Looking at a better 4k gaming PC

[robin h 25]

Hi,
I'm looking at getting a new PC at some point, ( may wait until black friday if there's any discounts here?? ) mainly for maxed out 4k gaming, I play a variety of games, mostly AAA at 4K maxed at the best i can on a GTX 980ti, ( looking forward to Cyberpunk2077 )

I currently use the Asus VP28UQ, 4K, 60hz monitor, but i would also like to upgrade within the next year to a 4K 144hz monitor to use for both PC and upcoming next gen consoles ( claiming 4K at 120hz ), The one i have my eye on is Acer XV273K, 4K, 144hz ,1ms, Freesync and G-sync compatible but the monitor can wait for up to a year if it keeps the cost of the build price down and to see if any more or better 4K 144hz monitors hit the market,


Case
CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 680X RGB GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™ i7-9700K Eight Core (3.60GHz @ up to 5.0GHz)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 2.5" SSD, (upto 560MB/sR | 540MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)

Get Ghost Recon: Breakpoint with select SAMSUNG SSDs!
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Price: £1,599.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-overclocked/u5ut5mVszZ/

I'm looking and searching at getting a new, sealed RTX 2080ti on Ebay from someone to see if i can get a decent deal on one than paying full whack.

 

[Scott]

That's the ideal build right there!

The only change I would make would be the PSU. The 850W RMx is really worth it IMO. Not only for the power headroom, but for the fact that it runs silent when not being pushed hard. It's a brilliant PSU. I have the 750RM (older brother) and it's served me well for almost 10 years. Premium components, premium build and not THAT much more expensive.

Oh, if it fits... the H115 RGB Platinum would be a worthwhile purchase as well. That would keep the temps of the 9700k as low as possible on the OC. The fans are silent other than airflow noise so the extra size won't make any odds to acoustics.

 

[Oussebon]

I'm looking and searching at getting a new, sealed RTX 2080ti on Ebay from someone to see if i can get a decent deal on one than paying full whack.

You will struggle to find one that is meaningfully cheaper than if you just shop around regular retail. Adn you'll be buying a £1000 graphics card without the full warranty, or in most cases without warranty at all.

Spending ££££ on a Corsair 680X... 2 x 1TB SSDs (?!) and the Platinum cooler only to pinch pennies on the GPU... the component that is most responsible for gaming performance and which costs almost as much as the rest of the PC put together whichever way you slice it... does not sound like a terribly a prudent plan.

Also if you're not buying the improved monitor for a year, why not just get a 2080 ti for your existing build?

It's not like upgrading the CPU will really improve 4k gaming performance in most cases anyway - not versus the new GPU.

 

[robin h 25]

Also if you're not buying the improved monitor for a year, why not just get a 2080 ti for your existing build?

That's one of the ideas i was thinking of, If i leave upgrading the monitor until around next year and my current 4K monitor is fine for the time being, i can put a 2080 ti here into the build and just save up for the monitor upgrade to get at a later time,

With the Nvidia Geforce 2080 ti and Asus ROG Strix 2080ti, is there any performance increase to justify the extra £300ish difference?. because ouch.

I'm trying not to spend to much but i know 4K gaming is not cheap if you want to get the best performance,

As for thinking to get a 2080 ti on Ebay, i know it not ideal, but for example, I've seen the MSI Gaming X Trio 2080 ti, Everywhere I've looked at it retail, its £1200, but on Ebay, this 1 person is wanting £800 for it, brand new, never opened, that a big saving of £400 but i know it could be a big risk also as you have stated, The £400 on saving would go towards the monitor upgrade in which i could get with out having to wait a year,

Just i'm juggling with ideas on what to do, where i can save with what i have.

With Black Friday only about a month away, i don't know if PCSpecialist will have any deals or discounts happening, another chance to possibly save a little if so, I'm willing to wait until then before i make my mind up, would hate to spend now and find out i could have saved how ever much by just waiting a month.

 

[robin h 25]

That's the ideal build right there!

The only change I would make would be the PSU. The 850W RMx is really worth it IMO. Not only for the power headroom, but for the fact that it runs silent when not being pushed hard. It's a brilliant PSU. I have the 750RM (older brother) and it's served me well for almost 10 years. Premium components, premium build and not THAT much more expensive.

