Best Single Card GPU for 4k Gaming with ESO

The_Great_Maldini

Hello All,

I am getting ready to build a gaming rig, but I'm having difficulty deciding which GPU setup with which to go.

I was initially interested in the GTX 980 TI x2 in SLI; however, then I read about microstuttering and that turned me off a bit.

What I'm wondering is whether I should just go with a single Titan X. Would that be enough for 4k gaming in ESO?

In addition, I will using my Sony Bravia 65" 4k television as a monitor if anyone has any advice on maxing out settings for that.

Thank you all for your help.

Sevalaricgirl

I have a 980 and I don't have stuttering and I do have a 4K monitor that I play on. I have the 4K hooked up via display port cable.

The_Great_Maldini

Do you have a vanilla 980 or the 980 TI?

Are you running at full 4k resolution? If so, what is your FPS?

Also, the sony bravia TV's only have an HDMI hookup, not a display port unfortunately.

Enemy-of-Coldharbour

I'm running a single 980 TI with a 4K 3D monitor and have zero issues.

The_Great_Maldini

Enemy-of-Coldharbour wrote: »

I'm running a single 980 TI with a 4K 3D monitor and have zero issues.

Do you have everything turned to the max? I'm assuming that you don't have AA turned on as you probably don't need it at the 4k resolution.

Sevalaricgirl

Just the 980, not the 980 TI, single card, not sli, running full 4K on ultra settings for most games, around 45 to 60 fps but can go higher depending on the needs of the game. I don't notice any lagging in my single player games and on an MMO you can never tell whether it's the game or your system, but not so much that it has stopped me from playing anything. I do have an uber overclocked processor though so that may account for some of my capabilities.

I should add that HDMI and dvi cable was pitiful. I had to use the display port connection.

Ezareth

I have a 980 GTX ti and play at 2560X1600 with every setting maxed out and the only time I have FPS issues it isn't coming from the graphics card. My 980 isn't touched when I check during framerate drop.

Vicodine

I would not call any signle-chip GPU out there 4K ready. Many of them (980Ti and Titan X included) are either capable of "smooth" 30FPS at maxed settings or hit just shy of 60FPS with some tweaks. Would even suggest you take a look at 295 X2 or how that AMD piece of **** is called

980Ti has a better price point than Titan X, and the Titan gets you 3-4% more FPS on average.

The single-chip single-gpu world is not ready for 4K yet. Maybe when Pascal comes to visit

zornyan

I'm using and recommend dual msi gtx 970s, with nearly 0 overclock I ran fallout 4 on a 4k monitor, ultra everything. With a solid 60fps probably more but I left the fps cap in place

Docmandu

For ESO at least, a single 980 (non TI) is capable enough to run the game at 4K on Ultra with 40+ FPS, with shadowplay actively recording. (to be complete: on a Core i7 4790K system, 16Gb, ESO on SSD, recording to 2x harddisks in RAID-0... nothing overclocked)

I'd personally stay clear of SLI... too many issues (micro stuttering etc).
Also wouldn't go for Titan X, with the 980TI being so close to it for a much better price.

jkemmery

Sevalaricgirl wrote: »

I should add that HDMI and dvi cable was pitiful. I had to use the display port connection.

Do you know what kind of display port you are using? Is it DVI? If so what kind of DVI? I'm surprised a display port connection would outperform HDMI

The_Great_Maldini

Docmandu wrote: »

For ESO at least, a single 980 (non TI) is capable enough to run the game at 4K on Ultra with 40+ FPS, with shadowplay actively recording. (to be complete: on a Core i7 4790K system, 16Gb, ESO on SSD, recording to 2x harddisks in RAID-0... nothing overclocked)

I'd personally stay clear of SLI... too many issues (micro stuttering etc).
Also wouldn't go for Titan X, with the 980TI being so close to it for a much better price.

Yes my plan would be to get an i7 4790k system with 16 GB 2133 DDR3, a 512 SSD with a 1 TB 7200 HDD.

My only issue was with the video cards. Micro stuttering really makes me nervous for the amount of money 2 high-end GPUs would cost.

So if one card can run the game on 4K, then that would make me happy. Would ~45 FPS be my max capability with a single 980 TI?

Would HDMI limit my ability for 4K gaming since my TV does not have a display port?

