Jump from 1080p to 1440p or 2160p?

[Brumboy]

Morning everyone,

I have a low end gaming PC at the moment, it can barely run the latest games on low settings (gtx 460 ).

However since I skipped buying the latest next gen consoles I'm going to get into some PC gaming. However I cannot decide what path to take..regardless of resolution I'll have to buy a new PSU, upgrade my memory and get a new case so that's (£200 there).

First path -1440p - would gaming be nice enough and a good jump from 1080p for the next 2 years or so? If so what GPU would be best at this resolution, I don't want to spend more than £250ish. I'm just concerned that I won't be overly impressed with 1440p gaming..is it any good? I'd also have to buy a 1440p monitor.

Price - £500-£600

Second path - 2160p - I guess this might be out of my budget considering the latest GPU's don't run 4k perfectly yet and I'd have to spend £300+ on a GPU to play at nice frame rates? Again I'd have to buy a 4k monitor.

But wouldn't buying a 4k monitor be better since I can change the resolution to 1080p/1440p anyway and game at that resolution? that saves me having to sell a 1440p monitor in the long run?

Price - £850-£1000

I've been thinking about this for ages now and cannot decide what to do or what's better in the long run..

Please help guys!

 

[Brumboy]

It seems like it's pretty much a one sided opinion on this, 1440p gaming it is then. It does seem like the logical solution considering my small budget.

On this forum and others some people say that a 290x & 970 isn't enough for 1440p gaming at max settings but on benchmarks it looks like it is? I would be safe with either of those cards right? (My Asus P8P67 motherboard only supports crossfire).

I'm planning to buy a 850w or 1000w PSU for future upgrades so I guess a 290x would be the right card to get since I can buy a second whenever I decide to jump to 4k gaming?

So I guess that's settled, only decision to make about GPU's is should I wait till AMD release the 300 series and see what the prices of those are or get a 290x for a cheaper price when they're realised lol

One last thing, monitors; I have only ever used 60hz monitors, however I do like my FPS games but I don't really play online due to my crap internet. So I am not entirely sure if I would make use of a 120/144hz monitor. Plus to play at those crazy frame rates I would require a top end GPU which I can't afford (980/Titan x).

So would it be a smart idea to buy a 60hz 4k monitor now instead of a 1440p one because I can just set the resolution to 1080p/1440p whenever needed and when I do get a GPU powerful enough to play games at 4k I can just change the resolution back? it will save me selling a 1440p monitor.

4k monitors - Samsung U28D590 (£400) / Asus PB287Q £430) / Acer Predator 4k2k XB280HK (£510)

Or should I buy a 1440p monitor now and by the time I upgrade my GPU, 4k monitors should be better & cheaper?

1440p monitors - Acer Predator XG270H (£430) / BenQ XL2730Z (£500)

So many options here!

Thanks for the quick replies and information, you guys are very helpful.

 

[Brumboy]

I think a few of the suggestions of going 120Hz+ are a slightly misguided and coming from users that are used to luxuries of droolworthy GPU grunt and 60fps+ gaming with Ultra settings. A few of those users a going Titan X/Titan X SLI for 1440p 144Hz for example.

As I mentioned earlier, in reality using a single high end 290X or 970 with a 120Hz 1440p monitor is pointless imo and the extra money 120HZ costs at this resolution would be better put to use to a more powerful GPU in the first place to run over 60fps.

Getting a 4k monitor and then using a lower resolution because of lack of grunt could be an idea, but not all monitors look good when using a resolution lower than the original one to my knowledge. Maybe someone with a 4k monitor can try it out and report how well they look with non native resolutions.

Yeah I don't quite think 144hz gaming is where I'm at right now, that's the next level up

1440p & 60hz seems to be the sweet spot as said by many of you.

I had a look at the monitors and updated my previous post with some models. 1440p and 4k monitors are very similiar in price for some reason so it makes sense to opt for a 4k one at the same price? I just need to see if lowering the resolution to 1440p or 1080p is ok with a 4k monitor.

Samsung U28D590 (£400) / Asus PB287Q (£430) - both 4k, LED, 60hz & 1ms and branded as "gaming monitors".

