Does higher resolution rely on more VRAM, or higher clock speeds, or on the CPU at all?

[aweraa]

Right now I'm planning my new rig for 2016 (waiting for the Nvidia Pascal cards to drop before I build it). I am looking at the Dell UP2715K 5K monitor for an extremely detailed gaming experience (will also be developing games and editing/creating at high resolutions). However, with GPUs seemingly zooming past CPU improvements in terms of significantly more VRAM being added in the last generation and upcoming generations, will this be enough to allow me to have the same performance I have now (GTX 980 with 1440p screen) except at the much higher resolution of the dell 5k monitor (3686400 pixels on the 1440p monitor vs a whopping 14745600 pixels on the 5K monitor- quite a significant bit more than the ~8 million pixels in 4K screens now)?

Basically my main question is what exactly causes higher resolutions to be much less performant- it's said everywhere it is to do with the GPU, but if I was to buy the high end pascal card (should be 16 GB of VRAM), would that just speed through the 5K resolution (aiming for 30-60 fps), or is there more to it than VRAM, and does the CPU come in to play? (I'd get a top end i7, but would that be enough?) Is VRAM the main player in pushing out more pixels, or do clock speeds and other components play a significant role?

Thanks, would be great to understand what exactly causes bottlenecks in performance at higher resolutions before getting a 5K monitor and realising it can't output more than 30fps in game even with a top end new card.

 

[kwa-e]

The main reason cards right now can only push through 30FPS at 4K at most is due to the limitations of the GPU core, Vram probably isn't the deciding factor as long as you have enough of it, with 6GB being the magic number right now.

Can't really say anything about the CPU for certain though.

 

[aweraa]

The main reason cards right now can only push through 30FPS at 4K at most is due to the limitations of the GPU core, Vram probably isn't the deciding factor as long as you have enough of it, with 6GB being the magic number right now.

Can't really say anything about the CPU for certain though.

Interesting, thanks for the info! I guess we will have to wait and see how the new cards do, hoping for a big increase in performance with higher resolutions!

 

[renz496]

If you ask me then the high res will need every part that you mention to be 'strong'?

Well at the very least gpu maker like amd and nvidia will try their best so you will have a reason to go buy their more powerful hardware. Even as far as to where one of their fastest gpu not enough for the task. Take example with multi monitor gaming (eyefinity and such). Back when AMD introduce eyefinity the top end gpu can easily max out any games at 1080p. Even the mighty Crysis finally possible to be played at 60fps at 1080p. So to encourage people to buy their top end offering they bring in eyefinity which is quite demanding even for 5870. Back then when we talk about 'multi monitor gaming' crossfire or SLI setup is a must so you will have the required raw power to drive all those pixels. Now the new hot buzz is 4k and of course VR! 😀

Anyway when we talk specifically about games only the higher the resolution is the more bottleneck shift towards gpu because the one that driving all those pixels were gpu. And there is need a balance between gpu raw performance and VRAM amount. Bajillion of VRAM is useless if there is no gpu grunt to back it up. Clock speed does not play any role with high/low resolution just that the higher clock speed is the more raw power you will have.

 

[aweraa]

Very helpful, thanks!

I'm assuming the top Pascal cards would have the grunt to back up the extra VRAM that they offer, or at least offer great performance at 4K. Still unsure if they will pack enough for the extra ~6 million pixels needed for 5K.

If you ask me then the high res will need every part that you mention to be 'strong'?

Well at the very least gpu maker like amd and nvidia will try their best so you will have a reason to go buy their more powerful hardware. Even as far as to where one of their fastest gpu not enough for the task. Take example with multi monitor gaming (eyefinity and such). Back when AMD introduce eyefinity the top end gpu can easily max out any games at 1080p. Even the mighty Crysis finally possible to be played at 60fps at 1080p. So to encourage people to buy their top end offering they bring in eyefinity which is quite demanding even for 5870. Back then when we talk about 'multi monitor gaming' crossfire or SLI setup is a must so you will have the required raw power to drive all those pixels. Now the new hot buzz is 4k and of course VR! 😀

Anyway when we talk specifically about games only the higher the resolution is the more bottleneck shift towards gpu because the one that driving all those pixels were gpu. And there is need a balance between gpu raw performance and VRAM amount. Bajillion of VRAM is useless if there is no gpu grunt to back it up. Clock speed does not play any role with high/low resolution just that the higher clock speed is the more raw power you will have.