Tis the season to upgrade something

XavierCastiel · 2 Jan 2016 at 03:29

Hi lads,

I seem to be making this a regular thing every year now

. Looking for some new energy to my setup. You guys were a credit last time around in particular "Stulid" if he is still around. Damn, it's only been 10-11 months since the last time I upgraded some stuff.

Well anyway to the point I'm looking for a new monitor upgrade primarily. what monitor do you want? Well, I'm sort of hoping you can tell me or help me on that front as I have no idea what I want specifically.

Current spec is

Video Card: Gigabyte GTX 980 G1 Gaming
CPU: Intel Core I7 4790K @ 4.5GHz Devil's Canyon Haswell
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force
RAM: 16GB Dual Channel DDR3 2133MHZ
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNova G2 1000W 80 Plus Gold
SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB
Cooler: Asetek 570XL 240MM
Monitor: Dell UltraSharp U2713HM @ 2560x1440P

I'm looking to replace the Dell Ultrasharp with another 2560x1440P monitor, possibly a 144hz one or I could push the boat and go all out for a 4K option. In either case I might be forced to upgrade one or two other things to get that running smoothly.

The games I have been playing lately are Star Wars Battlefront, Battlefield 4, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fallout 4, The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt and February on-wards the likes of Far Cry are released so I would like to have all upgrades or any upgrade done and dusted by the weeks end (next week) so I can get this rig or setup changed while I'm still on holidays from work, and I'm ready for any fresh titles.

The monitor I have at the moment can move aside and be used for my PS4 and satellite box so I can throw this crap ancient Plasma out. This is the main reason I want to upgrade my monitor before anyone asks why. If I do replace the monitor for something fancier I may be forced to switch out the GPU for something beefier too.

So I may need a monitor, a GPU replacement and anything else that springs to mind from the spec. If this is in the wrong section moderators you can gladly move it elsewhere.

All help welcome. No budget unless you guys go crazy with the suggestions

.

zola25 · 2 Jan 2016 at 10:16

There's no advantage to upgrading your main platform (CPU, Board, RAM) and PSU for gaming. If 144Hz and/or 4K is your target then its all about the GPU power. I believe your options are:

1. SLI the GTX 980. You'll get better frames in games where SLI works well
2. Sell up the 980 and replace with a single 980Ti. This may not reach 100+Hz all the time, but pretty much guarantees 60 FPS. (edit: at 1440p)
3. Sell the 980 and get a pair of 980Ti's - probably the best option if you do go for 4K, but expensive.
4. Wait it out and see what NVidia's next gen Pascal cards bring later this year.

Others may have better suggestions of course

stulid · 2 Jan 2016 at 10:21

Speakers, keyboard and mouse?

XavierCastiel · 2 Jan 2016 at 16:31

zola25 said:
There's no advantage to upgrading your main platform (CPU, Board, RAM) and PSU for gaming. If 144Hz and/or 4K is your target then its all about the GPU power. I believe your options are:

1. SLI the GTX 980. You'll get better frames in games where SLI works well
2. Sell up the 980 and replace with a single 980Ti. This may not reach 100+Hz all the time, but pretty much guarantees 60 FPS. (edit: at 1440p)
3. Sell the 980 and get a pair of 980Ti's - probably the best option if you do go for 4K, but expensive.
4. Wait it out and see what NVidia's next gen Pascal cards bring later this year.

Others may have better suggestions of course

Well, that is the main problem. Should I stay at 1440P and go 144 hz or hop forward onto 4K at 60HZ? As you say above I would need to upgrade the GPU or SLI the GPU either way so I will be throwing money at it in either case. The cheapest option would be to SLI the 980 as I already have one in the system. Is the 980 G1 Gaming far weaker than the TI upgrade?

Would it be worth me switching out the 980 and getting a TI or maybe two? Then there is that slight issue with Pascal just around the corner

.

I'm definitely looking to upgrade the monitor before Pascal is released later this year so I guess I will be forced to look at GPU options and then maybe throw more money at it when Pascal arrives if the rumours live up to the promises with the big increases.

Also, which monitors should I be taking a closer look at?

stulid said:
Speakers, keyboard and mouse?

Razer BlackWidow Chroma, Razer Deathstalker 2014 and some average older speakers using the onboard soundcard. Really do not have much care for the speakers. Sure it could probably sound miles better but unless I can find some cheap ones and not have to pay hundreds it is the one thing I don't really want to blow much money on.

setter · 2 Jan 2016 at 17:07

Thought about a gsync monitor? Rest of your setup looks fine. However if you do go gsync, your stuck with NVIDIA cards if you want to get the most from the monitor.

Mart1ns · 2 Jan 2016 at 17:22

Yea I'd go for a nice g-sync 144hz monitor and maybe upgrade your gpu. I don't know what to exactly, maybe 1 or 2 980ti's or titan x's

Depends on how much you wanna spend.
You could wait for the new nvidia gen. They promised sweetness

, it may Just be a while before it releases though

Also like stulid said you could get a nice keyboard/mouse, especially since you're playing battlefield and CSGO.

XavierCastiel · 2 Jan 2016 at 17:26

setter said:
Thought about a gsync monitor? Rest of your setup looks fine. However if you do go gsync, your stuck with NVIDIA cards if you want to get the most from the monitor.

I'm staying with NVIDIA cards in the future anyway

. I had a bad experience with my last AMD card the R9 290 (RMA'd twice) and I absolutely love Shadowplay which is a nice little feature on newer NVIDIA cards.