The_Great_Maldini

Sevalaricgirl wrote: »

Just the 980, not the 980 TI, single card, not sli, running full 4K on ultra settings for most games, around 45 to 60 fps but can go higher depending on the needs of the game. I don't notice any lagging in my single player games and on an MMO you can never tell whether it's the game or your system, but not so much that it has stopped me from playing anything. I do have an uber overclocked processor though so that may account for some of my capabilities.

I should add that HDMI and dvi cable was pitiful. I had to use the display port connection.

Would a converter work if the TV doesn't have a display port connection?

Aletheion

jkemmery wrote: »

Sevalaricgirl wrote: »

I should add that HDMI and dvi cable was pitiful. I had to use the display port connection.

Do you know what kind of display port you are using? Is it DVI? If so what kind of DVI? I'm surprised a display port connection would outperform HDMI

Display Port is the name of the port. You'll see the little DP logo on cards and such these days.


-Aletheion

Carter_DC

u need a 1.4 hdmi in order to get the 4k at 30Hz (30 fps max). Or HDMi 2.0 to get the 4k @60Hz (60 fps max).

A single GTX 980Ti would be your best bet.

zornyan

Docmandu wrote: »

For ESO at least, a single 980 (non TI) is capable enough to run the game at 4K on Ultra with 40+ FPS, with shadowplay actively recording. (to be complete: on a Core i7 4790K system, 16Gb, ESO on SSD, recording to 2x harddisks in RAID-0... nothing overclocked)

I'd personally stay clear of SLI... too many issues (micro stuttering etc).
Also wouldn't go for Titan X, with the 980TI being so close to it for a much better price.

Never had an sli problem, far better then crossfire imo, frames have always been solid, and it's getting better with DX 12 as previously memory never stacked, so 2x 4gb cards were 2 individual cards, now they stack as one 8gb and run much smoother.

Plus maxwell is stupidly efficient imo

The_Great_Maldini

zornyan wrote: »

Docmandu wrote: »

For ESO at least, a single 980 (non TI) is capable enough to run the game at 4K on Ultra with 40+ FPS, with shadowplay actively recording. (to be complete: on a Core i7 4790K system, 16Gb, ESO on SSD, recording to 2x harddisks in RAID-0... nothing overclocked)

I'd personally stay clear of SLI... too many issues (micro stuttering etc).
Also wouldn't go for Titan X, with the 980TI being so close to it for a much better price.

Never had an sli problem, far better then crossfire imo, frames have always been solid, and it's getting better with DX 12 as previously memory never stacked, so 2x 4gb cards were 2 individual cards, now they stack as one 8gb and run much smoother.

Plus maxwell is stupidly efficient imo

You never experienced any microstuttering?

Are there certain factors which cause microstuttering?

daemonios

zornyan wrote: »

Docmandu wrote: »

For ESO at least, a single 980 (non TI) is capable enough to run the game at 4K on Ultra with 40+ FPS, with shadowplay actively recording. (to be complete: on a Core i7 4790K system, 16Gb, ESO on SSD, recording to 2x harddisks in RAID-0... nothing overclocked)

I'd personally stay clear of SLI... too many issues (micro stuttering etc).
Also wouldn't go for Titan X, with the 980TI being so close to it for a much better price.

Never had an sli problem, far better then crossfire imo, frames have always been solid, and it's getting better with DX 12 as previously memory never stacked, so 2x 4gb cards were 2 individual cards, now they stack as one 8gb and run much smoother.

Plus maxwell is stupidly efficient imo

Actually Anandtech ran some tests with DX12 and different-GPU SLI, and nVidia GPUs performed miserably when one of them was leading. With an AMD GPU leading, performance was consistent.

I don't know if this was a driver issue that has since been worked out, an issue with the game being tested, or if it also affects same-GPU nVidia setups.

Disclaimer: I own nVidia GPUs on both my desktop and laptop, don't mean to start a brand war

The_Great_Maldini

Well my main question was really if one single GPU could run this game on 4k with decent FPS on HDMI 2.0.

Also what game video settings do you guys recommend?

Sharakor

4k isn't necessarily demanding, I used to play in 4k and my old 780ti handled it easily with 60-100 FPS. You need to keep in mind that ESO's graphics aren't really that great. You could probably run it perfectly on a 980 (not even the Ti version).

