Best GPU to run 7680X1080p triple 21:9 Monitors?

[Quadrat]

Hello,

This is my system specs which I have already got all the components for, except the GPU, I need help to choose the best GPU(s) combination that will run those monitors smoothly at the highest res possible, I've never done this before and I intend to use my build for gaming, music mixing and other typical stuff, please advise what should I buy and why. Here's the build details:

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor.
CPU Cooler: Corsair H115i 104.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler.
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard.
Memory: G. SKILL TridentZ Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 3466.
SSD: Samsung 750 Evo 500GB 2.5".
HDD: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive.
Case: Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV MicroATX Mini Tower Case.
PSU: EVGA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply.
Wifi: ASUS PCE-AC68 Dual-band Wireless-AC1900 Adapter.
Monitor: Three LG 25UM58-P 25.0" 2560x1080 75Hz Monitors.

Thanks,
Quad,

 

[weberdarren97]

EVGA 650W 80+ Gold is not enough information. EVGA makes many 80+ Gold units, some are pretty good, some are worse than actual potatoes. What is the model?

I'm sorry to say that the GTX 1080 does not support such a ridiculous resolution. It maxes out at 7680x4320@60Hz. Unfortunately, the Titan X (Pascal) also hits the same barrier.

If you want to run each monitor individually, that should work fine. Attempting to create an Nvidia Surround Display (or whatever it's called) will result in you hitting the barrier above. You could put two monitors into a surround display setup and game on two at a time which would be ludicrous but it would be within the supported resolution of the GTX 1080 and Titan X (Pascal).

My recommendation: Buy a GTX 1080, run each monitor separate and game on only one at a time.

What you could do if you really hate your money: Buy a Titan X (Pascal), run two monitors together and game on those two monitors at once (probably won't even get 60FPS at that res).

 

[TJ Hooker]

I'm sorry to say that the GTX 1080 does not support such a ridiculous resolution. It maxes out at 7680x4320@60Hz. Unfortunately, the Titan X (Pascal) also hits the same barrier.

Nvidia's Surround Configuration Tool lists max resolution for Surround on a 1080 as 11520x2160.
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/surround/system-requirements

 

[Quadrat]

It's a G3 SuperNovan PSU, I can upgrade to a better one. So what are you saying guys running 3 displays at this res is technically impossible, We're not still living in the Stone Age, are we?

 

[weberdarren97]

I'm sorry to say that the GTX 1080 does not support such a ridiculous resolution. It maxes out at 7680x4320@60Hz. Unfortunately, the Titan X (Pascal) also hits the same barrier.

Nvidia's Surround Configuration Tool lists max resolution for Surround on a 1080 as 11520x2160.
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/surround/system-requirements

Thank you for pointing that out. I completely missed that.

It's a G3 SuperNovan PSU, I can upgrade to a better one. So what are you saying guys running 3 displays at this res is technically impossible, We're not still living in the Stone Age, are we?

EVGA SuperNOVA G3 lineup is great, no low quality nonsense there. As long as you have at least 500W, you should be fine.

The above information proves that a GTX 1080 can drive that resolution and convince Windows that it's just one big screen thanks to Nvidia's Surround whatever magic. However, gaming on that resolution may lead to some terrible framerates thanks to the fact that even a GTX 1080 will tank to hit 30 FPS on probably low-medium settings.

 

[Quadrat]

Alright then, how about 2 gtx 1070 in 2 way SLI, 850 Watt PSU, and an extra 2 X 8 GB DDR4 @ 3466 TridentZ G. Skill memory, will that improve things and let me enjoy some peace for a while before I have to upgrade again, trust me, I am not rich, my budget is literally torn apart and I haven't even started to build the bloody thing yet, all the components are still sealed in their original boxes.

.

 

[weberdarren97]

Can't quote bc the button isn't here on mobile.

@Quadrat 2x 1070 will not necessarily work better. Although it is theoretically more total power, almost no games use a second card to its full potential. Two cards usually gives about 1.5x performance in a well optimized game. However, this doesn't account for the fact that not all games support multiple GPUs, some will only use one even though two are readily available.

