4k gaming improvements

[Bugggy21]

I'm trying to figure out what kind of improvements I can make to my rig to improve my 4k gaming experience, while not breaking the bank. Is there any settings I can change or "tweaks" I can do? Right now in black ops 3 I'm getting anywhere from 35 to 55 fps with aa off and everything else on max. I know I can turn settings down..... But where's the fun in that? Also it doesn't matter what fps I'm getting, its almost unplayable. The picture almost looks smeared, in 1440 my rig gets anywhere from 80 to 120 fps which are very playable as this is the resolution I game at. I didn't think 4k would add to much more on top of that, I know 2x but still. Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance!
i7 4790k @ 4.9ghz
Gtx 980 matrix
Samsung 850 evo
8 gb 1600mhz ram
Asrock z97 extreme 4 mobo

 

[Gingerbread]

Get a second 980, no other way to see improvements.

 

[smorizio]

make sure the mb has the newest bios file so it has the newest cpu and ram code. make sure windows installed newest intel chipset drivers. in the bios make sure ram set to xmp mode. latter on this year sell the 980 and use the funds for the newer pascal gpu.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Truth be told, the exists no card or even pair of cards that can do 4k at 60fps in today's AAA games

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3010713/gaming-improvements.html?56f243b59a0ac=reload

Witcher 3 @ 4k w/ 980 Ti SLI = 28.5 fps
GTAV @ 4k w/ 980 Ti SLI = 22.7 fps
Hitman Absolution @ 4k w/ 980 Ti SLI = 44 fps
Shadow of Mordor @ 4k w/ 980 Ti SLI = 41.9 fps

Nothing else is going to change this... pascal won't change it, I expect the succeeding generation after pascal might do it, but we're likely talking at least XMas 2017 or maybe mid 2018 before that happens.

 

[hang-the-9]

I'm trying to figure out what kind of improvements I can make to my rig to improve my 4k gaming experience, while not breaking the bank. Is there any settings I can change or "tweaks" I can do? Right now in black ops 3 I'm getting anywhere from 35 to 55 fps with aa off and everything else on max. I know I can turn settings down..... But where's the fun in that? Also it doesn't matter what fps I'm getting, its almost unplayable. The picture almost looks smeared, in 1440 my rig gets anywhere from 80 to 120 fps which are very playable as this is the resolution I game at. I didn't think 4k would add to much more on top of that, I know 2x but still. Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance!
i7 4790k @ 4.9ghz
Gtx 980 matrix
Samsung 850 evo
8 gb 1600mhz ram
Asrock z97 extreme 4 mobo

You asked what settings you can change then say you don't want to turn down the settings, there is a bit of a contradiction there.

Swap your video card for dual 980 Ti cards, 16 gig of RAM, CPU you probably can't do much better with, that will get you better results without changing settings.

 

[Bem-xxx]

Truth be told, the exists no card or even pair of cards that can do 4k at 60fps in today's AAA games

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3010713/gaming-improvements.html?56f243b59a0ac=reload

Witcher 3 @ 4k w/ 980 Ti SLI = 28.5 fps
GTAV @ 4k w/ 980 Ti SLI = 22.7 fps
Hitman Absolution @ 4k w/ 980 Ti SLI = 44 fps
Shadow of Mordor @ 4k w/ 980 Ti SLI = 41.9 fps

Nothing else is going to change this... pascal won't change it, I expect the succeeding generation after pascal might do it, but we're likely talking at least XMas 2017 or maybe mid 2018 before that happens.

The Crossfire is a better option for 4K.

And if you can't reach 60fps, just lower some settings.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The Crossfire is a better option for 4K.

And if you can't reach 60fps, just lower some settings.

While nVidia owns 1080 / 1440 . AMD usually does better at 4k. Not that CF provides any advantage, it's just that AMD cards do better at 4k ... and the OP doesn't have a 970 but a 980 which changes things a bit

using your reference

Alien Isolation and Crysis 3 was basically a wash between 980 and 290x

Nvidia 980 SLI took BF4 and FC3, the 780 Ti took Watch Dogs and AMD took Tomb Raider ... so not exactly real spread here. Bu no argument that AMD cards generally do better at 4k, but better doesn't mean either SLI or CF acceptable. I'd give it a C- instead of a D+ ... neither of which Id consider "acceptable".

Like the OP said, he doesn't want to turn settings down and when you are spending that kind of cash, you shouldn't have to settle for a diminished experience. In an age of 165 Hz gaming and motion blur technology, the idea spending $2,000 on GFX related components and then having to "turn down settings" is self conflicting. We still recommend 1440P, 165 Hz, IPS gaming monitors at 1440p for the best gaming experience. We won't recommend 4k until Display Port 1.4 arrives along with cards that, at least in SLI / CF, can deliver reliably deliver frame rates (60+ fps) at which the monitor's expensive motion blur reduction technology can begin to be utilized.

 

[MozzaGamer]

it's not wise to play at 4K yet imo. At least wait for the 1000s series for nvidia cards to roll out and 4k over 60hz monitors to release. i have 2 980 tis but decided to go with 1440p ultrawide. 4K just isn't ready to be fully played at best performance, especially at bloody only 60hz.

 

[Bugggy21]

Whoa.... Ok thank you all for the replies. Toms didn't notify me there were any answers and I haven't gotten on to check! Mozzagamer is there stuttering at all like some choppiness when u play at 4k? And all of this really doesn't matter now. Something happened while over clocking a few days ago and now my pc is slow. I had to reinstall windows, however that still didn't help

 

[Bugggy21]

Ok so I have decided I want to either sli my 980 or just buy a 980 ti. I can't even tell you how many hours of footage I've watched comparing both cards. People say to wait for pascal however I'm not going to do that. So my question is what 980 would be best to sli with? I was figuring one with an aio cooler, problem with this is I have a newegg store card and would like to use it, and there's no 980 with an aio cooler for the top card. Now if I were to get a 980 ti which would be recommended? Would 980 sli be better? Or a 980 ti? Budget is 800. Thanks