Hello,
In the upcoming months I plan on building myself a new computer since right now mine is several years old now and it’s showing it’s age with newer titles that come out. Currently using a FX-6300 with a RX 470. Anyways…
Always been using 1080 resolution and would like to step up to a dual monitor setup. However not sure what resolution I wanna go with… I know if you game in 4K you need a high end computer give or take to run most games. I know for a fact my computer probably wouldn’t handle it very well but in the future that’s different.
For those who use 1440 or 4K which do you prefer? Mostly for me the primary use is for gaming with a little bit of web browsing.
Thanks!
What monitor size? I’m going to assume 27" since that’s by far the most commonly available.
Generally speaking, 2560x1440 is very good for 27". Sharpness is decent at normal usage distance and even lowend-to-midrange GPUs can drive it. Hard to go wrong with 1440 27", especially coming from 1080p at any size.
4K at 27" is kinda weird. It’s high enough that most people will want to enable UI scaling in their OS to make UI elements readable, but not high enough to cleanly double 2560x1440, which means that the sharpness of UI elements will take a bit of a hit due to fractional scaling. In games, it’s high enough resolution that you can probably disable antialiasing or only use very light antialiasing. It’s a good deal more difficult to drive however, so you’ll need a card somewhere between midrange and high end.
The other thing you’ll want to consider is framerate. Are you happy with 60hz or do you want to push 120hz/144hz/beyond? High refresh rates are just as demanding on the GPU as higher resolutions, so naturally both high resolution AND high refresh rate requires a herculean GPU. Because of this, most people prioritize one or the other.
Personally, I’m sticking with 2560x1440 27" 60hz until 5k becomes the standard for high resolution displays. Why? Because 5k cleanly doubles 2560x1440, meaning no fractional scaling and ultimate sharpness (similar to that of MacBook Pros and modern smartphones).
I like the view of the 144hz but I heard 4K only has 60hz but I’ve enjoyed the view of 4K monitors but I heard most games don’t really look right while playing. Especially Dead by Daylight.
Sorry I know I’m not really helping much… Don’t know much when it comes to monitors.
I’ll let others give their 2¢, but I think probably the most foolproof option is a GSync/Freesync 27" 144hz 2560x1440 monitor. Every game out there will render at that resolution properly, and even if your PC can’t push 144hz at all times, GSync/FreeSync will prevent the tearing that normally comes with unstable frame rates.
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1440p is much easier to drive than 4k.
I would not invest in a 4k display unless I was planning on playing at 1080p (1/4 resolution, good scaling) or just use it as a desktop machine.
4k just needs too much GPU and even if you buy the latest and greatest, you only will enjoy 4k for a short period until you need to upgrade again.
Even 1440p is difficult to drive in many games with high refresh. Some games like RDR2 will struggle to maintain 60fps at 1440p on upper-mid range hardware.
1080p is the long in the tooth resolution that seems to let you drag out upgrades for years, though.
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4k is still along way from being the norm since like Salestria said it requires too much to run smoothly.
According to those steam surveys, 1080p is still the most popular follow by 1440p.
I personally have a 1080p 144hz with a 4k secondary monitor. Playing older games like WoW on the 4k monitor even if its 60hz is pretty nice. A lot of the older zones look really nice with 4k. My razer blade (6700hq paired with gtx 1060) was able to push decent frames WoW on 4k. Averages 45-60 fps when questing and just exploring.
Honestly the only thing holding you back right now is your cpu. If you can find a used 2600k/3770k/47x0k with the appropriate motherboard, you can easily run 4k WoW at medium settings with moderately good fps.
I’m using a Dell AW3418DW @3440x1440. Love the ultra wide and how it opens up the game more.
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Only games right now I’m interested in playing is WoW, Dead by Daylight along with League of Legends and sad to say Marvel’s Avengers when it comes out so I’m not looking to play high demanding games. I heard you need really good internet bandwidth to run 4K also? Is this true?
That’s only regards to streaming gameplay like Stadia.
Local machine, 4k is all about GPU.
Realistically you’re looking at playing on low settings with the average of 40ish fps.
WoW and LoL I am certain you will hit those averages. The other two games, not going to happen even on lowest settings.
Your CPU was doing poorly back in 2010-2012 era, it won’t stand a chance in most games today. Even WoW got a few things reworked which made a little less friendly on lower end computers.
Well of course. I plan on building a whole new rig before the holidays roll around. I’d rather knock out my monitors or know what I should buy before so incase a good sale comes about.
If you’re staying 27" then 1440 is generally the way to go. If you want a bigger screen then consider 4k. I have a 27" 1440 gsync screen and I think it is great for wow.
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27" is pretty big and at 1440p the pixels are teeny-tiny, so 4k is a no-go for me.
My honest recommendation if you’re going to focus more on gaming is high refresh rate. Easier to obtain even if you jump to 1440p.
Though another option is 3440x1440 (ultra wide). I still regret selling my ultra wide monitor. Doesn’t support every game but it was an absolute blast for WoW and League.
After going through six different monitors, some TN some IPS, 4k 60hz, 1440p 120hz+, 1080p 240hz, I settled on the AW3418DW 1440p 120hz.
The 4k 60hz IPS was unplayable. Looked great but didn’t play well. It felt too slow and unresponsive.
The 1080p 240hz TN was very good. Didn’t look the greatest but was very responsive and very fast. A close 2nd place.
1440p 120hz IPS takes the crown because the gameplay is acceptable, it looks great, and the 34" curved widescreen is simply amazing.
I think the sweet spot for gaming/performance on modern hardware is 1440p @144hz.
I went from a 1080p 60hz monitor to an LG 27GL850-B which is a top tier 27" 1440p and the difference has been unreal. I still easily clear 100 fps on max settings in the world and mostly sit around 70-100 in cities.
For reference I’m running an RTX 2060 Super with a Ryzen 5 2600x and 16gb of 3200 mhz Corsair Vengeance ram.
4k would obviously look outstanding but would require an absolute monster rig to run at high settings and high FPS so I haven’t personally touched that.
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How is that monitor? That’s actually the monitor I wanna buy two of but mostly everywhere is out of stock or overpriced. Do you play any other game than WoW? Just wondering if most games look good on it or spread out to far where the UI is jacked up.
Sorry people have been protesting in my area so things have been hectic here.
The monitor is amazing, everything looks beautiful on it. The only way a UI might look wrong is if it doesn’t support the 2560x1440 resolution but I’ve never had that issue. Would 100% recommend it if you can find it at a decent price.
It’s an incredibly difficult monitor to find in stock at a decent price and when it does come back in stock it sells out almost instantly. I paid about $600 for mine but I live in Canada so we always get screwed on prices lol.
As for other games, I’ve played Borderlands 3, Witcher 3, Forza Horizon 4, Monster Hunter World & GTA V to name a few and they all look outstanding in a mostly dark room.
Would you happen to be using the Nano IPS monitor?
I am using the LG 27GL850-B and yes it’s a nano IPS panel.