Resolution, FPS and the Pursuit of PC Happiness.

[JSind11]

So this is a topic I have discussed with friends and colleagues for a while now,

As fellow PC gamers, we would all I assume we were given (or had) the cash would buy the best possible Kit on the market, to make sure our FPS and resolutions are as high as we can get them, becuase we all know this is what makes the best gaming experience, or is it.

In my opinion, I'm not sure how much it all matters (within reason here), mainly because for example, we only know the difference between 720p and 1080p becuase were being told it is, in my experience very few people can tell , or that a particular game is running at 20 more fps?

How many of us can hand on heart say, that if we were just shown some footage at of a game, without a comparison or display telling us what the display is running at, could (in a relative ball park) identify its current performance. (Again within reason here, yes the difference between 480p and 720 is huge).

Do you see what I'm getting at here?

I think most people would be ignorant to the fact that it's not just the numbers that are important but the experience we actually have while playing these games.

Sometimes I feel like we seem to be more worried about the benchmark scores we get than we do with much we enjoy playing games

Anyway, I think it's an interesting topic,

What do you think?

I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

[Vavetti]

Resolution depends on the distance from the screen. Framerate, I've only got experience with 60 but defenetly see the difference between 30 and 60

[Lotus]

This is somewhat related to the continuum fallacy.

 

Just because 1080p feels better than 720p in a vague and not necessarily easily stated way, doesn't mean it isn't true. We CAN tell the difference between 720 and 1080p. We also CAN tell the difference between 60 and 120 FPS. Just because it's all rather vague once you get to certain points doesn't mean it doesn't matter.

[Oshino Shinobu]

It depends on the situation. On a 15" screen, I probably wouldn't see the difference between 720p and 1080p so easily. But on a 30" screen, you see it straight away. 

 

As for FPS, it also depends. Between 120 and 140FPS? Maybe not. Between 40FPS and 60? Straight away. 

[Prikk]

Agreed. Numbers don't mean anything, it is the experience that counts. A guy can have as much fun playing a game at 720p 30fps as another guy playing it at 1440p 60fps.

I can't play a game at 720p 30fps though because I am spoiled and used to the whole 1080p & 1440p 60fps thing, so any game I play at lower than 50-60fps I'll be irritated by it. Doesn't mean that I am superior to those playing on consoles, doesn't make me a better person or smarter, its just my preference.

[JuztBe]

It depends on the situation. On a 15" screen, I probably wouldn't see the difference between 720p and 1080p so easily. But on a 30" screen, you see it straight away. 

 

As for FPS, it also depends. Between 120 and 140FPS? Maybe not. Between 40FPS and 60? Straight away. 

720p vs 900p is already quite noticable at 17,3 inch

[Thony]

I saw a video on YouTube where people were tested consoles vs PC and some got it wrong.

Graphically consoles are very close to what we have on PC from console publishers.

So what really matters is frame rates and resolution.

To blow your mind and justify the cost of spending over $3000 dollars u would have to go 1440p 144hz with Gsync, i7, GTX 980 sli on DX12.

Otherwise 1080p 75hz,i5, GTX 980 is sweet affordable spot.

All just my opinion

I have not experienced 1440p 144hz but everybody freaks out about it and I feel that 60hz is not smooth enough for me.

4K gaming is way too expensive and therefore not worth it YET.

[Megahurt]

I moved from a 720p tv to a 1080p monitor and, at least with my 750ti, the fps drop is far more noticeable than the increase in resolution. I'm now planning on upgrading my video card.

[Techicolors]

one of the many nice things about PC gaming is that it's flexible. you can raise or lower whatever settings so you can get 60 fps or get awesome eye candy. that also means that i don't have to use console-like settings 

 

things like res or fps depends on the person and circumstances. everyone should experience what 1080p@60fps gaming is, or even higher. but it isn't entirely necessary. again, flexibility

[JSind11]

Nice mix of opinions here,

Like it.

[Ertman]

Not a resolution or framerate snob.

I find I can easily tell the difference between 1080p and 720p, dependant on screen size and distance away from screen. At further distances or smaller screen sizes, it becomes less noticeable, and far enough or small enough impercievable.

As for fps, I find it depends what is going on onscreen. Generally I find that less than 30fps is fairly noticeable, and depending on the level of action 40-60 provides a smoother experience.

[Remilia]

Honestly, graphics is already at the point where aesthetics outshine pure quality by miles.

I find a lot of indie titles such as "Ori and the Blind Forest" and "Transistor" to be more visually impressive than triple-A titles these days.

