The Jump To 4K: New GPU(s) or a new build?

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bruxup

Commendable
Dec 22, 2016
3
0
1,510
Hey all:

I'm considering making the jump to 4K this year and I had a couple questions for the community.
Currently, I'm running an X79 build with an Intel i7-4930K, 32 GB DDR3 @ 1866 and 2 GTX 780 Ti's in SLI. I'm looking to invest in a 4K screen in the coming months and I'm just planning out my finances. I've been waiting for the 1080 Ti to get announced and I'm on the fence about pulling the trigger.

I've been reading a lot of reviews, and my question is this: Would my CPU bottleneck the 1080 Ti at all? I don't intend to get the 4K screen for another couple months (due to availability and crazy prices in Canada) so I'm thinking of going the slow route and getting one piece at a time, starting with the GPU. I know there is some bottlenecking at 1080p and even at 1440p in some instances. I'm willing to survive through that until I get the new monitor, but in the long run do you feel it is worth upgrading the video card in my current build, or do you think I would be better off at looking at a more "modern" setup?

In addition to this, I wouldn't rule out going for an overclocked GTX 1080 (or something similar) due to the recent price drop after the 1080 Ti announcement. Any thoughts or suggestions would be more than appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
 
Solution
photonboy
1) Bottlenecks would be rare with that CPU. Heck, it's one of the best gaming CPU's that exists and it's 6C/12T so it's very future proof for CPU intensive games (for games that need more than FOUR cores which seems likely for some).

It will still take a couple years for games to properly utilize DX12/Vulkan and become well threaded but I would keep the CPU for many more YEARS. Again, any CPU that may be slightly faster per core probably won't matter as games become better threaded.

2) 4K?
There's no pressing need for 4K. It can look better than 2560x1440 but rarely enough to justify the performance cost. You can buy a 4K monitor if that fits your needs and still game at 2560x1440.

3) GSYNC:
I would invest in a good GSYNC monitor...
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photonboy

photonboy

Titan
Jun 20, 2006
21,567
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1) Bottlenecks would be rare with that CPU. Heck, it's one of the best gaming CPU's that exists and it's 6C/12T so it's very future proof for CPU intensive games (for games that need more than FOUR cores which seems likely for some).

It will still take a couple years for games to properly utilize DX12/Vulkan and become well threaded but I would keep the CPU for many more YEARS. Again, any CPU that may be slightly faster per core probably won't matter as games become better threaded.

2) 4K?
There's no pressing need for 4K. It can look better than 2560x1440 but rarely enough to justify the performance cost. You can buy a 4K monitor if that fits your needs and still game at 2560x1440.

3) GSYNC:
I would invest in a good GSYNC monitor before investing in anything else, or get a GTX1080Ti (single GPU) and buy a GSYNC monitor when you can.

Too many issues with multi-GPU which you likely know, and games may more frequently drop support completely (optimizing for similarities in consecutive frames doesn't work with multiple GPU's).

We'll eventually go multi-GPU in a good way (Split Frame Rendering) but it will be a couple years before that becomes common.

SUMMARY:
My best advice is:
a) GSYNC monitor (2560x1440, IPS, 144Hz or similar), and

(I'm holding off for a Quantum Dot or OLED screen, possibly with HDR, 2560x1440 or 4K with 100Hz+... pricing will be a factor)

b) 1xGTX1080Ti (i.e. Asus Strix or EVGA coolers)

c) Learn how to optimize GSYNC (such as capping the FPS to 60FPS if that is appropriate)
 
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bruxup

Commendable
Dec 22, 2016
3
0
1,510
Thank you all for the responses, truly appreciated. Here's the kicker. I also have a PS4 hooked up to the current monitor I'm using on my PC and I'd like to keep my setup this way due to space. If I were to go with a 1440p G-Sync monitor, for example, would there be any drawbacks to having the PlayStation hooked up to the monitor? I'm assuming 1440p would be the max resolution (for PC) and the PS4 would still display at 1080p. However, I've heard horror stories of native 1440p monitors that make 1080p look like trash. I'd like to avoid going the TV route for latency reasons, but do you see any issues with hooking up a PS4 to a monitor such as ASUS ROG PG278QR? Again, thank you for the time.
 
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