Are either of those a smart choice for gaming?

 

[Brumboy]

How about a Benq GW2765HT?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-110-BQ

My knowledge on monitors isn't great but isn't that very cheap for a 1440p monitor, is there a catch apart from the 4ms response time?

 

[Brumboy]

How about a B grade swift? I’ve seen posts from a couple of people who’ve brought them and they have had zero issues and couldn’t even tell why they were in the B grade section.

£479 for a 27” 1440p, gsync, 144hz 1ms monitor, still comes with 90 day warranty with OCUK and then the normal ASUS warranty.

Should be worth some consideration, and because it has gsync you won’t need as much gpu grunt to get a smooth gaming experience out of it.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-764-AS&groupid=595&catid=670

The swift looks awesome indeed, a steep price tag but definitely has top specs, but I'm still debating between 1440p and a 4k monitor, if I were to get a 1440p it would most likely be that one!

I have a Asus PB287Q 4K monitor (3ft away on my desk). 1440p is perfectly fine but 1080p is slightly pixelated (stretched) in games even though a 28 inch monitor.

Personal opinion ofcourse.

The monitor is a 60hz 1ms (on displayport) with 157ppi and picture quality is very good.

It's going to get some getting use to as the desktop real-estate is very big (running 4K) and you will need to be using 150-175% in chrome to read websites.

So 1440p gaming on that 4k monitor is actually fairly decent and playable? No weird visuals or anything?

Asus PB287Q is what I was looking at for a 4k monitor, that and a Samsung U28D590.

How's the monitor in general? very tempted by this one, would love some feedback mate

Also remember having a 4k monitor doesn’t mean yo have to play at 4k. You could downscale the game to 1440p and game away. Whilst also enjoying the 4k res on the desktop.

Indeed, 1440p for now then upgrade GPU's in a year or two and game at 4k

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-099-BQ

Forget about resolution and PPI, static contrast ratio will make literally everything look better. This monitor sports around 2500:1, where mostly everything else is around 1000:1. (and increasing static contrast ratio requires 0% more GPU power! )

It's not a perfect monitor, but OCUK has had it on sale for £400-450 and I've seen it elsewhere cheaper. But the contrast ratio and size are just great. Input lag is decent using display port and the high overdrive setting.

I remember watching the blu ray of Aliens with my girlfriend on this a little while after I bought it and we were gobsmacked that the blacks in the space scenes actually almost looked black!

Unfortunately monitors are still a bucket of compromises, but I was looking for a monitor for like 2 years before the BL3200 came along and offered a package I was happy with.

That's the same price as the 4k monitors I've mentioned though

I'll have a look around for some reviews on it just incase

Exactly... Like right now I am having to play Elite: Dangerous at 1440p. But then I have many games I can play 4k no problem.

Soon when the Radeon 390 is out I will be able to play Elite 4k easily, though some games will still struggle at 4k even with such a card, I just play those at 1440p

Don't see the point of limiting yourself. Get the new tech, 1600p has been out for years, I had one 5+ years ago. Time for 4k

That's the way I'm looking at it. 1440p isn't new at all, and I always like to have the latest technology so I know I'll end up regretting purchasing a 1440p monitors when 4k ones are out!

Plus it'll be a hassle selling the monitor too and then buying a 4k monitor after. So it just saves a lot of time and effort by buying a 4k one now and changing the resolution when needed.

 

[Brumboy]

You gotta be smart about it. Look at what games you play the most and then hunt down some benchmarks. I look at what I play the most and you could easily get 4K @ 60fps with even meh cards like the 285 (Smite, DotA 2, Path of Exile, CS:GO, etc.) And secondly, some games just run like **** regardless of the hardware, is it really worth investing money for them? Or ones that you'll play for 5 hours and be done with? I look at AC: Unity and there's no point in even playing it atm.

I was in a predicament similar to yours but my conclusion was: 1440p is not worth the jump to unless you want the highest resolution 144hz monitors (and I just didn't care for that for the games I play). And for the games I play I don't really need to upgrade anything else to get good performance at 4k. And lastly, I don't mind lowering settings for games I'll play for a few hours only to see the story. So 4K it was. I would say though that I think Freesync/Gsync is a game changer for 4K and you should definitely look at something with them (Gsync 4K is out, Freesync not yet).

