Going 2K & Got a few GPU Choices

UcShrek

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Aug 10, 2011
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I recently upgrade my Core i5-4690K to a Core i7-4790K, got also a Deep Cool 240EX AIO; my PSU an EVGA 750-B, and an old Asus Strix 970 GPU. My usual games are:

- BF4, BF3, Arma 3,
- FSX:SE and Flaming Cliffs 3
- PUB and Rainbow Six Siege

My video card is giving me serious issues and is out of warranty, I don't want to get just any replacement card. I have been gaming for years on a 28" 1080p monitor and I want to upgrade to a 2K monitor, I want to go either a 32" WQHD 2560 x 1440 75Hz or a 34" WQHD 3440 x 1440 100Hz, I will go SLI and NVidia Surround eventually in the near future, so I am debating between some options for GPUs, I just want to make sure i will be making the right decision.

I am going step by step, with 1 monitor and 1 GPU, and then going Surround and SLI between some of these:

- 2x1070 8GB, or
- 2x1070Ti's 8GB,
- Even maybe 2x1080 8GB, or
- 2x1080 Ti might be a bit too much budget wise, at least for now, 1 of these I don't think would be enough for 3xmonitors @1440p

Either way I want to be able to do some gaming and video recording/editing with best detail and performance possible, budget is not exactly a restriction but, neither I want to go beyond of what I will actually be able to use, spending more than I should and maybe having scaling issues or something other issues. Just want to make sure of getting the best for my $$
 
Solution
A GTX 1060 6GB performs slightly slower, equal or better than a GTX 980 depending on which games you come across. Plus, it consumes much less power on load (120 vs 165 W). Also, with the newer games, the VRAM below 6GB is already starting slowing down things a bit. I dont want to turn this into a flame war, its happening and this extra vRAM will prove more and more useful with the newer games.

In your monitor list, Samsung looks interesting as it does 1ms, 144Hz, has HDR. But let others also pitch in.

In your original post, you mentioned that you are interested in SLI. I would suggest against that because it is always better to buy a strong card than 2 lower cards in SLI. So, in plain words, getting a 1080 is better than 2x1070. But...
My suggestion is to buy your new monitor first and see how you do in YOUR games.
A GTX970 should perform reasonably well with either monitor.

If you need a graphics upgrade, buy a single GTX1080ti.
Anything less and you will not get a big enough boost to be truly satisfied.

SLI will win you synthetic FPS benchmarks, but gameplay will be better with a single good card.
Also, dual gpu is prone to stuttering, screen tearing and non support in some games.

Down the road, there will be cards stronger than the GTX1080ti.
 
I would also put my 2 cents towards buying a 1080ti instead of going with a lower card SLI solution. Since your card is already giving you issues, you should buy one monitor and a 1080ti, use your old monitor as the 2nd monitor for a while till you buy your 2nd and 3rd monitors. By then, if we are lucky, we will have 1180ti released with a good performance jump and it may (or may not) handle your surround setup.

Personally, I feel that when going for surround (or eyefinity), monitors should be bought together and set up using the graphics card that we already have, judge the performance and then make an informed decision about which graphics solution to buy. But, unfortunately, in your case, your card is already having its own issues, so you may have to go step by step unless you have money to buy a 1080ti plus 3 monitors in one go!
 

And,


Both answers seem to me pretty much on point, however I am thinking to maybe go this route to save some $$, I am inclined to get me something like a GTX 980 for now they are around $250 and a good 1440p 75 monitor, because right now my 970 is pretty much dead, as of right now while writing this reply, I cannot even see what I am doing because the GPU is dying on me, this is unveliebable! I will probably wait a little while for a better solution down the road, maybe by then I can get something like a 1180Ti or something like in that ballpark, so that's my debate right now.

My decision will be in the next 1-2 weeks, so I am getting very close.
 
If your GTX970 dies, you should be able to work with integrated graphics.
Not so much for gaming though.

What is your motherboard?
Most will run higher resolutions using integrated graphics.

What make/model monitor are you considering?
Would it have an input compatible with your integrated graphics for the short term?

GTX980 seems ok, it is just one tier stronger than your GTX970.
GTX1060would be the equivalent.
At that price point, consider buying a GTX1060 6gb from EVGA to replace the GTX970 If your funds will increase soon.

EVGA has a 90 day trade up program where your GTX1060 purchase price is credited to an upgrade.
Read the fine print first.
 


That is my problem for now unfortunately, I have been gaming with my GTX 970 but its a pain, and when not gaming I go back to Mobo graphics, I have a Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 5, and this has been a really nice mobo, but I had it with the gpu; so now I am thinking maybe in less than 1 week I should just get me a new one and get rid of it.

So, what you are saying is that a GTX 1060 6GB is an equivalent of a GTX 980 4 GB?

For monitor I am considering these:

- Asus PB328Q 32" WQHD 2560x1440 4ms
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XI4PAD2/?tag=pcpapi-20

- Samsung C32HG70 32-Inch HDR QLED Curved Gaming Monitor (144Hz / 1ms)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XT6WQCJ/?tag=pcpapi-20

- OMEN by HP 32-inch QHD Gaming Monitor with AMD FreeSync Technology (Black)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J90PKPG/?tag=pcpapi-20

I am just considering the HP because of its price, however I don't thinkg is going to work well with an NVIDIA GPU and freesync, most likely i will go with either one of the other 2 choices.
 
A GTX 1060 6GB performs slightly slower, equal or better than a GTX 980 depending on which games you come across. Plus, it consumes much less power on load (120 vs 165 W). Also, with the newer games, the VRAM below 6GB is already starting slowing down things a bit. I dont want to turn this into a flame war, its happening and this extra vRAM will prove more and more useful with the newer games.

In your monitor list, Samsung looks interesting as it does 1ms, 144Hz, has HDR. But let others also pitch in.

In your original post, you mentioned that you are interested in SLI. I would suggest against that because it is always better to buy a strong card than 2 lower cards in SLI. So, in plain words, getting a 1080 is better than 2x1070. But, maybe 2x1080ti makes sense because of obvious reasons. Most games dont scale well with SLI. However, please take a look at some reviews before deciding for yourself. (I am at work right now and there are many sites I cant access so cant post links). Oh, and 1060 has SLI disabled. If you insist on SLI in the future, that card should not be considered. :)
 
Solution
I experienced something very interesting today from Windows settings and while playing some of my games, I was able to adjust my monitor's resolution to a very different or unusual resolution that I did not know my monitor was capable of.

I have an Asus 28" 1080p monitor, but for some reason I was able to increase my resolution from 1920x1080 to 2715x1527; Why is this? If this is higher than 1440p, can I do the same with any other 1080p monitor?

If this is possible then I should just get a 32" 1080p 60Hz monitor and adjust its resolution to something like this, this way I can save buying a 1440p monitor. In that case i should just get an upgrade on my GPU
 
Its called DSR (Dynamic Super Resolution). If enabled in nvidia control panel, it allows desktop to be resized to custom resolutions. The image is upscaled to that resolution and then rendered to native resolution. You of course lose some sharpness due to this as the LED monitors are only capable of rendering in native resolution properly. a 1440p monitor will have much better image quality than a 1080p monitor upscaled to 1440p