This might be a dumb question but...

[mouse24]

So, I want to grab a new monitor, been looking at the catleap/yamakasi/crossover etc lines, honestly for 300-500 bucks very minorly defective IPS panels at 2560 x 1440? yeah I can live with that.

Question is, do you need a high end cpu for that resolution? My specs aren't the best but I really want to get off this really bad monitor I am using asap, but as I am using a 1920 x 1080 monitor already I figured a 27" 2560x1440 would be great.

I know its GPU bound but say I wanted a 680 in my rig or something high end would my cpu bottleneck that (or atleast restrict performance compared to say an i5)

I don't have any money right now just thinking of the upgrade path for the future.

Specs (I need an upgrade, I know..)
Athlon 2 x3 445 stock + hyper EVO
6870 twin frozr 2 (1gb vram)
500w EA 500D antec
some crap mobo I bought for 70 bucks -.- not even gonna try over clocking on it.
all bundled in a HaF912
4g DDR2 800mhz

Current monitor is acer G215HV (stay away from this bad boy colors are terrible, viewing is distored @ more then 5 degrees off center, etc

 

[LokalHero]

Not so much high-end CPU, but rather a high-end GPU is required to run games smoothly at high resolutions.

 

[bemused_fred]

Not so much high-end CPU, but rather a high-end GPU is required to run games smoothly at high resolutions.

This. You'd need, like, a £300+ GPU to be able to effectively use that kind of resolution. You would also need a fairly decent CPU to run it, but a 2500K will cut it. If I were you, I'd stick to 1080p gaming, because with monitor and GPU costs, a system of the kind you are suggesting is just crazy expensive.

 

[mouse24]

I agree it would be expensive, but I'm fine with lowering settings, hell on BF3 I can't tell the difference between medium and ultra.

Kinda still wondering if at that resolution would my cpu be an issue or is the cpu mostly taken out of the equation at that point. I haven't really seen any cpu benchmarks at this high resolution but I guess its kinda moot because if you have enough money to game at 1440 then you should be able to afford an i5 😛

 

[nikorr]

Hopefully the CPU will not choke : )

 

[wr6133]

The GPU will cause the choke and yours definitely will at those high resolutions VRAM being one reason if your gaming. Catch 22 is if you upgrade that GPU to something very high end the CPU may well become a choke point for the GPU

bemused_fred is right just stick to 1080p gaming

 

[Qris]

Hi Mouse

If you haven't solved this already, please have a read at http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/game-performance-bottleneck,2737.html - this will help you make the right decision about your upgrade