Oh, if it fits... the H115 RGB Platinum would be a worthwhile purchase as well. That would keep the temps of the 9700k as low as possible on the OC. The fans are silent other than airflow noise so the extra size won't make any odds to acoustics.

I couldn't add the 850W RMx its grayed out but i put in the 750W TXm with an RTX 2080 ti and the H115 RGB Platinum into the build and got this message on the proceed page

"You have selected a 750W power supply, but based on our calculations you actually only need a 650W power supply. We have calculated your specification to require around of 604W power including a 20% allowance. Although it is not a mandatory requirement to select a lower wattage power supply, doing so will save you money and the last thing we'd like to do is over charge you!"

I don't know if the 750W would be better,as it states i only need 650W, that's £10 more than the 650W and £21 cheaper than the 850W.

 

[Scott]

The 750 isn't really worthwhile over the 650 for your current requirements. It's the RMx part of the code that matters, not the wattage. If you call them up they may have some other options for you as I have seen builds with the 650w RMx PSU in there in the past.

 

[Oussebon]

With the Nvidia Geforce 2080 ti and Asus ROG Strix 2080ti, is there any performance increase to justify the extra £300ish difference?.

No, it's the so-called Asus Tax

The RM850x PSU would be ideal; as above it's an excellent series of PSUs. Unfortunately the 850W model is out of stock right now, hopefully it comes back in stock soon.

As for thinking to get a 2080 ti on Ebay, i know it not ideal, but for example, I've seen the MSI Gaming X Trio 2080 ti, Everywhere I've looked at it retail, its £1200, but on Ebay, this 1 person is wanting £800 for it, brand new, never opened, that a big saving of £400 but i know it could be a big risk also as you have stated, The £400 on saving would go towards the monitor upgrade in which i could get with out having to wait a year,

You can get an MSI Ventus for £1000, or a Palit dual. There's a KFA2 tri-fan model for a smidge under £1000 on one site. Or if you're not averse to a blower cooler one, there's one for £900. New these are, not ebay.

If you can save cash by not buying a GPU from PCS but getting one from elsewhere and fitting it yourself, go for it. I'd just be nervous about buying a £1k GPU 2nd hand. Two words: Space Invaders :S

The next savings would be:

1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 2.5" SSD, (upto 560MB/sR | 540MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)

Games' framerates won't care which SSD you have. And for loading times, even a top end NVMe SSD is barely any faster than a Sata SSD (in Anthem it was 1 second, sometimes, in some cases). And you can add more storage whenever you like in the future. So you could defer the expense of some of your SSD storage in order to bring forward the new monitor.

Any storage you can bring over from your old PC?

How about sticking to a 1TB SX6000 SSD only? That alone cuts off nearly £230

 

[robin h 25]

Any storage you can bring over from your old PC?

I can swap over a 1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm) if its going to be ok, from my previous build i did here years ago, if just a simple unplug from my old PC and plug into the new build,

I've removed the 1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 2.5" SSD, (upto 560MB/sR | 540MB/sW from the build,

I'd like to keep the 1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W) for the time being, with the offer of Ghost Recon: Breakpoint included.

I've added the Nvidia RTX 2080 ti , The 850W RMx and H115i RGB CPU Cooler, Total cost of the build is £2,565, My total overall spend i can do is up to £3000 for the PC and a monitor, but i'm in no rush to upgrade the monitor right away and the Acer XV273K, 4K, 144hz i'm looking at, the cheapest I've seen from a retail site is priced a £799, which takes me over budget,
I can leave the monitor for the time being and stick with my 4K 60hz and save up to upgrade later on but i will be upgrading at some point before next year.

 

[Oussebon]

NB that the 970 Evo is over £100 more than the SX6000. If you're gonna buy Breakpoint at full price anyway (~£50ish from Ubi/Epic, or £35 from some other stores) it could be worth it, but otherwise possibly not.

Swapping the HDD in, instead of the Barracuda SSD, is a good idea.

