ATI Radeon multi-monitor question

[Jewelspoint]

Hey everyone,

I would like to support 4 screens (a tv mounted above 3 monitors).

I currently have the Radeon HD 5870 which supports 3 monitors, and my motherboard does not have another PCI express slot, so I can't crossfire two 5870's.

If I buy a crapy PCI slot video card such as the Radeon 5450, can I crossfire it with the 5870? Will that hurt my performance? Will that allow me to use 4 monitors? Will the new card cause issues since it won't be as powerful, maybe make 1 of my screens lag and the 3 off the 5870 card run fine?

Any other suggestions I didn't think of?

I am running Windows 7.

I appreciate your support, you guys are always so helpful and informative!

Specs:
OS: Win 7
GPU: Radeon HD 5870, standard edition
MOBO: ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA
CPU: Intel I7-920

 

[jasonalwaysready]

I think that the displayport connection on your card can be split to support up to 3 monitors on the connection.

Otherwise, i think that you would just have to use or convert the current connections.

i think in order to crossfire cards, they have to be similar generations and power to each other.

 

[PP Mguire]

Why would you want to Crossfire the 2 cards? If you simply want to run movies or TV shows off the TV then plug your TV into the other card and leave it separate so you can game properly on your 5870.

There are also USB video solutions you can use with your TV too.