2xGTX1080 with 4k@60hz, 1440@144hz or single 1080 and a HTC Vive

[Zyphus]

I'm somebody who likes to wear out his gaming pc to go nuts and experience the technology jump that has been made in the years. I'm a piss poor reflex gamer so Overwatch and Battlefield are the only shooters I'll be playing (and even there I'll be mostly up in the air or in my little tank.) I love a smooth experience, but until the frames started dropping below 30 on my old rig I have been okay for games. Unfortunately I'm a bit limited by the supply here in Belgium having to use smaller local retailers (I'm using www.tones.be for this build) or foreign amazon stores (bringing all kinds of problems) So after browsing some options I've landed on this, but nothing is set in stone as I very limited in my knowledge, haven't built a pc or looked at hardware in 7 years) I don't care for looks in my hardware, just Power>Noise>>>>Looks

 

Power Supply: Corsair TX850 (already owned)

HDD: 5x 3.5" hdd WD Caviar Black (13TB already owned)

SSD: 2x SSD 2.5" (512 + 70 GB already owned)

 

Case: NZXT H440 (145 EUR)

Motherboard: Asus Z170 Pro Gaming/Aura (169.43 EUR)

Processor: i7 6700K (374.60 EUR)

CPU Cooler: Fuma Dual Tower Power SCFM-1000 (46.99 EUR)

Memory: 2x16GB Corsair DDR4 @3000MHz (189.49 EUR)

 

And now the trouble starts for me:

GPU: 2x MSI GTX1080 Gaming X (1698 EUR)

SLI Bridge: MSI SLI Bridge 2-WAY (35 EUR)

Monitor: Asus PB287Q 4k@60hz (469 EUR)

 

or

 

GPU: 2x MSI GTX1080 Gaming X (1698 EUR)

SLI Bridge: MSI SLI Bridge 2-WAY (35 EUR)

Monitor: Benq XL2730Z 27" 144hz (499EUR)

 

or 

 

GPU: Single GTX1080 Gaming X (849EUR)

Monitor: Benq XL2730Z 27" 144hz (499EUR)

HTC Vive (950EUR) (I'm so excited about VR, but haven't been able to test one, at this point I wonder if I should wait for the next generation)

 

 

So first, what blunders did I make and do I need tweaks in my base build? And second I need some advice on my graphics... never had an SLI setup, never been able to game on a 4k/144hz/VR system. The worry I'm having on the 4k system is for how long I will be able to run at 4k without having to turn down a lot of bells and whistles in the options. As I said I like to wear my rigs out.

[jeremymwilson]

Hi, with 1080sli you will be able to run everything at max at 4K no problem. If you go for the 1440p monitor, gtx1080 sli will be overkill, one would definitely be enough. And would future proof your PC. You could always add a second and upgrade your monitor to 4K down the line when 4K monitors are more mainstream and affordable (and bigger). 

 

I'm sure both monitors you've mentioned would give you a great gaming experience though. 

[kosamchetoo]

It depends what you want - higher resolution or smoother games. I'm pretty sure SLI 1080 can do both 4K 60fps and 1440 144fps. I'd go for the 1440p 144hz monitor.

[Zyphus]

As I said, I'm not really that fast twitchy gamer anyway, so resolution has a step up on smoothness, but I have hard time weighting the two I believe I'm just fine @ 60, but I haven't experienced 144 so it's hard to tell. I'll be playing BF1 and star citizen if it ever comes out, I want a beautiful experience over a competitive edge. 

[kosamchetoo]

144Hz is so smooth and looks so much better than 60Hz if you can run your games at 144fps which I'm sure SLI 1080 will do easy. Also that BenQ XL2730Z has Blur Reduction which eliminates 99% of the blur at the cost of some screen brightness. It's literally blur-less. I can talk from experience - I have BenQ XL2411Z.

[Praesi]

2x1080 + x34

1x1080 + xb271hu or pg279q

 

 

And its Hz, not Mhz.

[Zyphus]

yeah an x34 will put me waaaay over budget, a g-sync is an option, but I'd rather go without and try the VR thing 

[HKZeroFive]

I'll offer a fourth option; a single GTX 1080 with either an ASUS PG279Q or an Acer XB271HU. IPS, G-Sync, 144Hz, 1440p is a dream.

 

Overwatch should be pushing well beyond 144FPS and Battlefield should be around 100FPS.