Can't Decide between Freesync and G-sync

[gillmanjr]

Got my Kraken X62 installed and got my i5 running at 4.4 GHz. Its pretty awesome - super quiet and cool.

However, I'm convinced from the benchmarks I've seen and other posts that a 4670k is not adequate for ultrawide gaming at more than 60 Hz. Even if I were to buy an RTX 2080 and G-Sync monitor it would probably be wasted. So I'm going to upgrade to a Z390 and i5 9600k before I do the monitor and GPU change.

 

[Darren]

You'll definitely notice a performance increase with a new GPU but yeah most anything will be throttled by that i5 to varying degrees depending on the game.

 

[OmniDyne]

So I'm going to upgrade to a Z390 and i5 9600k before I do the monitor and GPU change.

You should check out Gamers Nexus review of the 9600K.

Newer games are really starting to take advantage of higher thread counts. Although the 9600K produces high frame rates, frame times are less consistent, meaning choppy and less consistent performance. 6 cores/ 6 threads when you're paying premium prices may not be worth it. Just Something to consider, as the i5 processors are definitely showing inconsistent performance in new AAA titles.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3407-intel-i5-9600k-cpu-review-vs-2700-2600-8700k

 

[Darren]

You should check out Gamers Nexus review of the 9600K.

Newer games are really starting to take advantage of higher thread counts. Although the 9600K produces high frame rates, frame times are less consistent, meaning choppy and less consistent performance. 6 cores/ 6 threads when you're paying premium prices may not be worth it. Just Something to consider, as the i5 processors are definitely showing inconsistent performance in new AAA titles.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3407-intel-i5-9600k-cpu-review-vs-2700-2600-8700k

I wondered about this but haven't kept up enough lately.

 

[OmniDyne]

May be better to wait 6 to 8 months for AMD's 7nm and Intel's 10nm releases.

 

[gillmanjr]

You should check out Gamers Nexus review of the 9600K.

Newer games are really starting to take advantage of higher thread counts. Although the 9600K produces high frame rates, frame times are less consistent, meaning choppy and less consistent performance. 6 cores/ 6 threads when you're paying premium prices may not be worth it. Just Something to consider, as the i5 processors are definitely showing inconsistent performance in new AAA titles.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3407-intel-i5-9600k-cpu-review-vs-2700-2600-8700k

What do you recommend? The i7?

May be better to wait 6 to 8 months for AMD's 7nm and Intel's 10nm releases.

Hasn't the 10nm Intel architecture been postponed like a million times now? Is there even a solid release date announced? People say stuff like this all the time but the problem with technology is that there is ALWAYS some new generation or something amazing just over the horizon. Now is the best time for me to do this upgrade, for several reasons. If I wait 6-8 months I won't end up upgrading for another couple of years, during which time my PC would probably become unusable for modern games. FYI I am kind of leaning towards getting an RTX 2080 and a G sync monitor, just because I know I won't need to upgrade again for more than 5 years.

 

[Darren]

What do you recommend? The i7?



Hasn't the 10nm Intel architecture been postponed like a million times now? Is there even a solid release date announced? People say stuff like this all the time but the problem with technology is that there is ALWAYS some new generation or something amazing just over the horizon. Now is the best time for me to do this upgrade, for several reasons. If I wait 6-8 months I won't end up upgrading for another couple of years, during which time my PC would probably become unusable for modern games. FYI I am kind of leaning towards getting an RTX 2080 and a G sync monitor, just because I know I won't need to upgrade again for more than 5 years.

AMD is going to 7nm and supposedly a big performance jump.

 

[OmniDyne]

What do you recommend? The i7?

Gamers Nexus recommends going up to the i7 processors. Unfortunately, it's a huge jump in price. The i7-8700K is 6-cores/ 12 threads at $370; the 9700K is 8-cores at $400. The Ryen 7 2700 provides a more consistent experience over the 9600K, but it won't give you the highest frame rates, however it's more competitively priced.