By the way aren't all 144 HZ monitors at 1440P Gsync or Freesync? It's either one of those (Gsync) or make the switch to 4K. I really don't know what to do, that is why I'm here and asking for advice/suggestions/recommendations.

Mart1ns said:
Yea I'd go for a nice g-sync 144hz monitor and maybe upgrade your gpu. I don't know what to exactly, maybe 1 or 2 980ti's or titan x's
Depends on how much you wanna spend.
You could wait for the new nvidia gen. They promised sweetness , it may Just be a while before it releases though

Well that is another thing with the GPU upgrade. Would it be best to SLI my 980 (Least expensive option), go with one 980TI (another less expensive option until Pascal) or go all out for two 980TI's or Titan x's as I will or may definitely need something if I get a 144hz 1440P or 4K monitor.

setter · 2 Jan 2016 at 17:32

As it is at present, AMD is freesync and NVIDIA is gsync. The former is AMD's marketing name for what is a vesa standard open technology as part of display port specs. NVIDIA choose to use their own solution which features a module built into the monitors. They were the first to release their solution. Maybe in future they will go the same way as AMD but tbh its hard to know.

XavierCastiel · 2 Jan 2016 at 20:48

So guys should I go for 1440P 144 HZ or upgrade to 4K?

I will need some options.

1440P IPS

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/acer...een-led-monitor-black-red-um.h-mo-077-ac.html

1440P TN

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...n-led-slim-bezel-monitor-black-mo-070-as.html

4K

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/acer...descreen-led-monitor-black-red-mo-097-ac.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...descreen-led-monitor-black-red-mo-090-as.html

These are what I've been looking at today on Overclockers. As said above I know I may need to upgrade my GPU to handle 144 HZ or 4K. I still don't know which resolution to opt for :/. None of the above as persuaded me to stick or twist.

I will also still need to know what GPU's to buy for whatever monitor I decide to go for. Do I SLI my 980 and wait for Pascal? Upgrade to a single 980TI or get the two 980TI's, possibly a Titan or two. Would still need to know before ordering.

If there are any other monitors that are better than the above in the price ranges please say

.

Mart1ns · 3 Jan 2016 at 04:27

I personally prefer 1440p at 144hz for them silky smooth games

it's just a matter of picking the smartest gpu choice. But it's preference, do you value more insane looking games at 4k with 60hz or good looking games that will run at 144hz?
Depending on benchmarks you could sli your gpu and wait for the new gen of gpus.

XavierCastiel · 3 Jan 2016 at 17:52

Mart1ns said:
I personally prefer 1440p at 144hz for them silky smooth games it's just a matter of picking the smartest gpu choice. But it's preference, do you value more insane looking games at 4k with 60hz or good looking games that will run at 144hz?
Depending on benchmarks you could sli your gpu and wait for the new gen of gpus.

Settling for 1440P 144HZ is probably the smart choice. I would love the chance to upgrade to 4K but it does not seem very realistic with my current spec, although I would have loved the chance to do so.

I have never played games on a 144 HZ monitor or 4K monitor before so I wouldn't know for sure. 60 fps and insane graphics would be awesome, as I'd sooner better graphics with lower stable fps than higher fps with reduced settings for performance (providing I was getting decent fps scores)

Nobody has actually said what I should do about my GPU setup. Do I SLI my 980, go with a 980TI, SLI 980TI or go for a Titan or SLI? Or go for the cheapest GPU option and wait for Pascal to arrive? The cheapest would be to SLI my Gigabyte G1 Gaming 980. The second cheapest would be to buy a single 980TI. The other options are obviously more expensive but with way more gain.

zola25 · 4 Jan 2016 at 09:35

A single GTX 980 will be insufficient for 144Hz at 1440p, I found that even at 1440p/60Hz. SLI partially remedied that for me, and will be more powerful than a single 980Ti when it works, which was in just over 50% of games in my experience.

As I mentioned before a single 980Ti is sufficient for 1440p/60Hz, but I have no experience of 144Hz. I settled for 60Hz personally due to the availability of monitors at the time. Now I'd likely go for 144Hz IPS Gsync and a single 980Ti.

I agree OP, 4K is a step too far- it practically requires SLI/CF for even 60FPS and multi GPU cannot be relied upon for all games.

XavierCastiel · 4 Jan 2016 at 22:45

Well I'm going to order the monitor and GPU tomorrow.

So am I getting another 980 in SLI or should I order a 980TI single or SLI? Many users seem to think a single card runs much better than SLI from all the reading. I just want it all to run well at 144HZ 1440P without feeling the need to upgrade again within the next 6 months due to it being rubbish.

Also does my Motherboard support SLI at full capacity or not?

zola25 · 5 Jan 2016 at 11:59

Personally my vote would be a single well clocked 980Ti - it won't mean that you can get 144Hz all the time, but you will be able to get 60FPS at max settings in pretty much everything - something you mentioned appeals to you. 980 SLI will not give you that as when SLI doesn't work you'll be running on a single card.

Based on recent experience a single card is simply much better. For example, I've had the following issues with SLI in recent games:

Batman AK - no SLI profile
Far Cry 4 - SLI works, but breaks SMAA
Watchdogs - later patches break SLI, you can use an old DLL as a workaround
Wolfenstien TNO/TOB - OpenGL, no SLI support

Many other games I tried were fine though for example Black Flag, GTAV.

If 980Ti is not enough for you, you could SLI that in future (subject to it working well in the games you're interested in).

Your board will run 2 cards in SLI at 8x/8x, but given that this is PCIe3 it will at worst make about 2% difference compared to 16x/16x.