1440p or 1080p. Much difference?

So I have some options. With my budget I can either get an Asus VG248QE monitor, g-sync kit, and sli 2 970's or get a 980. Or I can get the ASUS ROG PG278Q and a 970. So my question is which would you all prefer for gaming. A higher res, or higher fps? Never gamed on a monitor above 1080p, and 60hz.

Well that's honestly a crap choice. No point going for a 144Hz QHD if you can't pair it with enough GPU power.

A choice between 144Hz 1080p & SLI 970s or 60Hz 1440p & SLI 970s would make more sense. I would probably go for the latter.

@C_Rule: I will be able to get 72fps battlefield 4 Ultra settings on a 1440p monitor with one 980 until I can sli in the future. So which would be better 1080p 120fps, or 1440p 60fps? That's why I asked which would be better res, or fps.

SLI 970's w/ 1440P monitor.

i would not be buying 970s at all at this point

@cyloninside: yea that's what I read

SLI 970's at this point would be pointless. They can't efficiently use more than 3.5 gb of vram. the problem is once you SLI, you can crank the setting higher, using more vram. Using 1440p and SLI 970's I hit that vram bottleneck of stuttering, which is why i'm trading in for GTX 980 gpus.

Two 970's and the gsync monitor. Even with the 3.5 gb cram they still are the best bang for your buck.

If future proofing.is the way you want to go I'd just wait for.the 2015 series from amd and nadia launch sometime this spring.

I'd get a single 970 and the pg278q. You get a great display and most new games will be running at 80+fps anyway.

If you play cs go or something then you'll be getting around 300+fps anyway.

I think I'm going to get the Asus ROG SWIFT and the EVGA 980 OC. Then probably just game at 1440p 60fps until I can sli another 980 in the future. That g-sync should help too. Not going to get the 970 because of the vram. Games like battlefield 4 at max settings is supposed to use over 3.5gb vram don't really want to deal with stutter.

Then you won't be maxing out many newer games then because even a single highest card at that fps and res won't be enough. Low-medium should be fine with most, high settings will vary, and maxed will vary even more.

you decide:

http://i.imgur.com/7OrtrZy.jpg

imo no either you go all they way(4k) or stay at 1080p

It's almost always better to go for a single-card solution. Most of the AAA games do take SLI/crossfire into account, but a lot of games also don't.

You won't see 8GB Nvidia cards for a while. If you want 8GB go with 8GB R9 290X (Sapphire Vapor-X) is the best one.

There's also XFX Double Dissipation & PowerColor PCS+ 8GB 290X's.

Also, 8GB R9 290X MSI TWIN FROZR IV just now came out.

Which would be best?

PC + GTX 970 + 1440p monitor= $2,254.50

PC + GTX 980 + 1080p monitor= $1,923.30

PC + GTX 970 Sli + 1080p monitor= $2,118.29

If you are buying a new monitor, I would go 1440p. If you have an existing 1080p monitor, there is no sense in buying another 1080p monitor right now as you will want 1440p or 2160p (4K) soon anyway.

@BassMan: I had a 1080p monitor but sold it with my old computer. I want a 1440p monitor, but if I got a 1440p monitor I would have to get the 970. If nvidia got some new cards in and dropped the price on the 980 then I would get the 1440p monitor and the 980.

Those monitors suck. Why would you buy anything with a TN panel? The color and viewing angles are absolutely atrocious.

IPS >>>>>>>> gimmicky g-sync nonsense on a TN

Also, I would go for a 980 over SLI 970s. Many games have issues taking advantage of SLI. A single powerful card is always a better option than two weaker cards in SLI. So my advice would be a GTX 980 and a 1440p IPS monitor, like the Dell U2713HM.

I agree. Screw 1440p. 4k is where it's at.

I've always felt that way myself. It's nice to see people finally coming around!

The ROG Swift is not your average TN panel. The colours on it are actually very good. I have an LG IPS and the Swift is very comparable. I use the swift as my primary monitor and it has not let me down. Viewing angles are not a factor for me as I always view it straight on. SLI 970s offer a large performance boost over a single 980 and they don't cost much more. So, I don't see how a single powerful card is always a better option. When you have the option to play 1440p max settings 144hz, a single 980 is just not going to cut it.

