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4K is it worth it

Adamzam

The title is pretty self explanatory but I have been pc gaming with 1080p on low to medium settings. I'm building a new computer and I want to know is it worth moving to 4K just for gaming, or is 4K more of a workstation thing for photoshop and apps like that because 4K monitors aren't cheap haha 

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2 minutes ago, Adamzam said:

The title is pretty self explanatory but I have been pc gaming with 1080p on low to medium settings. I'm building a new computer and I want to know is it worth moving to 4K just for gaming, or is 4K more of a workstation thing for photoshop and apps like that because 4K monitors aren't cheap haha 

4k is just higher resolution, its nicer for gaming but not a necessity, its like owning a normal car and asking if you should upgrade to a super car, if you can afford it, and you think its worth it go for it, otherwise don't. Resolution is a personal thing for many people 

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Fair so would you say Hz would be more important then?

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Again its a personal opinion.  Personally I'd rather game on a nice 4K TV than be forced to use a monitor for the higher refresh rate.  Although I'm sure in time that will change as TVs will (hopefully) start accepting higher refresh rates (as Linus has shown some that do already).

 

As someone who looks at a lot of photos, edits code, etc then 4K on my monitor was extremely useful, even though I game on the TV.  If you do any sort of research then being able to have several browser windows open on the same screen I find is WAS more useful than having multiple monitors.

So as others have said, its a very personal choice, nobody can answer it for you.  But it does make certain games look a lot more realistic due to removing most of the jaggies.  Even since the CRT days when I could have used 120Hz, I always went for resolution over refresh rate  (although I did use 75Hz back then due to CRTs being quite painful to look at any lower than that).

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I would highly recommend looking for a 1440p monitor with a high refresh rate to meet in the middle. I have a 24" Dell monitor that's 1440p with G-Sync and 144-165Hz and it's great. Would I like some sort of 4K OLED G-Sync ultrawide super-monitor? Yeah. Does such a thing exist and would I be willing to pay the cost? Absolutely not.

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Having a 4k display on my laptop and desktop I'd say absolutely not for gaming but for things from content consumption to creation 4k is better than higher refresh rate.

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Going from 144Hz BenQ XL2720Z to Asus PG348Q 21:9 100Hz IPS is night and day. 

 

However, for extreme competitive I wouldn’t. I find myself looking more at some of the scenery/details in the game. 

 

If you like to play near maxed out at this resolution you’ll need a 1080 Ti. 

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I personally say 4K is worth it. But as others have pointed out, that's just an opinion, and can't pass it off as a fact.

 

Others prefer lower resolutions + higher refresh rates, and that's perfectly okay.

 

Don't be that guy though. Had a pretty shitty time over on Twitter today.

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"2K" is not 2560 x 1440 

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4k gaming on high or ultra setting requires a GTX 1080 ti. If you can only use medium to low settings the image will look better at 1440 ultra.

 

I play either with a 32" 4k monitor or a 3440X1440 widescreen monitor.

When I am playing on the 21:9 widescreen I am not wishing that I was playing on the 4k monitor. The difference in image quality is only noticeable if I put the two monitors side by side.

 

If you have a GTX 980/GTX 1060 or better, 1440 60hz should be the starting point. Form 1080 60hz to 1440 60hz the difference in image quality is huge. The difference in image quality between 1440 60hz & 4k 60hz not so much.

 

 

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2 Ways:

 

1. 4k 60 Hz. VERY sharp/crisp/clean image (clean = almost no more flickering, "aliasing stairs" etc), but only 60 Hz -> ideally 60 fps lock. Ideally with g-Sync, so you don't get a stutterfest as soon you drop below 60 fps.

 

2. WQHD (2560x1440) / 144+ Hz / G-Sync.

80% more Pixel than 1080p,but still far away from 4k. But thanks to 144+ Hz, much more responsive, and if you push higher fps, MUCH smoother.

 

4k is incredbily taxing, even with a 1080 ti getting 60 fps is very difficult on ultra. You might need to go down to High, or sometimes maybe even Medium, depending on Games.

WQHD is very easy to hit 60+ fps even with a 1070/1080~. You will hit 80-120 fps quite easy, even on high/ultra.

 

WQHD + 144 Hz is a good sweetspot in my Opinion. You can get good visuals (if you need more resolution, try using DSR, you can render easy to 4k (Factor 2.25), and even 5k (Factor 4.00), but you have the previlege in every game, to find your setting-sweetspot between Performance (fps) and Visual quality.

 

But it also depends what games you play^^ Many fast paced game? mostly slower RPG/strategy games?

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It's worth it if you're using your PC to consume 4K media. Not so much for competitive gaming.

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