Duo Monitor Setup Help + CrossFireX

Hi I have recently been thinking I need a 2nd monitor to help my work efficiency. I have a couple of questions since I haven't done this before.

Budget: potentially up to $800 but looking for cost efficiency here.

Target: 2nd monitor w/ gpu upgrade. Which monitor + gpu should I get?

1) Does anyone have a good article on monitor setups or Crossfirex?

2) Should I get Crossfirex 270xs? I already have one.  I hear the value of 2 x 270x's is good for the price.  Because I could get something like a gtx 780 but thats around $550 when i could spend just $220 and get a good bump up in performance right?

I also already play most games I want to play on high settings but I feel like i want to upgrade to make sure i get no problems with frames on 2 monitors.

3) If you have a touch screen monitor, how useful/fun do you find it?

4) If I have two monitors is there an optimal way to connect the monitors?  Lots of gpus only have 1 hdmi or Dport with maybe a couple dvis?

Thanks.

Also the monitor i have right now is 60hz 23" LED Acer 1920x1080

You will most likely run into issues with crossfired 270x's as many people have even here on the tek. Grab a good single card like the 780 and sell off your existing 270. A single 780 will even handle a triple monitor setup with quality moderately high.

Connect the monitors with what ever you can and have available. If you want specific outputs choose a card that has what you want.

Touchscreen on a desktop with win8.1 is ok (and awesome on a laptop/tablet) but I would personally find cleaning the fingerprints off all the time on a big screen a right pain in the arse.

If you're going to be gaming you need 3 monitors, otherwise you'll be staring at a line in the center of your vision.  I would recommend going with a single card, but since you have to get 2 monitors to game you may have to run a crossfire setup to stay in budget.  I'm running virtually the same setup (7870ghz instead of the 270x) and it works amazingly well, but your millage may vary.  I'd recommend the same monitors for gaming, otherwise your color, etc. might be off.  Also, instead of the 780, I'd recommend a Sapphire 290 tri-x.  They are about the same price again, and the 290 beats the 780 in a lot of games.  Again, that's up to you.

If this is really about improving work efficiency, then get a nice, 1080p monitor and dont upgrade your video card, since you can run up to 6 screens off of one gpu.  Then just keep gaming on one monitor.  Or up the card and buy another screen and just play on one screen again.

As "the Drugs" mentioned above me, you do not want to run eyefinity with two monitors. The allignment is terrible and you get stuck with your crosshair or character model right in-between your monitor bezels. The only game ive seen that is playable with 2 monitors and eyefinity is burnout paradise.

This basically makes your second gpu a moot point if eyefinity is the only reason for the second card. Also keep in mind for eyefinity to work, you need all 3 monitors plugged into the top card of a crossfire setup, almost guaranteeing you'll need to buy a active mini displayport adapter. Found that out the hardway recently.

If you do want to go eyefinity, and get three monitors in total, with a second 270x I can safely report you'll have little to no issues in the performance dept if the title you're playing supports crossfire/sli.

I run two heavily overclocked 7850 2gb's in crossfire and three 1080p monitors, so games use a 5760x1080 resolution. If the title uses both gpu's correctly, I can run everything cranked at the absurd eyefinity res and see a solid 60fps with the occasional dip into the 50's (minus crysis 3 ofc!). So if two oc'd 7850's can do that, two 270x's should yield even slightly better performance.

The main issue is the game has to support crossfire correctly. Grid 2, Tomb Raider (reboot), Batman Origins, etc etc etc. They all run silky smooth as they run on both cards correctly. The second you turn one of the cards off  you'll dip into the 30's if not lower and make the game atleast imo, unplayable. That's the major downside at the moment if you went with a second 270x over say something like a 780ti or a 290x. If the title doesn't support crossfire properly, you're boned.