@BassMan: You never have problems with your sli 970's cause of that 3.5 vram and tat separate .5vram like stutter? Cause if not then I'm probably going to do the same except start off with one 970 the EVGA 970 FTW ACX 2.0 and the ROG SWIFT. Then upgrade to Sli later.

I can concur...Rog swift will need a lot more than a 980. My sli 970's don't push new games even close to the 144hz cap, and they are much higher performing than a single 980.

You'd best pony up for 3 980's. lol...

Really though, the rog swift is amazing.

I have never run into the problem during regular gaming. The only games that have stutter are the Ubisoft titles because of the game engine they use which has trouble streaming data. I have exceeded 3.5 GB usage in games before, but I think it is just caching things and not actively using all the VRAM. I have done an experiment in BF4 by cranking the resolution scale and AA and it did stutter when using more than 3.5 GB. However, those are not normal conditions and I was purposely trying to cripple the cards. I normally run all games 1440p max settings with no AA and get very good performance (and no stutter). I think starting off with a single 970 and SLI later is a good plan.

I think this whole 970 3.5 GB VRAM thing has gotten way out of hand. If nothing was said about it, I certainly would not know any better from real game performance. It's funny how all this attention has been put on the 970. People with 780 or 780 Ti, which only have 3 GB VRAM are still running games fine and not complaining, so 970 has an additional .5 GB of buffer before running into problems. So, I am not worried about it. If I ever do run into problems, I will just sell my cards and buy new ones. Right now the 970 is still the best bang for your buck.

1080p 60hz Plasma FTW

As someone mentioned earlier, the R.O.G. Swift is actually really good for a TN panel, but it's insanely expensive and still not nearly as good in IQ as IPS panels half its price - so it does seem pointless to get if you care about that stuff. You're basically paying a huge premium and sacrificing the quality of your picture for G-Sync technology. You could pay for a professional calibration which brings the I.Q. on par with calibrated IPS monitors, but you still have the poor viewing angles, and that's why I can't justify grabbing one. I'm still holding out until I can get a 1440P IPS G-Sync monitor for a reasonable price.

I don't always like to use the PC by myself, I like to have friends over and game with my brother, so in my scenario I really have to consider other people in the room. If I used my PC exclusively by myself, I'd probably just buy an ROG Swift and get it calibrated by a professional.

Gaming on a plasma is awesome. It's the only thing I have besides my OLED phone with great black levels.

"Many games have issues taking advantage of SLI."

How would you even know that? You don't use SLI or Crossfire. You believe everything you read on the internet? These past few years using SLI/Crossfire has not caused me any problems and I would much rather go SLI/Crossfire then a single high end card. You get more performance per dollar.

A single 980 is definitely not enough power for a 1440P monitor. 970's SLI is a much better option (specially for 1440P).

I wouldn't even feel safe powering 1440P with a single card (even if it's so "high end").

I'd say it depends on his upgrade path. If he wants to go all-out now, the GTX 970's would be the way to go. But if he's holding out, I'd recommend getting a GTX 980 now and then another one later. The 2x GTX 970's are a much better value no doubt, but a single GTX 980 is probably more than fine for 99.9% games out there right now at 1440P, and 2x GTX 980 would be a better choice in the future at the higher resolution because of the extra VRAM and horsepower. The only game I play where I'm not using DSR to play at resolutions higher than 1440P on my single GTX 980 is Dying Light, but if I were only playing at 1440P instead of a higher resolution, I'm sure it'd be fine for that too.

Of course, I'm targeting only 60 FPS and not 144 FPS. But if you're always targeting 144 FPS (which you'll want to w/ your Swift), you're going to be making big sacrifices in terms of GFX settings at 1440P even if you're rocking 2x GTX 970s - you'll definitely want stronger cards down the road (like GTX 980's or even cards with more VRAM that haven't been released yet). I'd be cautious about spending a bunch of money on a couple of cards that might soon quickly hit their VRAM limits at 1440P with anti-aliasing. It might seem ridiculous that the highest-end cards currently out aren't very future-proof for 1440P 144Hz, but you need to really consider that it takes a lot of power to play games at that resolution and 144 FPS. And if you don't care about getting 144 FPS most of the time in games, I probably wouldn't bother with the Swift - you'd benefit more from an IPS monitor. And save money.

