What components do I need to play on 4k?

IronStella

Commendable
Sep 19, 2016
2
0
1,510
Hello, dear friends!
My dream is to build/upgrade a computer that can play games on 4k with 60 fps. (More fps wont matter because my monitor is only 60Hz. My monitor is a Samsung 28" 4K LED FreeSync U28E590D, (60Hz).
My current pc specs are the following: CPU: Intel Core i5 760 2,8 Ghz Motherboard: Asus P7h55/USB3 CPU Fan: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 CPU Cooler Ram: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 2000Mhz 8Gb 4x2Gb Power Supply: Corsair tx 750W Memory: 2 TB Seagate Barracuda GPU: Sapphire RX 480 GB
Lately my computer is really slow both in web browsing and gaming, maybe due to that my CPU and motherboard are more than 7 years old.
My 3D mark score in fire Strike is 8225 Graphics Score 11573 Physics Score 5121 Combined Score 3639
So what should I do? Should I buy an additional RX 480 GB or maybe uppgrade my cpu to one of those 6600k and get more ram? I have a budget of around 1000-1200 euros.
Thank you for you help
 
Solution
Wait, you're gaming on a 4K monitor with an i5-760 & RX 480 at the moment? That's definitely going to be pretty poor performance all-round. The sluggish aspect in browsing may well just require a new OS install (and an SSD if possible).

Honestly, 4K is a tough ask - depending on what you're looking for specifically. 60FPS on what settings? What games do you intend to play? You're highly unlikely to have to worry about 60+FPS for a while yet - you need some of the highest end components (consumer grade, at least) to achieve 60 consistently on max/ultra.

The i7-6700K has shown decent gains over the i5-6600K at 4K, and should last you longer at 4K overall.

The RX480 is not going to be ideal either. With a worthwhile CPU (6600K...

greens

Distinguished
Jan 27, 2012
244
0
19,160


You would need at least one Fury in order to get even close to playable on a 4k resolution.
You would need two Fury in crossfire to get where you want.

One GTX 1080 could do it but you have a Freesync monitor, so you're better off sticking with AMD GPUs.

Your budget is already gone getting the GPU in order. You'll need a Skylake build for a single GPU solution. Unfortunately with the way Skylake is set up you'll only just barely be able to get away with a 2 GPU crossfire. If you wish to use PCIE lanes for anything else, or wish to use more than 2 GPUs, you're stuck using LGA 2011-v3.


 
Wait, you're gaming on a 4K monitor with an i5-760 & RX 480 at the moment? That's definitely going to be pretty poor performance all-round. The sluggish aspect in browsing may well just require a new OS install (and an SSD if possible).

Honestly, 4K is a tough ask - depending on what you're looking for specifically. 60FPS on what settings? What games do you intend to play? You're highly unlikely to have to worry about 60+FPS for a while yet - you need some of the highest end components (consumer grade, at least) to achieve 60 consistently on max/ultra.

The i7-6700K has shown decent gains over the i5-6600K at 4K, and should last you longer at 4K overall.

The RX480 is not going to be ideal either. With a worthwhile CPU (6600K, 6700K etc), you'll probably be able to achieve playable ~30FPS on reasonable settings, but 60FPS is going to be rare at 4K (without using low presets etc)

At the moment, the GTX 1070 is probably the minimum for decent 4K gaming, with the GTX 1080 or Titan X(P) being preferred. A Fury X may do it, and might be a little more beneficial given your existing monitor......but it is costly.

If your PSU is also 7+ years old, I would replace that before investing heavily in new components.

To get the 'ideal', you'd likely be a little over budget. Using the German PCPartPicker, it looks to be around 1,350 EUR
Shopping in your own country may well make it a little more affordable but, depending on your location, it may also increase prices.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (€332.94 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170A-X1/3.1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€99.05 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (€73.18 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€97.84 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Superclocked Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card (€658.45 @ Mindfactory)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€93.54 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1355.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-19 21:41 CEST+0200

This does factor in and SSD & new PSU, but would mean reusing your Case, Cooler & HDD storage
You could always drop that for now, and be right around your budget.

If you wanted the SSD & PSU, you can either drop the CPU to a 6600K and pair with the 1080:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€238.21 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170A-X1/3.1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€99.05 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (€73.18 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€97.84 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Superclocked Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card (€658.45 @ Mindfactory)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€93.54 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1260.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-19 21:45 CEST+0200


Or, drop the 1080 and pair a 1070 with a 6700K:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (€332.94 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170A-X1/3.1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€99.05 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (€73.18 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€97.84 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Windforce OC Video Card (€442.11 @ Mindfactory)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€93.54 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1138.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-19 21:44 CEST+0200
 
Solution

IronStella

Commendable
Sep 19, 2016
2
0
1,510
Hello barty1884!

I am really grateful for you answer and the time you spent making the solution.

I planed on play games on 4k resolution on max settings and get a farily good amount of fps around 60 fps. Those games I play now are GTA V, COD BO3, Far Cry 4, Battlefield 4, Metal Gear Solid Phantom Pain.

Like you said I have very poor performance in these games, frames dropps down to 17 fps on 4k low settings and so on. You made me realise where I am regarding the components which I am truly thankful, instead of wasting alot of money on things I didnt need. Im not really all about that 4k experience, so in other words I can ofcourse game in HD and QHD. Only mentioned it was my dream.

But, I've read on the AMD forums and watched benchmarks on other channels that a Duo RX 480 8 GB can almost even out a GTX 1080, but its like 150 euros cheaper. Due to the circumstances I think I need to stick with AMD GPU's.

So If i followed you advise shouldnt i be better off buying a 6700k, a better psu for crossfire around 850w, and buy an additional RX 480. I can maybe expand my budget to around 1300 euros if I live under a rock for 3 months but it will be worth it.