Can my system run 1440p??

benjanini61

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Mar 20, 2012
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Hey im considering buying a 1440p Shimian purely for gaming purposes and i just wanted to know if my system can run well at 1440p. Bare in mind i dont mind fps hitting 45 minimum and an avg of 55ish and i wont use AA in most cases as its not worth the fps loss when AA is a minor problem at 1440p.

My current system;
Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate
1TB Barracuda 7200rpm 64mb
Gigabyte 970A-DS3
4GB DDR3 1333mhz
Corsair CX600 Builder series V2 600W
MSI Twin Frzr III 6950 2GB OC 910/1375

Can i achieve what i said in the first line with this setup or do i need a new GPU?
Ive been looking at 7950 http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/VTX3D+X-Edition+Radeon+HD+7950+OC+3072MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+%2B+2+FREE+GAMES%21+?productId=54047

Anyone with a 7950 and 1440p monitor id love to hear what you can spit out. My budget is just over £200 for the GPU
 

hythos

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Jul 1, 2009
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I'm running an i7-3770K with an MSI TwinFrozr II 6950-2GB; I just picked up an Auria 27" from Microcenter last night, which will do 2560x1440@60hz. Playing MechWarrior Online, I'm getting 40+FPS with Medium Settings, and didn't see it drop below 35FPS. While I didn't take the time to tweak any settings from their defaults - as for the expected FPS, I'd have to expect that it would be game-dependent...

My guess is that the 7950 should perform ~20% better than my 6950 set up (according to the ATI fanboi's.)

My thoughts on the monitor however (considering that the Shimian/Achieva/Crossover is the same as what I had picked up) - I don't think it feels right for gaming. Fast movements in-game seem too choppy vs the framerate, and it could just be that it's more noticible vs a smaller screen because of the distance that the object rotates. As for CAD/CAM, the 50% larger screen makes a HUGE difference, with having space for extra tool-bars (personal preference).
My specific monitor, unfortunately, has several clouds of dead pixels, probably 40-50 altogether (so I'm gonna exchange it for another).

While I would prefer a x1440 display, I may need to consider a 24" x1200 with a faster GTG value, or perhaps just drop all the way to a 1080 @ 1 or 2ms gray-to-gray (like one of the ASUS's or a BenQ XL2420T "Professional Gaming Monitor").
 
You will have to play on low/medium and aa low/off. I have a 7870 at 2560x1440 and some games I have to play medium with aa low. I still think it looks better than 1920x1080 on high though.
 

jtenorj

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A 7950(boost) will be a much more than just 20% faster compared to 6950. 1408 shaders to 1792, core clock 800 to 925, vliw4 architecture on 6950 versus the newer gcn architecture on 7950(which has seen several large performance boosts since launch with newer drivers).
 

hythos

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What then, is supposed to be better? Adding one more 6950 for ~$150, or a new 7950 for $325?
 

jtenorj

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If the OP buys a hd7950, I imagine they will sell the hd6950. OP's mobo doesn't have proper crossfire support. Back in the day, many hd6950 could be unlocked and overclocked to perform like a hd6970(until amd started laser locking shader blocks). A hd7950 can be overclocked to hd7970 levels of performance(or more even). In hardocp's launch review of hd7970, they said it was the first single gpu card capable of driving games with high detail at eyefinity res(1920x1200x3 in this case, or about 7 megapixels). Performance has only gotten better with driver updates on these new cards with the gcn architecture. a 2560x1440 monitor has about 3.7 megapixels. I'm personally not a fan of boosted hd7950s( extra voltage makes it hard to overclock properly, and the boost might not even work right in many cases due to thermal throttling). I think its better to get a non boosted hd7950(if you can find one) , or get one with boost and flash the bios with that of an un-boosted one(if you can find a bios like that online). Then you can tweak clocks and voltages yourself for the best overclock. It is good for the card to have a decent custom cooler, though. Dual fan with copper heat pipes is a popular type of configuration. The reference amd coolers for hd7950 and hd7970 are somewhat hot and loud.
 

benjanini61

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Mar 20, 2012
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I cant afford Crossfire and i probly wont be getting it any time soon, i just want to know how well a 7950 will perform on games like crysis 3, bf3, skyrim, fc3, PS2 etc at 1440p resolution.
Remember as i said i dont have to have 60fps in games especially single player games like in Metro i prefer the quality over performance coz its single only. Im used to playing bf3 at avgs of 50 and minimums of 40. Im really just more interested in how good 1440p looks compared to 1080 and if its worth spending the money on.

Ive also read in a few forums that modded games matched with 1440p eat up alot of Vram and i wondered if 3gb will be enough on the 7950. Mainly talkig about skyrim here, which i plan on playing loads if i get 1440p
 

jtenorj

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Probably the main reason why Skyrim uses so much vram is to store high res textures(the same regardless of what resolution you are running at). If u plan to use little or no AA on the larger panel versus a smaller panel, that takes some pressure off the vram. Generally, 1GB seems to be pretty decent for 1080p(2mpixel), 2GB for a larger panel(3.7-4mpixel), and 3GB for eyefinity(3x1080p ie 6mpixel or 3x 1900x1200 ie 7mpixel). That will of course change as time goes on. If you plan to use a larger panel, 3GB should last you longer before you need to start limiting graphics options based on vram limitations.

As to how well a 7950 will play the games you mentioned...

Skyrim might not run super fast at very high settings, but if I understand you correctly that should be alright for a single player game.

both far cry 3 and crysis 3 are fairly taxing on a gpu. You can crank up the settings, but performance may suffer a bit. not sure if the draw for these games is more single or multi(maybe it varies depending on which game). You might need to lower settings some for multi, but single might be ok(better when you overclock the gpu, of course).

If a reference hd7970 could do bf3 multi with eyefinity(7mpixel) on ultra*(fxaa vs msaa, ssao vs hbao, motion blur off) at launch, you should be fine with a hd7950 since the release of those performance boosting drivers.

Planetside 2 is pretty tough on a gpu as well. I wonder if you might have to lower a few setting at a higher res to be competitive online.
 

benjanini61

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Mar 20, 2012
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Thanks for the advice, i think ill go for the http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/VTX3D+X-Edition+Radeon+HD+7950+OC+3072MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+%2B+2+FREE+GAMES%21+?productId=54047

It looks like a decent card and has nice clocks 930 and i can hopefully OC it further and with 2 free games for £204 its a steal!

The only thing with skyrim is that im worried my enb will kick my fps to the trash, in 1080p i get solid 32+ and avg 38 and thats with my 2gb 6950, so im hoping ill have around the same fps at 1440p with the 3gb 7950. Would you agree?
 

awesomedude911

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what monitor did you get?

the auria eq276w, or some other monior like the Achieva Shimian QH270?
Thanks