Hasn't the 10nm Intel architecture been postponed like a million times now? Is there even a solid release date announced? People say stuff like this all the time but the problem with technology is that there is ALWAYS some new generation or something amazing just over the horizon. Now is the best time for me to do this upgrade, for several reasons. If I wait 6-8 months I won't end up upgrading for another couple of years, during which time my PC would probably become unusable for modern games. FYI I am kind of leaning towards getting an RTX 2080 and a G sync monitor, just because I know I won't need to upgrade again for more than 5 years.

AMD is going to 7nm and supposedly a big performance jump.

As Darren said, 7nm will likely be a massive jump in performance. Sure, there's ALWAYS something over the horizon, but we're at a tipping point performance wise because AMD is competitive again, and Intel (as evidenced by the i5 line and AMD outselling Intel massively) is struggling to make a compelling product.

For AMD, everything is riding on 7nm and I doubt it's going to be a slouch.

You do what you'd like, but I'd wait if I were you. Your 4670k is going to do fine for at least another year. Sometimes it pays to wait.

 

[gillmanjr]

OK so you guys recommend I wait for the CPU/Mobo upgrade, I guess I'm OK with that, but what about GPU and monitor? I know AMDs 7nm also includes new GPUs, but from what I've read the new cards they are going to release are intended to be mid-range cards and still won't outperform a 2080.

 

[OmniDyne]

OK so you guys recommend I wait for the CPU/Mobo upgrade, I guess I'm OK with that, but what about GPU and monitor? I know AMDs 7nm also includes new GPUs, but from what I've read the new cards they are going to release are intended to be mid-range cards and still won't outperform a 2080.

I'm not necessarily recommending that you wait, but I personally would.

Everything surrounding 7nm is pure speculation. AMD is expected to announce more (or debut 7nm processors) at CES 2019, which starts in 7 days. If they debut 7nm tech at CES, it would then be expected to release within 2 quarters, so they could release stuff within 6 months.

If AMD releases something that competes with Intel on the high end in gaming (arguably the 2700 does since anything above 1080p is GPU bound anyways, benchmarks show this) then in theory Intel would have to lower prices to compete, benefiting everyone who's looking to upgrade.

 

[gillmanjr]

I'm not necessarily recommending that you wait, but I personally would.

Everything surrounding 7nm is pure speculation. AMD is expected to announce more (or debut 7nm processors) at CES 2019, which starts in 7 days. If they debut 7nm tech at CES, it would then be expected to release within 2 quarters, so they could release stuff within 6 months.

If AMD releases something that competes with Intel on the high end in gaming (arguably the 2700 does since anything above 1080p is GPU bound anyways, benchmarks show this) then in theory Intel would have to lower prices to compete, benefiting everyone who's looking to upgrade.

Well I can certainly wait 2 weeks to find out what the deal is but if they don't make a definitive announcement for this stuff, I'm not waiting months in the hope that it'll be released and be better than Intel.

 

[Darren]

Yeah just give it a few weeks until we have more info.

I'm not optimistic on AMD suddenly dropping a competitive high end card in the next 6 months.

 

[beers]

I'm not optimistic on AMD suddenly dropping a competitive high end card in the next 6 months.

but the perf/watt will be amazing

the above was trollishly intended but I'm also curious about that for 7nm mobile products.

 

[gillmanjr]

If the AMD thing ends up falling through I've got my whole PC upgrade spec'd out, let me know what you think. FYI for whatever reason I cannot get a link to my Newegg build list, don't know why, but here are the items:

ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming ($168)
i7-9700k ($400)
EVGA RTX 2080 XC Ultra ($800)
16 GB GSkill TridentZ DDR4 3200 ($140)
250GB Samsung 970 EVO NVMe for new system drive ($78)
Copy of Windows 10 Home (~$100)

As far as the monitor, obviously I've decided to go the G-Sync route (if I don't like what AMD announces), so the choices for ultrawide 1440p are now the AOC Agon ($800), Acer Predator ($850), or ASUS Rog Swift ($900). Reviews on all three are roughly the same and they even appear to have the same panel so I'm leaning towards the AOC just because its cheaper. Though I have to say I really like the Predator. I'm hoping one will go on sale but that may just be a fantasy.

