Upgrade to GTX 1080 + which monitor?

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Karmazyn83

Karmazyn83

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Oct 23, 2013
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Hi,

I have a dilemma which GPU to buy and which monitor to change to.

My current system specs are:

i7 6700K
MSI Gaming M5
MSI Gaming R9 290X 4GB
16 GB RAM DDR4 3200 Mhz

Monitor: Iiyama Pro Lite 144 Mhz 27" 1080p

I would really like to purchase MSI GTX 1080X. I love the look of the card and I love MSI brand. I have not experienced screen tearing on iiyama but I would like to try Gsync out.

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-geforce-gtx-1080-gaming-x-8gb-gddr5x-vr-ready-graphics-card-2560-core-1683-mhz-gpu-1822-mhz-boos

I want this card to last between 4-5 years and run everything on ultra for the first 3 years and high to ultra for the 4th and 5th year.

I have heard that GTX 1080 GPU is an overkill for 1080p monitor. I have also come across opinion that nothing is an overkill for 144Hz monitor. Who is right? I saw some benchmarks of GTX 1080 and some games run at 190 FPSs. My current monitor refresh rate is 144 hz.

I would not have enough cash to upgrade PC monitor right away but in few months time I would be able to do it.

These are the monitors I really like: Immersion vs Pixels count:

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/27-acer-xb271hu-g-sync-led-monitor-165hz-ips-panel-2560x1440-4ms-1000000001-hdmi-dp-usb-2x-speakers-

and

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/35-acer-predator-z35-curved-144hz-(200hz-oc)-nvidia-g-sync-v2-gaming-monitor-va-2560x1080-4ms-100m1-

I like the look and size of the 2nd one but it is 1080p monitor again. It runs at 200 Mhz thoug. Would GTX 1080 be wasted on this?

Will option number 1 27 inch monitor be a better choice. I doubt that GTX 1080 will run everything on ultra for next 5 years. 2560 x 1440 must be demanding.

Please help. I could really do with some advice. Have you had experiance with Z35 or xb271hu. Have you paired GTX 1080 with 1080p monitor.

Thank you for reading and your help.
 
Solution
harboym
First of all, the Acer z35 is not a "1080p" monitor. Yes it has 1080 vertical pixels, but with 2560 horizontal pixels instead of the normal 1920 on a 16:9 monitor, you will have to drive about 750,000 more pixels.

With that out of the way I'd definitely go with the Acer z35. It will be easier to drive than the 2560x1440 panel so your card will play games on higher settings for a longer time, and the higher you can get your frame rate allowance the better. Also, the ultra-wide aspect ratio is just awesome.

The GTX 1080 would not be wasted on either of these monitors because it could probably max out the setting on any current game without breaking a sweat, however, over the next "4 -5 years" games are just going to get harder to run...
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harboym

harboym

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First of all, the Acer z35 is not a "1080p" monitor. Yes it has 1080 vertical pixels, but with 2560 horizontal pixels instead of the normal 1920 on a 16:9 monitor, you will have to drive about 750,000 more pixels.

With that out of the way I'd definitely go with the Acer z35. It will be easier to drive than the 2560x1440 panel so your card will play games on higher settings for a longer time, and the higher you can get your frame rate allowance the better. Also, the ultra-wide aspect ratio is just awesome.

The GTX 1080 would not be wasted on either of these monitors because it could probably max out the setting on any current game without breaking a sweat, however, over the next "4 -5 years" games are just going to get harder to run. And like you asked, it is a much bigger task to ask your gpu to produce 120, 144, 165, or even 200 FPS to keep up with a high frame rate monitor. Almost always when people talk about if a gpu "can run a game on ultra", they mean "can run a game on ultra at at least 60 FPS."
 
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Karmazyn83

Karmazyn83

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Oct 23, 2013
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Thank you for your reply. I must say that something is drawing me towards Z35. I just think that I will get more pleasure from the level of immersion you get with 35inch and aggressive curve.

I have read on some forum that Z35 pixel size is 79.4 as opposed to 81.59 on 16:9 1080p monitor and 108.79 on 1440p monitor.

As my current monitor is 27 inch 1080p monitor I dont think I would notice the difference. I have never tried 1440p gaming so I wont know what I would be missing :)

Yes by ultra I mean 60 fps+. I usually get around 65-110 fps in most games. I am using Batman Arkham Knight as a good benchmark game as it is so poorly optimized and I am getting 60 fps most of the times.

Do you think that my current GPU R9 290X would handle Z35. Would I see substantial performance decrease, by substantial I mean 20% more than current FPSs?

Z35 has Gsync and ULMB. ULMB does not work when Gsync is on, does it mean that I can use this monitor with my current GPU or will I have to buy Ge-Force graphic card now.

Many thanks.
 
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harboym

harboym

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Your 290x should drive the z35 without issue, although going from 1920x1080 to 2560x1080 will show a FPS decrease across the board. The 290x is still a good card but if you want ultra performance at high frame rates going into the coming years your going to want to upgrade.

No ULMB does not work when gsync is on unfortunately. You do not need to buy a GeForce gpu to run the monitor but if you want to turn gsync on you will. So you could run the z35 with the 290x with ULMB and eventually upgrade your gpu giving you better performance and the cherry on top of being able to use gsync. I haven't experienced gsync yet but I understand the science behind it and everyone says once you've tried it you can't go back.
 
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