[SOLVED] Advice on choosing a graphics card?

[Ben Battle]

I haven't built a computer in ages; I want to build my first gaming PC but all this information is a bit overwhelming. (Bottlenecking is something I've never considered) Price is not an issue here. My target resolution is 1080p. I want to be able to play most, if not all, current and games on max settings for that resolution with reasonable frame rates (should I be looking for a minimum of 60fps at all times? Whatever the optimal frame rate is, that's what i'm pushing towards.) Mostly FPS games like BFV and Battlefront. I'm planning to build around the Intel Corei7-8700K 3.7GHz with no overclocking (cause I have no idea what I'm doing in that regard...lol)

My question is what GPU should I be looking at with this CPU and target resolution? should I be looking to raise my target resolution for future game releases? Keep in mind, I haven't made a single purchase yet. Remember, price isn't an issue; I'm simply trying to go about this with some facts in by head before I start purchasing. Any information on this and other info on things I'm leaving out would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[kerangovender]

Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti that's probably the best and probably enough for the next few years...or a second hand one...your choice

 

[Metal Messiah.]

Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti that's probably the best and probably enough for the next few years.

Actually, the OP is planning to game on 1080p resolution. So for this full HD resolution I think the RTX 2080 Ti might be overkill, IMO. But yes, if the OP gets a 4K MONITOR, then that would be a different story. For 1080p, I think even the RTX 2060 might also be sufficient.

 

[DMAN999]

For 60 Hz 1080p gaming a GTX 1660 Ti or RTX 2060 would both be good options.
I have an MSI 1660 Ti paired with an OC 'd Ryzen 5 2600 and I get from 85 to 120+ fps in current games set to Ultra.

 

[Ben Battle]

Actually, the OP is planning to game on 1080p resolution. So for this full HD resolution I think the RTX 2080 Ti might be overkill, IMO. But yes, if the OP gets a 4K MONITOR, then that would be a different story. For 1080p, I think even the RTX 2060 might also be sufficient.

Thanks for the information! I'll look into getting the RTX 2060; looks like a perfect card for my purpose.

Just a curious indulgence: let's say I did happen to buy a 4K monitor, what would my options be for the future of gaming? Are video games even planning on making that a standard resolution going forward? Plus, aren't the RTX 2080 plagued with a factory defect? Seems a risky venture to go that far forward at this point.

 

[Metal Messiah.]

let's say I did happen to buy a 4K monitor, what would my options be for the future of gaming? Are video games even planning on making that a standard resolution going forward?

Are you willing to upgrade to a 4K monitor now, or you plan to update some time later, after few years ? Because for 4K, the RTX 2080 Ti is the best choice. And YES, games are going to have proper support for 4K, mostly the AAA titles. Many new games have full support for 4K. If you have such a monitor, then you take advantage of it.

Though, that doesn't mean 4K Gaming is going to become mainstream anytime soon. Nope. I think it might take few more years, when more powerful GPUs arrive, and also given the cost of such an upgrade, very few are going to jump on the 4K bandwagon.

Plus, aren't the RTX 2080 plagued with a factory defect?

I can't fully answer that question, but as far as I'm concerned, RTX cards have been working fine. I think some of the earlier Chips might have been defective. The new batch of chips do not suffer from any hardware defect, IMO. This whole RTX news spread like a wildfire, but I think the dust has now been settled.

 

[Ben Battle]

Are you willing to upgrade to a 4K monitor now, or you plan to update some time later, after few years ? Because for 4K, the RTX 2080 Ti is the best choice. And YES, games are going to have proper support for 4K, mostly the AAA titles. Many new games have full support for 4K. If you have such a monitor, then you take advantage of it.

Though, that doesn't mean 4K Gaming is going to become mainstream anytime soon. Nope. I think it might take few more years, when more powerful GPUs arrive, and also given the cost of such an upgrade, very few are going to jump on the 4K bandwagon.



I can't fully answer that question, but as far as I'm concerned, RTX cards have been working fine. I think some of the earlier Chips might have been defective. The new batch of chips do not suffer from any hardware defect, IMO. This whole RTX news spread like a wildfire, but I think the dust has now been settled.

ok... Looks like I have some real things to consider.

Final question: If I do choose to roll with the RTX 2080, can I still build around the Intel Corei7-8700K 3.7GHz without significant bottlenecking or will I need to use a slightly more powerful CPU with that card?

 

[Metal Messiah.]

Final question: If I do choose to roll with the RTX 2080, can I still build around the Intel Corei7-8700K 3.7GHz without significant bottlenecking or will I need to use a slightly more powerful CPU with that card?

