What GPU for 2560x1440 resolution?

[Rensje]

I am looking to pick up an Asus PB278Q, but I am a little concerned that my current system with a Palit GTX 580 will not be able to run games in 1440p as well as it currently does in 1080p. I can pretty much max out any game in 1080p and play it smoothly at 60fps, and I really don't want that to change when I upgrade to 1440p.

To that end, I am looking to upgrade my graphics card, but... I am a bit stumped.

First of all, this pretty much sums up my current setup:

• 
  Cooler Master CM 690 II
  850W PSU (can't remember the brand off the top of my head)
  Asus P67 Sabertooth Rev.3
  Intel Core i7-2700k @3,5Ghz (running at stock)
  16Gb Kingston DDR3 @ 1333Mhz
  Palit GeForce GTX 580 1536Mb
  Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

I should mention that I did not build this PC myself. I handpicked the parts and had it assembled by a company that specialises in that sort of stuff. I am quite comfortable replacing individual parts, but I have never actually built an entire PC from scratch.

In any case, I am looking to replace my graphics card. I have no budget constraints, what's more important is hitting that 60fps target in 1440p and staying there.

I have been looking at the MSI N680GTX Lightning, but I am not quite sure if that on its own will do the job. It does have excellent cooling and as someone who does not want to dabble in watercooling, that sounds very pleasing.

Another possibility could be the Asus GTX690-4GD5. It's a whopping €900 though and from what I understand it is basically an SLI setup in one card, and thus needs games to have an SLI profile in order to reach its full potential. I have no experience with SLI and I don't know just how many games have SLI profiles, or how that even works. So I am rather on the fence about this one. The benchmarks do look mouth-watering, especially for a card that only takes up one expansion slot!

However, I am not entirely sure my case is big enough for the GTX690.

Finally, I am considering an SLI setup. Maybe a pair of MSI N680GTX Twin Frozr 4GD5/OCs. Again, these cards have excellent cooling and I am fairly certain I could fit two of them in my case comfortably. I do worry about the prospect of having to use SLI profiles, and I dread the 'micro-stuttering' I keep hearing about. Again, I have 0 experience with SLI, so I really don't know how hard it would be to set it up, and how bad the issues would be in practice.

I am looking for some sensible advice based on my setup, so please feel free to chime in. Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[TheUnk]

Might want to consider just throwing in a 2nd 580

 

[Haserath]

Not considering AMD cards? They're a bit better for this kind of resolution.

An overclocked 7970 should be able to handle 1440p if the 580 does well enough at 1080p for you.

 

[Durvelle27]

sell your 580 and get a HD 7970 GHz

 

[Rezist]

Yes AMD's 384 bit bus a native 3gb of ram will help alot at 1440p. I'd still recommend a 670 over a 680 since there performance is still very close.

 

[DooKey]

I would go SLI for that rez if you really want to rock the frame rate with awesome image quality.

 

[JohnnyChuttz]

Might want to consider just throwing in a 2nd 580

Do this and save your money for the next gen( or the one after that)

 

[wbynum]

Sell the 580 and pick up a 7950 or 7970. There have been some excellent deals on the AMD cards. Right now they have a very good game bundle promo that will cut $50 - $60 off the price if you sell the games.

For those recommending a 2nd 580, you have to think about memory. At 1440p res a 580's memory will be maxed out pretty quickly in some/many games.

 

[tweakboy]

That CPU 2700k is very sad @ 3.5Ghz, You can easily take that to 4.8Ghz with proper cooling. I would shoot for 5Ghz. As for your resolution, things will slow down from 1080p ,,, you can use AA and a lesser resolution. Because if you want to put AA on that resolution your games will get crippled very slow even with a GTX 580. gl

 

[raghu78]

OP for the resolution get a HD 7970 Ghz. here is GTX 680 Lightning vs ASUS HD 7970 Ghz MATRIX PLATINUM . drivers 306.97 vs 12.11 beta.

ASUS HD 7970 Ghz wins more games. the difference in BF3, Max Payne 3, Sleeping Dogs is significant.

http://muropaketti.com/artikkelit/n...x-hd-7970-platinum-vs-msi-n680gtx-lightning,3

 

[Rensje]

Might want to consider just throwing in a 2nd 580

Like mentioned by others, the reason I am not going to do that is because the 1,5Gb of memory is going to be a pretty bad bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Not considering AMD cards? They're a bit better for this kind of resolutiion.

It's not that I am not considering AMD cards. It's just that the only AMD card I ever owned burned to a crisp, lol. Probably was my own fault, though.

I'd still recommend a 670 over a 680 since there performance is still very close.

How do you feel about dual 670s in SLI? I understand that they perform really well at their price point. Also, they would take up significantly less space in my case.

That CPU 2700k is very sad @ 3.5Ghz, You can easily take that to 4.8Ghz with proper cooling. I would shoot for 5Ghz.

I don't see the point of overclocking my CPU as long as it eats up everything I throw at it at stock clocks. Besides, I have never overclocked before, and I am not really sure how to do it or how it would benefit me.

 

[AnMig]

I have the same resolution (Catleap) found myself buying a second 7970.

I dont think 1 7970 was enough to run at that resolution specially if you want eye candy.

I just did not want to keep on worrying about FPS so bought another 7970. BF3 fps was in the 50's while at that resolution.

good luck

you might be stuck with a GTX 690 if you want dual GPU solution, my mother board did not have any slots available after installing my second 7970.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Using a single GTX680 here with a Dell U2713HM. Couldnt be happier in all the games I play.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

A single 7970 ghz is enough for nearly all games at 1440p as long as you don't use AA in intensive games. Some games like Crysis (both 1 n 2) will need to be played at 1080p (again without AA I think) or 1440p high (not max). Same with Metro.