I almost never recommend SLI. I recommend getting one of the most powerful graphics card you can afford. Speaking of which, can you afford a Titan X (Pascal)?

 

[Quadrat]

I'd have to agree with you on this, it's a fearsome peice of hardware, buying it is going to break my back, but it's totally worth it, will start saving some money so I can finally get the project done. Will post pictures for you guys for when the build is complete. Thanks for the help and advice. I've always believed there's no such thing as cheap PC gaming. After all, the name Master Race does exist for a reason.

Cheers,
Quad.

 

[weberdarren97]

I'd have to agree with you on this, it's a fearsome peice of hardware, buying it is going to break my back, but it's totally worth it, will start saving some money so I can finally get the project done. Will post pictures for you guys for when the build is complete. Thanks for the help and advice. I've always believed there's no such thing as cheap PC gaming. After all, the name Master Race does exist for a reason.

Cheers,
Quad.

The build you have listed in the original post includes many premium components that could be downgraded without losing performance. This could potentially save you a fair amount of money.

You could shave a few dollars by going with the ASRock Z170M Extreme4 which will give you another phase to your CPU power delivery as without charging for the Gigabyte name. Tour cooler could be exchanged for any of these and your RAM could be dropped down to 3000MHz without noticing any differences in gaming or editing/rendering. In total, you could save over $50 without losing performance just by listening to a man behind a screen who enjoys sifting through the forums.

EDIT: I forgot to mention your WiFi card. You've chosen an expensive solution to bringing WiFi to your desktop. Either of these will get you your fast gaming WiFi without the hefty price premium.

 

[TJ Hooker]

Just realized that the resolution listed in the title is equivalent to 3x 1440p ultra wide, but in the OP you list 3x 1080p ultra wide for your build. That's a pretty significant difference in the amount of pixels you're trying to push. If you're only using 1080p ultra wides, that's the same number of pixels as 4K, so a 1080 might actually be able to do a pretty decent job.

 

[Quadrat]

Just realized that the resolution listed in the title is equivalent to 3x 1440p ultra wide, but in the OP you list 3x 1080p ultra wide for your build. That's a pretty significant difference in the amount of pixels you're trying to push. If you're only using 1080p ultra wides, that's the same number of pixels as 4K, so a 1080 might actually be able to do a pretty decent job.

Yes the monitors are all 2k, but the question remains, which GPU will do the best job pixelwise and performance wise, the way I see it, 2 GTX 1070 in 2 way SLI, or 2 1080 in a 2 way SLI or a single Titan X Pascal?

 

[TJ Hooker]

Yes the monitors are all 2k, but the question remains, which GPU will do the best job pixelwise and performance wise, the way I see it, 2 GTX 1070 in 2 way SLI, or 2 1080 in a 2 way SLI or a single Titan X Pascal

I don't get it, are the monitors you listed in your OP not the ones you're planning on using? If not, why list them? And if they are, then there combined total resolution is 7680x1080, not 10320x1440. So to clarify one more time, which one is it? Because which one it is will make a significant difference on what kind of GPU setup you need.

Also, I tend to avoid using the term "2k", as no one can seem to agree on what it means. The most common meaning I've seen is 2560x1440 (16:9), but I've also seen it refer to 2560x1080 (21:9 ultra wide), or even regular 1080p (1920x1080, 16:9).

 

[Quadrat]

Yes the monitors are all 2k, but the question remains, which GPU will do the best job pixelwise and performance wise, the way I see it, 2 GTX 1070 in 2 way SLI, or 2 1080 in a 2 way SLI or a single Titan X Pascal

I don't get it, are the monitors you listed in your OP not the ones you're planning on using? If not, why list them? And if they are, then there combined total resolution is 7680x1080, not 10320x1440. So to clarify one more time, which one is it? Because which one it is will make a significant difference on what kind of GPU setup you need.

Also, I tend to avoid using the term "2k", as no one can seem to agree on what it means. The most common meaning I've seen is 2560x1440 (16:9), but I've also seen it refer to 2560x1080 (21:9 ultra wide), or even regular 1080p (1920x1080, 16:9).