Just my opinion though. 2x GTX 970's would be fine and save money, but usually the highest end cards always end up lasting a good deal longer than value-wise step below (at least that's how it's been previous card generations).

Or maybe even grab a GTX 970 for now, and wait for the next slough of cards before grabbing another one.

When I have friends over and we are playing PC games, I usually just output to my living room setup. I have a 60" Sony W850B which has pretty good black levels and very low input lag. I thought about buying a plasma, but I notice the phosphor lag/rainbow effect. Also, they have a lot of reflections and are not ideal for bright rooms as they don't get as bright as LCD. What I am looking for is a 4K OLED with some form of freesync or adaptive sync. Also, it has to be reasonably priced. That will be my next TV. I may be waiting a few years though.

@BassMan: thanks for going into so much detail. I will probably do that get a single card right now and ROG SWIFT then sli later on.

I'm sure 980 has no problem "currently" running @ 1440P but what about near future? 980 is a nice card no doubt about that. But if I was to pay that much money for a card (currently) I'd want more VRAM. For $420 - $460 I can get an 8GB R9 290X. Yes, it's not quiet "as powerful", it runs hotter and draws more power. But IMO it's a better option for future proofing (specially if using 2 or more cards).

I don't think Swift is worth it unless you're running X3 980's or X3 290X's.

Best monitor for X2 970's IMO is QNIX QX2710. It's 1440P, you can overclock it up to 120hz, it's a nice size for gaming and it doesn't cost $800... not even $400.

Lucky for me it looks like.. my X2 R9 290's will actually last 2 yrs. like I was planning. Seeing as new gen of cards is still 4GB.. makes me feel a bit stress free. They're still rocking 1440P like a champ.

Yeah, you will have a good setup. The good thing about the Swift is even if you are dipping below 60fps, it still feels relatively smooth because of G-sync. The 970 will work well, but if you really want to push the framerates at 1440p, SLI is a must. Playing games on the Swift at 144 fps with no input lag, super fast response time is something else. Everything is so smooth, crisp, and clear. BF4 never felt and looked so good. You notice every detail, even when looking side to side. You can't get that with current IPS technology.

@BassMan: I'm probably going to get me an EVGA gpu either the 970 or 980. I've never over clocked anything so don't really feel comfortable doing that so I will probably buy a factory over clocked gpu. What do you think of these?

EVGA 980- 1126Mhz GPU Clock Speed $526.30

EVGA 980 FTW- 1279Mhz GPU Clock Speed $549.99

EVGA 980 Classified- 1291Mhz GPU Clock Speed $699.98

Sources:

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/#m=14&sort=d6&c=185

http://eu.evga.com/products/prodlist.asp

EVGA Classified is for extreme overclockers but it is also WAY overpriced.

You should go for FTW. It's factory overclocked nicely.

Don't be scared to try and overclock at stock voltage. There's no risk, you can't damage the GPU as long as you keep it at stock voltage.

@insane_metalist: thanks. That's what I was worried about was damaging the gpu. Classified is way overpriced.

Definitely FTW version. No sense in wasting money on the Classified. You can get EVGA 970 SC SLI (Same as me) for $670. So, for $120 more, you get much better performance.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_970_sli_review,18.html

A 980 can't even do 1440p 60fps on Crysis 3.

Keep in mind all those cards are reference cards at stock speeds. They will all perform better when overclocked. I have my cards OC 1450Mhz in SLI.

@Jr14: If you could go 980 + swift your golden. Then hopefully bung another 980 in when you can afford it. If you have any specific questions you can PM me.

Those commenting on the swift being "TN garbage", how much time have YOU spent with a swift?

I went from a 1440ips panel to the swift and after calibrating the swift (out of the box setting are crap) it's easily on par with my previous monitor. The blacks are better and all the other things that come with it makes it the best monitor I've ever owned.

...SO there!