Video Card Question for New PC Build

Jerald7 · 03 Jul 2013

I'm building a new computer and need some video card advice. I have the following components (listed below) for my new build. I need advice on getting the best video card for my needs. I am NOT a gamer. I currently have (3) monitors on my main PC, and this new build will replace it. I will need three monitors on this new build also. My monitors all have DVI, VGA & HDMI jacks. My new mobo has (2) HDMI jacks and (1) Display Port, (no vga or DVI jacks). The Intel Processor Graphics in the Intel Core i7-4770K Haswell 3.5GHz processor - description says – “It supports up to three independent displays: HDMI, DVI, Display Port, VGA (via Lynx Point).” Can I connect two monitors up to the two HDMI jacks and the third monitor to the Display Port of the mobo? Or would it be better to install a video card?

This PC will be primarily used for office work and some PhotoShop CS5 and Lightroom photo editing (but nothing too serious). I do have a ASUS EAH6850 1GB video card in my current PC that I could take out and put in this new PC, but that card is 3 years old (but works great), don't know about compatibility.

Thanks for any advice you could give.

Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K Haswell 3.5GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I74770K
Mobo: MSI Z87 MPOWER LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Extreme OC Flagship High Performance Triple CFX/ SLI Platform Intel Motherboard
Power Supply: CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Compatible with New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready
Memory (16 GB): Crucial Ballistix 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model BLT8G3D1608DT1TX0
Case: Rosewill THOR V2 Gaming ATX Full Tower Computer Case
SSD: SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC256N/AM 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
DVD drive: LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Internal 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA Model ihas324-07
Monitors: (2) ASUS 27" (1) ASUS 24"

Faladu · 03 Jul 2013

If that Haswell claims true 3 monitor support and has just those 3 jacks then I say:

Yeah you should be OK with the on-board video on that Haswell, get an ACTIVE display port cable (just make sure you are DP or mini-DP for that 3rd jack!) to whichever jack is compatible with the new monitors, DVI or HDMI is fine. [keyword active, they are more $, a normal passive one will not work right]

That 6850 is fine for 7 but unknown ports, I would see if the on-die CPU video is good enough before going there.

I am hopeful that on-die (mixed in right with the CPU) GPUs are pretty good.