Upgrade advice, please

[runzwithsizorz]

I have:

Graphics card: MSI Radeon HD 7870 Hawk
Mobo: Asus P8Z77-V Pro LGA 1155
RAM GSkill Ripjaws 8 gig
CPU Intel core i5 3570k Ivy Bridge 3.4 Ghz (OC 4.5)
CPU FAN: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus
PSU Seasonic x650w Gold
Hard drive : Plextor M5 Pro 256 gb PX256 M5P WD BLACK 1 TER
Monitor: Asus VH 238H
Case: Cooler Master Haf 922

Will this set up be o.k if:
1. I upgrade Vid card to 780ghz (or AMD equivalent if prices come down!)
2. Run one monitor at 2600 x 1440

If not, what needs to be changed. :\ Had also considered upgrading vid card, but staying with 1080p monitor.

Now with 100% fewer size tags.

mfenn
General Hardware Moderator

 

[runzwithsizorz]

OMG Sorry for the oversized print!

 

[mfenn]

You can run a 2560x1440 screen on your 7870 for 2D tasks and light gaming without issue. Whether or not you need to upgrade your GPU depends on what games you play.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

So I assume the CPU will be ok?. Games I play/will play:
Witcher III
Modded Skyrim
Metro series

I think the latter 2 will be ok at 1080p, yes?...will definately upgrade GPU for TW3.

 

[Hospitaller]

I have a roughly similar setup:

i5 2500K
16gb ram
Gigabyte GTX 780 ghz
550W PSU
lots of hard drives/SSDs

And I've run skyrim with lots of mods and 8x MSAA + 2x SSAA at 2560x1440, at 60fps. Getting the right mods is important, there was one grass mod that killed my FPS for instance. I haven't tried ENB, but I have HD textures and other lighting mods.

That CPU shouldn't be a bottleneck, and 8gb ram is probably fine unless you have a specific reason to need more.

 

[lehtv]

So I assume the CPU will be ok?

Yes, the 3570K can hold its own with any current graphics card. Higher resolution doesn't impact the CPU, it impacts the GPU.

Witcher III
Modded Skyrim
Metro series

Judging by Witcher 2, Witcher III will absolutely decimate a 7870 on 2560x1440. Here's 7970 on Ultra 1440p: http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTMzNjMyNjQyMlVlV0VER1o5cUpfNV8xX2wuanBn.
Likewise for Metro series.

Skyrim should be OK for 1440p, but it would also like a faster card.

I would probably buy the monitor, see how the games run on the 7870 just out of curiosity, meanwhile researching for what exact card to buy. I would probably upgrade to GTX 780 3GB, though even that won't run everything perfectly

 

[runzwithsizorz]

Thanks for the input. Don't know about a a hi res monitor, may stay with 1080p for awhile. Witcher 3 won't be out until 2015 anyway, so I'll probably stay with what I have until then.

The Wife

 

[mfenn]

Yes, the 3570K can hold its own with any current graphics card. Higher resolution doesn't impact the CPU, it impacts the GPU.

Judging by Witcher 2, Witcher III will absolutely decimate a 7870 on 2560x1440. Here's 7970 on Ultra 1440p: http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTMzNjMyNjQyMlVlV0VER1o5cUpfNV8xX2wuanBn.
Likewise for Metro series.

Skyrim should be OK for 1440p, but it would also like a faster card.

I would probably buy the monitor, see how the games run on the 7870 just out of curiosity, meanwhile researching for what exact card to buy. I would probably upgrade to GTX 780 3GB, though even that won't run everything perfectly

:thumbsup: My thoughts exactly.