How to utilize my 4k UHD monitor for gaming.

[leddman]

Hello all you wonderful Forumites!

I've had the same PC build for about 3 years now, and I thought it was time for an upgrade\change. So I decided I'd purchase myself a nice 4k UHD Gaming monitor!

Basically I wanted my new monitor to play all the games I normally play every week, to look and perform like they were Super Saiyan!

I was foolishly told that my current rig would perform with a 4k UHD monitor just fine with all my AAA games. Well it does to a certain point. In order to achieve actual 4k @60hz with this monitor, I had to change my resolution in Nvidia Control Panel to the (native) 3840x2160. Currently the "Best" picture this monitor can put out is a "4k UHD 3840x2160", which is totally fine. It's limiting me to using this resolution while watching Youtube videos, surfing the web and viewing photos.

When I try to game it's a different story. I am unable to push the correct FPS with the setting at 3840x2160. For example in Shadow's of Mordor I have to turn it down to 2660x1440 for it to be smooth gameplay, BUT I still get quite a few screen tears every few seconds. I have pretty much fixed my World of Warcraft experience with the monitor, but I need it to work correctly with my other games for steam.

 

The monitor\ASUS PB287Q 4k UHD TN Panel

Mobo\ ASRock Z75 Pro3

CPU\ Intel HD i5 2310 @2.90ghz

RAM\ 16gb Ripjaw DDR3

GPU\ EVGA Nvidia GTX 960 "superclocked"

PSU\ Corsair GS800, 800w

HDD\ Seagate Barracuda 1Tb HD

 

 

The games I'm MAINLY looking to be flawless are;
The new DOOM releasing in May

Crysis 2 and 3

Battlefield franchise

The Sims 4

World of Warcraft

 

In summary, I'm looking to what what I did wrong, what I need to do, or what I need to purchase to make my rig, and games look beautiful with my new 4k monitor!

Any and all help is welcome, please and thank you!

 

[Goodman2265]

Who ever told you a 960 can do 4k gaming needs help

[spartaman64]

how much can you spend

[leddman]

It was a salesman I was talking to at a store. I was talking to him about 4k gaming monitors and he was just trying to sell me something...

[spartaman64]

1 minute ago, Goodman2265 said:

Who ever told you a 960 can do 4k gaming needs help

maybe league of legends and cs go lol

[Goodman2265]

If you want flawless 4k gaming you are gonna need a 980ti or that new Dual Fury X card what ever its called or prob just a fury x

[Fungal]

I'd recommend a 980 ti  

[spartaman64]

1 minute ago, Goodman2265 said:

If you want flawless 4k gaming you are gonna need a 980ti or that new Dual Fury X card what ever its called or prob just a fury x

you might also want to wait for polaris/pascal in the mean time you should probably upgrade the cpu preferable also along with the motherboard

[Goodman2265]

Just now, leddman said:

It was a salesman I was talking to at a store. I was talking to him about 4k gaming monitors and he was just trying to sell me something...

Never trust a salesman. Dude at bestbuy was like "Buy a H100i while you're here, It will get you maybe 20 more fps"  after he said that I flamed him so hard 

[leddman]

I'm getting paid in a week. After bills I've got around $460+ coming in, also with a $300 tax return coming before the month ends.

[Goodman2265]

1 minute ago, leddman said:

I'm getting paid in a week. After bills I've got around $460+ coming in, also with a $300 tax return coming before the month ends.

If you wanna yolo it get a R9 295X2 off eBay and buy a beefy ass PSU AMD recommends 

[Altecice]

Yup you're going to struggle to play the latest AAA titles on high settings at the moment. Even with dual 980Ti's we struggle to play Ultra quality settings, the hardware just is not powerful enough.

[leddman]

I'm planning on updating everything in my rig. My CPU will eventually be the i7, 6700k, I will be replacing the mobo with the Z750 1151, and finally getting some DRR4 ram. In the meantime, I'm okay with lowering my graphics in games to like 2660x1440 to get it to work. Do you think JUST replacing the GPU will get me much closer to my goal?

[leddman]

I'm okay with not playing AAA games at Ultra. I'm fine with High settings.

[spartaman64]

4 minutes ago, leddman said:

I'm okay with not playing AAA games at Ultra. I'm fine with High settings.

you probably should get the cpu and motherboard upgrade now and wait for the next generation of gpus

[leddman]

So you suggest upgrading the cpu, mobo and ram before the gpu. Will I really even notice a performance and quality increase?

[suchamoneypit]

The only thing a GTX 960 will run at 4K are games like CS:GO and LoL. For AAA games or anything graphically demanding your going to need something like a 980 ti , Fury(x), or the Dual Radeon Pro when it comes out. Also, your probably going to want to upgrade your CPU (which probably means the motherboard too)

[leddman]

Alrighty then, looks like I can afford to replace the CPU, MOBO and RAM before i'll be able to afford a 980ti.

[i_build_nanosuits]

4 minutes ago, leddman said:

Alrighty then, looks like I can afford to replace the CPU, MOBO and RAM before i'll be able to afford a 980ti.

in the meantime you can game at 1080p on the 4K monitor and it will look alright...for the most demanding games that,s what i would suggest if you can't manage to get good enough framerates at 4K even on lower settings.

[BadBacon]

31 minutes ago, leddman said:

It was a salesman I was talking to at a store. I was talking to him about 4k gaming monitors and he was just trying to sell me something...

Don't trust salesmen. They're called salesmen cause they can sell a product worth half its weight. Get a new GPU preferably a 980 ti or a 980. New CPU too. 

[leddman]

I appreciate all the help! Looks like I'll be moving some money around and see which i'll purchase first.

[rcole134]

18 hours ago, Goodman2265 said:

If you wanna yolo it get a R9 295X2 off eBay and buy a beefy ass PSU AMD recommends 

Please don't buy a R9 295x2. Although it is in its own right a powerful GPU it has to rely on Crossfire to get the most out of it. Doom will be using the new IdTech engine which judging from its predecessors won't support any form of multi GPU meaning you'll end up using a gimped GPU to try and play it. The GPU also has only 4Gb of VRAM which isn't really enough to run games maxed at 4k resolutions. You also can't turn off crossfire on the r9-295x2 because of the ways its configured which can further gimp the card with certain games. You would be better of either buying a GTX 980Ti or waiting a few months and seeing what both AMD and Nvidia release. 

[Goodman2265]

1 hour ago, rcole134 said:

Please don't buy a R9 295x2. Although it is in its own right a powerful GPU it has to rely on Crossfire to get the most out of it. Doom will be using the new IdTech engine which judging from its predecessors won't support any form of multi GPU meaning you'll end up using a gimped GPU to try and play it. The GPU also has only 4Gb of VRAM which isn't really enough to run games maxed at 4k resolutions. You also can't turn off crossfire on the r9-295x2 because of the ways its configured which can further gimp the card with certain games. You would be better of either buying a GTX 980Ti or waiting a few months and seeing what both AMD and Nvidia release. 

I said yolo, It means its a joke m8 

You fell for the b8 m8

[rcole134]

Just now, Goodman2265 said:

I said yolo, It means its a joke m8 

You fell for the b8 m8

Damn. I did lol. You got me.