 

[gillmanjr]

So after literally months of researching ultrawide monitors and reading/watching every review on the internet, I have finally narrowed it down to two monitors. I was originally looking at the 35" VA panel ultrawides but based on a lot of comparison reviews, I have decided to stick with an IPS display. Since I have already bought an RTX 2080 I have narrowed it down to the only two G-Sync IPS ultrawides that are available for less than $1000. They are the Alienware AW3418DW and the Acer Predator X34P, both with 34" LG IPS displays that run at native 100 Hz and can be OC'd to 120 Hz. Based on many reviews and even head to head comparisons of these two, it is clear to me that the Alienware is the better option if only because it is backed by Dell's QC, customer support, and 3 year warranty, which, it would seem, are all vastly superior to Acer's. I also happen to love the design of the Alienware.

The point of this post is because now I have another dilemma: the Alienware is $900 on Amazon and I have not seen it go on sale anywhere. The Acer, on the other hand, is on sale right now on Newegg for $700, the cheapest I have seen any G-Sync ultrawide. This sale just started today and lasts until next Monday. Do I pull the trigger on the Acer now or wait/spend more money on the Alienware?

 

[johnb35]

Compare specs, but just remember something. Alienware products are all over priced just because of the name.

 

[Darren]

Compare specs, but just remember something. Alienware products are all over priced just because of the name.

I'm not really sure that's true anymore, especially for something like a monitor where the people that are shopping for them are going to be very critical of specs and not just the name on it. It's a Dell product anyway, and is backed as such so I wouldn't have any issue getting one of those if the price and specs were good.

 

[johnb35]

I know its true. I was actually comparing prices of a gaming laptop that someone wanted to other brands with exact same specs. Alienware was about $400 or more IIRC compared to like MSI

 

[gillmanjr]

Compare specs, but just remember something. Alienware products are all over priced just because of the name.

I have compared the specs, I've been doing it for the last 3-4 months. I know the specs of every single 1440p G-Sync ultrawide on the market (and most Freesyncs as well), there are basically two different panels of gaming ultrawide on the market right now, a 35" VA and a 34" IPS. There are four manufacturers of the G-sync versions: Acer/Predator, ASUS/ROG, Dell/Alienware, and AOC/Agon. All other manufacturers are Freesync only.

I disagree with your statement about Alienware being over priced. That may be true for their PCs and laptops (I wouldn't know), but in the case of this monitor, its not. This monitor is $900, which is actually cheaper than the comparable ASUS ROG Swift and the ASUS uses an older version of the IPS panel (only overclockable to 100 Hz rather than 120 Hz). There is no question that the ASUS is inferior to the Alienware and yet is roughly $25-50 more expensive on average. Even the Acer Predator X34P (the other one I am interested in) is normally the same price, it just happens to be on sale right now for $700.

I've done a lot of research on this, the quality control and customer support/warranty you get with the Alienware appears to be the best in the business. To many, that alone is worth an extra hundred or two when you are buying this level of monitor. In fact the reviews of the Acer and their customer support are so bad vs the Dell that I am actually leaning towards ignoring the sale and paying the extra $200 for the Alienware. Not only are the Dell customer service reviews excellent but objectively the Alienware seems to be the best performing monitor as well, out of the whole lot. Most reviews, even as of late 2018, still name the Alienware as the best gaming ultrawide on the market.

 

[OmniDyne]

Alienware appears to be the best in the business.

Tell that to Linus, who just had a series on customer support from different companies. Alienware customer support is actually first on trial, and it's quite abysmal:

Alienware best in the business? No way.

Dell customer service reviews excellent

By design. They're rolling out these monitors on assembly lines, and you're paying beyond premium prices. Either way, both companies are going to have you jumping through hoops for customer/ warranty support. Acer is as reputable a brand as Dell/ Alienware.

They do only what they're required to do and the quality of your experience will differ greatly depending on how much the support agent is willing to help.