 

[robin h 25]

Thank you all for advice and feedback,

I'm happy with 1TB 970 Evo as its something i've wanted to add to the build,
saving £100 on the cheaper ssd is nice but i would still be over budget if i was to try get the monitor upgrade with the build,

However after having a good look at my financial situation and not spending the full total of my £3000 ( £2565 build total ) with what i've saved and with what i can save each month, i would be looking at the monitor upgrade in around Janurary/Feburary, even if i save £100 on the ssd, the outcome of getting the monitor upgrade is still the same, Janurary/Feburary at the earliest, so i'm happy to stick with 970 Evo,

I may get this PC build sooner than waiting next month for it, as the Nvidia RTX 2080 ti has Call of Duty:MW on offer, i don't know when it will end

 

[Oussebon]

If you end up waiting a bit before getting it, do check back in on the forums before ordering in case there are any tweaks. PCS's component selection can change, as can prices, so extra value could potentially be squeezed.

 

[robin h 25]

I'm back, With 19 days before Black Friday, I should be ordering it, around on Black Friday, up to Cyber Monday,
So this is the spec's i'm looking at so far..

Case
CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 680X RGB GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™ i7-9700K Eight Core (3.60GHz @ up to 5.0GHz)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!

Get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Price: £2,491.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-overclocked/KJ6pEKJsS4/

I see it's already slightly cheaper than when i did this spec almost a month ago with the advice given,

I've also had a look at a possible AMD build, but I've never had or gone with AMD before and don't what there like,

With the Intel build and the AMD build, for which the spec will be below, what would be the better build or performance for 4K gaming.

Case
CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 680X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)

Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs

The Outer Worlds -OR- Borderlands 3 w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
Gigabyte B450 AORUS ELITE: DDR4, USB 3.1 - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!

Get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Price: £2,295.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/7uAyyN9bqe/

This current AMD build is pretty much similar in most aspect's as the Intel build but about £200 cheaper, However i'm still leaning towards the Intel build, but i yet may change my mind depending how much saving's can be had on Black Friday, if any?.

 

[Oussebon]

The performance difference between Intel and AMD CPUs in games is in general extremely small. As for what AMD CPUs are 'like', they're just like Intel, in that they sit there and run your games for you. There's no knack to it.

As for the kind of performance difference in 4k gaming:

AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Review

Ryzen 5 3600 is the most affordable Zen 2 processor in AMD's lineup. At just $200, it offers six cores and twelve threads, yielding a significant advantage in applications against the competition from Intel. Gaming performance is also improved nicely as it is around 10% higher than with previous...

www.techpowerup.com

That's what I mean by extremely small. Margin of error, near enough.

The AMD spec you configured takes advantage of the fact that an AMD system can be had for cheaper. - i.e. a B450 board is fine with an R7 CPU, while an Intel B360 motherboard would undermine an i7.

But you don't have to play the "it's cheaper" game with AMD. You could go for an X570 motherboard e.g. Asus X570 Plus. This, together with AMD's CPUs, supports PCIe 4.0 which could be more futureproof for powerful GPUs and/or provides more bandwidth for other PCIe devices like SSDs. It also supports PCIe 4.0 SSDs like that Corsair MP600 in the configurator. You can expect future PCIe 4.0 SSDs to end up with speeds upto around 7000MB/S, versus the fastest PCIe 3.0 ones like the Samsung 970 Evo Plus which tops out around 3500MB/S.

AMD's R7 CPUs also have 'hyperthreading' which Intel has removed from its i7 lineup, so the R7 could be more futureproof.

For 4k gaming, while I'd seriously consider an Intel option, if it was me shopping I'd be likely to land on AMD's side.

NB: Around Black Friday PCS do sometimes have some special offers - preconfigured specs with discounted prices, similar to the idea of the builds here. So keep an eye on what they have to offer.

 

[robin h 25]

Thanks for the info, Total cost ( less is better ) and futureproofing is going to be the main factor to which i will end up buying,
And now it looks like i'm changing my mind already and the AMD build is the way to go, at seeing that there's not that much of a difference with AMD and Intel

I've made changes to the motherboard and ssd, hopefully a better option

The AMD spec is now looking like this...

Case
CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 680X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)

Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs

The Outer Worlds -OR- Borderlands 3 w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!

Get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR MP600 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 4950MB/R, 4250MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Price: £2,383.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/47zubUekru/

Still slightly cheaper than the Intel build, but more futureproof,
I'm not doing an Overclocked AMD build having read some post's on here, on other builds about it and taken in that advice.
Only downside is that i liked the look of the Gigabyte AORUS Pro / Elite Motherboards, i guess beggars can't be choosers with what's on offer, as long as it get's the job done.

