Upgrade: Monitor vs. GPU first? (Gaming)

[henry snider]

The 960 can handle pretty much every game out right now essentially maxed at 1080p. The only thing it can't handle at 1080p is MSAA. But at this point there are so many other better AA methods that come at much less of a performance hit, MSAA makes no sense to use anymore.

So if I'm gaming at 1080p (like the aforementioned WoW, FFXIV, CS:GO and Titanfall), there's no reason to spend the extra $150 for the 970?

 

[XSI]

for those games 960 will be enough.
also 970 doesnt need much power your psu should be
fine.
I would go bigger monitor too at least 23-24"

 

[henry snider]

for those games 960 will be enough.
also 970 doesnt need much power your psu should be
fine.
I would go bigger monitor too at least 23-24"

Thinking about this monitor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116663
Good price, 23" is good for me, good reivews. That and an EVGA SSC GTX 960 is what I'm leaning towards.

 

[newtekie1]

You might want to check this monitor out: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236335R

If the open box deal is still available when you go to buy.

 

[henry snider]

You might want to check this monitor out: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236335R

If the open box deal is still available when you go to buy.

That looks nice, assuming the Open Box thing isn't a rip-off. I'd be buying about a week from today, so I'd guess it''ll still be there.

 

[krusha03]

What is your total budget for the upgrade? Because I see you looking at both 960 and 970 which is twice as expensive. I would go for something like this if you are open to getting a radeon instead:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card ($229.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Enermax REVOLUTION X't 630W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($60.00 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer G246HYL bmjj 60Hz 23.8" Monitor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $409.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-24 11:27 EDT-0400

 

[henry snider]

What is your total budget for the upgrade? Because I see you looking at both 960 and 970 which is twice as expensive. I would go for something like this if you are open to getting a radeon instead:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card ($229.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Enermax REVOLUTION X't 630W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($60.00 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer G246HYL bmjj 60Hz 23.8" Monitor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $409.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-24 11:27 EDT-0400

I could manage the 970, but i'd rather just drop the $200 if the 970 is overkill for 1080p.

And I'm not an AMD guy, had bad experiences with their stuff and all my tech-savvy friends continue to tell me not to buy from them.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

I could manage the 970, but i'd rather just drop the $200 if the 970 is overkill for 1080p.

And I'm not an AMD guy, had bad experiences with their stuff and all my tech-savvy friends continue to tell me not to buy from them.

Your going about it correctly. Get yourself that EVGA 960 SSC, and 23-24 1080p monitor and you'll be happy.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

I'd go GPU first as the others have suggested. I also agree about the 960 for 1080P. Here's it's numbers for BF4 at 1080p-

 

[n8dotcom]

I would say the monitor first. It will greatly enhance your gaming immediately and that will give you a breather for a few months, until you decide to purchase a new gpu. There a lot monitors on sale today for Memorial Day. Browse around and find one for your liking.

@BarbaricSoul, your suggestions are really good too.

 

[krusha03]

I could manage the 970, but i'd rather just drop the $200 if the 970 is overkill for 1080p.

And I'm not an AMD guy, had bad experiences with their stuff and all my tech-savvy friends continue to tell me not to buy from them.

It's your choice, the thing is for $30 more or about ~15% you get 40% more performance. Although if you go for cheaper GTX 960 like this MSI GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($169.99 @ SuperBiiz) the difference the increase in price is more in line with the increase in perfromance. The only thing is you only get 2GB Vram instead of 4GB

 

[Cvrk]

Hi all, this isn't anything terribly urgent, just looking for a bit of advice.

I plan on getting a 21.5" 1080p HDMI monitor to replace it.



Should I snag a 960 and wait a month to get a monitor?

Note: The games I play are MMO's like WoW and FFXIV and also some shooters like CS:GO and Titanfall.

Thanks!

Monitor first. Reason: you will get to play in your spare time (from work) on your old graphics card. Everything will look better. You will feel like that was very well spent money.
Then the brand new card comes and you see the difference! You really see it. You will have time to get comfortable with whatever visuals the old card give you,just to give in to the brilliant visuals of the new card ,again feeling that your hard worked money was all worth it. It's reward after reward,wave after wave.

I kinda get it,cuz i also got the monitor last year,and now i am about to get the new card. Toked me longer cuz i'm poor and my salary is nothing.

Very important DO NOT "snag" the 960. That is wasted money. 970 is the way to go. I am sure you will find the difference on so many comparison reviews out on the internet. No way your closing your eyes on hard made money before reading hundreds of pages of content and many hours of video reviewing. There is no overkill! 130 FPS gaming....and you will never look back. Joking your not gonna get 130 fps on Titanfall with your rig, but more is better. It's not like you are buying a new card every 3 months.

Also important. 21.5 inch no.....just no. 23inch + . Anything bigger then 24 will hurt your eyes. 23-24 is perfection. 21,5 is so small. "ohh what do 2 inches even matter" Do not go down that path. They matter big time. The money difference is small and looking at a 24 inch IPS is so gorgeous.

 

[Schmuckley]

I vote for better monitor 1st.
I agree with "960 is a waste of money"
21.5" @ 1080p is ideal IMHO.Hey..look for low MS response time ..less than 5..1-2 is good.
I have 23" monitor and it kind of messes with your peripheral vision.
If I had it to do over again i would get 21.5"
Higher Hz is good, too.

 

[henry snider]

Is it a waste of money though? If the 960 will give me 60 FPS on the aforementioned games at max or near max (besides maybe Titanfall because that can be demanding) at 1080p on a 21.5" monitor, that's enough for me. The 970 is $130-$150 more, and that's nothing to scoff at.

 

[Schmuckley]

You should get a decent monitor, 1st.
THEN something to push it.
I can't find much info on 960..
All I know is..It's probably not be that good.
I would say the $30 or so to get a 970 is worth it. (I know TPU peeps will love that)
Unless you want to cop a 290x for like..$200
(That maybe not so much)
FYI TPU is well known as the home of the 970 lovers.
I am really not one,I run a 7950 still
There's also 780 Ti,Titan,GTX 980,And r9 290x.
Make the decision that gives the best performance for the money.
GTX 970 is good technology,there's no denying that.
There are other options, though.
I'm thinking a 960 would be on par with a 7870 2gb..correct me if I'm wrong, somebody.