4k Dual Monitor / Graphics Card / Xbox One

[KoD Krysco 51]

New user here looking for some help. I just purchased twin Samsung U28D590D UHD 4k monitors for my setup. I currently have a Radeon R7 260X 2GB DDR5 card and it runs great (I haven't tried any high end pc games on the new monitors yet, but this card ran skyrim on my old single 21 inch HP monitor flawlessly on close to max settings.

I have two questions here:

1. On the right side monitor, I like to run my XBOX one. Im trying to figure out what refresh rate it is using being connected via HDMI? Ive read that digital port is good for 60HZ and hdmi is only good for 30HZ. The monitor supports 60HZ. When I have it hooked up to the card, its via Digital Port so I get 60HZ (or am assuming). Am I getting 30HZ or 60HZ from the xbox? I would think only 30HZ because of HDMI, but then again, its an xbox which when connected to a TV, should display a higher HZ regardless?

2. I was recommended a NVIDA GFORCE GTX 960 2GB DDR5 card as an upgrade. Would this be a worthy swap vs my Radeon? I don't PC game much, mainly oblivion and skyrim, which I do like to run the higher settings on.

I appreciate any feedback in advance and sorry if I sounded like to much of a noob with the 30/60 HZ thing.

 

[DasHotShot]

Well...you are in for some major surprise son...

4k is not for the faint hearted...that is ultra high end gaming territory! In all seriousness, I don't even know how and xbox will be able to handle 10 fps / hz on 4k, let alone 30 or 60. I am sure there is some trick like major upscaling or whatever, however it won't do true 4k, that is for sure! HDMI I think won't do 4k anyway, so you will be running on 60fps, 900p upscaled I think.

With pc games, to run anything on "higher" settings on 4 you are gonna need a hell of a lot more power than a single 960 hahaha.

To put it in context, a GTX 980 struggles to put out more than 40 fps consistently on full 4k for new games.

For Skyrim to run on 4k, with normal to decent settings, you are sure going to need something like a 290x or a 970 gtx and even those are absolutely nowhere near optimal for 4k.

I think you should have done a lot more research on this before buying such high res monitors. Expect to invest double or more than planned in a new gpu as your 260x won't be rendering much at that res.

 

[americanbrian]

The X-box one has a maximum resolution of 1080p. So you will get a full 60FPS down the hdmi in 1080p. Problem solved there. And as stated, you will not get good smooth results at 4k res with anything but 2 of the most powerful GPUs. With a single 290x or gtx 980 you may be able to stretch medium high settings in some games.

 

[DasHotShot]

The X-box one has a maximum resolution of 1080p. So you will get a full 60FPS down the hdmi in 1080p. Problem solved there. And as stated, you will not get good smooth results at 4k res with anything but 2 of the most powerful GPUs. With a single 290x or gtx 980 you may be able to stretch medium high settings in some games.

Except the Xbox takes most AAA titles and renders them at 720p, upscaling them to 1080p, so not even full HD there.

Either way, a rethink on the whole 4k thing is in order here my friend!

 

[KoD Krysco 51]

Well, I guess I should have specified what I want out of this setup a little more. The monitors are honestly overkill for what I need but hey, as I slowly want to upgrade things down the road, they wont hold me back.

I primarily use the left monitor for a general pc monitor (facebook, hotmail, forums, youtube etc). It works great and ive watched both 1080 and 4k youtube vid and they both run and look incredible.

I primarily use the right monitor for either movies or my xbox one. I used my xbox one last night and it looked at ran absolutely great.

I never plan on pc gaming over both monitors (atleast not right now). Just to test it, I just launched Skyrim on the right monitor and it ran and looked great. To my understanding, gaming over multi-monitors is what would really be my issue with the card I have?

Honestly, I had the two questions about the graphics card and the framerate for the xbox. Now that I know about the xbox framerate, it only leaves the graphics card. Let me ask this because the Radeon still plays skyrim great. Could you you guys compare the two cards listed in the original post? Im getting a new pc case soon and wanted to know if I should swap cards, or return the GTX 960 since my Radeon still seems to do everything I want it to do great.

 

[DasHotShot]

...I don't get it.

Either way, you have 4k monitors and i will assure you, you have not seen actual 4k on them...

The 260 does not play Skyrim on 4k my friend. If it does, you have some weak settings on it. Even so, if won't run actual 4k.

Anyway, for basic PC use your current card will run the screens. For gaming on ACTUAL REAL 4k with good settings you need at the very minimum a 970, realistically a 980.

 

[KoD Krysco 51]

You are correct, Skyrim wasn't in 4k, I just meant that it ran great, looked great and felt great. I have not tried messing with the settings to try it any higher but I had them up pretty high already. For the time being, im satisfied. I will definitely look into the cards you listed as an upgrade though. As for the youtube vids in "4k", they looked every bit as amazing as any of the best buy 4k display TV's do.