Upgrade: Opinions/thoughts on my system

[WandererOfDis]

I'm looking to upgrade my pc so that I'll be okay playing games at max settings for now and around high settings in three years, like with my current pc. That said, I am a bit stumped.

My current setup
Motherboard: ASUS Z87-Deluxe/Dual
GPU: ASUS R9 290x
CPU: i7 4770K 3.5 GHz
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 2 x 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz
All at stock speeds, just over three years old now.

I'd like to upgrade my GPU to a MSI 1080ti Armor OC.
Silly me only just found out that for a new CPU (7700K) and DDR4 memory I'd also need a new motherboard, which is rather inconvenient, in part because I've never changed one myself and I'm not sure how it would work with Windows licenses.

My question then would be, with the GPU upgrade, would there be a serious bottleneck or is the rest of my system enough to last a good while longer? Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: I should note that I'm planning to buy a new monitor, so I would like to run games at a 4K resolution (or close to it, certainly above 1080p).

 

[the nerd 389]

The rest of your system should be fine with the GPU upgrade. It may have another two years of useful life, especially if you decide to overclock down the line.

You may run into a memory bottleneck in about a year with some titles, but only in very specific games at very specific settings.

If you decide to upgrade the motherboard, the main thing to realize is that it's more like building a new machine than upgrading a part. You have to get a new copy of Windows and use a clean installation of it in order to avoid driver and licensing issues. You have to pull out almost every component in the computer to replace it, so it really is more like building a new machine than a simple upgrade.

 

[WandererOfDis]

The rest of your system should be fine with the GPU upgrade. It may have another two years of useful life, especially if you decide to overclock down the line.

You may run into a memory bottleneck in about a year with some titles, but only in very specific games at very specific settings.

If you decide to upgrade the motherboard, the main thing to realize is that it's more like building a new machine than upgrading a part. You have to get a new copy of Windows and use a clean installation of it in order to avoid driver and licensing issues. You have to pull out almost every component in the computer to replace it, so it really is more like building a new machine than a simple upgrade.

Thank you. While overclocking is completely new to me, if I'm sticking with this CPU I am planning on it.
I didn't mention it in my post (I just updated it) but I would like to go to 4K or close to it. Do you think that's feasible for my gaming needs/wants with just the GPU and a possible overclock of the CPU?

 

[the nerd 389]

4k is all about the GPU. It has little to do with the CPU. The 1080 Ti is one of the first GPUs capable of running games at 4k with nearly max settings. As such, you may find that it won't keep up with next-gen cards as well as the last few generations have.

Currently, there's no card that can run all modern titles at 4k and max settings. If that's what you want to do, then you're out of luck until the next generation of GPUs comes out.