Would a single 7970 be sufficient for tri 1200p?

[Mynight]

Currently I have 3x 1080p monitors but I'm looking at upgrading to bigger 24" ips screens. I'm considering going with 3 x asus as24ahl which are 1200p.

Would a single 7970 be powerful enough? I rarely game on all 3 screens I normally use all 3 for programming and design tasks and game on a single monitor.

So advise should I or do I need to buy a second 7970 or maybe just upgrade to one of the newest R series?


(Wasn't 100% sure if this thread was better in monitors of graphic cards area sorry if I got it wrong).

 

[Phixsator]

If you are asking if a 7970 can supply a signal to all 3 monitors for desktop apps then yes it will. Gaming on all three in eyefinity then is still a theoretical yes, but performance will be poor.

 

[Mynight]

Good to hear I wasn't sure if it would struggle with the bigger screen/pixel count on program's. I guess it's not a huge increase or draw on the gpu.

How poor are we talking say bf4 I do enjoy playing on all three screens at the moment its smooth on medium settings would I have to drop much further for the newer screens?

 

[eddiew]

Think of it in terms of pixel count

1200 is 120 pixels, or 11.1%, taller than 1080p. The horizontal remains unaffected, so it's exactly the same % increase in area.

You can reasonably expect a corresponding 11% fall in FPS, which may or may not bother you.

 

[oweneades]

Performance will be fine on a single HD7970 at a combination of medium & high settings (with minimal MSAA or post AA).

BF3 Portrait Eyefinity example from my own testing:

HD7970 Overclock was 1200/6400. GTX780 stock was 993/6000.

Settings were all high with shadows on medium.

 

[ghost.florian]

What is there to stop you from continuing to game at 1080p ? You should be able to select 1080p in your game settings.

You can use this as a back-up in case your GPU cannot cope with the increased resolution.

 

[eddiew]

What is there to stop you from continuing to game at 1080p ? You should be able to select 1080p in your game settings.

Either the OP would have to letterbox it, which removes the point of having bigger screens, or upscale it, which would look terrible due to the screen mapping 10 inbound pixels to every 11 on its display.

 

[ghost.florian]

I rarely game on all 3 screens I normally use all 3 for programming and design tasks and game on a single monitor.

It seems to me that the OP wants to buy the new monitors primarily for other purposes. If he does want to game on all 3 and the GPU isn't powerful enough, I personally don't think he would mind letterboxing.
I don't see why he would spend £320 + on a more powerful GPU just for gaming.

@oweneades : good graph, very informational.

 

[oweneades]

It seems to me that the OP wants to buy the new monitors primarily for other purposes. If he does want to game on all 3 and the GPU isn't powerful enough, I personally don't think he would mind letterboxing.
I don't see why he would spend £320 + on a more powerful GPU just for gaming.

@oweneades : good graph, very informational.

He could always game at 1920x1200 on the centre screen anyway. you just setup up different profiles for how you want the screens to act (Extend, Eyefinity etc). This is how I currently have my setup running. On a single HD7850 Eyefinity is possible (even in BF3 at medium settings) but mostly I game on the centre screen.

I would post all of the other graphs as well but I don't want to flood the thread. In general a overclocked 7970 (1200-1250) basically equals a stock GTX780 at Surround / Eyefinity like resolutions.