Greetings

 

I gave in and bought a 34 inch widescreen, curved monitor from Dell. I am also considering purchasing 2 x GTX 980 cards and upgrading to a Devil's Canyon CPU from a 4770K. I didn't do very well on the silicone lottery with the 4770K. This will just about be me done for a couple of years at least; and is not a casual purchase for me. I am currently using P3D 2.4.

 

Current CPU = 4770K 4.4Ghz overclock

Current GPU = GTX 780 EVGA factory overclock

 

The Dell monitor resolution is 3440 x 1440.

 

I would like to get some advice as to the following:

 

-is the GTX 980 overkill

-will the GTX 780 drive the Dell monitor

-would a second GTX 780 drive P3D in SLI on the Dell monitor

-will the additional 2. - .4 Ghz from the Devil's Canyon CPU be worth the upgrade

-is SLI functional at all in P3D currently. I realize there is no profile. Just want to know if it is functional

-would the new CPU and GPUs keep me current with anticipated updates to P3D over the next couple of years (SLI, 64 bit, etc)

 

The above questions are a bit unfair in that they require speculation to a certain degree. I do apologize for that. I suppose I could wait for the next 'great thing'. But in the computer tech market, there is always the next 'great thing'. I am relatively new to P3D; only starting with it in July, 2014. Furthermore, I have never run more than a single GPU in a desktop machine.

 

Comments and advice will be most appreciated.

 

 

 

 

-is the GTX 980 overkill

Don't think of it as overkill, think of it as future-proofing  :wink:

 

 

 

-will the GTX 780 drive the Dell monitor

This one I'm not sure about. It may run, but that's a lot of pixels and the card will probably get quite hot. If you already have the card, might as well try once. 

 

 

 

-would a second GTX 780 drive P3D in SLI on the Dell monitor
-will the additional 2. - .4 Ghz from the Devil's Canyon CPU be worth the upgrade

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/449244-2-way-and-3-way-sli-support-in-p3d-v23/

 

I'd refer to the thread I just linked for the SLI questions. Rob is quite knowledgeable and it seems like quite a bit of info in that thread.

 

Hope your case is big enough for those 980s! I just upgraded to a 780 myself and my Phantom 410 is now stretched for space. Hope I helped!

 

 

I didn't do very well on the silicone lottery with the 4770K.

 

Overclocking to 4.4 is not too shabby.

 

 

not a casual purchase for me.

 

Frankly the improvements will be marginal for the amount of hard-earned outlayed.

 

 

 

is the GTX 980 overkill

 

Not overkill but unwise. It is anticipated that AMD will shortly release the R390x and nVidia intends to spike that by releasing the Maxwell equivalent of the 780Ti, or better.  That would be a superior choice IMHO.

 

When reading this forum it is noteworthy that many members observe their graphics card is not being fully utilised. I really have my doubts whether you will need SLI, even if/when it becomes available, to truly enjoy P3D.  Of course if you play other games eg. Crysis 3, BF4 etc. they can take advantage of SLI ... but at what cost?

 

In summary I would hold off on your planned upgrade.  Too much money for too little gain right now.  

-is the GTX 980 overkill

-will the GTX 780 drive the Dell monitor

-would a second GTX 780 drive P3D in SLI on the Dell monitor

-will the additional 2. - .4 Ghz from the Devil's Canyon CPU be worth the upgrade

No, probably will be just fine. I'd take Appliance's advice and wait to see what AMD might offer. There was some leaks that AMD's next top of the line card might have a new higher speed memory implementation.

 

Without getting into an AMD vs. nVidia debate, I do like how there seems to be more tweeking with nVidia cards. I also like how there is more driver stability with AMD and P3D. I only have a R9 270X, but glad I don't have the P3D graphical errors that nVidia owners have from new driver releases.

-will the additional 2. - .4 Ghz from the Devil's Canyon CPU be worth the upgrade

Since you already have the 4770K, I don't think it'll be a huge difference in performance with the Devil's Canyon from the 4770K that you have already. PCper has a good review and overclock look at the 4790k

 

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Processors/Intel-Core-i7-4790K-Devils-Canyon-Review-and-Overclocking

Keep what you have for the time being, the upgrades you mentioned would provide only very marginal improvements for too much money.

I am driving a 4K monitor with a gtx780 and it handles it very well

My R290x is barely running at 50% of it's capacity when running P3D. The fan is only at 35%. That's at 1440p resolution. I must caution you that as an AMD  user, it's frustrating to see nvidia user capable of running much higher frame rate in P3D or FSX for that matter. Now only that but I can't even run FSX:SE with ORBX product because I get these huge vertical spike and weird graphical glitches after 5 minutes of play. Even with the DX10 fixer.

 

You are much better with an GTX 970. Pick one with an higher clock rate and a better cooler.  If you ever want to play other games or even give X-plane 10 a try, you will notice a significant difference.

I really appreciate the advice. It's all good stuff. Time to read and digest. I won't quote all as it will look too jumbled. Rest assured that each post gave me food for thought. Good to know that I can drive the new monitor with a 780 for now.

 

I've read in several places that FSX/P3D does not like AMD cards. This is not a knock, just curious.

 

Thanks

I wanted to thank those who gave me the benefit of their knowledge and experience.

 

I received the new monitor. It's a Dell U3415W 34". I had been using a 32" 1080p TV. The difference in visual quality is stunning. I digress.

 

I just want to report that the GTX780 appears to run the monitor adequately. I haven't used the monitor in an intense scenario yet. Will report if it's an issue.

 

Wendall, I will upgrade in time. But I'd like to thank you guys for saving me some money for the time being.