fredrock47 :
bjornl :
At what refresh rate and what detail level?
You can run a 1440p on either card provided you are shooting for 60fps (such as for a 60-hz monitor).
If you want 1440p at 144hz, you need a 1080 or 1080ti.... maybe a well-overclocked 1070ti would do it with a few modest tweeks to the quality8 settings.
I have an overclocked 980ti, I can run pretty much everything at max/ultra and get 60fps on my 1440p/60hz.
So it is the refreash rate that determines the GPU requirements? Not the resolution.
I should probably ask a more basic question first. I want a new monitor for a couple reasons. I want a larger screen, say around 34" and I want higher quality video. Will a 3440x1440 monitor give me improved video or is the resolution not a factor there either? What are the factors that determine video quality for movies?
Some of the GPUs I've looked at have a 100Hz refreash rate. Will they be out of bounds for a 1060 and 1070 too?
It is both refresh rate and resolution. You have to remember that:
target FPS = refresh rate.
Data per refresh rate = resolution.
So 1440p x 144 is quite challenging. While 1440p x 60 is much easier.
1440p = approx 3.7 million pixels
1080p = approx 2 million pixels
So it takes more GPU power to go from 60fps to 144 than it takes to go from 1080p to 1440p
A 3440x1440 is approximately 5million pixels.
5million x 100hz = approx. 500 million
3.7 x 144 = 532 million.
So 3440x1440 @ 100hz is almost exactly as challenging for a GPU as 1440p @144hz. Both are really going to need a 1080ti or damn close to get a MAX/ULTRA setting and be above their goals. This is where g-sync comes in. G-Sync lowers the refresh rate to match whatever the current FPS is. This eliminates the tearing you get from these two being out of sync.
Videos are not the same as video games. Videos play at a much lower fps and it is ok to have your monitor and your video not match their respective refresh rates. For video, a 1060 is plenty. How good the video looks at 3440x1440 depends on the source. How many pixels are in the frame? What format is it in. A high percentage of commercial videos are in 21:9. Almost no game content is. So a 21:9 monitor such as a 3440x1440 will look odd in many games and even in games which support the resolution, they won't support that in the cut scenes. For video watching a 21:9 is ok. For game play, I would not recommend it. It requires an extremely robust video card and there will be constant immersion breaks as the various cut scenes come up and are a different resolution than the game. There are also games which just don't support 21:9 at all. Since you are looking at both games and movies, I suggest a 32" 1440p screen (16x9) and as powerful a video card as you can easily afford.
If you don't mind 60hz for gaming, I have a money saving option:
https://www.amazon.com/Philips-BDM3270QP2-LED-Lit-monitor-2560x1440/dp/B01LXPX9I4/
It is on sale for 310 right now. Compared to a 144hz montor, video watching will be just as good (although not as good as a 34" 21:9). Game play will be better than a 21:9 and not require a 1080 ti to get full use out of it.
I would suggest at least a 1070, ideally more. But if budget is a big concern, a 1060 will absolutely game on this system and only require a minor bit of tweaking to be full speed in most games (a few games will require more a little tweaking).
If you want a best of the best, this is it:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824025836
$850 and it will need a 1080 ti to get full use of it. So a very costly but very nice thing to consider if you suddenly win the lottery.