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So I'm feeling the upgrade itch. Just not sure yet where the itch is and wondering if anybody could give me an informed opinion. Anyways, this is my current system:

Processor: i7 2700k Sandy Bridge @ 4.4 GHz
GPU: GTX 1070 8GB
Ram: 16 GB DDR3
Primary storage: Corsair Force GS 240 GB

I use this machine primarily for gaming - I game at 1080p - but sometimes also use it for production - writing code - which requires a coupe of VMs running. So both single and multi-threaded performance is a must.

In terms of gaming performance, I actually don't have much to complain - the recent GPU upgrade made things a lot smoother - I don't really have a game I can't max things out. But I'm really inclined to upgrade my monitor to something with 1440p, since 1080 is getting long in the tooth for me.

I know the 1070 should be able to handle 1440p gaming just fine, but my question is - will the CPU bottleneck it at those resolutions? Should I look into upgrading CPU/mobo/RAM too? AMD Ryzen 7 CPUs are looking very nice as an upgrade to the 2700k, but I'm not entirely sold - new CPUs from both teams are right around the corner and perhaps I should just buy the monitor now and wait for the release of the new wave of CPUs?

On the other hand - should I stick with the 2700k for now? The overclock I've applied certainly make things quite faster and I'm still not entirely sure I need to upgrade now.

Opinions welcome. Thanks,

santista

Try it and see.

There's no point in speculating when you don't lose anything by simply trying it. Buy the monitor and if you're happy, great. If not, upgrading won't cost you any more buying them afterwards then it will buying them together.

santista wrote:

So I'm feeling the upgrade itch. Just not sure yet where the itch is and wondering if anybody could give me an informed opinion. Anyways, this is my current system:

Processor: i7 2700k Sandy Bridge @ 4.4 GHz
GPU: GTX 1070 8GB
Ram: 16 GB DDR3
Primary storage: Corsair Force GS 240 GB

I use this machine primarily for gaming - I game at 1080p - but sometimes also use it for production - writing code - which requires a coupe of VMs running. So both single and multi-threaded performance is a must.

In terms of gaming performance, I actually don't have much to complain - the recent GPU upgrade made things a lot smoother - I don't really have a game I can't max things out. But I'm really inclined to upgrade my monitor to something with 1440p, since 1080 is getting long in the tooth for me.

I know the 1070 should be able to handle 1440p gaming just fine, but my question is - will the CPU bottleneck it at those resolutions? Should I look into upgrading CPU/mobo/RAM too? AMD Ryzen 7 CPUs are looking very nice as an upgrade to the 2700k, but I'm not entirely sold - new CPUs from both teams are right around the corner and perhaps I should just buy the monitor now and wait for the release of the new wave of CPUs?

On the other hand - should I stick with the 2700k for now? The overclock I've applied certainly make things quite faster and I'm still not entirely sure I need to upgrade now.

Opinions welcome. Thanks,

santista

If you're not feeling limited by the cpu in your other tasks, I would just upgrade to the 1440p and see how it runs. I recently went to a 27 inch 1440p monitor about 3 weeks ago and am fairly pleased with the results.

Go for an ultrawide 1440p monitor with G-sync - I had one for a while and it was amazing. Next upgrade would be the processor/mobo/ram, then the SSD, then the GPU.

CPU load doesn't have all that much dependence on resolution. If the GPU can handle it, then don't worry about going 1440p.

What you can do to isolate how your CPU is holding up is turn resolution down to something low like 540p and see where frametimes are at. Framerates in that context probably won't be relevant unless you get an HFR monitor, but if there's any stutteriness remaining at 540p, that's the stuff a faster CPU will be able to help with.

HFR monitors are going to love all the power you can throw at them, both CPU and GPU. Getting a consistent 144 fps isn't easy (or even possible, in a lot of games).

I upgraded from a similar rig running at 4.7 GHz to my overclocked 6700K in my sig. Even at 4K, where the "CPU doesn't matter much" there was an improvement in gaming performance and smoothness. For games at 1080p there was a good increase (perceptively) in the smoothness of animation even in lightweight games.

Was it worth the upgrade cost? In my case (primarily gaming), I'd say absolutely. VMs and other things are faster, my storage is faster (PCIe 3.0), and the general experience is better...but the gaming smoothness is the kicker.

If you want to lock into NVidia's expensive proprietary G-Sync scheme, consider AOC AG271QG, Acer XB271HU bmiprz or Asus PG279Q. If you're looking forward to when you might have a graphics card that supports VESA standard adaptive sync for VRR, consider Acer XF270HU or Asus MG279Q.

I think latency and minimum frame rates when gaming are noticeably better with more recent platforms but whether you think the extra smoothness is worth it is not for me to guess.
I'd buy the monitor and wait for the dust to settle on the upcoming platforms and not rush into it.

Ditto on the display. I have a 30" 1600p one and it is great. Maybe you could look at getting a larger SSD as well?