Advice on GPU & Monitor Upgrade or Not?...

[QuantumX]

Hello All, looking for advice on my planned upgrade. (Will Apologise now for the long post!)

So today I have 5 Random Monitors on a pair of Multi-Arm Monitor Stands;

• 1 x 27in (1920x1080 16:9 HDMI)
• 2 x 23in (1920x1080 16:9 Display Port & HDMI)
• 2 x 19in (1280x1024 4:3 VGA) -- Really old, and i mean OLD!! Screen Burn and all

Connected to 2 x AMD 7970 Cards, which normally run in non-crossfire mode, but if i need to i can change to crossfire mode and run just two screens if a game needs it, though i honestly can count the times on one hand I have done this is last 4 years.

Reason for my setup is I work for home and use it for working around 40 hours a week and nature of my job means screen real estate is very useful.

Now, I also game though I would describe myself as a casual gamer who games a lot, in that I’m not into needing all my settings on Ultra etc but i like stuff to look reasonable good. Tbh my setup (which i built) has been running nice for a very long time, and not really noticing much slowdown in my 1080p gaming experience, though over years i have had to consistently lower my graphics settings as games have become more demanding.

So now I’m thinking of a general upgrade of Monitor real estate and maybe graphics cards, but I know that card prices are a little nuts right now, so I’m in two minds what to do. But my initial thoughts are to do the following setup: (see image for proposed setup)

• Upgrade to New Monitor 1 to x 32in 2560x1440 Monitor (AOC Q3279VWF?)
• Change to two side monitors using existing 27in and new 27in both in portrait mode at 1920x1080.
• Maybe have a 4th monitor the existing 23in over middle monitor for background TV viewing and just to utilise it as i have it.

For Graphics Cards, I think i could leave my 2 x 7970s in Crossfire mode and feed all these monitors off the one card, BUT i'm not sure it would have enough power to run games though for working i'm sure it would be fine.

So for the graphics card i was thinking of taking the 7970s out of the system and replacing with a single 1070Ti, which is about the most spend I could justify at current costs.

Oh i should also note that my system is currently all water cooled, as i don't want to hear rocket fans while working, so any replacement card would have a water block added.

Basically what i'm looking for is peoples suggestions, if in the same situation what would you do?

BTW my budget is about £1000 to £1200 all in.

Other System Info for completeness:
Intel Core i7-4770K @ 4.20GHz / 16Gb RAM / MAXIMUS VII HERO / All Water Cooled

Again Apologies for the long post....

 

[mrbazmondo]

Whats your motherboard? Can it take a 3rd GFX card? Or would that require a new PSU?
If you value real estate then would you be better off considering some 4k monitors rather than buying a new 1920x1080?

 

[QuantumX]

So my Motherboard is a MAXIMUS VII HERO, and i have a 1300w Modular PSU.

 

[mrbazmondo]

2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8, red)
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode, black) *1
3 x PCIe 2.0 x1 *2
*1: The PCIe 2.0 x16 slot (PCIEX4_3) shares bandwith with PCIe 2.0 x1 and M.2 slot. The default setting is Auto Mode, which automatically optimizes the system bandwidth. If you install a PCIe 2.0 x4 device, the system will automatically detect and disable PCIe 2.0 x1 and M.2 slot.
*2: The PCIe 2.0 x1 slots (PCIEX1_1/2/3) will be disabled when PCIe 2.0 x16 slot (PCIEX4_3 ) operates under x4 speed or M.2 mode.

https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VII_HERO/specifications/

I'd go for one GFX card that can connect all monitors if possible. It doesn't look like there's a lot of lanes available.