What would be the cheapest path for me to take for decent 4K gaming?

Samusbresolino

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Dec 19, 2013
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Right now I have a i5-4690K in a Maximus Hero VI Asus motherboard, with 16GB RAM and a R9 290 custom cooled with an Accelero Extreme III kit. Everything is fed energy by a Corsair TX850M psu.

I want to run any game on 4K (still didn't buy the monitor thought, this is all future plans), don't care much about Anti Aliasing and the like as long as the definition is 4K and the texture quality is as good as possible. I also won't cry if a game won't run at 60 fps all the time, as long as it never drops below 30fps. I plan on buying a Samsung U28D590D since it's in a good price range around where I live.


With those conditions in mind, what would be my best plan of action? Use a 4K monitor with my pc as it is right now, buy another r9 290 and crossfire (will my psu handle it well?), or buy a different card(s) and/or psu?

Thanks in advance, any help is appreciated! Also excuse my poor english.
 
Solution
you're gonna want a better gpu. right now the gtx 980 ti and new fury(x) is the minimum for decent 4k gaming in a single gpu. you're psu will easily handle a second 290 but it won't do as much as a better single gpu.

the word "cheapest" does not go with "4k gaming" very well :) your cpu and the rest is sufficient to push a nice shiny fury or 980 ti so i guess the point is you need a new better gpu at least the 980 ti level or better to game at 4k decently.

Math Geek

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you're gonna want a better gpu. right now the gtx 980 ti and new fury(x) is the minimum for decent 4k gaming in a single gpu. you're psu will easily handle a second 290 but it won't do as much as a better single gpu.

the word "cheapest" does not go with "4k gaming" very well :) your cpu and the rest is sufficient to push a nice shiny fury or 980 ti so i guess the point is you need a new better gpu at least the 980 ti level or better to game at 4k decently.
 
Solution

eodeo

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May 29, 2007
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You're better off getting the monitor first and then getting the best GPU you can afford later on.

For everyday work/text/video viewing 4k makes sense only if you have super-human sight, sit unnaturally close to the screen or plan to get a huge 85"+ screen. Since you mention 28" screen, I assume that you're not planning 85"+. Excluding super-human sight or sitting unnaturally close to the screen you're going to game on it. Much like 4x MSAA, gaming on 4k actually produces 4x better resolution compared to 1080p on the screen of the same size. That makes DSR and $x MSAA more economic choices with a 1080p screen. Still, on a small 4k screens like your 28" Samsung, picture quality will be better- assuming you can power it efficiently. That means getting the best GPU you can afford.

Don't mistake- you're getting that screen not to read, or view movies- it's for gaming only. Get the best GPU you can afford/find. So in conclusion- get the screen first and the GPU later on. Dont get 2nd best GPU. Maybe even wait for GTX 1080 or whatever nvidia calls the post gtx 980 GPU.