To be fair I haven't played PC games in a while due to simply not being able too. But I usually play FPS games and some MMORPG's and the odd RTS.

I too don't mind lowering settings, I mean at 4k, lowering some settings shouldn't hinder the quality of visuals since the resolution is so high right? So a game at high settings but running at 4k should look awesome?

I have read a bit about freesync/gsync, am I right in thinking that because of this technology (and from what people have said) that as long as the game is running at more than 30FPS than the game will be smooth and there will be no tearing due to the freesync/gsync?

So I could maybe run some 4k games at high settings with around 30-40FPS but still be happy with the performance of the game due to freesync/gsync? So that would mean I can get away with not having to buy a Titanx

 

[Brumboy]

The Asus PB287Q 4K monitor is pretty good in all aspects.

You should be running display port to get 60hz though. There's a setting you have to change on the monitor but that's a one off thing that takes a few seconds.

The only problem you will find is browsing the internet if your running 4K on the desktop (you have to zoom in to 150-175%).

1440p is perfectly fine with no anomalies. You might not even notice the difference and get better FPS if your GPU isn't able to handle 4K.

1440p and 4K on low looks a lot better than 1080p on High-Ultra on most games. That has a lot to do with the stretching to fit the screen imo. It's like playing Minecraft .

I will never go back to 1080p EVER !

That's great to know. As long as I can game at 1080p/1440p in the mean time until I get a GPU capable of running 4k then that's perfect. I'm currently using my 37 inch LG LED TV at the moment so going back to a regular monitor will be nice!

Cheers for the information

It's gotta be 1440p, Your not doing 4k on any single card except a Titan X and certainly not in the 300 pound price range.

I'm moving up to either a 21:9 2560x1080 or a 16:9 2560x1440 this year I just want to include one of the sync brothers so until we know more on that side of things I'm waiting.

I know, that's true, a mid range GPU that can run 4k is still a while away. a 21:9 4k monitor would be beautiful!

But why does it have to be single-card? With a bit of luck you can get a 290x CF going for around 400.

I'm not very experienced with GPU's and cooling. I'd have to get a local computer repair shop to do the upgrades for me so I'd rather stick with a single GPU for now.

Hi, my tuppence worth, 4K is great, I have a 290 and always have my desktop at 4K, for gaming it depends on the game ie Fallout 3/ NV and Dishonored all play fine at 4K, older games obviously but they look great anyway. Alien Isolation can play at 4K, depends whats happening, looks great at 1440p as well though. Currently hammering Far Cry 4 at 1440p on high settings (gobsmacked at how good this looks on high at 4K and 1440p) can do 4K on Far Cry but if a lot going on then it struggles. I'm lucky really as I don't care about fps as long as the game is smooth so 60Hz @ 4K or 1440p is fine with me. My AOC 28" 4K TN monitor is easily the best monitor I've ever had and it scales 1440p and 1080p great in my opinion. The only thing I would say is when gaming at higher res make sure you have excellent cooling, especially 4K, those cards get hot hot hot. My next graphics card will probably be the 390X (depends how much and how powerful) as long as it does 4K @ 60Hz and is smooth in Far Cry 4, oh and has 6 or 8Gb vram, if not then I'll wait for the next gen.

Wow thanks for that. a lot of useful information and exactly what I needed to know. I've been looking at the 290 as my motherboard only supports crossfire. And it's within my price range too. Seems like it's a great performer in the real world. 1440p on every game at good settings and some 4k games? Perfect!

I'm the same mate, I don't care too much about FPS as long as it's smooth and playable so 60hz is fine for me aswell. I've never had a AOC monitor before, but it scales 1080p and 1440p well? what's the response time like?

Any recommendations on what 290x cards have good cooling then?

Yeah I'm most likely going to wait a bit for any news on the 390x as it'll make the 290x prices drop, so I'll get a good deal.

Thanks for your input, that could be very helpful for the op seeing that your 4k monitor is very flexible and still is fine to game at 1440p on it if the game gets a bit too demanding.