Possible to upgrade current PC to 4k 60fps later?

[helios321]

Hi guys,

My PC is about 1.5 years old with current specs:

ASRock Z77 Extreme4
SilverStone ST75F-P 750W PSU $145
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 OC 2GB Video Card $409
Intel i5 3570K $239
Samsug 840 Pro Series 256GB $248
Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 $68
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler $35

I am considering buying a Philips BDM4065UC 40" 4K UHD Monitor now because I need a new monitor and one that is fairly large 34"+. Within the next year or so would it be possible to just upgrade my GPU and keep everything else the sameto play 4K 60 fps?

Thanks,

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

PC Gamer ran an article about 4K gaming last year; http://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-in-4k-the-future-is-now-if-you-give-up-60-frames-per-second/.

I think that you'll need to upgrade the power supply as well as the graphics card.

 

[Samat]

With that CPU you shouldn't need to worry about upgrading atleast for a few years also your PSU should be good to run atleast some sli/crossfire setups. So I'd say yes, you should only need to upgrade the GPU at some point in future.

 

[RobCrezz]

CPU+ Mobo should be fine, GPU will be the main factor.

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

With that CPU you shouldn't need to worry about upgrading atleast for a few years also your PSU should be good to run atleast some sli/crossfire setups. So I'd say yes, you should only need to upgrade the GPU at some point in future.

According to the article I linked, the minimum requirement for 4K gaming is either an R9 295X2 or a GTX 780 Ti in SLI. Granted, a GTX 970 in SLI may do a good job, but if an R9 295X2 can't sustain 60 fps, a GTX 970 in SLI certainly won't.

The TDP of an R9 295X2 or GTX 780 Ti in SLI is 500W. Given that the OP's PSU is only rated for 720W on the +12V rail, I think that's too close for comfort. There's also the issue of PCIe connectors, as the PSU only has two 8-pin connectors, but two high-end GPUs in SLI will likely need four.

 

[Samat]

With that CPU you shouldn't need to worry about upgrading atleast for a few years also your PSU should be good to run atleast some sli/crossfire setups. So I'd say yes, you should only need to upgrade the GPU at some point in future.

According to the article I linked, the minimum requirement for 4K gaming is either an R9 295X2 or a GTX 780 Ti in SLI. Granted, a GTX 970 in SLI may do a good job, but if an R9 295X2 can't sustain 60 fps, a GTX 970 in SLI certainly won't.

The TDP of an R9 295X2 or GTX 780 Ti in SLI is 500W. Given that the OP's PSU is only rated for 720W on the +12V rail, I think that's too close for comfort. There's also the issue of PCIe connectors, as the PSU only has two 8-pin connectors, but two high-end GPUs in SLI will likely need four.

That PSU should be enough to run GTX 970 in sli setup, which is equal or close to performance of a R9 295X2. There's no headroom for overclocking though. Getting a better PSU would be needed for beefier setups, but whatever setup you going to get you will propably need to tune down some settings if you want to keep the FPS at 60.
GTX 970 sli review:
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_970_sli_review,18.html
GTX 980 sli review:
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_980_sli_review,19.html

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

OK, I stand corrected, a GTX 970 in SLI would run 4K with the settings turned down slightly. I knew the 970 was a great performer, but I wouldn't have expected that.

I agree that the OP's PSU would handle two 970s in SLI.

 

[-Lone-]

RAM would have to be upgraded unless you like to stick close to the breaking point while playing graphical intensive games.

 

[Eggz]

If I were you, I'd just run my 4K display in 1080p while gaming until the GPUs mature. They can't do 4K without crazy-exotic setups that cost a lot of money. Getting a GPU within the next year really wouldn't get around that. Wait and see what the next generation of cards provides.

 

[helios321]

how many years do you guys think before a $500 odd dollar GPU comes out that can support 4k around 60 fps?

 

[-Lone-]

how many years do you guys think before a $500 odd dollar GPU comes out that can support 4k around 60 fps?

10-15?

 

[chenw]

If I were to hazard a guess 1, maybe 2 years? That's assuming current games though, and games in the future will undoubtedly go up. There may even be a catch 22 with GPU and 4k...

