4K or 1440p

[Serenade94]

I know, the obvious would be the 4K if money isn't the issue here. For an extra $200 to get the 4K, I'm pretty tempted as well since, I just upgraded my system to 2 970 on SLI.

 

It's either one of these;

 

http://www.amazon.com/PB278Q-27-Inch-LED-lit-Professional-Graphics/dp/B009C3M7H0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425657687&sr=8-1&keywords=asus+pb278q

 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KJGY3TO/ref=psdc_1292115011_t2_B009C3M7H0

 

I just wanted to know the opinions from the fellow LTT-ian about it; I do game, not a tonne of FPS so refresh rates isn't a concern, and I do a bit of Lightroom and media watching.

 

My system specs are as follow:

I7 4790K at 4.4GHz

2x Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 970

8GB of RAM

 

Thanks in advance!

[Pugs501]

Don't forget you can use DSR to Run Games at 4k and Downscale it to 1440p

[Fate]

If you do go 4k get this monitor instead: http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Monitor-P2715Q-27-Inch-LED-Lit/dp/B00PC9HFO8/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1425658163&sr=1-1&keywords=p2715q 4k 60Hz IPS 27" and is cheaper.

 

I'd say if your primary concern is maxing out newer AAA titles (and titles to come in the next few years), go 1440p. If not, go 4k. 

[Serenade94]

Don't forget you can use DSR to Run Games at 4k and Downscale it to 1440p

I didn't find the DSR to be quite useful for me while I was doing it on my MX27h 1080p IPS screen due to lag and what not (Its still a surprise considering I have SLI) but, that is my concern though; if I decided to get the 4K monitor, would games specifically be able to run smooth on max settings?

[Pugs501]

I didn't find the DSR to be quite useful for me while I was doing it on my MX27h 1080p IPS screen due to lag and what not (Its still a surprise considering I have SLI) but, that is my concern though; if I decided to get the 4K monitor, would games specifically be able to run smooth on max settings?

It would be better if you got 1440p instead

[Serenade94]

If you do go 4k get this monitor instead: http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Monitor-P2715Q-27-Inch-LED-Lit/dp/B00PC9HFO8/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1425658163&sr=1-1&keywords=p2715q 4k 60Hz IPS 27" and is cheaper.

I'd say if your primary concern is maxing out newer AAA titles (and titles to come in the next few years), go 1440p. If not, go 4k.

Thanks for the suggestion! Wow I didn't know that there's even a cheaper one out there and considering its a Dell, I ought to be decent as well. Well maxing out might be a bit too much for my cards on 4K but, then again future hardware upgrade might be able to solve it. Gah, I'm just lost in the decision

[Serenade94]

It would be better if you got 1440p instead

 

I was considering too, I mean I would be able to get on with a higher refresh rate too (eventhough my choice is limited to the Swift, I couldn't afford that anyhow) but, 4K seems to be even nicer eventhough its only on 60Hz

[FairladyZ]

1440p. 4k is much too hard to drive, even on new, high end hardware. 1440p is a good pixel density, a reasonable price, and it's not too hard to drive.

[Serenade94]

1440p. 4k is much too hard to drive, even on new, high end hardware. 1440p is a good pixel density, a reasonable price, and it's not too hard to drive.

 

Hmm.... Well hardware is a concern running 4K..

Thanks for your thoughts

[MathieuDude]

Personally I would go for 1440p because of scaling issues in windows in 4k, also you'll probably gonna be able to run games at higher settings (gotta run that minesweeper at low). Anyways, that's all I have to say, have a nice day!

[othertomperson]

You already have the dual 970s needed for 4K, why waste that GPU horsepower by choosing 1440p, unless you're specifically going after high refresh rate? You will be able to max most games right now.

[Serenade94]

You already have the dual 970s needed for 4K, why waste that GPU horsepower by choosing 1440p, unless you're specifically going after high refresh rate? You will be able to max most games right now.

 

While I do want to take your words, its kinda hard for me to. I've been doing some research over the internet as well as some friends who was working with building pcs, specifically and what they had to say really troubled me; while I may be able to run a 4K monitor with my setup, I might not be able to enjoy the full experience of that in some cases for instance, games that have a very high demanding hardware. What they had suggested was for me to go with the 1440p as it would be more future-proof. But then,.. I don't know. I want to just take the risk and worry about the hardware later on because I do like the idea of having 4 times the resolution of what I have right now

 

Thanks for the thoughts

[Serenade94]

Personally I would go for 1440p because of scaling issues in windows in 4k, also you'll probably gonna be able to run games at higher settings (gotta run that minesweeper at low). Anyways, that's all I have to say, have a nice day!

 

 

Thanks for the thoughts!