 

[Oussebon]

Spec looks good.

At least the more mainstream mobos have a fairly neutral aesthetic. Here's my Intel board from 2012 when it was still all the rage to have blue stuff everywhere:

 

[Scott]

That's a monster build

 

[robin h 25]

I'm just wondering, while i wait for Black Friday to roll up before i order,

With the 1TB HDD i can put into this build from my old PC, would it need formatting or will it just be a simple straight switch "plug and play" deal?, i only really have game's stored on it,

With the Nvidia RTX 2080 ti, not having any branding on it other than Nvidia Geforce, unlike the Asus brand option, will the Nvidia RTX 2080 ti be like the Founders Edition style,
I'm just assuming that with no other brand being named as a choice of whats on offer, other than Asus in the options, that this is the 2080 ti that will be put into the build ?

I'd rather make sure first before i end up ordering it and then finding out I've ended up being given a some blower style GPU, because excuse the "pun" but i'm not a fan of blower's.

 

[Oussebon]

PCS are currently using a Zotac blower model cooler, according to another poster on the forums. It doesn't give a specific model name, because PCS vary what they use depending on supply. They have used open fan cooler 2080 tis before (including the Zotac AMP!)

In your position I would order the PC without a GPU, and buy and fit my own 2080 ti sourced from elsewhere. I absolutely wouldn't pay the £1350 for the Asus one, but I wouldn't want a blower cooler either.

And/or check in again with them by the time you come to order.

As for the HDD, if it doesn't have an OS installed on it, just a game library and some files, you can probably just add it in. Possibly even have the game clients acknowledge those existing game installs (in their current location, or cut and pasted to an SSD)

 

[robin h 25]

Ok thanks, My HDD does not have OS on it, its just full with games,

If the Gpu was a Founders Edition one, i would've be ok with it,

I would rather go with EVGA over Asus,
I've always opted for EVGA cards, my current 980 ti is a EVGA FTW SC,

Best option i'm looking at as for getting one elsewhere is.

EVGA RTX 2080 ti Black Edition - at £1041
EVGA RTX 2080 ti XC - at £1176
EVGA RTX 2080 ti XC Ultra - at £1263,

These are the cheapest EVGA cards i found on a retail site, for what i'd like but will keep my eye on them for possible Black Friday discounts, if any.

I can go for any one of these and still be within my budget, but paying more, it will take much longer before i end up getting the monitor upgrade, so i'll be at 4K 60hz gaming for awhile longer than the 4K 144hz i'd like ( more like 4K at 120hz realistic ), i know 4K at 144hz is more likely possible for the next gen cards.

 

[Oussebon]

4K 144hz i'd like ( more like 4K at 120hz realistic ), i know 4K at 144hz is more likely possible for the next gen cards.

The 120hz / 144hz thing is a Displayport issue:

The first 4K/144Hz monitors can’t support full quality at 144Hz - KitGuru

ASUS and Acer stunned the display market last month when they placed the world’s first 4K/144Hz moni

www.kitguru.net

And:

Moving into the performance section, there are a few refresh rate oddities worth mentioning that effectively make the Acer Nitro XV273K more of a 120Hz 4K monitor. While this panel is capable of a 144 Hz refresh rate, enabling it is hidden away in the on-screen menu. To use the mode you’ll need to run dual DisplayPort cables, which introduces its own set of compatibility challenges. But worst of all, enabling the 144 Hz refresh rate disables FreeSync; not an ideal situation for gamers that benefit greatly from adaptive sync with such a high resolution.

Acer Nitro XV273K 27" Gaming Monitor Review

The Acer Nitro XV273K is the first monitor to bring a 4K resolution and 144 Hz refresh rate to gamers at a more affordable price point. At...

www.techspot.com

Turning to the GPU, I'd probably go with the 2080 ti Black. Since you're getting basically the same performance for £130 and £220 less, respectively.

Tbh I'd probably buy an MSI Ventus for £950. Not least because I've personally gone off EVGA a bit. I won't detail the rant but this being my 6th EVGA GPU one way or another, it's extremely likely to be my last. And I'd still be getting the same thing for a further £90 cheaper.