GTX 780, 760 SLI or 1440p monitor

irfan88 · Jul 12, 2013

Hey Guys,

I have the below configuration running currently:

i7 3770k @ 4.6Ghz
Asus Maximus V Formula
Corsair H100i (Push/Pull)
Zotac GTX 670 @ 1189 Boost / 7000 Mhz Memory
Dell ST2220L LED 1080p monitor
Corsair TX750 V2 PSU
G.Skill Sniper 4GB x 2
Intel X25-M G2 80GB SSD
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
WD Caviar Black 1TB
WD Caviar Blue 500GB
NZXT Switch 810

I live in India and the Asus reference GTX 780 costs $762 here. The GTX 760 costs $327 and the Asus DCII GTX 770 costs $508. I currently have a GTX 670 running at 1189 Boost / 7000 Mhz Memory and a Dell ST2220L 1080p monitor. I was thinking of upgrading either my GPU or the Monitor itself to one of the Korean branded 1440p monitors as they are very cheap. I can get a Korean Perfect Pixel monitor at $400 with 1 year warranty.

So my question is, should I upgrade my monitor or should I upgrade my graphics card. I can sell my current monitor at $90 or my GTX 670 at $310. I can only upgrade either of them.

So if I upgrade my monitor, will a single GTX 670 2GB suffice my needs for gaming. I want to play all the games at 50FPS plus with atleast FXAA. Or should I upgrade my graphics card to 2 760's or a 780 or just pick up a single GTX 770 and then upgrade to SLI later down the road (5 to 6 months later).

Which would be the best possible upgrade. A high res monitor or the graphics card. Please assist.

cookybiscuit · Jul 12, 2013

A 760 is slower than a 670, and a 770 is a rebranded 680... and the 680 was a (essentially) a rebranded 670. Get another 670.

irfan88 · Jul 12, 2013

cookybiscuit :

Well, what about the monitor? My dilemma is whether to upgrade my monitor or the graphics card.

Madn3ss795 · Jul 12, 2013

A pair of GTX760 would be your best option for a 1440p monitor. Higher performance than a GTX780, at a lower cost: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/2224/15/

irfan88 · Jul 12, 2013

Madn3ss795 :

I dont think that anyone is getting my question here. Should I upgrade my Monitor from 1080p to 1440p or should I upgrade my graphics card from a 670 to a 780 or 760 SLI. I can only do one upgrade as of now.

Madn3ss795 · Jul 12, 2013

Well, yea, you wrote it a little confusing, so...

ok, I think you should upgrade your monitor. According to that review I posted above, Metro Lastlight and Crysis3 will be the only 2 games that your OC-ed 670 will struggle to play at 1440p maxed out. So just need to lower settings in those games a bit and you're good to go. Still a very strong card you have.

fkr · Jul 12, 2013

the answer you are looking for is go for the GPU upgrade either double up what you have now or go the gtx 760 route(no need to spend any more than needed so the gtx 670 is the way I would go, they both have the same memory interface). why because either of these GPU setups will allow you to really max out all games right now and into the future at 1080P.

and most importantly is because monitor prices are still on a rapid decline. this is why i would by gpu power now and then pick up one of those monitors in a few months.

the only other side of this is to buy a monitor and just game at 1080 till you get another card. which means you do not gain that much for now.

if you can sell your card for 310 can you also buy one at that price and get a monitor?

irfan88 · Jul 12, 2013

fkr :

Selling both my monitor and the 670 will give me $400. A GTX 780 will cost me $762 and the 1440p monitor will cost me $390. So totally (762 + 390 = $1152). Then $1152 - $400 = $752 which I dont have right now. I only have about $450 to spend on either of these upgrades.

What do you suggest? A 780 or a 1440p monitor or should I just stick on to what I have right now and then look what the future brings up.

fkr · Jul 12, 2013

your sli'd current cards will be close to a gtx 690 and more powerful than a titan.
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_670_2_and_3way_sli_review,12.html

if you do that you will max out all games at max resolutions for at least a year at 1080p.

a new monitor is not going to improve your gaming at all for now.

edit:
http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=52669
some more intersting stuff

irfan88 · Jul 12, 2013

fkr :

I can do that but the GTX 670 in my country is still expensive and costs $410 for the 2GB model. A 760 costs $327 though. A GTX 770 costs $490. I can even pick up a second hand model but the issue is the 2GB. Will it suffice?

geofelt · Jul 12, 2013

I love the added real estate of 2560 x 1440 type monitors.
They will have ips panels with 178/178 viewing angles too.
If you can, keep your old monitor as a side monitor for email-etc.
Yes, it takes more graphics power to manage more pixels.
Since you have more pixels, the need for aa will be lessened, and that is one of the big gpu load generators.
Which do you value more? High fps, or better visuals?
Perhaps you can borrow one such monitor to try it out.

irfan88 · Jul 13, 2013

geofelt :

First off, the monitor is a Korean brand. I will have to buy it from Ebay. Here's the link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/QNIX-QX2710-LED-Evolution-ll-Matte-Perfect-Pixel-27-2560x1440-PC-Monitor-/111088789065?pt=Computer_Monitors&hash=item19dd686649

The price including customs will come upto $400. I do like visuals but at the same time would like to have my FPS above 45 atleast with FXAA if not TXAA/MSAA. Secondly, I will not keep my current monitor if I buy another one because I dont like having multiple monitors. If that was the case, then I would have just picked up 2 more 22" displays and would have ran surround setup.

geofelt · Jul 13, 2013

If you search for forums on the Korean monitors, you will find mostly satisfied customers. Yamakazi and catleap are other ones to look for.