[m_tieu]

I have 2 4k monitors and I won't be looking back. The user experience with the extra pixel density is so much better than 1080p an desktop and in game. I recommend something with gsync for smoother game play. I don't recommend the asus pb287q, I bought 2 and both have issues.

[danjal]

I was going to go with 4k but after researching it a bit I found out my single r290 wouldnt handle it well, and it would even be pushing 2 r290's so I just went with a 29" ultra wide..

 

 

 I was running on a 32" hdtv so the 29" monitor was a big upgrade...

 

 I'm hoping on adding another r290 and 2 more 23" monitors.. I think two 290's would run the 29" and two 23's pretty good.. I do need to look into it a bit more though.

[hitsu1]

I haven't seen a 4k monitor that quite checks all the boxes yet. The closest is the Acer 4k with G-sync but the colors look a bit washed out on it.

 

If I were in your shoes I would wait for DX12 to drop and a few more of the previewed monitors from CES to be released.

[othertomperson]

While I do want to take your words, its kinda hard for me to. I've been doing some research over the internet as well as some friends who was working with building pcs, specifically and what they had to say really troubled me; while I may be able to run a 4K monitor with my setup, I might not be able to enjoy the full experience of that in some cases for instance, games that have a very high demanding hardware. What they had suggested was for me to go with the 1440p as it would be more future-proof. But then,.. I don't know. I want to just take the risk and worry about the hardware later on because I do like the idea of having 4 times the resolution of what I have right now

Thanks for the thoughts

Only because most people insist on running 4xMSAA at 4k. It makes no difference, so don't bother. Even if you did have to turn down to high to maintain 60fps, which lets face it at some point you're going to have to do with any res and any gpu hardware (future proof doesn't exist), high at 4k looks MUCH better than ultra at 1080p or 1440p.

1440p is something I'd recommend to someone with one 970 and who had no intention of getting another. If you already have two, you may as well go 4k

[Badger906]

as the user of a 4k monitor everyday I recommend 4k! I play games at 4k with a gtx 770. everyone on here thinks you have to have all games on ultra with 16x mfaa ect.. seriously 4k on any setting shits all over 1080p or 1440p! you'll be able to drive most games on high settings with a single 970.

[RogueCow]

I'm actually not being a douche, genuinely asking... Is the search function still not working properly here?

 

Looking at your specs, you are in a better position than the OP of the thread I posted this on, but my opinion is to run high FPS on ultra settings with a good 1440p g-sync monitor... That's going to be your best bet for a great experience. You are going to notice turning down from ultra to high (assuming you can do high settings on 4k) before you notice any benefit from 4k.

I am still strongly against 4k in most cases and believe a 1440p monitor running the highest game settings possible with G-sync and high FPS is the best experience you are ever going to get for a while, period.

 

Here is a post I made a little bit ago on roughly the same topic to lend my opinion:

 

People grossly overestimate the quality of 4k vs 1440p.

In reality, the loss you are going to see going from High settings at 1440p to Low settings at 4k is going to

be HUGE compared to the gain you see from increasing resolutions...

 

Changing the settings affects the model detail, shading, lighting, and all other aspects of the output image's detail.

If you upgrade to 4k but have to turn down the settings, you are losing all of that beauty and high detail that

the 4k would be displaying anyways, so what's the point?

 

Bottom Line:

Suit to your hardware, If you can run 4k on high settings at a reasonable FPS, then go for it.

But 1440p on high or ultra is going to be incredible and much better than a medium setting 4k (not to mention freaking astonishing coming from a POS 1080p tv...)

 

Sorry if I'm tardy to the party and you already made a choice,

 

 

I just thought I'd lend my $0.02 on the matter.....

[Suika]

I'd go with the 4K monitor. Worst case, you can downscale to 1080p. 4K downscales pretty well to 1080p so it's not going to look bad, 4 pixels on 4K are 1 pixel on 1080p. Easy downscaling.

[RogueCow]

I'd go with the 4K monitor. Worst case, you can downscale to 1080p. 4K downscales pretty well to 1080p so it's not going to look bad, 4 pixels on 4K are 1 pixel on 1080p. Easy downscaling.

 

Completely wrong and backwards... UPSCALING, not DOWNSCALING

 

If you have a 4k DESTINATION (monitor), and your SOURCE is 1080p (video card), your monitor needs to come up with 3 (well not exactly 3 but w.e) extra pixels that never actually existed and it didn't receive.

 

Upscaling always looks worse and fuzzy compared to a native resolution. That's a fact.

 

A 1080p image will look sharper and clearer on a 1080p monitor than a 1080p image upscaled on a 4k monitor.

 

IF YOU CANNOT RUN 4K, DONT BUY 4K

Buy the monitor that has the same resolution as the highest res you will be outputting...