1080P on a 1440P monitor

nheather

nheather

nheather

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Hi,

I need to buy a new monitor - I was using two Dell 23” UltraSharp ISP, both quite old now and one has recently died.

As a replacement, I have decided that I need to move forward rather than buy another 1080P so I have my eye on an MSI 27” 1440P 165Hz ISP.

I know that my PC is not really powerful, it’s okay with a Ryzen 5 and a 1660 Ti graphics card, but I suspect that will struggle with gaming at 1440P.

I play a lot of strategy games and they will be fine but I do also do some action games like Horizon Zero Dawn and Tomb Raider. I have been more than happy at 1080P for these which leads me to my question.

When I play a game, I will try at 1440P, but if it struggles I will switch to 1080P. In that case, what does 1080P full-screen look like on a 1440P? Does it work okay or does it look weird.
 
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If you have a game that is a struggle is it best to play at 1440P with lower settings or play it at 1080P with higher settings?

Cheers,

Nigel
 
nheather said:
If you have a game that is a struggle is it best to play at 1440P with lower settings or play it at 1080P with higher settings?

Cheers,

Nigel
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For me it's about smooth gameplay so whatever gives me that without dropping to much below 60fps , but you have to decide which you prefer.
 
mickyflinn said:
For me it's about smooth gameplay so whatever gives me that without dropping to much below 60fps , but you have to decide which you prefer.
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Yes that is what is worrying me - a game that I can play at 75 fps at 1080P but drops down to 45 fps at 1440P.

Not something I can really know without buying the monitor.
 
nheather said:
Yes that is what is worrying me - a game that I can play at 75 fps at 1080P but drops down to 45 fps at 1440P.

Not something I can really know without buying the monitor.
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I would still buy the 1440p monitor sure you mite have to make some compromises but it may push you on to get a better gpu when prices are lower.


The 1660ti is no slouch but the 3060ti is about 60% faster at 1440p as a point of refrence.
 
mickyflinn said:
I would still buy the 1440p monitor sure you mite have to make some compromises but it may push you on to get a better gpu when prices are lower.


The 1660ti is no slouch but the 3060ti is about 60% faster at 1440p as a point of refrence.
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Thanks, that is probably the right thing to do. Will have to put it on hold for a little to buy. I’ve never spent more than £200 on a monitor so it took a bit of deliberating to accept the £450 for the MSI monitor that had been recommended and by the time I decided to buy it is back up to £500. So will hang on a little longer.
 
nheather said:
Thanks, that is probably the right thing to do. Will have to put it on hold for a little to buy. I’ve never spent more than £200 on a monitor so it took a bit of deliberating to accept the £450 for the MSI monitor that had been recommended and by the time I decided to buy it is back up to £500. So will hang on a little longer.
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Don't need to spend £450 monitor there's plenty of decent £300+ 1440p monitors unless ypur after something specific.
 
You're asking the right question. 720p goes into 1440p 4 times, so upscaling is a simple 4:1 pixel ratio. 1080p does not go into 1440p in a clean way, resulting in the image being blurred. In the context of multiple monitors, a change to the resolution on your main monitor will mess up the alignment of your other monitors too.

I've been on 1440p for a while, and often consider going back to 1920x1200. For productivity, the extra resolution from 1440p is a must-have (which is why I keep it). For gaming, 1440p requires a lot more horsepower than 1080p. I'm running a GTX 1080 and tend to play games in a 1920x1200 window for performance gain without losing image quality, but it's not a good experience for first person gaming. I would not call 1440p 'moving forward' for gaming, productivity yes, but not gaming.

In the context of today's prices. Is it really wise to commit yourself to needing a new gpu at this particular time? I don't think so.

In the context of your situation, you could use your remaining 1080p monitor as your primary monitor for gaming, then have a 1440p monitor as your second monitor. Even if it's just a temporary arrangement until you get a gpu.

In the context of monitors, new monitors are a metric buttload better than older monitors, so you'll probably throw away your 1080p monitor because the picture quality offends your eyes if you put it next to a new 1440p monitor.
 
Prices fluctuate, a lot. I've been looking for the last few months for monitors myself and have seen prices go up and down quicker than a stripper's knickers. As for your 1440p gaming dilemma, you can always lower either/or AA and shadows. I gave a friend of mine my older 1440p 32" and he's having a blast in Borderlands 3 (doesn't play much else beyond the Borderlands series) with his 1660Ti. You'll play games just fine on a 1440p monitor but you might have to lower one or two settings to get decent performance but unless you're a graphics whore you won't miss. If I were in your shoes; I'd buy.
 
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