[SOLVED] GPU upgrade for 1440p/4K gaming

[alby128]

Hi to all,

I have a build that I made a couple of years ago for 1080p gaming with decent settings and now, due to increasing home office, I am contemplating buying a 1440p/4K monitor. This will of course require at least a GPU upgrade that I would like to discuss with you.

This is my current configuration:

MB: Gigabyte GA-H270M-DS3H
CPU: Intel Core i5-7500
RAM: Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (4 GBx4) DDR4 2400 MT/s (PC4-19200)
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 1060 WINDFORCE OC 3G (3 GB GDDR5)
PSU: Thermaltake TR2 S PSU 600W
Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 + Samsung 850 EVO SATA3 + ...

My case is quite limited in terms of GPU length so, I was thinking about replacing the GPU with a MSI Radeon RX 5700 Mech GP OC (or 5700 XT). I think both these cards will be ok for 1440p but, do you think the resulting configuration will be able to sustain decent gaming at 4K? My concern is that the build will be rather CPU limited and there are no good upgrade paths for that.

Thanks for your help.

Alberto

 

[jeremyj_83]

Here is the review from Tomshardware with the 5700/XT. It has both 1440p & 4k resolutions for the benchmarks. https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-radeon-rx_5700-rx_5700_xt,6216-2.html One thing to remember is that the higher the resolution the less the CPU is your bottleneck. If I were you I would replace my PSU as well. That PSU is only able to do 500W on the 12V rail and is low quality. Also for monitors you can look at going with an ultrawide 1440p instead of a standard 1440p or 4k.

 

[alby128]

One thing to remember is that the higher the resolution the less the CPU is your bottleneck.

That's actually a good insight. Thank you for your advice.

The benchmarks seem to indicate that the 5700 XT should work at 4K without pushing the settings too high. I had looked at benchmarks already but I was scared the weak CPU could have compromised these results.

 

[jeremyj_83]

That's actually a good insight. Thank you for your advice.

The benchmarks seem to indicate that the 5700 XT should work at 4K without pushing the settings too high. I had looked at benchmarks already but I was scared the weak CPU could have compromised these results.

There will be games where you are CPU limited. More and more modern games are using more than 4 cores, but for another year or so you are probably OK.

 

[GarrettL]

1440p= 5700xt or 2070 Suoer
4k= 2080ti

 

[sizzling]

I have a few thoughts. Quad core CPU’s are the bare minimum for modern AAA games and some will struggle to run at an average of 60fps with your cpu regardless of resolution or gpu. This will only get more common with time.

4K 60Hz still needs a very strong gpu with the 2080 Super or 2080Ti being commonly recommended. However we are now less than 6 months away from the 3000 series releasing and it’s not unreasonable to expect the 3080 to be equal or better than a 2080Ti in non Ray Tracing games. However in games that support Ray Tracing the 3000 series is going to be a huge step up according to NVidia who have said mid range cards will outperform the 2080Ti. In short now is a poor time to be investing in a high end gpu.

Finally you really want a better quality psu.

 

[alby128]

Quad core CPU’s are the bare minimum for modern AAA games and some will struggle to run at an average of 60fps with your cpu regardless of resolution or gpu.

That was my fear as well but this suggests basically to throw away the build and for a PC that I assembled in 2018 this seems quite too soon.

However we are now less than 6 months away from the 3000 series releasing

Well, that's true, but it will take probably 8 months or so to get the new midrange cards, which feels too much to me at the moment.

Finally you really want a better quality psu.

Funny, when I bought this I thought it was good quality, but I did not look on Tom's hardware, apparently. Guess I'll buy a CX750.

What I gather from your comment is that I should probably give up 4K and focus on 1440p, which I have better hopes to achieve and maintain for a longer time and for a reasonable amount of money.

 

[jeremyj_83]

That was my fear as well but this suggests basically to throw away the build and for a PC that I assembled in 2018 this seems quite too soon.



Well, that's true, but it will take probably 8 months or so to get the new midrange cards, which feels too much to me at the moment.



Funny, when I bought this I thought it was good quality, but I did not look on Tom's hardware, apparently. Guess I'll buy a CX750.

What I gather from your comment is that I should probably give up 4K and focus on 1440p, which I have better hopes to achieve and maintain for a longer time and for a reasonable amount of money.

While the CX750 isn't a bad PSU, I wouldn't go with a budget PSU. I would look at a Corsair TXM or RM(x), Seasonic Focus GX or GM, EVGA SuperNova G3, Antec Earthwatts Gold Pro. Those are all higher efficiency and have better build quality.

 

[alby128]

As a follow-up, I just ordered a 5700 XT and a TX750M. Thanks for your help!