Oh_Skrivva

I'm running 2 gtx 980 ti's is sli and I have no issues with it. If I do get leggy it's because eso isn't fully optimized. Also, if you want to only run one card the titan is the better choice. But 2 980 ti's blow the titan out the water. That's why I opted for the 2 980 ti's over one titan. I'm also using a 4k monitor with a display port connection. Games look amazing.

Egonieser

GTX 980 is more than sufficient, however, PvP on azura on max settings at 4k can be a bit of a ballache. I reverted back to 1080p simply because i pvp most of the time and i need the smoothest experience possible in heavy fights. Even on 1080p the FPS can dip below comfortable numbers. However in PvE zones, it's never a issue.
The card isn't even utilized fully, problem stems from poor optimization, which sadly plagues many PC games, especially multiplats.

Docmandu

The_Great_Maldini wrote: »

Docmandu wrote: »

For ESO at least, a single 980 (non TI) is capable enough to run the game at 4K on Ultra with 40+ FPS, with shadowplay actively recording. (to be complete: on a Core i7 4790K system, 16Gb, ESO on SSD, recording to 2x harddisks in RAID-0... nothing overclocked)

I'd personally stay clear of SLI... too many issues (micro stuttering etc).
Also wouldn't go for Titan X, with the 980TI being so close to it for a much better price.

Yes my plan would be to get an i7 4790k system with 16 GB 2133 DDR3, a 512 SSD with a 1 TB 7200 HDD.

My only issue was with the video cards. Micro stuttering really makes me nervous for the amount of money 2 high-end GPUs would cost.

So if one card can run the game on 4K, then that would make me happy. Would ~45 FPS be my max capability with a single 980 TI?

Would HDMI limit my ability for 4K gaming since my TV does not have a display port?

Nope.. FPS will be higher in most areas.. only times when FPS bombs is in super laggy Azura Star (EU), but that's the game not handling server lag very well, normally this shouldn't cause FPS drops imho.. but seems it's an architectural thing in the ESO tech. (ie. uploaded a 4K vid recently where you see the FPS drop to 20-ish due to laggy server syndrome.. you can see the fps counter at the top of the screen - http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/231211/fear-is-op )

And here's an old recording @4K from when ESO wasn't this friggin laggy all the time..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D8ySNcV00E

That's on a normal 980.. a 980 TI will perform a bit better.


--
Concerning the TV... when I got my hardware, HDMI only provided a max of 30FPS @ 4K.. hence why my monitor only has a DVI connector since that provides 60FPS @4K... not sure if since then HDMI has caught up.. I'm sure google can tell.. but you'd also need to check if your TV actually can do 60 fps @ 4K.

Wily_Wizard

I guess the divines are watching over me...

I have a GTX-670 4GB, with HDMI 1.4a (4K@30fps)
and a 4K TV with one 60 FPS HDMI 2.0 port.

For some strange reason, the NVidia driver still lets me select 4K @ 60FPS over HDMI, and it runs beautifully. When I tried 30FPS(native for the card) it had way too much tearing. I'm averaging 30-55 FPS in-game and it's as smooth as silk.

I7-3770
16GB 1600 DDR3
512GB SSD
No overclocking.

I suspect a single 980Ti with your system would run like a dream.

MrDerrikk

zornyan wrote: »

I'm using and recommend dual msi gtx 970s, with nearly 0 overclock I ran fallout 4 on a 4k monitor, ultra everything. With a solid 60fps probably more but I left the fps cap in place

I've got a similar setup, but as ESO isn't SLI compatible it gets a bit tricky for getting good frames on 4K...

Trihugger

While a 980 ti would work, if you can hold out for a pascal card next year ... man... 3D stacked memory will literally revolutionize the graphic industry with what we see in games. If you're not aware of what I'm talking about google nvidia pascal and prepare to be amazed.

zornyan

MrDerrikk wrote: »

zornyan wrote: »

I'm using and recommend dual msi gtx 970s, with nearly 0 overclock I ran fallout 4 on a 4k monitor, ultra everything. With a solid 60fps probably more but I left the fps cap in place

I've got a similar setup, but as ESO isn't SLI compatible it gets a bit tricky for getting good frames on 4K...