Your GTX670 is already a very good card. I suspect you might be disappointed by the small improvement to a GTX770.
Some time ago, I used a 7850 with a 2560 x 1600 monitor and had no problems. But I was not playing fast shooters. My 2560 x 1600 Samsung 305T just died, and I am awaiting a replacement. Let me tell you, I miss it terribly, even when using a 27" 1920 x 1200 temporary monitor. I think you will love a better monitor. But.. what do I know how YOU will do? Really, it is YOUR choice to make.

irfan88 · Jul 13, 2013

geofelt :

So, if I do get the monitor instead of upgrading my graphics card, will a 2GB GTX 670 suffice at 1440p resolution for this year. I mean 2GB.

fkr · Jul 13, 2013

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_670_FTW_Signature_2/19.html
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5818/nvidia-geforce-gtx-670-review-feat-evga/6

just some more reviews.

irfan88 · Jul 13, 2013

fkr :

Wow!!!. Metro, Crysis, Far Cry, Hitman are unplayable. Most of them are below 30 FPS even without AA. I guess, I would need atleast a 780 to play at 1440p. Even then I would need 2 780's to max out games at 1440p. I guess, I will stick to my existing 1080p monitor for now. Thanks for clearing. my GTX 670 overclocked at 1080p can play all these games at very high settings. Some of the games, I would have to run them at FXAA but most of these are maxed out except for Crysis and Metro.

Moreover, these Korean monitors are hit or a miss. I mean the quality and the dead pixels. I will just wait for some more time and then get one sometime in the future.

But for now, what would you suggest about the GPU. Should I get the 670 exchanged for $310 and get a 780 because it has more VRAM or should I just hold on to my existing 670 and then upgrade when Maxwell comes out? I feel that my 670 @ 1080p will definitely suffice my needs for this year but I am just not liking running a single card since my Motherboard supports SLI. Damn. Craziness.

irfan88 · Jul 13, 2013

fkr :

Wow!!!. Metro, Crysis, Far Cry, Hitman are unplayable. Most of them are below 30 FPS even without AA. I guess, I would need atleast a 780 to play at 1440p. Even then I would need 2 780's to max out games at 1440p. I guess, I will stick to my existing 1080p monitor for now. Thanks for clearing. my GTX 670 overclocked at 1080p can play all these games at very high settings. Some of the games, I would have to run them at FXAA but most of these are maxed out except for Crysis and Metro.

Moreover, these Korean monitors are hit or a miss. I mean the quality and the dead pixels. I will just wait for some more time and then get one sometime in the future.

But for now, what would you suggest about the GPU. Should I get the 670 exchanged for $310 and get a 780 because it has more VRAM or should I just hold on to my existing 670 and then upgrade when Maxwell comes out? I feel that my 670 @ 1080p will definitely suffice my needs for this year but I am just not liking running a single card since my Motherboard supports SLI. Damn. Craziness.

fkr · Jul 13, 2013

I would wait. everything above the gtx 670/760 is just not worth it yet unless you are sitting on a very nice monitor or a trio of monitors.

geofelt · Jul 13, 2013

It would seem that there is little performance difference between 2gb and 4gb of vram. Read this:
http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Video-Card-Performance-2GB-vs-4GB-Memory-154/

irfan88 · Jul 13, 2013

geofelt :

The article is old. Everything has now changed since Crysis 3

geofelt · Jul 13, 2013

irfan88 :

I would love to find a more current test. Can you point me to one?

irfan88 · Jul 13, 2013

geofelt :

Its the AA which actually consumes the memory. Look here: This is at 1080p max settings

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/crysis_3_graphics_performance_review_benchmark,8.html

I played Bioshock infinite on my PC at 1080p with max out settings and I saw the 2.1GB VRAM being consumed.

sancco · Jul 13, 2013

I would definitely suggest you go for a monitor. The NVIDIA cards out at the moment are ridiculously overpriced, and if you decide to pay the premium for them they will only last you 2-3 years and then be worthless. If you get a good monitor instead, you'll have it for 5-10 years and it'll hold a lot more value. It'll help with immersion more than graphic settings too, I think. I'd suggest 24-27", I hear 30" is too big. Plus they charge heaps more for just an extra 3".

irfan88 · Jul 13, 2013

sancco :

But my main concern is the GPU power. I dont think a single 670 would give me 45 plus FPS on some of the games like Metro, Crysis, Far Cry and Hitman at 1440p even without AA. I guess, I would have to get both the GPU and the monitor.

geofelt · Jul 13, 2013

irfan88 :

You clearly will never see more vram used than you have installed. The real question is how little vram do you need before a lack of vram affects performance?
It is something like how much system ram do you need to avoid excessive page file use. If there is a more current test using crysis3, I would like to read it.

GTX 780, 760 SLI or 1440p monitor

Distinguished

Honorable

Distinguished

Dignified

Distinguished

Dignified

Splendid

Distinguished

Splendid

Distinguished

Titan

Distinguished

Titan

Distinguished

Splendid

Distinguished

Distinguished

Splendid

Titan

Distinguished

Titan

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Titan

Share this page