2K gaming -Which to upgrade first - monitor or GPU ?

Fe_man2000

Hi,

I have got it into my head that I would like to move up to gaming at 2K rather than 1080p so my first question  - is this worth doing over 1080p?  If so any advice from people  doing this would be appericated, interested on your experiences moving from 1080 to 2K. (or not and sticking to 1080p)

(NOTE - I am not a online FPS gamer, this is farcry, fallout 4, Watchdogs 2- single player type of games I play)

Second question and this question is basically due to money constraints. I can only afford to change the GPU or the monitor at this time so which one ?

I have around £400 and I was planning to upgrade my GPU from a AMD 480 8GB to either a 5700 XT or a RTX 2060 super depending on what happens with the 5700 XT 3rd party models coming out this month.
Both of these cards are able to do 2K gaming and its about as much as I want to spend on the GPU.
But I only have a 1080p monitor at present so until I get another chunk of cash for a  decent 2K monitor there will be little change to my gaming if I do this.  So do I get the monitor now instead and play at 1080p on it while I save for the GPU or get the GPU and save for the monitor ?

Basically will playing 1080p on a 2k monitor be crappy - are they any 2k monitors good at running at non native resolutions ?

I haven't bought a monitor for years and  I am looking at a 2K  27" 144 mhz models around £400 - is this possible or am I chasing unicorns at this price ?  I think I want min 27" so is dropping the refresh rate or response time worth it to get the price down ? or save more money and dont compromise  e.g ASUS ROG SWIFT PG278QR which is £579

lots of questions here thanks for any help.

CPU - i5 8400, 16GB ram in case anyone wonders. (this was last years upgrade)

sykotik

If you haven't got the horse power ( GPU) to run at 1440p now  , there's no point getting a monitor first ....

I would  get the GPU first  then the monitor .
or with the  money you have now, put it aside , ( or give it to someone to look after it  so you don't spend it haha) and get both of them at  the same time    ....

richardb70

Yeah, I went from AMD 7950 to nVidia 1070, still at 1080p on a bog standard BenQ monitor. After a while I saved my pennies and found a good deal on a used 27" G-Sync 1440p monitor which was a fantastic upgrade.

I know things have normalised a little recently but I wanted G-Sync as I had the nVidia card. Worth considering.

Fe_man2000

Thanks for the advice - having looked into it my RX 480 8GB can run at around 40fps for a lot of games at 1440p so I have gone for a new monitor instead and will save up for the GPU - the 5700 XT I am interested in are are not out yet (very soon tho) and I think its worth letting that market settle down for a few months so I can see which 3rd party one is worth getting around xmas time.  If I need to I can drop to 1080p as a last resort.

Went for a AOC AGON AG271QX 27"  1440p 144 mhz ms1 screen in the end - amazon selling it at £370. its free sync but is also Nvidia g-sync compatible according to other users.

Which is replacing a samsung TV from 2006 - 1080 59mhz (20ms at best.)

jerryjrussell

Get the gpu first

aoaaron

See if you can get a deal on the second handmarket for something. As a nice as a new GPU is, a monitor is what displays what you can do. The problem with getting a GPU first and a monitor second is simply that the GPU might become outdated by the time you find a monitor you like. Monitors are a bit strange at present in that there is so much variety and each has different system requirements.

1080p/240hz / anything decent   good processor
1440/144hz
ultrawide 100hz
super ultrawide 100hz
4k

Think about which one you want to be gaming on in the future. I think anyone with a graphics card of a 1070 or 2060 and above should be going for ultrawide 100hz if they don't competively game at tournaments because its just.. better.

In a good market, i'd say GPU first but the truth is.. GPUs are really bad value at the moment whilst monitors aren't so much. Second hand a GPU   Monitor and stretch the budget if you can.

Fe_man2000

Yes, that was my thinking , I can get by with my current GPU with the new monitor and GPU's tend to drop in price or increase in performance over time where as monitors less so.

Also I want a 5700 XT and for that I need to wait to see how the 3rd party models pan out and get reviewed. Also any games I play that are bit older look great at the moment on the new monitor, were as a GPU would have had zero affect on them as most things run at 60 fps at 1080p

Happy with my choice and its motivating me to get the ~£400 together for a new GPU. I wouldnt have got a ultrawide though - nice as they look there out of my price range and I would be concerned on the fps I could get with a mid range gpu.

aoaaron

Yup an Acer x34a is still basically relevant/high end give or take 20 hz now whilst a gpu from that time is probably aging quite badly.

Same with an alienware 34 inch from 2 years ago ultrawide. It still gives you performance of a 1000 monitor basically.

I think another monitor which will age very well is the crg9 and the lg 38. I see them lasting ages and being next gen for a looooong time. Possibly until oled or micro led.