Also, I would not get a 4k monitor to play on 1080p, I would rather do 1080p on a 144hz monitor and use DSR to get 4k textures where is power to spare. By the time you will consistently use 4k resolution, 4k screen would have decreased in cost by a good bit, and at very least more and better 4k options 1~2 years down the line.

 

[-Lone-]

Oops, misread it, lol. Yeah, 1-2, haha, I thought you meant how long until there will be a build that's $500 that can run 4k, my mistake But yeah about what he said ^why get a 4k monitor when your hardware is not ready, you'll just get some issues.

 

[Eggz]

People say the tradeoff with running a 4K in 1080p while gaming is that you aren't getting full resolution after you paid to have a 4K gaming experience. But you really aren't paying to have a 4K gaming experience. You'd pay for a 4K monitor, and then you'd run it on a 1080p-capable GPU. Screens with 4K resolution actually look pretty good turned down to 1080p because it's exactly half resolution, and it doesn't distort.

As for when you're not gaming, you will have an amazing display to look at. When you think about it, "not gaming" really includes a lot of stuff, even reading this text. Everything will always have the potential to look great (in terms of resolution).

As for getting a 144 hz screen instead, that won't be much help. If it takes 10 units of graphics power to run 1080p at 60 hz, it takes 24 units of graphics power to run 1080p at 144 hz (144 is 2.4 times as fast as 60). To take advantage of that, you'd really need a GPU setup capable of running 4K anyway. Doing 4K at 60 hz with medium settings might even be less demanding than 1080p on high at 144 hz.

 

[helios321]

RAM would have to be upgraded unless you like to stick close to the breaking point while playing graphical intensive games.

Sorry are you referring to my computer ram or vram? I was under the impression that getting a 4k display has little to do with computer ram.

 

[-Lone-]

Yes, I mean real RAM, not VRAM, you'll be pretty close to 8 GB while playing demanding games such as BF4. With just BF4 and background programs running, my RAM is between 7.8-8.2 GB. Everyone would probably have different background program different than me, so you might be at 6.5 or if you have something else running you might be closer to 8 GB or over it. So unless you like to be close and risk it, then you should get 12-16GB just in case, better to be safe than sorry. But I suppose you can always upgrade that later, I just like to get things over with and get done with it.

 

[helios321]

I've never had an issue with my real RAM with my 1080p monitor. Are you suggesting that a 4k monitor increases RAM usage? Why would this be the case?

 

[bystander]

People say the tradeoff with running a 4K in 1080p while gaming is that you aren't getting full resolution after you paid to have a 4K gaming experience. But you really aren't paying to have a 4K gaming experience. You'd pay for a 4K monitor, and then you'd run it on a 1080p-capable GPU. Screens with 4K resolution actually look pretty good turned down to 1080p because it's exactly half resolution, and it doesn't distort.

As for when you're not gaming, you will have an amazing display to look at. When you think about it, "not gaming" really includes a lot of stuff, even reading this text. Everything will always have the potential to look great (in terms of resolution).

As for getting a 144 hz screen instead, that won't be much help. If it takes 10 units of graphics power to run 1080p at 60 hz, it takes 24 units of graphics power to run 1080p at 144 hz (144 is 2.4 times as fast as 60). To take advantage of that, you'd really need a GPU setup capable of running 4K anyway. Doing 4K at 60 hz with medium settings might even be less demanding than 1080p on high at 144 hz.

Now this is true, but there is also a major drawback. Most sites you visit have picture and text designed around a 1080p screen at around 21-24" and for 1440 around 27". When you go 4k at 28", things can get really small. Some programs are designed to accommodate this, others do not. This can be very difficult when working with programs which are not designed to scale.

 

[-Lone-]

I've never had an issue with my real RAM with my 1080p monitor. Are you suggesting that a 4k monitor increases RAM usage? Why would this be the case?

I have no idea why, but it's probably different for everyone since not everyone will have the same exact background programs running, some might, some might not. But all I'm saying is if you want a more future proof and be a bit on the safe side, you should get at least 12+GB of RAM.

I'm close to 8GB just for having BF4, the RAM monitoring box, and apps like Steam, Origin, Razer Synapse, etc... on. It'll be different for everyone though. So yeah, good luck and stay low

Here's my RAM usage: http://i.imgur.com/WgPGzgy.jpg

Here's my settings: http://i.imgur.com/yaGaVzq.png