Wanting Dual Monitors + Graphic Card Upgrade?

[Jackehboy]

Hello all,
Did a quick search of " good computer forums" and this was my first choice SO I figured why not!

I have a few questions..
I have always wanted to do dual monitors at home. Currently I am running a single 20 or 22 inch wide... Love it but after being at work with 2 wider and bigger dual monitors it sucks coming home to this!

My pc was built in 09 off dell and basically upgraded to the max on their website.. .Which of course isnt that great now a days... I debate building my own custom pc all the time but I really dont have a use as I dont do much intense gaming..

The MOST I would want is Ultra on WoW with good FPS. If I could get that out of my PC right now it would be ideal...

So what I'm asking is.. What is my best option in terms of upgrading my graphic card to support dual monitors and or any other cheaper mods to increase my PC performance!?

Link to my specs from CPU-Z
http://valid.canardpc.com/sifmci

 

[Bo$$]

You picked well! Welcome!
What is your budget? we can spec out a whole computer or just a graphics card upgrade.
Also please try and fill out your system specs in full, so we can see all your current hardware. most importantly which Power Supply Unit (PSU) you have in your system.
If you want ultra any gtx760-R9 270x would suffice, even cheaper would be ok

 

[Jackehboy]

Not really on a budget. If I can get ultra and dual monitors without buying a brand new pc I am perfectly ok with that I dont want to spend TONS but im willing to spend some. Ummm Not sure on the PSU. I linked CPU-Z I thought that would be enough. Is there any other programs out there that can get my specs?

 

[Bo$$]

You mentioned it's a dell, the issue is you may or may not have the correct connectors or sufficient wattage on your power supply to run a modern graphics card.
If you swap out your PSU and Graphics card you'll most likely to be able to do that no problems

 

[Jackehboy]

Yeah Im more than willing to swap out a PSU Just looking for the best option for my money really.

 

[Nordic]

Wow is not the most intense game, but resolution does matter. These two monitors you plan on getting, what resolution would they be?

 

[Jackehboy]

Well right now I just have the one that came with my PC which is like a 22 or 20 inch wide screen... Would be going with something similar for my next monitor too.

 

[Bo$$]

We will assume your resolution is 1080p so you'll be doing 3840x1080.

that sounds like a job for atleast R9 270x to me.

 

[Jackehboy]

right now im at 1600x900 if that means anything :x

 

[Aquinus]

We will assume your resolution is 1080p so you'll be doing 3840x1080.

that sounds like a job for atleast R9 270x to me.

You don't usually play games across only two displays unless you're playing Supreme Commander 2, but I agree that a R9 270X might be a good starting point.

It's worth noting that WoW has traditionally typically been a CPU bound game. Just an FYI as I don't think this has changed.

 

[Jackehboy]

Yeah I wouldnt be playing Wow Cross screen.... would just be 1 screen, but im wanting ultra settings ;P

 

[Bo$$]

You don't usually play games across only two displays unless you're playing Supreme Commander 2, but I agree that a R9 270X might be a good starting point.

It's worth noting that WoW has traditionally typically been a CPU bound game. Just an FYI as I don't think this has changed.

Agreed Supcom was an amazing series!

Although CPU bound i'm sure a Quad core will cut it for his usage.

Consider a Giving us a link to your preferred e-tailer, so we can part you out an upgrade

 

[Paladone]

Hello all,
Did a quick search of " good computer forums" and this was my first choice SO I figured why not!

I have a few questions..
I have always wanted to do dual monitors at home. Currently I am running a single 20 or 22 inch wide... Love it but after being at work with 2 wider and bigger dual monitors it sucks coming home to this!

My pc was built in 09 off dell and basically upgraded to the max on their website.. .Which of course isnt that great now a days... I debate building my own custom pc all the time but I really dont have a use as I dont do much intense gaming..

The MOST I would want is Ultra on WoW with good FPS. If I could get that out of my PC right now it would be ideal...

So what I'm asking is.. What is my best option in terms of upgrading my graphic card to support dual monitors and or any other cheaper mods to increase my PC performance!?

Link to my specs from CPU-Z
http://valid.canardpc.com/sifmci

I play WoW A LOT, and having previously owned 2x 7970's, I wouldn't recommend going AMD if you're looking at playing wow for the most part. This does only come from personal experience though. You should also know that being such an old game, WoW will run fine with just about any out-dated system. Having said that though, scaling with higher end cards in WoW becomes a little sketchy. Nowadays, pretty much any modern card will support dual monitors, so no problems there. In terms of what card would be best for your needs; I would recommend maybe a 770 or 760, depending on your budget.

These two cards are not only super clocked, but with Evga's ACX cooling and Precision X, you could push them even further. The 770 would give you a lot of headroom if you're going to be playing other games, and it would also ensure good WoW performance well into the future.

One thing that you should know is that even with a high end GPU, the main bottleneck to your system when playing WoW is going to be your CPU as the game is more CPU intensive than anything else. For this reason, it probably isn't worth upgrading to a high end GPU if you're stuck with such an old processor.

As I mentioned, WoW is a very old game, and so core management is quite poor. If you were looking at CPU performance, you likely wouldn't get more than a few FPS difference if you were to compare say a 4960x @ 4.5Ghz to an i5 4670k at the same over clock. I should also note that upgrading to a SSD would massively reduce load times in the game; eg. Loading into and out of Arenas or BGs; I noticed this when I got a SSD.

For these reasons, if you were to upgrade your processor, to say an i5 4670k, your GPU to a 770 and maybe grab a SSD, you would most definitely be looking at a MASSIVE performance boost, with a pc easily capable of running WoW on ultra. It would also be worth looking at investing in an aftermarket CPU cooler and with such upgrades, you'd also be capable of some serious over clocking, allowing you to push your performance even further.

These upgrades are all very costly, but you can't exactly have one high end part and have the rest of your build be out-dated; you'll just bottleneck your system.

GTX760 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130949
GTX770 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130921
4670k - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116899
SSD (Samsung 840 Pro) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147192 - I use this SSD and I would highly recommend it.

EDIT: I should also note that I was unable to run wow on ultra with my 7970 @1200/1650; I don't know if it's just me, or if AMD and wow really don't mix too well.