Do I Really Need 1440p?

[Donutwithacape]

Hey all, you guys have been helping me build a new PC and now I have a new concern.

 

Do I need 1440p? I definitely want a 27" GSync with at least 144hz of refresh, and 1ms-3ms response. But, as a non-competitive filthy casual who (currently) plays things like Heroes of the Storm, Final Fantasy XIV, Overwatch, and the Witcher series... do you guys think I need 1440p, should strongly consider it, or is it no big deal?

 

I have two 27" 1920x1080 monitors @60hz and 1ms response. I plan on keeping one of my current monitors as my secondary and giving the other to someone. I've never seen what 1440p looks like on 27" monitors, so I'm unsure if I should consider 1080p GSync monitors over 1440p. It is worth mentioning that my build includes a 1080Ti, and I want to keep the screen size at least at 27". I am not into the whole curved monitor deal as it doesn't seem like something that would be great for games I play, so... I'm kind of at a loss. I don't want to break the bank either, but these monitors seem monstrously expensive.

 

A niche market, probably. But, does anyone have any suggestions? I guess I can go as high as $600, not including holiday sales and such. Are there any good monitors for this price range?

 

Thank you for helping me out, and with your continued help.

[mikat]

If you wanna run almost all titles at 144hz you should pick 1080p but if you don't mind playing certain titles with lower FPS or lower settings then I'd 100% recommend 1440p, but the ideal setup would be 1080p@144hz Gsync for gaming and 1440p@60 for everything else

Of course none of this applies if you have a 1080 Ti, then you should pick the 1440p@144hz

[Natsoup]

1080 Ti can push 1440p really well and your monitor would be a bottleneck @ 1080p. I run a 1070 and a 1440p 144hz panel and it's really nice to be able to choose resolution or framerate - you could have the best of both worlds! I think you should get 1440p  

[bughtoo]

For that kind of budget, short answer YES!!!! 

 

long answer (sort of): you have a freaking 1080TI so to use it to its potential 1440p is a must, at 1080p it can run basicly anything at 144fps. At 1440p it would be around that number. The 1440p for work is a godsent, so much space to have 4 documents opened and read them no problem! As to the budget, you can easily get IPS 144hz 1440p for that price which is even better. IF you look hard you can even find some with gsync i think  Gaming at higher res is also very very very nice, the clarity of the picture is beautiful especially in witcher! 

 

I myself have the PG279Q ROG swift and its beautifull   bought it for 570euros whic his around 620$

 

the AOC - AG271QG also looks nice and its even 165Hz

[Vroooom]

Go to the store and look at one of their demo 27 inch 1440p monitors

[Donutwithacape]

5 minutes ago, mikat said:

If you wanna run almost all titles at 144hz you should pick 1080p but if you don't mind playing certain titles with lower FPS or lower settings then I'd 100% recommend 1440p, but the ideal setup would be 1080p@144hz Gsync for gaming and 1440p@60 for everything else

I don't think a 1080Ti will have an issue with lower FPS at 1440p, but I'm unsure. Why is a 1080p@144hz GSync ideal for gaming, and 1440p@60hz ideal for everything else? I've heard the contrary from many places saying that 1440p is best for gaming.

3 minutes ago, Natsoup said:

1080 Ti can push 1440p really well and your monitor would be a bottleneck @ 1080p. I run a 1070 and a 1440p 144hz panel and it's really nice to be able to choose resolution or framerate - you could have the best of both worlds! I think you should get 1440p  

That's what I was originally thinking, thank you! I just gotta find a good 1440p monitor that fits my preferences.

 

1 minute ago, bughtoo said:

For that kind of budget, short answer YES!!!! 

 

long answer (sort of): you have a freaking 1080TI so to use it to its potential 1440p is a must, at 1080p it can run basicly anything at 144fps. At 1440p it would be around that number. The 1440p for work is a godsent, so much space to have 4 documents opened and read them no problem! As to the budget, you can easily get IPS 144hz 1440p for that price which is even better. IF you look hard you can even find some with gsync i think  Gaming at higher res is also very very very nice, the clarity of the picture is beautiful especially in witcher! 

Awesome. That's what I was thinking. Thank you! I will search until I can no longer search for such a unicorn monitor.

 

 

 

Secondary question to whomever:

Will there be an issue if my primary monitor is 1440p@144hz if my secondary is 1080p@60hz?

[bughtoo]

1 minute ago, Donutwithacape said:

I don't think a 1080Ti will have an issue with lower FPS at 1440p, but I'm unsure. Why is a 1080p@144hz GSync ideal for gaming, and 1440p@60hz ideal for everything else? I've heard the contrary from many places saying that 1440p is best for gaming.

That's what I was originally thinking, thank you! I just gotta find a good 1440p monitor that fits my preferences.

 

Awesome. That's what I was thinking. Thank you! I will search until I can no longer search for such a unicorn monitor.

 

 

 

Secondary question to whomever:

Will there be an issue if my primary monitor is 1440p@144hz if my secondary is 1080p@60hz?

no no problem, it will just be a little akward going from 1440p to 1080p to adjust Once you get used to 1440p you will find the 1080p a little too small

 

i have put one more suggestion in my comment check it out

[Misanthrope]

Actually I say for the games you mention playing casually, you need higher resolution before you need a fast refresh rate. With a 1080ti I would even consider 4k60fps even, and those monitors will probably be cheaper than 1440p ones for some stupid reason.

