stoudtlr Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 (edited) I'm looking to upgrade my desktop PC that I built in 2008 and need some advice. I've tried searching Google but everyone seems to have a different opinion and even has a benchmark link to back up their opinion. However, Skyrim at 5760x1080 loaded with tons of texture mods seems to be a different ball game from the usual benchmark tests so figured this would be the best place to go for a straight answer. Background - I've been playing Skyrim on my laptop with a GTX580m for the last few years. Been playing a modded version with a bunch of different texture packs for a while and it's decent. ~50fps. But as soon as I enable an ENB, even with ENBoost, it drops like a rock. With Afterburner I've noticed that my 2GB vram is maxed. I've got a desktop I built in 08 with 3 1920x1080 monitors, a Q6600 OC'd to 3.1, and 2 8800GTS. A real beast at the time and still running, just not very strongly. I only ever gamed on 1 monitor, but used all 3 for work and still use all 3 for work. Now that it's finally time to upgrade that ancient relic I'm at an impasse. It will be a full tear down and rebuild. Only keeping the case and power supply. Maybe on that last one. Will be a Z97 build with an i7. However, I'm unsure of the video card. I'm going with SLI but I'm not sure if I should get the 8gb R9 290x or the 4gb GTX980. Some benchmarks i've seen put the GTX980 far ahead of the 290x, but others I see say that at high resolutions the 290x 8Gb does better. And with this upgrade I'll be looking to finally start playing across 3 1080p's instead of only using them for work. I know 5760x1080 is only about 3/4th as demanding as 4k, but a heavily modded Skyrim really chews through the vram. So would dual 8Gb 290x really be better or go with dual GTX980? Skyrim is my main concern as after 4 years it is still the game I play the most, but as you can see I don't upgrade my PC very often so I also want this setup to last a good while like the previous one did. The price difference between the two isn't an object. I just want to ensure what I choose will be the best option for my current situation and will be decent for a few years to come. Edited March 20, 2015 by stoudtlr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRoseOfThorns Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 I doubt single gtx 980 / 290x will manage this screen resolution and 2-4k textures plus other mods and Enb even at 15fps. You would need at least sli setup. I have gtx 780 ti and I'm already killing it @1920x1080. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoudtlr Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 Right, that's why I'm looking at SLI/Xfire. Should of put that at beginning I guess since it's a long post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boombro Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Don't get an 5760x1080 screen if you want a heavy skyrim at least 60 fps. It a big waste of money and gpu power, same goes for all other games. Try getting a screen the same size as yours but faster, 1m. Or a good sized 4k screen. Like that new carved one. For the gpu, look up R9 295x it super fast and water cooled. And the best gpu for 4k right now for an amazing price. It two cards in one, so it will save you the horror of crossfire. And are you sure that your case has good airflow and can fit the new parts? You don't want to the part to melt do you? Is it quiet? Use this website: http://pcpartpicker.com/Start a build and pick all the parts you plan to have, it will say if it fits or not. All the prices everywhere around the us and uk and will tell if there anything off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoudtlr Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 Thanks Boombro. Everything will fit with plenty of airflow. The case I will be using is a CM Stacker 830. Don't see any point in replacing my case yet just to have USB 3.0 on the front. If I get tired of using a USB extension from back usb 3.0 ports I can get one of the drive bay USB 3.0 hubs to connect to the 3.0 port on mb. Also, I already have 3 1080p 2ms monitors so monitors won't be a new purchase. I've been using 3 for work for years, but my gaming was always done on just 1. Now looking at an upgrade to allow me to use all 3 for gaming as well. Even though I already have the 3 I should stick to gaming on just 1 of them in your opinion? If that's the case should I upgrade one of the monitors too? Maybe a 1440p? Then I can have a 1440p in the middle with a 1080p on either side to use while working and when gaming only use the center 1440p? I'll check out the 295x. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boombro Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Your screens, your choice. I'm kind of want power for the buck and find 3 screens overkill so I not that knowledgeable about it. Since you already have the three, test playing with them. Do you like it? Can you get used to it? Does it lower fps? Does your rig overheats? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoudtlr Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 Since you already have the three, test playing with them. Do you like it? Can you get used to it? Does it lower fps? Does your rig overheats? I won't be able to test that until after I upgrade since I currently have the monitors, but not the rest of the hardware. That's why I was hoping someone with experience in 5760x1080 would chime in here. My current thought is to get the best gpu setup I can for that resolution since I already have the monitors. Then if I like it, I'm set. If I don't like gaming on all 3 then I can go back to only using all 3 for work and just game on one monitor like I currently do with my laptop. You mentioned the 295x2 and I found a review for it that is steering me towards crossfire 290x. Review compared the 295x2 that you mentioned and the two options I was debated, GTX 980 SLI and R9 290x crossfire. Their testing showed the 290x crossfire better than both in almost every test. http://www.tweaktown.com/tweakipedia/72/gtx-980-sli-vs-r9-290x-8gb-cf-295x2-amd-fx-9590-8k/index.html The only thing is that they said they felt the 8Gb versions were overkill and weren't needed. Just stick with 4Gb. But I'm thinking all the texture mods of Skyrim combined with 5760x1080 probably would be able to make use of the 8gb vram. Another reason I was hoping someone playing Skyrim at this resolution would speak up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boombro Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) I highly doubt many people want such setup are in this site. Most users have mid-high pcs or power budget builders from what I have seen since I came here.Try asking at power building websites or youtube builders. The r9 295x is the best for your money. An r9 290x from a non-reference brand will cost about 350-500 bucks, an r9 295x cost 750-1000$. The card also has it own water cooling blocks so you can cool the cpu better. For the 8 vram, ask around for three screen, 4k setups. But there not that many mods that covers many 4k textures for skyrim. Here is a an idea. Buy only one R9 290x card 4vram. You can test everything on them, the three screens, the vram, the cooling, the psu. Then you can save up for 8vram. The card itself is very strong and can do some 4k. I wonder if you can crosasfire an r9 250x duo. That will seal the deal. Edited March 22, 2015 by Boombro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRoseOfThorns Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Even though I already have the 3 I should stick to gaming on just 1 of them in your opinion? If that's the case should I upgrade one of the monitors too? Maybe a 1440p? Then I can have a 1440p in the middle with a 1080p on either side to use while working and when gaming only use the center 1440p? I'll check out the 295x. I would stick with 1 monitor (the one with highest pixel density) and downsample resolution with nvidia panel. You get much sharper image that way. Hodilton does that for recording his mod showcase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychoslaphead Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 I run Skyrim at 4k resolution (3840x2160) on a Retina iMac with R9 M295X (4gb Vram). I'm dual booting into Windows 7 to do this. It was a pain to get working at that resolution (until I discovered EnBoost, skse tweak, etc.) and the game has one glitch - the "Level Up" reminder is always on screen. Once tweaked I'm getting a solid 60 fps most of the time (limited to 60 in the ini setting). Drops to 50's briefly for loads. The built in monitor of the iMac is native 5k (5120x2880), but Windows won't do that resolution at this time :-( I'm a gaming system builder myself - the Mac is my work machine and I was curious about pushing the game to its limit. Anyway, the Radeon should have the horsepower you need. I'm using the mobile version and it works well. I'm also using latest gen Intel core i7 4ghz and 1tb SSD. Hope this helps. I'm going to post 4k screenshots in a separate post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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