Graphics Card Upgrade

[kmanic]

I am planning to upgrade my gaming desktop this summer and had a few questions.

 

Currently I have a AMD Phenom II  x6 1090T black processor, 900 watt corsair PSU, 2x4gb of cheap mushkin enhanced 991770 RAM from 4 years ago, samsung 840 pro SSD, and a failing AMD Sapphire  6870 (1 gb).  Note that my motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-890FXA-UD5.  It has 4 PCI2 X16 which I will be using (as in it can hold 2 graphics cards if needed).

 

I would like to upgrade my graphics card either to x2 GTX 970 in SLI or one GTX 980 classified.  Both options are in a similar price range.  I am less willing to consider going with AMD again since my current card has been failing repeatedly and has been in the oven multiple times after only 4 years (I was expecting some hiccups, not complete failures).  My worry with the SLI option is that I have heard there may be some compatibility issues with games (in which case I would rather not run into any problems).

 

The games I would like to play are CS:GO, League of Legends, Battlefield hardline, GTAV, etc.  I would like to max out their settings and still run minimum 60 fps if that is possible (either 1080 or 1440 as I explain below)

 

I have not decided what resolution I would prefer to game at, but so far it looks like it will be either 1440p or 1080p.  The reason behind this is that I want an IPS panel, max performance, G-sync compatible, and I like full screening most of my media, which is 1080p for the most part, and probably wont change for a long while.  I was thinking either an ASUS ROG or one of the newer Acer monitors.  Would rather it be on the high refresh rate side.

 

So my overall question is, which graphics card option does everyone think I should go with?  Should I wait until later this summer for a possible huge upgrade to nvidia’s line? Additionally, I would like to know whether it would be worth going with 1440p if I also watch a bunch of anime (which is in 1080p).  Can the screen resolution for a 1440p monitor be decreased to show a 1080p for those times?  

 

Thanks for any help!

[Comessy]

That Phenom will bottleneck the cards you mentioned. Upgrade you CPU and GPU

[kmanic]

Thank you for the response,

The CPU is a good point.  I did not know it would bottleneck me that much.  Will have to upgrade by the looks of it.  But I think I would do that after getting the GPU(s) since that would provide me an immediate boost (and funds are tight).  And you say that one 980 is almost always better than SLI, however, I have seen benchmarks that clearly show the SLI 970s performing better in terms of frame-rate.  Is that just because the tests are optimized for parallel cards?  I do not plan to get another 980 to SLI anytime in the near future.  I am more hoping to have this rig running these games nicely by this summer.

[m_tieu]

If you're not willing to upgrade your CPU and mobo, then get the single 980. Your CPU will bottleneck the two 970's and maybe even the 980.

[IateMApoo]

Your CPU isnt that cutting edge no more for high end cards bro, single GTX 960 would be as high as id go without upgrading to new CPU.

[kmanic]

Its not that I am not willing to upgrade the CPU.  Its just that I would like to get the GPU first, then the CPU after (as in most likely a month or two after).

[Slayer1443]

Upgrade your cpu maby 4690k and cheam mobo with a 980 and a 970 should be able to play thoes games fine maby there biggest issues with gta and bfh

[kmanic]

Upgrade your cpu maby 4690k and cheam mobo with a 980 and a 970 should be able to play thoes games fine maby there biggest issues with gta and bfh

And which would be better 1 980 or 2 970 SLI?

[Slayer1443]

1 980 would be good so then you can upgrade to sli in the future and a 980 will be fine for thoes games by far

[kmanic]

Would you recommend a 980 classified/classified killswitch/or just a regular one?  I was thinking of going for the classified but I am not very knowledgable about the stats (they same to have a very small difference between each other).

[Lawliet93]

Why do you want to get the gtx 980? Just get a gtx 970 and a nice cooler for your CPU, overclock both (the phenom won't have any problems with 4,2GHz +) and have a good time. You will be able to play every game maxed out.

[kmanic]

Why do you want to get the gtx 980? Just get a gtx 970 and a nice cooler for your CPU, overclock both (the phenom won't have any problems with 4,2GHz +) and have a good time. You will be able to play every game maxed out.

I am currently purchasing a Noctua Dh15 for my CPU, but I am only willing to OC the CPU at this point. I would rather not do the same with my GPU since I want it to last more than 4 years and unlike my current one which has never been OC that has not happened unfortunately.  Basically, I am too scared to OC the GPU for fear of it breaking.  This could be a baseless fear though.

[Lawliet93]

I am currently purchasing a Noctua Dh15 for my CPU, but I am only willing to OC the CPU at this point. I would rather not do the same with my GPU since I want it to last more than 4 years and unlike my current one which has never been OC that has not happened unfortunately.  Basically, I am too scared to OC the GPU for fear of it breaking.  This could be a baseless fear though.

Well, it will last more than 4 years, even if overclocked. MY ati mobility hd 4530 (a laptop GPU) has been overclocked from 500MHz to 700MHz on the core since 2009 and is still running strong. My gtx 460SE has been overclocked to 900MHz on the core since 2011 :-) . If I may suggest, get an all in one water cooler.