But nearly all games including BF3, MP3, sleeping dogs etc run maxed out at 1440p without AA or 1080p with AA.

I prefer to play at 1440p without AA compared to 1080p with AA.

 

[Rensje]

you might be stuck with a GTX 690 if you want dual GPU solution, my mother board did not have any slots available after installing my second 7970.

Would I be able to run that card to its full potential on my system, though? And will I run into any problems considering that it is essentially an SLI setup? I am really liking the idea of the 690 but I am a bit worried that I will get poor performance in games without SLI profiles, or that it will suffer from micro-stutter.

Using a single GTX680 here with a Dell U2713HM. Couldnt be happier in all the games I play.

You're serious. What kind of FPS are you achieving with a setup like that? What games do you play and do you max them out completely at 1440p, or..?

To clarify, I don't generally play the really demanding games like Crysis, BF3, The Witcher, Metro 2033 etc. I play stuff like XCOM, Dishonored, Skyrim, Torchlight 2, and indie games like Legend of Grimrock. Skyrim is probably the most demanding game in my library. If I can run that at 60fps in 1440p I am happy, and everything else should work just as well.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

A stock 2700k will bottleneck you in some games like Bf3. With a 690 it will probably bottleneck you in every game.

 

[zaydq]

That CPU 2700k is very sad @ 3.5Ghz, You can easily take that to 4.8Ghz with proper cooling. I would shoot for 5Ghz. As for your resolution, things will slow down from 1080p ,,, you can use AA and a lesser resolution. Because if you want to put AA on that resolution your games will get crippled very slow even with a GTX 580. gl

Your posts are equally as sad.

As per OP, get an 7950/70ghz ed. as they tend to slaughter nVidia's counterparts at higher resolutions with AA.

 

[Rensje]

A stock 2700k will bottleneck you in some games like Bf3. With a 690 it will probably bottleneck you in every game.

How about if I were to overclock the CPU to about 4Ghz? Maybe a little higher than that? Would that solve the bottlenecking?

 

[scooterlibby]

To clarify, I don't generally play the really demanding games like Crysis, BF3, The Witcher, Metro 2033 etc. I play stuff like XCOM, Dishonored, Skyrim, Torchlight 2, and indie games like Legend of Grimrock. Skyrim is probably the most demanding game in my library. If I can run that at 60fps in 1440p I am happy, and everything else should work just as well.

I think this changes things quite a bit. Everyone has been giving you recommendations based off demanding games. I see a lot of BF3 mentions as well as Metro and Crysis. Given what you are actually playing, a 690 would be tremendous overkill. I know money is not an issue for you, but unless you have keen interest on wasting it, I'd dial it back.

I'm not even sure a second 580 would have the V-RAM issues you fear for those games (could be wrong on this).

 

[Haserath]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Catalyst_12.11_Performance/19.html

 

[dmoney1980]

sell the 580, but a 7970, OC your 2700k CPU (why did you get that CPU if you're not overclocking?) and you'll be happy

 

[Rensje]

sell the 580, but a 7970, OC your 2700k CPU (why did you get that CPU if you're not overclocking?) and you'll be happy

At the time it was the quickest CPU in the benchmarks, but the thing is that I have never overclocked before and I am just a little worried that I will do something wrong and damage the hardware. I would try overclocking but I don't really know how. If you know of a really good noob's guide, please.. I would love to see it!

All the benchmarks you guys have shown me are really impressive, but they are at odds with my personal feelings towards AMD cards. I am well aware that it's irrational to ignore AMD cards based on the one negative experience I have had with them, and yet I find myself looking for reasons to go with nVidia time and time again.

And as such, I find myself ogling this card: GTX 670 DirectCu II TOP.

It's really affordable, so I could get one now and pick up another one later down the line if I felt I needed the extra performance, and as it is it seems to be really powerful right out of the box.

It got a perfect score on TechPowerUp and the benchmarks are hella impressive:

Keeping in mind that I will be playing at 2560x1440 rather than 25x16, and that I probably won't be using AA (or maybe 2x, tops), this card could be and should be all I need.

 

[KompuKare]

That review is rather old though. The tpu one which Haserath (post #20) linked to show a stock 7950 getting more than 60FPS at those settings. Harder to gauge is the effect of texture mods. Computerbase bench with some
http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/grafikkarten/2012/test-amd-radeon-hd-7950-mit-925-mhz/19/
but review is from August so it's not using the latest drivers either.

Can't blame you for avoiding a vendor after bad experience though: I'm still off Nvidia after some bad experience too.

 

[FalconHorse]

IMO, for your purposes, the 7950 makes the most sense. With the new drivers, it beats a 680 at your res in Skyrim. And that's at stock, I assume? Most 7950s have a ton of overclocking potential. Also, the difference will probably be even greater with the high-res textures. That's pretty solid for a ~$300 card. Plus, the bundle you get with the 7950 is nothing to sneeze at.

Also, I would encourage you to go AMD this one time just to face your fears, lol. Worst case scenario, you have to RMA and can get a 680.

Edit: And if you are fearful, just know overclocking modern GPUs is trivially easy.

 

[FalseChristian]

Go into your BIOS and set 'By All Cores' to 45. My i5 2500K does 4.5GHz at a very low voltage (1.275-1.325 depending on load). Everything's set to 'AUTO'.

My old CPU was a Wolfdare E8400 @ 3.0GHz overclocked to 3.825GHz with 2 GTX 460 1GB in SLI.

Now, with this i5 2500K at 4.5GHz and using the very same 2 GTX 460 1GB my benchmark scores doubled.

You've got to overclock that even-faster-than-my-i5 2500K i7 2700K to 4.5GHz if you wanna get the most outta a GTX 660/HD 7870 and higher GPU.