How will my rig perform gaming 1080P?

[zanemoseley]

So I got some Christmas money which I wanted to put toward a 24" 1080P widescreen monitor but I'm not sure how my system will perform playing games at that resolution as my current monitor is a 19" (1280x1024). I've been playing a mix of games like Borderlands, Xcom, Torchlight 2, Metro 2033, Batman AC and Portal 2.

Am I going to be good to go with my setup or will I be forced to upgrade the GPU?

OS: Windows 64bit Home Premium
M/B: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
CPU: i2500k
HSF: Hyper 212+
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 8gb 1333
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD6870 1GB
SSD Samsung 830 128gb
ODD : LiteOn DVD Burner
PSU: Antec EarthWatts 500W
Case: Antec Sonata Quiet Mid Tower
HDD Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 160gb

 

[toyota]

lol, you tell us. of course you will have to turn settings down in nearly every game but you will still be able to play everything at 1920x1080. you have a 2500k though so its a shame not to oc that cpu and buy a much better gpu. with that psu though, I would not be ocing the cpu and running a an oced 7950 though.

 

[p_monks33]

I would say you should be fine, you may have to bump the AA down a bit, but your rig is still pretty solid. A 7950 would be a fancy match for your rig though, if you are power hungry.

 

[cmdrdredd]

A new PSU, a bump on the overclock on the 2500k, and a new GPU would be solid. Course that is more money that I don't know if you are willing to spend. a 6870 isn't really that slow, but you can be sure that newer cards are a lot faster. If that makes any sense. I mean, you can probably play a lot of the heavy graphic games out there fine, but newer cards are multiple times better at it.

 

[zanemoseley]

My CPU isn't currently OC'ed because I haven't seen the need yet for the extra speed but that could help. It looks like my 2500k and a 7950 would be pushing the limits of my PSU. I guess I'll just have to get the monitor and see what happens. Worst case I guess is I have to turn down the setting for a while till I get the money for a new video card. Looks like based on some benchmarks the 7950 is about 76% faster than my 6870 but that's $300 to throw down.

 

[mango123]

For me personally, I had a 965 BE and a 6950 unlock to 6970...
On a 1600 x 900 I was good at around High on most stuff. By good I mean.. 40-55 fps.

I upgraded to 1920, and my framerate suffered.

Fast forward to new 3570k and a 7970 oc, and I am very very happy w/ everything on ultra.

OP, it depends on what makes you happy... You will not like the other poster said be able to run on Ultra w/ AA very well.

Like he said, I would look at maybe picking up a new vid card.

 

[mango123]

Oh, and also if you don't upgrade, I would def at least overclock.... 4.5 or so should be good.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Some games rely on CPU a lot still so that could play a factor, the titles you are going to be playing.

WOW uses a lot of CPU while Crysis would need some GPU power.

 

[Erenhardt]

I upgraded to 1920, and my framerate suffered.

But it has nothing to do with CPU. I fail to see how changing resolution may increase the CPU load

 

[amenx]

Just the opposite, upping res reduces CPU load.

 

[amenx]

To OP. Its blasphemy to be gaming in this day and age on 1280x1024 res. There are people with lesser hardware than yours on 1920x1080 which is probably the most in-use res today. Even if you turned down graphics settings on 1920x1020 to match FPS of 1280x1024, it will still look TONS BETTER than any 19" screen can. The monitor should be your no.1 upgrade priority.

 

[Hitman928]

So I got some Christmas money which I wanted to put toward a 24" 1080P widescreen monitor but I'm not sure how my system will perform playing games at that resolution as my current monitor is a 19" (1280x1024). I've been playing a mix of games like Borderlands, Xcom, Torchlight 2, Metro 2033, Batman AC and Portal 2.

Am I going to be good to go with my setup or will I be forced to upgrade the GPU?

It looks like most of the games you play will be just fine at 1080p with everything maxed (except maybe AA). You'll have to turn down settings in Metro and maybe a little in Batman, but the other games you listed can be maxed at that res with your system.

 

[NubXandwich]

It looks like most of the games you play will be just fine at 1080p with everything maxed (except maybe AA). You'll have to turn down settings in Metro and maybe a little in Batman, but the other games you listed can be maxed at that res with your system.

This. A new monitor is the single best thing you can do to improve your experience. Night and emmeffing day, sir.

 

[crisium]

It'll run fine at 1080. If we consider most games to have Low-Medium-High-Ultra, I'd be shocked if there was any game out yet that your setup couldn't run on High at 1080. Some you can still get away with Ultra (not Metro, of course, that game maxed out is absurd).

 

[Chapbass]

It'll run fine at 1080. If we consider most games to have Low-Medium-High-Ultra, I'd be shocked if there was any game out yet that your setup couldn't run on High at 1080. Some you can still get away with Ultra (not Metro, of course, that game maxed out is absurd).

This. Looking at some benchs from AT:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/540

Yeah, you should be fine. It all depends on how absolutely high you want to crank everything, as well as what you consider to be acceptable. While I personally dont like gaming around the 30fps mark (I like it much higher), I also don't care much about cranking the settings all the way up (nor do I play modern FPS titles like Metro and Crysis). Hence, my HD4850 is still going strong enough for me.

That said, an upgrade like the HD7950 is a definite solid upgrade, and will put you in that very high end range (outside of the "enthusiasts") http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/540?vs=550

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

It'll run fine at 1080. If we consider most games to have Low-Medium-High-Ultra, I'd be shocked if there was any game out yet that your setup couldn't run on High at 1080. Some you can still get away with Ultra (not Metro, of course, that game maxed out is absurd).

+1

There is always an option or two that you can turn off to gain massive FPS with barely any difference in visuals, though in some titles like Far Cry 3 youll have to turn off AA completely if you want to get smooth gameplay (meaning 45+ fps at least)

 

[Eureka]

FYI, the 6870 is still available on benchmarks. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU12

Also smooth gameplay has nothing to do with high FPS, it's minimum fps and frame delivery that counts. It's also about figuring out what part of the card is being limited, and what setting to take off.