Do I need a GTX 780 and a 120Hz Monitor?

[Ranski]

I'm building a new gaming/light workstation use PC. My build is

Intel Core i7 4770K which I plan to overclock to around 4.6GHz
ASUS SABERTOOTH Z87
Corsair H100i
8GB Corsair Vengeance Pro (2400 MHz)
EVGA GTX 780 SC ACX Cooling
and a 750W Seasonic Gold PSU

I'm torn between saving a little money and buying a GTX 770 SC ACX and a standard 60Hz display
Or Buy a 780 and a 120Hz Monitor

Which one should I buy.
I'll mainly be doing After Effects, Sony Vegas, Photoshop, and I'll be playing Call Of Duty, BF4 and Counter Strike competitively. I appreciate your help.

 

[TBC1]

Go with the GTX 770 SC ACX and a standard 60Hz display (780 is overkill for 1080p).

 

[rmpumper]

Intel Core i7 4770K which I plan to overclock to around 4.6GHz

You can't plan an overclock with Haswell CPUs. You might get a dud that needs 1.3v to get to 4.4GHz.

120Hz monitors are for 3D. If you won't be playing in 3D, get a good 60Hz IPS. Get gtx780 if you will be playing at >1200p res.

 

[-Fran-]

I don't know about the 780, but the 120Hz monitor is a must I'd say. For games the difference is AMAZING.

You can get a GTX670, 680, 760, 770 or 780 and they'll all be bliss on a 120Hz monitor. V-Sync off FTW.

Just to put the difference into perspective... A friend got 3 brand new 1080p, 2ms DELL monitors at 60Hz and went to my house and see how good was the 120Hz... He put a sad face right away and I went "told you so".

Don't be the guy with the sad face, haha.

Cheers!

 

[Pete_the_Puma]

Hi there!

That is a hard question to answer and I think you forgot one other possibility which should cross your mind with your quite powerful build.

With either a GTX 770 or 780 I think you should be making the jump to 2560x1440 (1440p). 5 minutes of gaming at 1440p will RUIN 1920x1080 (1080p) for you the same way your 1080p TV RUINED your grandmas 480i (640x480) TV.

So 1080p@60Hz, 1080p@120Hz or 1440p@60Hz or...?

Officially there are no 1440p displays that do 120Hz out of the box but there is one out there that is reportedly easily overclocked to 110-120Hz and it's quite affordable!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2RY0ZA3895

If I were you I'd get a GTX 770 and the 2560x1440 monitor, then get a second GTX 770 down the road.

P

 

[Pete_the_Puma]

I don't know about the 780, but the 120Hz monitor is a must I'd say. For games the difference is AMAZING.

You can get a GTX670, 680, 760, 770 or 780 and they'll all be bliss on a 120Hz monitor. V-Sync off FTW.

Just to put the difference into perspective... A friend got 3 brand new 1080p, 2ms DELL monitors at 60Hz and went to my house and see how good was the 120Hz... He put a sad face right away and I went "told you so".

Don't be the guy with the sad face, haha.

Cheers!

I'm pretty sure you'd both have very sad faces if you saw anything in 2560x1440, especially at 110Hz!

 

[-Fran-]

I don't know about the 780, but the 120Hz monitor is a must I'd say. For games the difference is AMAZING.

You can get a GTX670, 680, 760, 770 or 780 and they'll all be bliss on a 120Hz monitor. V-Sync off FTW.

Just to put the difference into perspective... A friend got 3 brand new 1080p, 2ms DELL monitors at 60Hz and went to my house and see how good was the 120Hz... He put a sad face right away and I went "told you so".

Don't be the guy with the sad face, haha.

Cheers!

I'm pretty sure you'd both have very sad faces if you saw anything in 2560x1440, especially at 110Hz!

I have always preferred higher refresh rate than resolution. I stuck with my 75Hz 17" 1280x1024 CRT until 1080p 2ms at 60Hz were good (LED backlit) enough to move on (no ghosting and decent color gradients) and now I moved to 120Hz because they're low enough in price and keep a good quality to make the move justifiable at 1080p. Maybe my next jump will be to 4K (3840x2160 - UHD) at 120Hz or (W)QHD like you say, but hopefully at higher refresh rate.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure what you say is correct and I believe it will be the case, but what about price? Is it reasonable? I won't pay more than USD$350 for a monitor, even if the thing is better. Doesn't sound reasonable for me the jump over other better hardware (balance).

Cheers!