Is 144hz Worth It?

[Kittrell]

I recently picked up a SFF Optiplex 9020 to turn into a casual gaming rig. 

 

Base specs are:

i5-4590

16gb ddr3

500gb ssd

Win10

 

I just dropped in a ZOTAC 1050 ti running on the PCI-e 4x slot.

 

I've been monitor shopping and for the space a 24" display is going to be the best fit. Doing some research I am getting the inclination that the above setup is not going to enjoy much benefit from a 144hz refresh rate over a 60hz. What say the hive mind?

[r2724r16]

What games are you playing on your PC? Esports titles will be able to hit 144 FPS at high settings at 1080p with a 1050 Ti. 

[Kittrell]

When I say casual, that is understated. I am putting this together for my significant other who currently plays Diablo III, Path of Exile and Trove. She'll want to play D4 whenever Blizzard drops that and she currently plays on a MBP 2011 w/6750M.

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

4 minutes ago, Kittrell said:

When I say casual, that is understated. I am putting this together for my significant other who currently plays Diablo III, Path of Exile and Trove. She'll want to play D4 whenever Blizzard drops that and she currently plays on a MBP 2011 w/6750M.

I would say no, since a 1050 Ti will not be able to hit those framerates

[00RaZoR11]

(Assuming the resolution is 1080p)
144hz is great for fps games. I don't play the kind of games you mentioned. Recently I replayed Spore (by Maxis), and it is hard locked to 30 FPS. I think it might be the closest thing I played to those you mentioned, and it is fine even on 30.
I bet 60hz will be perfect with your SO's games. 60 is fine for FPS games too, though 144 is just the real deal once you've experienced it.
So no reason to spend more on a 144hz screen. I'd recommend a nice 60hz one with a useful stand. FYI I have usb passthrough in my monitor (4x 3.0 type A), and the stand's fully adjustable. It was a 40 usd difference between the nice stand and the basic, and it was absolutely worth it.

18 hours ago, Kittrell said:

I just dropped in a ZOTAC 1050 ti running on the PCI-e 4x slot.

Btw why's the card in a 4x?

[Kittrell]

9 hours ago, 00RaZoR11 said:

Btw why's the card in a 4x?

The case is too small to run it on the 16x.

[Cafuddled]

On 12/25/2018 at 11:34 AM, Kittrell said:

When I say casual, that is understated. I am putting this together for my significant other who currently plays Diablo III, Path of Exile and Trove. She'll want to play D4 whenever Blizzard drops that and she currently plays on a MBP 2011 w/6750M.

Unless you will be playing FPS games 120Hz or higher displays are just not worth it. Maybe if you were playing RTS games to a very high level but then your hardware will struggle to keep pace.

 

For this case there is no real point getting a 144Hz monitor. But just to bust a few myths, 144Hz will improve responce time in games even at sub 60fps with Vsync turned off. As each frame rendered will not need to wait up to 16.6ms for the monitor to be ready to draw its next frame. Tearing is reduced relative to the percentage increase over 60Hz. But it will produce minor frame pacing issues.