If that card cant do it, then im not sure any card can. It would be wise to get the one with 512mb or even the 1Gb model if you can afford that.

[YoungBlood]

ATI x1950... You can play your 30" monitor a FULL detail... AA x16 the lot! and no lag... promise ;)

[Ronyx]

w00t XFX's 7950GX2 XXX Edition i think has 1 gig of memory and that's the one i'm going to get. 570mhz speed =]

[Razors Edge]

Save up- et a Radeon x1950.....If THAT card can't do it, nothing can.

[simon275]

I'm building someone a pc/business computer that won't be used for gaming but will be used for business applications and the like with a 30" screen, or two +20" screens. They're trying to keep the cost reasonable so I don't want to blow $250 on a video card if it isn't needed.

My question: What is the lowest cost model gfx card, nvidia preferably that I could use for a 30" lcd screen (2560x1600 res.) without impact to performance. I'm considering 7600gt or a 7900gs if necessary. The only graphics intensive stuff with be the occasional flash or powerpoint multimedia.


I think some people missed the point with this he just wants a card that can run the big screen so he can multitask in an OFFICE environment. So to run the montior at 2560x1600 he only really needs a 7900gt. or the ATI equvialent as it is not for gaming.

[Razors Edge]

Yeah, the ATI x1950.......

[DaveW]

You don't really need a new video card if your old card can handle a splitter cable and a high resolution. If you have a DVI port, then this is mmost likely the case, and will definately be a cheaper option.

-Dave

[meticoeus]

Thanks for the help guys, I went the 7900 gs. It should be more than adequate for a couple of years.

[simon275]

Good choice solid card can be overclocked a bit to make it on par with a 7900gt but that is not an issue here.

[xdxforever]

He would have been best served by the Matrox G550 Dual-DVI which comes in agp4x and PCEx 1x versions i think.