Better CPU or 34" Ultrawide monitor?

RipGroove

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Jan 12, 2013
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A game I play a lot (Squad) is currently very CPU intensive and I'm seeing 40-60fps (no matter what in game graphics settings I select) and anything under 60fps is pretty jerky. That may be down to my choice of display which is currently a 1080p 60Hz Sony Bravia LED 43" TV, with a claimed 6ms response. I mainly went for a larger display over a better display due to playing racing sims where IMO I need a large display as I do the whole steering wheel thing etc

So, do I risk spending £1000 on an Acer X34A or Asus PG348Q and hope that G-Sync makes the game feel smooth at 40fps and wait for more game optimisation (which is improving all the time and will no doubt be better in the future). Main downside to this option is I'll be going from a 43" display to a 34" display. And there maybe a risk that I'll see even less FPS at the new resolution of 1440p (FYI 1440p would REALLY help me out in this game as the view distance is huge so my 1080p display is hindering me somewhat as it can't display the small detail required to pick out enemy's at long range).

If I go with this option do I buy either of the monitors I mentioned or is there some bigger 1440p monitor around the corner I don't know about which I should wait for? (I really like big displays)

OR

Do I upgrade my CPU and try to power through to an absolute minimum of 60fps to keep my 60Hz display happy. I've already overclocked my 4790k to 4.7GHz and it's made little difference to in game FPS so the main downside of this option is that I'll have to do a fresh install after replacing mobo and CPU and that there's a good chance it won't make any difference anyway.

If I go with this option, what would be the next logical choice in CPU anyway after my overclocked 4790k?


My spec is in my sig, only diffence is my CPU is now overclocked.
 
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I picked up a used X43A today (3 month old with no dead pixels) and so far I'm really impressed. You guys already know how awesome the monitor is but in my particular case it seems that the monitor was definitely the way to go. Upping the CPU power to try to push through the current Early Access optimisation would never have have produced the super smooth results that this G-Sync monitor does. So far I quickly jumped into a full multiplayer server and surrounded myself with smoke to force my frame rate down to 40, and even at that level it still stayed super smooth!

RCFProd

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Playing at higher resolutions should actually put higher load on your GPU whilst CPU load won't increase. If you've checked GPU utilization and it shows below 60% usage constantly, expect identical framerates at 1440p compared to 1080p but with higher GPU utilization.

If an i7-4790k at 4.7 Ghz isn't able to keep the game above 60 fps then nothing will really.
 

hdmark

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Feb 16, 2015
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agree ^^

there really isnt a cpu thats gonna make any real difference (at least not to justify the price) over a 4790.

have you looked at other benchmarks? are other people getting similar framerates?

also agreed about looking at gpu load. could maintain the same framerate at the higher resolution
 

RipGroove

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Awesome thank you. GPU usage is at 99% as it should be but I think the poor CPU optimisation is holding FPS back. Changing in game settings from low to epic make no difference to frame rate so again I think my GPU is more than capable for this game.
 

hdmark

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if the graphics dont change from low to epic id say go for the upgraded monitor. but before you spend that much on a single 34" ultrawide, might at least consider 3 1080ps or 1440p monitors side by side. i know 3 1080p's are cheaper and MUCH larger/better surround than a single 34". and id assume you could scale the game across 3 for an effective 6k x 1k screen? but that i dont know. ive never tried multi monitor setups for a single game.

3 1440ps would be beautiful :D but probably just as pricey if not more than the ultrawide. id look into the 3 1080ps and see what people are saying

that being said... that asus monitor looks beautiful so i wouldnt say thats a bad call at all! just tyring to give you another option that MIGHT be better and save you some money. not positive.

definitely interested to know what you do and see pictures !
 

RipGroove

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Jan 12, 2013
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Thanks TBH I'm not a multi monitor fan and plus my single 980ti might not be able to cope with it. The only reason I started looking at Ultrawide was purely so the drop from 43" to 34" might not seem as bad, maybe. Ideally I'd like a normal aspect ratio 1440p g-sync monitor as close to 40" as I could get but I can't find much over 27".
 

RipGroove

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Jan 12, 2013
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Yeah you're probably right, my Firestrike score is about where it should be (1480 ish) so I'm relatively happy my hardware is performing as it should. So I guess I'll go for a G-Sync monitor then to try to smooth things out for a while while game optimisation improves.
 

RipGroove

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Jan 12, 2013
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I picked up a used X43A today (3 month old with no dead pixels) and so far I'm really impressed. You guys already know how awesome the monitor is but in my particular case it seems that the monitor was definitely the way to go. Upping the CPU power to try to push through the current Early Access optimisation would never have have produced the super smooth results that this G-Sync monitor does. So far I quickly jumped into a full multiplayer server and surrounded myself with smoke to force my frame rate down to 40, and even at that level it still stayed super smooth!
 
Solution