What should I upgrade to play in 4K

[Ozikkk]

Hey guys!
I know there's many similar threads such as this one although I haven't found one that has the same specs as my PC does so here goes my question.
I've recently bought a 4K monitor mostly for gaming on my Xbox One X and PS4 Pro (still PC master race is better .
I've enjoyed playing games in 4K but I've tried playing some games on my PC in 3840x2160 and I gotta say it wasn't that bad but the frame rate was horrifying (As I expected).

My current specs are:
GPU: Asus Turbo GTX 970
CPU: i7-4790k
Mobo: Asus Z97 Pro Gamer
RAM: 16GB Ballistix 1600mhz
OS: Windows 10

I know what my PC is lacking in terms of speed and I mostly think its the GPU thats not keeping up, either a 980 would improve that or a 1080ti but I hope some of you have a better solution than spending half a grand.

 

[Karadjgne]

For 4k to get decent settings and @40-60fps you'll need to spend the half grand+ for a gpu. The 970 is good for fps at 1080p or quality at 1440p but that's about as far as 3.5Gb of ram will get you. The extra 500Mb of fast ram in a 980 won't help much at all.

4k resolution is 1080p x4 per inch, that's a huge amount of pixels, and without the ram and power of a 1080ti, you're not going to get anything playable.

At 4k, the i7-4790k is fine, the fps is low enough, it's the gpu that's lacking resolution ability.

 

[mrmez]

Start with a 1080ti. You'll have to drop the quality to get 60fps on a lot of games.
Add another if that's not enough.
As said, 4K gaming is a massive task if you want good quality and frames.

 

[boju]

Agree with above. To add, in such high resolutions, the need for anti aliasing isn't needed so can turn it off and squeeze more performance.

 

[Ozikkk]

So a 1080ti at this stage should do it if we're talking 40-60fps? I'd probably have to buy another PSU in that case and sell the current GPU on eBay

 

[Karadjgne]

Depends on the psu and OC. With a 970 you should have a decent 550w, but due to pricing, often the 650w version was cheaper, so many people opted for that instead. A 650w quality psu is more than enough for a 1080ti + i7 +OC.

Oh.. Just saw, CX600. Yeah, new psu. Sorry.