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Question

GPU and CPU upgrade for 4k?

Oct 28, 2014 5:53PM PDT

I currently have an ASRock A55M-VS Micro-ATX mobo, an AMD A6 3500 CPU, and a Sapphire HD Radeon 7750 2gb GPU. My OS is Windows 7.

I plan on upgrading to a 4k monitor in the near future, and I don't know how I need to upgrade my hardware.

Will an R7 GPU provide enough power to run Bioshock Infinite on a 4k monitor at a reasonable speed? If not, what is a GPU I can get for <$350 that can?

Do I need to upgrade my CPU? If yes, what should I get? I'm more open to paying more for this.

Is an SSD critical to the success of my upgrade? I don't currently have one.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Some info
Oct 29, 2014 1:10AM PDT
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Extreme
Oct 29, 2014 1:30AM PDT

That article lists what is needed to run extremely demanding games at high speeds. The most demanding game I have is Bioshock Infinite, which is nowhere near how demanding Crysis 3 and Battlefield 4 are. It's also worth noting that they were playing those games on Ultra High settings.

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Answer
Let's get the chart out.
Oct 29, 2014 2:16AM PDT
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Size
Oct 29, 2014 2:53AM PDT

28 in. and I'm just over a foot away from the screen.

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Then the 970
Oct 29, 2014 3:29AM PDT
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Catch
Oct 29, 2014 5:11AM PDT

Only problem is that he is using multiple cards, whereas my Micro-ATX mobo only has one PCIe slot. Does the 970 pack enough power alone?

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May want to curb that 4K purchase.
Oct 29, 2014 5:20AM PDT
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-980-970-maxwell,3941-8.html shows it topping 60 FPS but at 1080. 4K is going to want more than this. To understand the pixel problems and why more horsepower is needed, let's do a pixel count on the 4K and 1080p displays.

4K = 8294400 pixels.
1080p = 2073600 pixels.

So in short you need about 4 times the processing power to get the same frame rates. This can really freak out those new to video work.
Bob