Yes, you can build the PC with an RTX 2080, paired with the i7-8700K. I don't see any serious bottleneck issues with this pair. You should be fine, IMO. That's a powerful processor.

https://www.gpucheck.com/gpu/nvidia-geforce-rtx-2080/intel-core-i7-8700k-3-70ghz/

 

[Ben Battle]

Yes, you can build the PC with an RTX 2080, paired with the i7-8700K. I don't see any serious bottleneck issues with this pair. You should be fine, IMO. That's a powerful processor.

https://www.gpucheck.com/gpu/nvidia-geforce-rtx-2080/intel-core-i7-8700k-3-70ghz/

Fantastic advice. Thanks so much for the information as well as the link.

 

[hftvhftv]

Just an add-on to the advice already given, you don't need an 8700K if you are not planning on overclocking, an i7 8700 non-k model will work just fine and save you a couple bucks. Finally, the i7 8700K has only 6 cores and 12 threads, while the newly released 9700 has 8 cores and 8 threads. I'd try to look for a 9700 unless the 8700 is significantly cheaper as it'll perform better. I'd agree with the RTX 2080 recommendation as it is a powerful new GPU, but don't expect max settings at 4K for the years to come.

 

[SgtScream]

If you're planning to go 4k, you're better off going AMD to allocate budget towards the 2080 ti or the 4k monitor. Because the resolution is so high, the hIgh IPC of Intel does not matter because the graphics card will always be the limiting factor. If you look at tests/benchmarks done on YouTube you can see that there is difference in lower resolutions, but once you get to 4k there is absolutely no difference due to being GPU bound. For high end triple A gaming you're better off going with a higher core count Ryzen 7 that has better multi-core performance because Intel's High IPC/single core performance isn't significant enough to justify the cost especially at that resolution. This will give you better longevity in playing triple A titles before an upgrade is necessary. When you decide to go 4k, keep in mind your graphics card upgrades will be expensive and the upgrade path with be frequent at that resolution. There will always be that triple A title right around the corner that will have the potential to crush your existing high end graphics card resulting in the need to lower graphical detail significantly or upgrade. The i7 8700k is a great chip, but it's expensive and you have to purchase a decent cooler on top of that for overclocking, so that's $100+ that is not necessary to spend at that resolution and you can save going with Ryzen to alocate elseware in the build (Especially if you have no plans to overclock in the first place). With third gen Ryzen on the horizon, coming out in the next month or two games are optimizing for higher core counts of 8 cores/16 Threads +. Going with a i7 8700k now IMHO really just makes that processor an i5 with hyper threading and 2 core/ 4 threads less that what is soon to be the main stream if it isn't already. For that reason i'd advize against that processor.

 

[Finstar]

I've been playing at 4k for 3 years now and so far i've only encountered 3 titles that did not support it, 2 of them were small old indie titles.
As for 4k system specs: CPU doesn't matter even nearly as much as the gpu, so if you want 4k, then definitely allocate most of your budget towards the gpu.

This is due to 4k being 4 times the resolution of 1080p and thus requiring roughly 4 times the graphical processing power to run at the same fps as a 1080p display would.
I'd recommend you drop the i7 for a much cheaper Ryzen 5 2600 and allocate that budget towards the best gpu possible if 4k is what you want.

 

[mtracy1991]

To add onto SGTScream posted, I'd also include analysis of different metrics of the Vega 64 and the Radeon VII GPUs and the recommended NVIDIA branded GPUs. Depending on your budget, AMD is more budget friendly in comparison to Intel & NVIDIA. I run the 2700x and Vega 64 with no problems at all when gaming.

 

[knickle]

As pointed out, AMD is announcing their brand new generation of CPUs in a couple of weeks, and hopefully some news on their upcoming Navi GPUs. If you are not in a mad rush, I would wait to see what's being offered. At the very least it may trigger Intel and nvidia to lower prices, and you can move up a tier.

 

[Abdur Rahim Wazir]

I haven't built a computer in ages; I want to build my first gaming PC but all this information is a bit overwhelming. (Bottlenecking is something I've never considered) Price is not an issue here. My target resolution is 1080p. I want to be able to play most, if not all, current and games on max settings for that resolution with reasonable frame rates (should I be looking for a minimum of 60fps at all times? Whatever the optimal frame rate is, that's what i'm pushing towards.) Mostly FPS games like BFV and Battlefront. I'm planning to build around the Intel Corei7-8700K 3.7GHz with no overclocking (cause I have no idea what I'm doing in that regard...lol)

My question is what GPU should I be looking at with this CPU and target resolution? should I be looking to raise my target resolution for future game releases? Keep in mind, I haven't made a single purchase yet. Remember, price isn't an issue; I'm simply trying to go about this with some facts in by head before I start purchasing. Any information on this and other info on things I'm leaving out would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

First you have to check your gaming requirements then it would be easy for you to choose correct gpu for you