[SOLVED] Options for making old PC 4K compatible

[Jock Smith]

I built my PC 10 years ago with the spec below.

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T
Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H 880GA Socket AM3
Kingston 4 X 2GB DDR3 1333MHz
Sapphire HD 5570 1GB DDR3

Now I bought myself a 4K monitor (Acer VG280K with FreeSync) that works fine with my main laptop but the old PC isn't capable to display 4K.

I'm looking for options to get it to 4K at 60Hz

I believe three options are

• New video card
• New motherboard 4K compatible but not sure if they exist for such old processor
• New almost everything (not a fan of the exciting yet expensive option)

I'd appreciate some recommendations on hardware.
I think new video card is simplest option.

 

[Barty1884]

At it's core, the only thing restricting 4K output is the GPU.
Any GPU with DisplayPort1.2 &/or HDMI 2.0 will do 4K 60Hz.

How viable any solution is while paired with a 1090T will entirely depend on what you're doing with the system.

PSU may well be an issue for a GPU upgrade too.

 

[punkncat]

If you are looking at this from a purely video playback standpoint....
A GTX750ti will do 4K/60 output. It isn't awesome. I would imagine anything in/around, or a bit better would as well and shouldn't offer a power issue in lieu of the card you have now.

 

[Karadjgne]

Much of any issue might be due to the ram. 4k isn't exactly a small file size and 4x 2Gb of 1333MHz isnt doing you any favors. 2x 8Gb of 1866MHz would be far better.

That old HD5570 isn't 4k capable. It's max resolution is only 2560x1600. You need a newer, stronger gpu.