Upgrade for what (4k)

[Born_2_Kill_83]

Thought I might have a bit better luck posting this in here.

Currently running a Benq 120hz gaming screen @ 1080p with 2X290x's/[email protected] and loving it, I can max out every game with plenty of fps to boot.

But I have an upgrade itch, I want a 4k monitor or perhaps 1440p at least. Here is the problem I remember when I got my 120hz screen I turned it on and booted up BF3 and everything felt and looked amazing, all so smooth. I don’t notice it anymore I've probably got used to it.

The questions are:

1)
If I move to 4K will I notice the drop down to 60hz again?

2)
Will my 2 290x's run BF4 and other top titles at decent FPS, I get around 120 atm but don’t want to go below 60fps at any point, and I must keep the games a the highest settings, I have a little OCD about it.

I'm thinking of going for the Samsung 4K, however the Asus 1440p would be perfect but its way to expensive for me to spend on a monitor, £400 for a 4k is a stretch as I'm saving for X99 in a couple of months.

120hz 4K screens are a couple of years away yet and I'm bored of 1080p, but don’t want to move if my hardware isn’t good enough or if 60hz will make me feel sikki poo, what a dilemma help.

 

[LtMatt]

I think you'll be grand lad, you will have to lower settings a tad from the absolute highest though, but the image quality will still be top notch. You could always add a third card if you need more fps too.

 

[Deceptor]

Set your screen to 60Hz in windows options (Desktop -> Right Click -> Screen Resolution -> Advanced Options -> Monitor Tab -> Refresh Rate -> 60Hz). See if you notice any diff in windows itself, then of course games

 

[Born_2_Kill_83]

I think you'll be grand lad, you will have to lower settings a tad from the absolute highest though, but the image quality will still be top notch. You could always add a third card if you need more fps too.

3rd card is an option but I dont fancy adding another £300 on already whats turning out to be a expensive hardware year for me.
However I must play games as the developers intended, i.e all settings maxed, I dont mind turning down a little MSAA for example as I've read the higher res will balance this out.
What FPS can I expect do you think from my setup.

Set your screen to 60Hz in windows options (Desktop -> Right Click -> Screen Resolution -> Advanced Options -> Monitor Tab -> Refresh Rate -> 60Hz). See if you notice any diff in windows itself, then of course games

Why didnt I think of this

 

[LtMatt]

3rd card is an option but I dont fancy adding another £300 on already whats turning out to be a expensive hardware year for me.
However I must play games as the developers intended, i.e all settings maxed, I dont mind turning down a little MSAA for example as I've read the higher res will balance this out.
What FPS can I expect do you think from my setup.




Why didnt I think of this

You'll be fine as long as you don't mind lowering AA a bit. Ignore those who say you need x8-x4AA minimum at 4K, it's only because they're partially blind.

 

[Born_2_Kill_83]

Ok I think I'm 90% convinced I'll get one, I'll just wait for a couple more opinions.

What monitor do you run LtMatt?

 

[LtMatt]

Ok I think I'm 90% convinced I'll get one, I'll just wait for a couple more opinions.

What monitor do you run LtMatt?

I'm on a 1440p screen mate, but like you I'm tempted by 4K. However Whyscotty put me off a tad when he explained the pitfalls of 4K currently. As a result I'm thinking about waiting it out for the first Freesync 4k monitor, ideally IPS. In the meantime I'm considering either a third 290 and silly amounts of supersampling/AA at 1440P or selling my 290's and getting a couple of 290X lightnings to play about with.

 

[Born_2_Kill_83]

I'm on a 1440p screen mate, but like you I'm tempted by 4K. However Whyscotty put me off a tad when he explained the pitfalls of 4K currently. As a result I'm thinking about waiting it out for the first Freesync 4k monitor, ideally IPS. In the meantime I'm considering either a third 290 and silly amounts of supersampling/AA at 1440P or selling my 290's and getting a couple of 290X lightnings to play about with.

What where the pitfalls out of interest?

 

[LtMatt]

What where the pitfalls out of interest?

I will direct him to this thread to answer that. From memory i think it was a case of a lot of things didn't work very well with it.

 

[Born_2_Kill_83]

I will direct him to this thread to answer that. From memory i think it was a case of a lot of things didn't work very well with it.

Ive noticed theres been a couple of problems but it mainly seemed like a poor batch of monitors, unless theres something else.
Thanks for you help btw

 

[LtMatt]

Ive noticed theres been a couple of problems but it mainly seemed like a poor batch of monitors, unless theres something else.
Thanks for you help btw

No worries. Far from a complete expert on this so i will bring in those who've used 4K. Still tempted myself, but i think i might be better off holding on for a bit.

 

[Born_2_Kill_83]

No worries. Far from a complete expert on this so i will bring in those who've used 4K. Still tempted myself, but i think i might be better off holding on for a bit.

120hz 4k is my ideal world but waiting for the next displayport is going to be a couple of years at least. Plus hardware will need to advance quite a bit.

 

[Deceptor]

Ive noticed theres been a couple of problems but it mainly seemed like a poor batch of monitors, unless theres something else.
Thanks for you help btw

Main issue with 4k is scaling really, a lot of apps and such do not scale well so you're left with tiny text. You can of course run the desktop in a lower resolution and play games at 4k, but some games also suffer scaling issues afaik.

 

[whyscotty]

What where the pitfalls out of interest?

I found it virtually impossible to control the mouse in FPS games @4K.

Ended up playing @ 1080 to get it under control.

May have been a bit of PEBKAC involved, but couldn't gain any sort of decent control .

 

[Kaapstad]

I found it virtually impossible to control the mouse in FPS games @4K.

Ended up playing @ 1080 to get it under control.

May have been a bit of PEBKAC involved, but couldn't gain any sort of decent control .

No problems with mouse control on mine, it is the same as using 1080p or 1600p. My only problem is finding the mouse pointer to start with as it is tiny and gets lost on a 32" screen.

My biggest problem at the moment is 4K and Win8.1 don't play nice with my 290Xs and steam games setup. I have gone back to Win7 to fix this.

 

[Tohrazer]

id go with 1440p for now, perhaps 4k in a year or two when the gpu's have caught up with it

 

[RanxZy]

Coming from the luxury of 120hz I think you will suffer from dips below 60fps with 4k and max settings, even with msaa turned down, which is not really needed at that res anyway.

 

[snips86x]

I will direct him to this thread to answer that. From memory i think it was a case of a lot of things didn't work very well with it.

Hardly surprising considering what 4K is delivering and what's required to power it.

No worries. Far from a complete expert on this so i will bring in those who've used 4K. Still tempted myself, but i think i might be better off holding on for a bit.

Agreed, but as you may have read, 8k has been floating around!

id go with 1440p for now, perhaps 4k in a year or two when the gpu's have caught up with it

Just seems like a waste though. The price of 4k monitors are the same as top IPS 1440p panels

 

[Born_2_Kill_83]

What are you using snips86x?

 

[snips86x]

What are you using snips86x?

I've got a 24" BenQ 1080p monitor mate. I've been trying to decide between 1440p and 4k, both of which are about the same price!