 

I don't really understand people getting impressed by games showing off the current highest quality of graphics, it's just the yearly "cranking up the graphics" thing that has been going on since gaming was a thing. It's not like it doesn't look good or even amazing, but something that'd come eventually anyway.

 

Personally I think 1080p and 60 fps is the general sweet spot, it's lighter and cheaper than 1440p and good enough to not be a limitation. Anything above is overkill in my opinion, really. 1440p or 4K, it doesn't matter significantly if the game have great aesthetics. I can see the advantage of 120hz/144hz in competitive games though.

[teddyteddyteddy]

So this is a topic I have discussed with friends and colleagues for a while now,

As fellow PC gamers, we would all I assume we were given (or had) the cash would buy the best possible Kit on the market, to make sure our FPS and resolutions are as high as we can get them, becuase we all know this is what makes the best gaming experience, or is it.

In my opinion, I'm not sure how much it all matters (within reason here), mainly because for example, we only know the difference between 720p and 1080p becuase were being told it is, in my experience very few people can tell , or that a particular game is running at 20 more fps?

How many of us can hand on heart say, that if we were just shown some footage at of a game, without a comparison or display telling us what the display is running at, could (in a relative ball park) identify its current performance. (Again within reason here, yes the difference between 480p and 720 is huge).

Do you see what I'm getting at here?

I think most people would be ignorant to the fact that it's not just the numbers that are important but the experience we actually have while playing these games.

Sometimes I feel like we seem to be more worried about the benchmark scores we get than we do with much we enjoy playing games

Anyway, I think it's an interesting topic,

What do you think?

I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

 

I get what you're saying, but for me, playing games below 60 fps is annoying and distracting.  it feels choppy and I don't like it.  I don't need an FPS counter to tell that my fps is below or above 60 either.  It's pretty obvious in the games I play.

I agree that framerate/ resolution are not as important as the actual gameplay, but for me, it's tough to get past bad performance.  

[Trik'Stari]

I can tell the difference between 1080p and 720p. Helps to have a 1080p  monitor sitting next to a 720 TV I used to use as a monitor.

 

My only problem, is lag. I cannot find a battlefield 4 match where I feel like I have a chance of winning. It always seems like everyone elses bullets do the damage of hardmode, and my bullets do almost nothing.

[Aniallation]

I cannot find a battlefield 4 match where I feel like I have a chance of winning. It always seems like everyone elses bullets do the damage of hardmode, and my bullets do almost nothing.

+3000001  ^ This

[Kampret]

I have never actually played at 1080p aside from my friend's PS4 and gaming PC. I'm perfectly happy with 1366x768, and 720p on my PS3. I can easily tell the difference between 30 and 60 FPS, but I'm fine with 30 FPS. Once it started to drop below 24 FPS however, a different story.

[tmlhalo]

I sit 6-7 feet away from a 1080p 50 inch screen. The pixel density is on the low side because of the screen size. Dropping it to 720p is extremely noticeable due to the aliasing hell which appears. I can usually detect when the fps is sub 50 due to screen jutter. Though if the game has motion blur still on (I haven't killed it yet...) I often can't tell visually til its near 30. Where I notice poor controlling first. If the console game is locked at a steady 30 with motion blur it is harder to tell but it doesn't matter because after about an hour the headache from motion blur will get me. Which makes it a moot point if I could tell because the forced on motion blur isn't going to let me play it anyways. I really hate motion blur if you didn't notice lol... Consoles really need a graphical menu... Seriously, I would love to turn off depth of field and motion blur since it just looks like crude to me.

[skywake]

Well I have one foot in the PC gaming space and one in Nintendo's ecosystem. On PC you can tinker with the settings so usually I'll max out everything and then just slowly drop some of the less important settings until I can get over 60fps. Because you can notice. But I'll always keep AA on at least a bit and have the resolution up at 1080p unless the game has some weird issue with that resolution. On Nintendo's platforms you can't so there are some parts of some games where the framerate drops. And that's pretty brutal. Much moreso than when the resolution is cut to 720p.

 

But above all.... if the game is fun? I'll look past most things. It's nice being able to crank the settings and it's nice being able to achieve 60fps without the game looking like a potato. But if the game's crap? None of that matters.

[-TesseracT-]

It depends on the situation. On a 15" screen, I probably wouldn't see the difference between 720p and 1080p so easily. But on a 30" screen, you see it straight away.

As for FPS, it also depends. Between 120 and 140FPS? Maybe not. Between 40FPS and 60? Straight away.

my laptop has a 15" 1080p screen and 720p looks really bad, even from for away.

[MoonSpot]

Only time 720p looks "bad" on my 18" native 1080p laptop is on youtube.  Granted 1k is noticeably better in every realm.