Neither is fallout 4, but more and more work around have been made to get comfortable fps.

zornyan

daemonios wrote: »

zornyan wrote: »

Docmandu wrote: »

For ESO at least, a single 980 (non TI) is capable enough to run the game at 4K on Ultra with 40+ FPS, with shadowplay actively recording. (to be complete: on a Core i7 4790K system, 16Gb, ESO on SSD, recording to 2x harddisks in RAID-0... nothing overclocked)

I'd personally stay clear of SLI... too many issues (micro stuttering etc).
Also wouldn't go for Titan X, with the 980TI being so close to it for a much better price.

Never had an sli problem, far better then crossfire imo, frames have always been solid, and it's getting better with DX 12 as previously memory never stacked, so 2x 4gb cards were 2 individual cards, now they stack as one 8gb and run much smoother.

Plus maxwell is stupidly efficient imo

Actually Anandtech ran some tests with DX12 and different-GPU SLI, and nVidia GPUs performed miserably when one of them was leading. With an AMD GPU leading, performance was consistent.

I don't know if this was a driver issue that has since been worked out, an issue with the game being tested, or if it also affects same-GPU nVidia setups.

Disclaimer: I own nVidia GPUs on both my desktop and laptop, don't mean to start a brand war

Fair enough, I've gone off amd quite alot, they just don't perform half as good as they claim to, they use a lot more power and generate a lot more heat. I tested an r9 390 before my msi gtx 970s and even with the fact it had twice the vram it's performance felt sloppy, it had much higher temps, and I really don't like amd drivers

Especially with big launches like fallout, the driver had auto downloaded 2 days before, and it runs like a freaking dream, where as even cards like the fury were pulling less fps than a single 970.

blubbi4ever

I wouldn't recommend a SLI or Crossfire Setup, because the overall performance increase isn't good enough in my opinion. If a game isn't properly optimized, then you'll get no benefit from the second GPU or you'll even notice micro stuttering at worst, even if you have 60 fps. I've read somewhere in the forums, that ESO doesn't run properly with 2xGTX 980Ti.
The Titan X is probably one of the few GPUs, which allows you to play some games in 4k@ max settings. If you own a GTX 980 Ti, then you could sell it and buy the Titan X instead of a second GTX 980Ti. It is also more energy efficient and the overclocking potential definitely there. However I think a GTX 980 should be enough to run ESO in 4k resolution.

Just keep in mind that playing other games in 4k resolution need a lot of VRAM, depending on settings and game optimization. When your VRAM gets full, then your GPU will start to swap data between your RAM which will most likely cause your fps to drop. 4GB VRAM is really the minimum and won't be enough for the future.

Another problem with ESO is that it only uses 1-2 cpu-cores efficiently. When your CPU reaches its limit, then your fps will drop, no matter what GPU you have. Currently the only way to prevent this in most cases is to have a really strong CPU (like the i7-4790k or the new Skylake i7-6700k) and RAM with high frequencies and lower timings. Faster RAM will help when your CPU-core reaches its limit.

For ESO (4k resolution,60fps, max settings), I'd probably go for this setup:

i7-6700k overclocked (5Ghz would be nice)
GTX 980 (Ti) overclocked
8GB DDR4-3200mhz+ overclocked/low CAS latency
SSD (just for faster loading performance)
Some Usersetting tweaks

However, I cannot guarantee that you'll have 60fps constantly even with this setup. PvE shouldn't be a problem in most cases, but PvP is another story.

yvesfouquet4

Oh_Skrivva wrote: »

I'm running 2 gtx 980 ti's is sli and I have no issues with it. If I do get leggy it's because eso isn't fully optimized. Also, if you want to only run one card the titan is the better choice. But 2 980 ti's blow the titan out the water. That's why I opted for the 2 980 ti's over one titan. I'm also using a 4k monitor with a display port connection. Games look amazing.

Do both your GPU's actually get used under load? Try it out with GPU-z or other hardware monitoring program and leave some feedback please (screenshot)

I thank you a lot

The_Great_Maldini

I bought the 980TI and the game runs AWESOME! I have max settings and 4K resolution running. It really does not tax my GPU that badly. I also get higher than 60FPS with an HDMI 2.0 cable and my Sony Bravia TV. No overclocking.

I tried running Assassins Creed : Syndicate on max settings though and that did tax my system though lol.