Upgrading advice, new GPU (1080) or 3440x1440 monitor?

[Lt.Speirs]

Hello LTT,

 

Long time lurker first time poster.

 

Which do I upgrade first? I can't do both now because I'm a student. I'd love to purchase a 3440x1440 monitor but I'm a little worried about my current card (gtx 780). I mostly play the witcher 3 and WoW. My budget is 1k (I'm in Canada so that's not a lot, about $780 USD). What should I do?

 

My current rig

• 4690k @ 4.7ghz
• 16gb ram
• 250gb ssd
• gtx 780
• 2560x1440 @ 60hz

[Gale]

I always go for the GPU first. It's more work to set up and you benefit more from it (assuming your current monitor is not garbage).

[Megah3rtz]

780 is fairly equal to a RX470/1060 3gb. As long as your current monitor is 1080p 60hz I'd just go for the gtx 1080 and get a 1440p monitor later. 

[Simon771]

I would upgrade GPU first.

[VolkA]

17 minutes ago, Lt.Speirs said:

Hello LTT,

 

Long time lurker first time poster.

 

Which do I upgrade first? I can't do both now because I'm a student. I'd love to purchase a 3440x1440 monitor but I'm a little worried about my current card (gtx 780). I mostly play the witcher 3 and WoW. My budget is 1k (I'm in Canada so that's not a lot, about $780 USD). What should I do?

 

My current rig

• 4690k @ 4.7ghz
• 16gb ram
• 250gb ssd
• gtx 780
• 2560x1440 @ 60hz

For me, I would go for the GPU 1st. Your current monitor is 2560x1440? That's kind of good enough in a way.

7 minutes ago, Megah3rtz said:

780 is fairly equal to a RX470/1060 3gb. As long as your current monitor is 1080p 60hz I'd just go for the gtx 1080 and get a 1440p monitor later. 

I think OP already has a 1440p monitor. I still agree to go with the GTX1080 1st.

[eLucid]

Awful time to purchase a gpu imo. Either get the monitor now and wait for 1080ti/vega.

 

OR

 

Get them both in one shot when the 1080ti launches. The prices should get a slight correction when AMD launches vega (if it's as good as they're claiming). Plus, WoW isn't that demading graphically anyway. It's the witcher 3 you have to worry about :).

[Lt.Speirs]

Okay. Looks as though my choice is clear.

[i_build_nanosuits]

51 minutes ago, Lt.Speirs said:

Okay. Looks as though my choice is clear.

i would just upgrade the GTX 780 to a GTX 1070 and start saving for a monitor upgrade after that if you're not happy with the one you already own...3440x1440 is not a valid upgrade to a 2560x1440 monitor unless you're talking a 100hz model with Gsync and stuff which is 2000$CAD or something.

 

EDIT: 1700$CAD http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/WDcMnQ/acer-monitor-umcx1aa002

[App4that]

Buy a 1080 now and you'll be pissed when the price drops in a month. 

[i_build_nanosuits]

14 minutes ago, App4that said:

Buy a 1080 now and you'll be pissed when the price drops in a month. 

yeah, that's a pretty crappy time to perform a GPU upgrade...with AMD VEGA and the GTX 1080ti just around the corner like that buying a 1080 now is not the best move that,s for sure.

I would vote for ''neither of them upgrades'' but it's not in the pool

[App4that]

57 minutes ago, i_build_nanosuits said:

yeah, that's a pretty crappy time to perform a GPU upgrade...with AMD VEGA and the GTX 1080ti just around the corner like that buying a 1080 now is not the best move that,s for sure.

I would vote for ''neither of them upgrades'' but it's not in the pool

Vega is 5 months away, but Nvidia has made their money with Pascal so my money is on a price drop in March. Maybe a 1080ti. To be successful the 1080ti needs to be at 800 for the founders. No way to do that with custom 1080 selling for 750 bucks. So Nvidia needs to ready the market first.

[MilfShake]

8 hours ago, Lt.Speirs said:

op

To worth the upgrade from the 1440p you have, the new monitor (if you still want to go with ultrawide), has to have > 100hz (not sure if any ultrawide 144hz exists), Gsync, IPS panel.

 

There is no such thing available for $1000 CAD, not even close.

 

$1000CAD can buy you a nice graphics card though that can push 1440p@60hz easy, and a bit of future proof if you decide to go for 144hz later

[Lt.Speirs]

5 minutes ago, MilfShake said:

To worth the upgrade from the 1440p you have, the new monitor (if you still want to go with ultrawide), has to have > 100hz (not sure if any ultrawide 144hz exists), Gsync, IPS panel.

 

There is no such thing available for $1000 CAD, not even close.

