1440p with an i5 2500K?

[Tim]

Hi guys,

 

Really want to step up from my 1080p 27inch monitor to a 1440p one, but I'm not sure if my rig will need more than just a better graphics card to do this. I'm using a 2500K on an MSI Z77A-G45 with 16GB of RAM. Currently have a GTX 770 but that will be upgraded to something like a 1060 or 1070.

 

Do you think the CPU will bottleneck the card too badly? Am I better off just upgrading the whole thing?

 

Cheers

[DXMember]

[othertomperson]

The CPU doesn't render pixels. It makes no difference to the CPU what resolution you want.

 

The higher the resolution goes, the more strain it puts on the GPU. If the GPU is able to push out 144 fps then the CPU has to match that. If it can't, you see a bottleneck. However if the CPU is perfectly capable of computing fast enough for 144 fps, but your GPU is struggling to give you more than 60, then the CPU needs to wait for the GPU so you see less CPU load -- ie your GPU is the bottleneck.

 

tl;dr if your CPU can give you the framerate you want at 1080p, this won't change at 1440p.

[Lord_Karango17]

Cpu is usually only a problem in lower resolutions where the gpu can pump out a lot of frames. as the resolution goes up, the gpu becomes more bogged down, thus reducing the load on the cpu as well.

 

tldr, you will be fine with the i5. Just get a gpu that can handle the resolution, and you will be good.

[KemoKa]

I have an i7-2600K, which is that CPU's older brother. All that's different is its hyperthreading scheduler and that's pretty much it. In games, it tears through pretty much everything I throw at it. I have an R9 Nano paired with it and a 1440p monitor.

 

CPU-wise, you're fine for the next while.

[Tim]

Thanks everyone, now to decide which monitor and card to go for!