2x GTX1080s or 1 GTX1080 and wait for GTX1080Ti/TitanX2

I'm a bit uncertain with what I should upgrade to and was hoping you fellow gamers can help me out. I currently have 2x 780Ti in SLI, have a 1440P monitor and a 4K TV. I am interested in 4K gaming however having experienced IPS, there is no way I will go back to a TN screen which is why I'm happy to get a LG31MU97 monitor if I do get 2x GTX1080s. The issue is this, I know I'll need the GTX1080 because i've been getting poor performance for recent games like Rise of the Tomb Raider, Quantum Break and The Division. Not that I care too much at this point since I consider all those 3 games cheap shit. I am however interested in Gears of War 4, Mafia 3 and Watch Dogs 2 all of which I believe will require an upgrade. I've got enough to get 2 GTX 1080s as well as a 4K IPS monitor however my concern is, I'm upgrading from 2x 780Tis which are the equivalent of a Titan X, jumping to GTX1080 isn't too big of an upgrade for me, instead my upgrade should be the next Ti. If I get a 1080 now, I'm essentially getting one just to play the 3 games i've mentioned at 1440p but if I get 2 I can play Witcher 3 at 4K. If I get one and play at 1440p next year when the Titan X2 or Ti releases I'll be in for a massive upgrade. What should I do?

-Get 1 GTX1080 and wait for GTX1080Ti/TitanX2 and get 2 + better 4K monitor

-Get 2 GTX1080s + 4K IPS Monitor

While we're at it, should I get the Asus ROG Strix or MSI Gaming X GTX1080?

2x 1080s will always outperform single 1080Ti - unless you're going to play some game that doesn't support SLI - which the chances are low.

I would avoid SLI, but if you need the extra performance for 4K, you have no choice but to get 1080 SLI. 1080 Ti could be 10 months away like the 980 Ti was after 980.

I have been enjoying my 2x1080 setup. The nice thing about it is you can get it now vs whenever the 1080ti will come out. I have had great SLI experiences the last few years but I also have a gsync monitor. Im thinking maybe it helps with microstutter but I could just be making that up!

SLI micro-stutter is still noticeable with G-Sync. I used to run 970 SLI with my ROG Swift and I still noticed it. My 980 Ti offers a noticeably smoother experience at comparable frame rates. I recommend disabling SLI if you are able to hit your performance target with a single card. Also, I recommend a high bandwidth SLI bridge as it has been shown to decrease micro-stutter with 1080 SLI.

+1.

And a better 4K monitor:

Soon™ :)

Thanks for all the suggestion guys, I don't understand what microstutter is and what does the millisecond next to the fps counter mean for those benchmarks?

As for the 4k monitor, the asus rog 144hz version seems like a winner but if I'm going 4k wouldn't it be wise to get as big of a screen as possible? 27" seems a bit too small for me, I don't think the difference would be that noticeable on a 27" screen compared to 1440p. @Coseniath, what do you think?

@GhostHawk196: It really depends on the distance you have from the monitor. With further and further distance, you need less ppi (pixels per inch). Cause size of screen matters only combined with distance. We use Samsung Galaxy S6, which has 5.1" inch screen but it has 1440p res, while we use 50" inch 1080p. But we are using the smartphones too close to our eyes. Some people find this an overkill though, but some not.

So in my opinion you should go to a store and check 1440p and 4K 27" monitors and look whats best for you. Cause in the end, noone can judge better in this case than the person who will use it. :)

@Coseniath: thanks a lot mate, this is a very good suggestion.

@Coseniath said:

@GhostHawk196 said:

-Get 1 GTX1080 and wait for GTX1080Ti/TitanX2 and get 2 + better 4K monitor

+1.

And a better 4K monitor:

Soon™ :)

Whoao! When did 144hz 4K monitors creep into the picture? Can you get it with G-Sync/FreeSync?

"With the release of the upcoming AMD R490X and NVIDIA GTX 1080, you can most likely get higher frame rates than 60 frames per second in high-end games at UHD resolution and therefore take advantage of this monitor. Whether or not you can reach 144FPS is up for debate." -- http://www.144hzmonitors.com/monitors/asus-computex-2016-27-inch-4k-144hz-gaming-monitor/

So if you have a 144hz monitor, you get more FPS than if you owned 60mhz ? Kinda confused about that. some Techy please tell me how this works

@Coseniath said:

@GhostHawk196 said:

-Get 1 GTX1080 and wait for GTX1080Ti/TitanX2 and get 2 + better 4K monitor

+1.

And a better 4K monitor:

Soon™ :)

oh that looks nice. I just got the acer predator xb271hu 1440p, 144hz, ips, gsync monitor. I love it to death! But I also wonder how well I could push 4k with my new i7 6800k 2x 1080GTX build. I wanted to actually hit 144hz in many games so I think I chose well, but that looks good....

Yes, the higher the refresh rate (hz), the more fps you will actually be able to see. So, if your game is running at 93 fps or whatever, and you have a 60hz monitor, you will only see 60fps. If you have a higher refresh rate monitor like 144hz, you will see all 93 fps. This will give you less input lag, a smoother feel and a crisper image.

@BassMan:

Thanks. Looks like 2016 and 17 are the years whem true 4k gaming starts

@Hydrolex: It will still be a while before high fps on 4K is the norm. I have a 1440p 144hz monitor and it is hard enough getting high fps at 1440p. Thankfully, it has G-Sync which compensates for lack of processing power. I can't see this new 4K 144hz monitor coming without G-Sync/FreeSync as nobody will be able to sustain 144fps at that resolution for many years yet.

@BassMan said:

@Coseniath said:

@GhostHawk196 said:

-Get 1 GTX1080 and wait for GTX1080Ti/TitanX2 and get 2 + better 4K monitor

+1.

And a better 4K monitor:

Soon™ :)

Whoao! When did 144hz 4K monitors creep into the picture? Can you get it with G-Sync/FreeSync?

I saw an article about this during Computex 2016, its still a prototype and will not release until next year, makes sense because I highly doubt 2x GTX1080s in SLI can crank up more than 80fps for newer games at 4k. Next year, reports have suggested the next titan card will be 1.5 times more powerful than the GTX1080 so it'll be interesting.

I don't know, but since it is a high end product both on specs and in wallet, I think it will have G-Sync.

I am sure that your SLI GTX1080 setup can easily play any title that supports SLI in 4K and almost all of them more than 60FPS.

Well, Acer Predator xb271hu, with 1440p, 144hz, ips, gsync, has everything most people want from a monitor.