 

$1000CAD can buy you a nice graphics card though that can push 1440p@60hz easy, and a bit of future proof if you decide to go for 144hz later

And why is that? Because your opinion trumps mine? I do more than "play dem games". Like I said in my original post: I only play WoW and tw:3 very casually. Productivity wise, the fact that I can have three programs open side by side by side instead of just two on a 16:9 aspect ratio is a big deal irrespective if you think otherwise.

 

That's like saying going from 1080p 60hz to 2560x1440p 60hz isn't worth the extra cost. That's silly...

[Mick Naughty]

Monitor and another 780. 

 

Surprised you're not happy with what you got. 

[Lt.Speirs]

11 hours ago, Mick Naughty said:

Monitor and another 780. 

 

Surprised you're not happy with what you got. 

How would a second 780 solve my problems? More heat and less than optimal game support is not what I'm looking for. I really should've asked this question elsewhere. Thanks though..

[Mick Naughty]

19 minutes ago, Lt.Speirs said:

How would a second 780 solve my problems? More heat and less than optimal game support is not what I'm looking for. I really should've asked this question elsewhere. Thanks though..

You didn't state a problem so I didn't give an answer. I can't tell you want you would like. 

 

You need a card for the ultra wide. You need a card for max settings on the current monitor with good/great frames. 

 

Thats what i did when I was faced with that decision. 

[App4that]

52 minutes ago, Lt.Speirs said:

How would a second 780 solve my problems? More heat and less than optimal game support is not what I'm looking for. I really should've asked this question elsewhere. Thanks though..

What's up with the agression? You won't be able to tell the difference between 60 fps with 2 780 and 60 fps with a 1070. I totally get it if you want the looks of a new card, but fps it fps.

 

And I run SLI daily, no problems. 

[Lt.Speirs]

39 minutes ago, App4that said:

What's up with the agression? You won't be able to tell the difference between 60 fps with 2 780 and 60 fps with a 1070. I totally get it if you want the looks of a new card, but fps it fps.

 

And I run SLI daily, no problems. 

What's up with the assumption?

 

I'm sorry you interpreted my post as 'aggression'. I'm only slightly annoyed because everyone raves about LTT claiming they have "informative" individuals. The fact of the matter is, SLI is no longer as viable as it once was.

 

And just because you run sl daily without problems doesn't mean others won't. Your sample size alone doesn't give me much confidence since I've seen countless threads on reddit/gaming boards of people running to problems whilst running sli.

 

In any case, I've already made up my mind on the matter.

[App4that]

6 minutes ago, Lt.Speirs said:

What's up with the assumption?

 

I'm sorry you interpreted my post as 'aggression'. I'm only slightly annoyed because everyone raves about LTT claiming they have "informative" individuals. The fact of the matter is, SLI is no longer as viable as it once was.

 

And just because you run sl daily without problems doesn't mean others won't. Your sample size alone doesn't give me much confidence since I've seen countless threads on reddit/gaming boards of people running to problems whilst running sli.

People love to bitch bro lol. You can't base your life off other people bitching. You have two people in this topic that run SLI trouble free. And if SLI was as bad as they say, that's impossible. 

 

A computer is stupid, it can only do what you tell it to. So it cannot decide to work for one person and not another. What can happen, since a PC is stupid. Is people can tell it to do the wrong thing, a.k.a. user error 

 

SLI works,  doesn't mean you have to use it. But you choosing to not use it doesn't have anything to do with it working.

[Lt.Speirs]

3 minutes ago, App4that said:

People love to bitch bro lol. You can't base your life off other people bitching. You have two people in this topic that run SLI trouble free. And if SLI was as bad as they say, that's impossible. 

 

A computer is stupid, it can only do what you tell it to. So it cannot decide to work for one person and not another. What can happen, since a PC is stupid. Is people can tell it to do the wrong thing, a.k.a. user error 

 

SLI works,  doesn't mean you have to use it. But you choosing to not use it doesn't have anything to do with it working.

And what about first hand experience then? Surely that holds some validity...

[App4that]

11 minutes ago, Lt.Speirs said:

And what about first hand experience then? Surely that holds some validity...

Absolutely,  but is that first had experience in not using SLI correctly. 

 

I have to apologize,  I've been in your shoes. And people told me it eas my fault and I was pissed. But it turns out they were right. I've used Corssfire and SLI incorrectly. Now that I use it correctly I'm able to see the mistakes I made. 

 

If you don't want to SLI, don't. But have an open ear. And if you ever want to, listen to someone who has it working.

[Mick Naughty]

Most issues are user error. Unless you play crappy games. And as such the decision should be based off the games them selves. I've sli almost 20 cards from the nvidia 5xx series to today. Even a laptop with 8800gt's in a laptop back in 2007. Never once has issues and every single game I've ever played supports sli. 

 

Basically go off of your needs/wants. If single cards could do what I needed I would run one. But I just make the sacrifice and do what I need now. That's what happens when you ask the Internet what to do.