What GPU should I buy to achieve consistent 144fps on a 4K monitor?

[Hanochi]

Hello this is my first post and I am here mostly for the title question and secondly for the question 'Should I wait for the next series (50) to drop for a price decrease?'

I don't know what else I should include but I'll just put this here:

Monitor in question: Dell G3223Q 32" 4K-UHD 144Hz
and I run a 2nd monitor (acer G276HL) that just runs on 60Hz for side activities (videos, music etc.)

PC-Info​

GPU NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER
CPU AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core Processor 3.70 GHz
Motherboard MEG X570 UNIFY (MS-7C35)
Power Supply Seasonic Prime GX-850
RAM 32 GB
OS Win10
Case Fractal Define 7XL? (can't find the receipt for the model or the number but I measured the outside dimension to 605x240x565 with the feet)

I do not want to improve on any of these parts except the GPU as my last upgrade budget was blown on the CPU, Motherboard, M.2 SSD, RAM, Power Supply and a new Case as I had to use sheet metal scissors to cut a hole big enough to fit my current GPU into my old case!

 

[Kapone33]

If you want to run native 4K a 7900XTX or 4080Super would work. That it with High settings in Games and not Ultra.

 

[mx62]

an unreleased one
no gpu today can achieve consistent 144fps on a 4K monitor

​

 

[Ruru]

an unreleased one
no gpu today can achieve consistent 144fps on a 4K monitor

​

Nobody is forcing to play at maxed out settings with raytracing on.

 

[mx62]

Nobody is forcing to play at maxed out settings with raytracing on.

the almighty 4090 can only push 60fps in star wars outlaws 4k ultra settings rt off
and im not beginning to talk about Wukong

 

[Kapone33]

an unreleased one
no gpu today can achieve consistent 144fps on a 4K monitor

​

Maybe not with Ultra and all the GPU tech enabled but native 4k at high is more than plenty eye candy unless you are some channel like Digital Foundry.

 

[mx62]

Maybe not with Ultra and all the GPU tech enabled but native 4k at high is more than plenty eye candy unless you are some channel like Digital Foundry.

even if you put star wars outlaws in high you wont get 4k@144fps

 

[Bobaganoosh]

It's a bit of a loaded question, but it really depends on what games and what settings you desire. If you want to push the settings as hard as you can, the 4090 is the only option, and even that can't max-out settings at 4k in all titles (as others have mentioned). If you're willing to drop settings a bit and utilize things like DLSS/FSR, you can get away with a 4080 Super or 7900XTX (or even lower if you keep dropping the settings or accepting more smudge in your upscaling). Assuming a 5090 outperforms a 4090, that would obviously be better (better card better lol).

TLDR: As has been the situation for a long time, your answer is to spend as much as you can afford on the GPU, assuming the rest of your hardware isn't going to bottleneck said GPU (you should be fine, especially at 4k).

Edit: I forgot...Nvidia has mostly been just releasing new cards at slightly higher prices and not reducing prices of last-gen. You can sometimes find deals, but they've been working really hard to create scarcity of the previous-gen when they launch a new one in hopes they don't have to reduce the previous prices...The second-hand market still has cheaper used cards (so you could likely find a used 4090 from someone upgrading to 5090 for example), but you didn't clarify if you were willing to go 2nd-hand.

 

[redeye]

are we talking native, or using frame doubling, and upscaling, and no raytracing?… not too hard. BUT native, going to need a 4090, and settings (eyecandy) adjustment… (of course depending on the game)

 

[GerKNG]

in what game? Counterstrike?

 

[Kapone33]

even if you put star wars outlaws in high you wont get 4k@144fps

You are using 1 Game. CP2077 with high will give at least 150 FPS at 4K high with the cards I mentioned. Any racing Game would be laughed at and the CPU is strong enough to handle CPU intensive Games like TWWH3. I don't really see an issue if the OP's monitor supports VRR as the smoothness will feel the same at 50 fps vs 144 anyway. PC Gaming is not strictly beholden to Unreal 5.

