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Hey all,

I've gotten a bit of money recently, and I was wondering whether it would make more sense for me to buy a second graphics card for a CrossFireX setup or just go for a better monitor. I'd really love to play games and do assorted other things on a monitor bigger than my current 1440x900 panel, but I'm not sure if my system will handle it nearly as well as it handles this lowly screen. My system specs are in my signature for reference, and thanks in advance!

Your HD6870 would be great at 1080p if you're not trying to push the newest games at the highest settings.

Most will agree that investing in a better monitor is always worth it; grab a 23-24" IPS, and when your current GPU gets too slow, you can get something significantly faster and not have to deal with multi-GPU.

Thanks for the advice, I figured my HD6870 would be fine at that resolution, but the bit I'm worried about is the processor; is it going to be enough to work at higher resolutions with only 1 video card to back it up? Sorry for being a noob about these things, this is my first computer that I actually built myself/that is actually decent, so I'm still learning these things... thanks again!

If the CPU is enough at a lower resolution, it will be 'more' than enough at a higher resolution. Whether it's 'enough' now is up to you .

Great, that's what I thought! Thanks so much!

Works great now, so I'm glad to hear that my CPU is not going to be a bottleneck at higher resolutions, can't really afford to drop cash on a new CPU/mobo AND a monitor...

A cpu/gpu will last you 2-3 years; A good monitor can last a decade.

Monitor to be sure. CrossfireX won't get noticed until you go into the 2560x1440 or higher range, so you're better off getting a larger monitor first. As an added note, my experience with CrossfireX was that it was hard to get working right depending on the game I tried.

Not sure how much your "bit of money" is, but I saw this ASUS 23" e-IPS monitor the other day and it made me drool. I want one real bad!!! Not to mention its $190 and you get a $20 newegg gift card (good for 1 year).

DPete27 wrote:

Not sure how much your "bit of money" is, but I saw this ASUS 23" e-IPS monitor the other day and it made me drool. I want one real bad!!! Not to mention its $190 and you get a $20 newegg gift card (good for 1 year).

Sadly, that's a bit above my budget, I've got ~$150 tops, but pretty much any 1080p display is gonna be a huge upgrade for me, TN or not, so that's what I'll probably end up with. That said, I'm headed to Best Buy today, and if I see anything that catches my eye I might pick it up... I'll check for any other recommendations before I buy, though

Thanks everyone for your advice!

Ended up picking up an LG E2242T at Best Buy, it was discounted from $190 to $130, and looked better than any other screen at that price range they had, so I bit the bullet. It's set up, and it's fantastic! I'm going to try some gaming later, but thanks to everyone who said go for the monitor, you guys were right!

JdL wrote:

Monitor to be sure. CrossfireX won't get noticed until you go into the 2560x1440 or higher range, so you're better off getting a larger monitor first. As an added note, my experience with CrossfireX was that it was hard to get working right depending on the game I tried.

I respectfully disagree, but with a caveat. I know it's not for most people, but if you have a 120 hz monitor, you've just doubled the effective number of pixels. If you like high fps then crossfire does help.

Having said that, I both agree that the monitor is the better choice, and that generally you're right about crossfire for most people.

Nice buy.

I've seen those LG's in the flesh and even though they're only TN panels I was pleasantly surprised by the viewing angles and colour vibrancy.

Enjoy that new monitor :0 i can imagine its a big upgrade fro what you had and you will love it.

Now if you happen to have to turn down the eye candy too much for some games crossfire is still a future option for you down the road...i dont think that cpu you have will let you break 120fps but i am sure with v sync on and crossfire setup you will be able to run super AA setting along with AF and get a steady 60fps and that's plenty. When you come up with more $ perhaps a matching card will only cost 100$ or so perhaps less on ebay or something.
Enjoy the show...If you happen to watch 1080p mkvs or any videos i highly suggest you use MPHC classic 32bit with the madvr renderer, it gives you a fantastic picture and you dont even have to touch your video cards video adjustments.