I recently upgraded most of my gaming setup but haven't yet changed my GPU and monitor. I'm primarily playing League, Dota 2, and TFT, and my current GPU is still performing well. I'm thinking about investing in a new monitor since OLED prices have dropped, but I'm concerned about whether my existing GPU will hold back the quality. Would it be worth it to buy the ASUS 27" ROG Strix XG27AQDMG OLED QHD 240 Hz monitor for my setup, or would I be better off waiting until I upgrade my GPU? Here are my specs:
- PSU: Lian Li Edge Platinum 1000W
- Motherboard: Gigabyte B850M Aorus Elite WiFi 6E
- CPU: Ryzen 7 9800X3D with Corsair Titan 360 Liquid Cooler
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 OC 6GB
- RAM: Kingston 32GB 6000MHz DDR5 Fury Beast AMD EXPO/XMP 3.0
- SSD: Kingston NV3 M.2 Gen 4 1TB
- Plus 3 additional Corsair chassis fans in a Lian Li O11 Vision Compact case.
3 Answers
Based on my experience, a GTX 1660 is going to struggle with 1440p at high refresh rates. I had a 3080 and it started having difficulties with that resolution. You could definitely hit 1440p, but your refresh rates might not be consistent, leading to a choppy experience if you don’t limit your FPS.
With your current setup, every game you play will likely be limited by your GPU. While the CPU is great, the 1660 won't be able to max out that 240Hz OLED at 1440p. I’d recommend waiting for a more powerful GPU, like a 5070 or a 9070 XT, which should give you a better experience without breaking the bank.
I’m looking at the 9060 XT but I'm not sure if even that will keep up with 1440p. What do you think?
You're correct to be cautious with such a hefty upgrade on other components while leaving the GPU. Your CPU and PSU seem quite overkill, especially if upgrading the GPU is going to add significant performance. It's a good idea to invest in a faster graphics card instead of going all-in on a monitor that won't deliver its potential until you've upgraded the GPU.
Initially, I wanted to upgrade everything at once, but GPU prices were crazy high at the time. I figured I’d see how my system would perform first with the current GPU, but I didn't know I was sacrificing performance like this.
That's what I was worried about! My GPU handles 1080p 60Hz fine now, but if I can’t get the best out of the new monitor, it seems pointless to upgrade. Thanks for the heads-up.