If you want to play Sony ports at 4K you need at least 16GB of VRAM to not run into issues. For Gaming an all AMD system does have the advantage of unified software. Little QOL things like the CPU having access to all the VRAM or getting an FPS counter that monitors micro stutter. If you are into Nvidia RT the only card that can do 4k at respectable frames is the 4090. A 4090 is 3x a 7900XTX where I live in cost and gives you Space Marine 2 and another Game or you could go Nvidia and get Star Wars Outlaws. MSI has a promo on where the cheapest thing you can buy is a $200 PSU to get Star Wars Outlaws as well though. It is limited and you have to do it through their website. Black Friday is coming so I would look for a deal on the cards I mentioned if a 7900XT or 4070TI are the right price thet could also make sense for what the OP wants to do.

 

[Hanochi]

you could likely find a used 4090 from someone upgrading to 5090

Sounds like a plan if the price does not drop!

what settings you desire

A sharp and clear image with stable framerates where I don't notice anything so I don't lose immersion if that makes sense.
I do not care for raytracing in games as that setting made me unable to play most games in an acceptable way (that being without the immersion being ruined by the strain on the fps).

in what game?

I mostly stick to Vermintide 2, Darktide, Elden Ring, Monster Hunter World and Apex.

are we talking native, or using frame doubling, and upscaling

I am thinking native since I tend to tab-out a lot and having the monitor readjust everytime I do it is annoying.
Not sure how good frame doubling is as looking it up made me think. How exactly is showing the same frame twice smoother?
Upscaling on the other hand seems to reduce the workload for the GPU giving me more frames so that makes the most sense but it also reduces the quality of the image.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Wait for the RTX 50 series. My 4080 generally won't do 4K/120 without DLSS, unless it's a very optimized or older game. 7900 XTX is in the same performance ballpark, and it's honestly too late to buy a 4090 full price now.

Not sure how good frame doubling is as looking it up made me think. How exactly is showing the same frame twice smoother?

DLSS-G is not exactly just showing the same frame twice. It's a very smart algorithm and it tends to look surprisingly good. But it is not perfect. It won't work for games like Apex (not only because it doesn't support that - but because frame generation tends to incur a latency penalty that is usually remedied with the use of Nvidia Reflex - but eSports games need pixel perfect graphics).

It's surprisingly good. If you want to see it for yourself, Black Myth Wukong's benchmark tool supports AMD's FSR 3 framegen. It will run on your Turing GPU. It's not as good as DLSS-G, but it'll give you a taste.

 

[Hanochi]

Wait for the RTX 50 series

I guess that is my only option after hearing every take on my question.
As long as I can get the full use out of my expensive monitor im happy.

 

[eidairaman1]

Nobody is forcing to play at maxed out settings with raytracing on.

If I could disable power saving functions at the firmware level I would do it

 

[mb194dc]

What games and settings ? Totally depends on use case.

 

[AnotherReader]

Sounds like a plan if the price does not drop!


A sharp and clear image with stable framerates where I don't notice anything so I don't lose immersion if that makes sense.
I do not care for raytracing in games as that setting made me unable to play most games in an acceptable way (that being without the immersion being ruined by the strain on the fps).


I mostly stick to Vermintide 2, Darktide, Elden Ring, Monster Hunter World and Apex.


I am thinking native since I tend to tab-out a lot and having the monitor readjust everytime I do it is annoying.
Not sure how good frame doubling is as looking it up made me think. How exactly is showing the same frame twice smoother?
Upscaling on the other hand seems to reduce the workload for the GPU giving me more frames so that makes the most sense but it also reduces the quality of the image.

Isn't Elden Ring limited to 60 fps? As for Monster Hunter World, TPU found that the 1080 Ti was barely reaching 40 fps at 4K. This suggests that only a 4090 might be able to achieve 144 fps at 4K in that game.