Should I go for a 1440p or 4k monitor?

[Kelt]

There are more strange people than I thought….

Different folks, different strokes, I suppose.

I only know I would never willingly go back to a 16:9 display.

21:9 is superb for gaming, great for browsing the net, being able to have two windows open at the same time.

Just an all round pleasure to use.

And for modern A+ games (except for Japanese devs, who seem stuck in the nineties), there are more that support UW than not, with many workarounds for those that don't.

 

[harmattan]

I use both and would be torn between an UW 3440×1440 and a 32" 4k with high hz. Whichever route you go, get an IPS display: this may, in fact, be the deciding factor if there's only one type with an IPS in my price range. VAs are really deficient to IPS in color accuracy and often have ghosting issues.

For productivity, I actually prefer an UW as you can fit two good-sized windows precisely side by side. It's a very neat and clean setup to have Outlook/Teams/Github on one side and another app on the other. The 4k, however, is marginally better for multimedia. UW is superb for gaming, if the game supports it (most modern games so, and there are config tweaks for others).

27" works for 1440p, but at 32" you really start to see the pixels. Also, the viewable difference between 165hz vs 144hz is miniscule, even if your card can get there.

 

[MartinPrince]

I have a 34" 144Hz 1140p UW, 32" 165Hz 1440p and 4k 120Hz TV. If I had to choose 1 for gaming and desktop use it would easily be the 32" 1440p 16:9. So in my opinion @Spudgun made the only correct choice for his situation.

What surprised my with the UW is how many games don't have 21:9 support and those that apparently do don't do it properly and only really "stretch" the image. You notice this in games like Far Cry 6; put an object in the centre and then move it to the corner and see how much wider it becomes. Disappointing.

 

[robj20]

As a few others have found, I also find 27" 1440p a sweet spot for all round use plus gaming.

 

[Mr Jack]

I guess the real question is ultra-wide or multiple monitor, because no-one is still slumming it with a single small monitor, right? I like the clear separation of having two monitors personally. And I may add a third in vertical orientation shortly.

I currently run 32" 1440p 16:9 as my main monitor and I think it's perfect for gaming and general use. I can't really comment on whether 4k would be that much better than 1440p since I've not personally run a 4k monitor but I can't say it makes that much difference on my TV vs. HD (you can see the difference but it's nice to have rather than must have). IMO, therefore, you're better to have a monitor that your hardware can comfortable run at maximum settings and a healthy fps than having the extra resolution for 4k.