[Donutwithacape]

13 minutes ago, bughtoo said:

no no problem, it will just be a little akward going from 1440p to 1080p to adjust Once you get used to 1440p you will find the 1080p a little too small

 

i have put one more suggestion in my comment check it out

What about response time? Because I really like this monitor: https://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-XG2703-GS-G-Sync-Monitor-DisplayPort/dp/B01LWJMM1S?tag=linus21-20

But it has 4ms response time. I'm used to 1ms response, so I don't know if I should give that up

And the ROG Swift you have also says 4ms.

[Natsoup]

Did the math once, Its pretty much impossible for humans to tell the difference. An excellent reaction time is 150ms. 4ms will hardly make a difference

[WereCat]

 

G-Sync issue if you run 144Hz (anything above the secondary screen Hz) + 60Hz screens and play in Windowed mode or Borderless mode, you will get massive stuttering and be locked to unstable 60FPS (if you run any animation on the 60Hz screen).

Works fine in FULL Screen.

 

Advertised response time is meaningless. 4ms or 1ms... does not matter. The actual numbers are way different. It is just a marketing material.

All TN are advertised as 1ms even though many of them have way slower response time than some IPS screens that are advertised as 4ms-6ms. You just have to check for reviews where they actually bothered to measure it... not that it really matters as long as it is in acceptable levels.

[Donutwithacape]

30 minutes ago, WereCat said:

 

G-Sync issue if you run 144Hz (anything above the secondary screen Hz) + 60Hz screens and play in Windowed mode or Borderless mode, you will get massive stuttering and be locked to unstable 60FPS (if you run any animation on the 60Hz screen).

Works fine in FULL Screen.

 

Advertised response time is meaningless. 4ms or 1ms... does not matter. The actual numbers are way different. It is just a marketing material.

All TN are advertised as 1ms even though many of them have way slower response time than some IPS screens that are advertised as 4ms-6ms. You just have to check for reviews where they actually bothered to measure it... not that it really matters as long as it is in acceptable levels.

So, the issue is in the Hz, not the resolution? If I get a 1080p@144hz as my secondary to pair with the 1440p@144hz then I'll be fine? Even if the secondary is without GSync?

[WereCat]

Just now, Donutwithacape said:

So, the issue is in the Hz, not the resolution? If I get a 1080p@144hz as my secondary to pair with the 1440p@144hz then I'll be fine?

I asked this via NVIDIA support and they said "Yes!".

I also tried setting both monitors to the same refresh rate and it worked.

[Donutwithacape]

7 minutes ago, WereCat said:

I asked this via NVIDIA support and they said "Yes!".

I also tried setting both monitors to the same refresh rate and it worked.

Say I were to purchase an Asus ROG Swift 1440p@165Hz as my primary and have my 1080p@60Hz as my secondary...

 

If I ran games on fullscreen, gsync will work fine, even with Netflix/Youtube on the second monitor? I don't want to be forced into setting both monitors to 60Hz if I purchase a 165Hz monitor, or a 144Hz monitor.

[WereCat]

Just now, Donutwithacape said:

Say I were to purchase an Asus ROG Swift 1440p@165Hz as my primary and have my 1080p@60Hz as my secondary...

 

If I ran games on fullscreen, gsync will work fine, even with Netflix/Youtube on the second monitor? I don't want to be forced into setting both monitors to 60Hz if I purchase a 165Hz monitor, or a 144Hz monitor.

I have the same setup.

165Hz 1440p G-Sync and 60Hz 1080p.

As long as your game is in true Full Screen and you want to watch YT/Netfilx/whatever.. then yes, it will work great. The issue is only if you run game in Windowed/Borderless mode.

[Donutwithacape]

Just now, WereCat said:

I have the same setup.

165Hz 1440p G-Sync and 60Hz 1080p.

As long as your game is in true Full Screen and you want to watch YT/Netfilx/whatever.. then yes, it will work great. The issue is only if you run game in Windowed/Borderless mode.

Damn, I really like Borderless Windowed mode 

[WereCat]

Just now, Donutwithacape said:

Damn, I really like Borderless Windowed mode 

You can always set G-Sync to be OFF in Windowed/Borderless and ON only in FullScreen... but then .. yeah, .. I understand you, it is pissing me off as well.

Even more so that NVIDIA support told me that "It is by design" altough I call BS because I identified the issue in Windows and it either needs to be patched by Microsoft or NVIDIA with a driver.

[Jrasero]

2 hours ago, Natsoup said:

1080 Ti can push 1440p really well and your monitor would be a bottleneck @ 1080p. I run a 1070 and a 1440p 144hz panel and it's really nice to be able to choose resolution or framerate - you could have the best of both worlds! I think you should get 1440p  

I agree, you can always lower the resolution of a 1440P monitor for in games.  27" is the max size I would recommend staying with 1080P, anything larger will make non gaming tasks grainy.

 

So to answer your question yeah a 27" 1080P is fine for your needs and going to 1440P on a 144Hz GSync monitor is a huge price increase so I can see why you are askign thsi question.