My sincerest apologies mate, I made terrible calculation mistake, it's actually 7680X1080p, I corrected the title as well, this is the exact model of the monitors: LG 25UM56-P 25" Class 21:9 UltraWide IPS LED Gaming Monitor (25" Diagonal). I hope you now you can recommend a GPU more comfortably, with to total pixel count lowered significantly, I would prefer something with will make it and keep it a monster performance rig. Sorry again for the novice mistake, feel like an idiot, so embarrassing.

 

[TJ Hooker]

No worries! Just wanted to get things straight so you could get accurate advice.

So you'll have an equivalent number of pixels as 4K. GTX 1080 could do for today's games at 4K/60fps/high settings for a reasonable price, as long as you're willing to turn down a few settings occasionally. However, if you're looking for a brute of a PC with no (or as little as possible) compromises, that basically leaves the Titan X Pascal. It can pretty much achieve 4K/60fps at max settings in every game. However performance per dollar takes a huge hit compared to the 1080.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-titan-x-12gb,4700-4.html

For the price of a Titan you can get two 1080s, which would be much more powerful... for games that are optimized for SLI. Many people are of the opinion that the headaches and inconsistent performance of SLI just isn't worth it though. I've never tried a dual GPU setup, so I can't comment personally.

 

[TheOnePhoenix]

Quad sli Titan x pascal 😛

 

[weberdarren97]

Quad sli Titan x pascal 😛

You'll only be able to use two of them 🙁

Enthusiast Key was done away with long ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A91BPapLK38

 

[Quadrat]

It would seem that I have no choice but to go with the single GPU, The titan X Pascal is extremely expensive and is well beyond my current budget. So I will go with a Single GTX OC 1080 for now until I can afford the Titan Xp.

 

[weberdarren97]

It would seem that I have no choice but to go with the single GPU, The titan X Pascal is extremely expensive and is well beyond my current budget. So I will go with a Single GTX OC 1080 for now until I can afford the Titan Xp.

Why do you need an OC variant of the 1080? A 1080 is a 1080. I've not seen any cards by MSI, EVGA, Gigabyte, Asus or Zotac which fail to reach 2000MHz by just increasing the power limit and asking for an increased core clock through your favorite OC utility (I like MSI Afterburner). It seems that any company that has a reputation to uphold will not make a card that's worse than reference.

I usually just go with the cheapest one I can find from a reputable company (I've listed my favorite manufacturers above) that has a color scheme and cooler design that I like.

Your case has good airflow even with just the fans that come with it. You could OC your 6700K by quite a bit and not have to worry about heat building up inside your case. However, if you get a graphics card with an open shroud design (they look like these) then you might want to put in at least a single 120mm or 140mm fan up top (your case has room for two of either size). If you get a graphics card with a closed shroud design (they look like these) then you wouldn't need any more fans since the graphics card would exhaust its heat out the expansion slot in the rear of the case.

To recap: Open shroud GPUs would need another exhaust fan up top. Closed shroud GPUs (often called blower style cards) would be fine with just the rear fan.

 

[bystander]

Can't quote bc the button isn't here on mobile.

@Quadrat 2x 1070 will not necessarily work better. Although it is theoretically more total power, almost no games use a second card to its full potential. Two cards usually gives about 1.5x performance in a well optimized game. However, this doesn't account for the fact that not all games support multiple GPUs, some will only use one even though two are readily available.

I almost never recommend SLI. I recommend getting one of the most powerful graphics card you can afford. Speaking of which, can you afford a Titan X (Pascal)?

That's usually only the case because of bottlenecking. Once you push the resolution really high, the scaling is better, because you will remain with low FPS. That is the good news.

The bad news is 2 fold:
1) A lot more new games simply are not supporting SLI.
2) Wide screen resolutions, such as 21:9 get poor support in games. Many games will not work will with that resolution. 3x 16:9 also gets some poor support. I cannot image just how bad 3x 21:9 will be in terms of support. You'll have to come back to let us know what percentage of games actually work.