What's the max resolution I can play on without sacrificing high settings for games with these specs?

Luke Tribble

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AMD Athlon X4 750k Quad Core CPU
AMD Radeon HD 7850 OC Sapphire
And what HD monitor would you reccommend with price-performance as a prime concern, as right now im on a small nonhd monitor at 1280x1024 resolution
 
Solution
Difficult to say since it depends on the game engine. The Athlon X4 750k is a bit weak though since it uses the Trinity core as opposed to Piledriver on in AMD's FX series and Intel's Ivy Bridge / Haswell cores. Therefore games that are CPU dependent will run a bit slower compared to the other CPU cores I've mentioned.

Below are a couple of benchmarks from Techpowerup which includes the Radeon HD 7850. The test rig has an Intel Core i7-4770K @ 4.2 GHz so for CPU dependent games like Crysis 3, and especially Skyrim you can expect lower performance. All graphic settings are maxed out.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_7870_Devil/6.html

crysis3_1600_900.gif
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JRAtk94

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Buy a 1080p monitor (1920x1080). You could buy a 1600x900 monitor, but the 1080p one would be better, as that 7850 will easily run some games at 1080p resolution, and ones that it may struggle with (Crysis 3 etc) can just have the res turned down to regain some performance.
 

Luke Tribble

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so if i play crysis 3 maxed out on that 1080p resolution and i noticed its lagging i can just tone it down to 1280x1024 and that'll work?
 

JRAtk94

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not 1280x1024, because that's a 4:3 aspect ratio, whereas a 1080p monitor is 16:9 aspect ratio. You could turn it down to 1280x720 (AKA 720p) or 1600x900, as well as a few others inbetween, such as 1366x768.
 
Difficult to say since it depends on the game engine. The Athlon X4 750k is a bit weak though since it uses the Trinity core as opposed to Piledriver on in AMD's FX series and Intel's Ivy Bridge / Haswell cores. Therefore games that are CPU dependent will run a bit slower compared to the other CPU cores I've mentioned.

Below are a couple of benchmarks from Techpowerup which includes the Radeon HD 7850. The test rig has an Intel Core i7-4770K @ 4.2 GHz so for CPU dependent games like Crysis 3, and especially Skyrim you can expect lower performance. All graphic settings are maxed out.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_7870_Devil/6.html

crysis3_1600_900.gif


crysis3_1920_1080.gif


skyrim_1600_900.gif


skyrim_1920_1080.gif



BioShock Infinite is an example of a game that does not really care about how powerful the CPU is so you can expect similar results.

bioshock_1600_900.gif


bioshock_1920_1080.gif


Lastly, Hitman: Absolution a game that is more demanding than Skyrim but not as demanding as Crysis 3. Note that this game is a bit CPU dependent so expect lower frame rates.

hitman_1600_900.gif


hitman_1920_1080.gif





 
Solution
As you can see from the above, if you use Crysis 3 as your benchmark for maxed out graphics, then I recommend a 1366x768 resolution monitor.

For demanding games like Hitman: Absolution (and Metro Last Light) that are not as crippling as Crysis 3, a 1600x900 is fine.

For relatively easy games to play like Bioshock Infinite and Skyrim a 1920x1080 resolution monitor will be fine.
 

Luke Tribble

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Thank you very much for your reply. The thing is, I'm a very diverse gamer and I plan to play all of these games, so what resolution should I go for in that instance with performance in mind?

 
Crysis 3 is the exception not the rule. If all games were as demanding at that Crysis 3, then a lot of gamers will be screaming at AMD and nVidia to release much more powerful graphics card ASAP. If you can accept medium quality graphics for this game, then 1600x900 or 1920x1080 are definitely doable.

I suppose the ultimate question is what do you consider the minimum frame rate for a game to be playable? Also different games actually have graphic modes. In some game "high" is not maximum graphic quality. Some games have "very high" as well. I think one game had "uber" above "very high". So the question is how high is "high"? Absolute "maximum" graphic quality? Or something in between medium and "maximum"?

1600x900 is the safe answer at this moment because Hitman: Absolution is playable based on the above benchmark. But you should expect mid to high 30FPS with the Athlon X4 750k, not 41.3FPS that the i7-4770k @ 4.2GHz is getting. While Hitman: Absolution (and Metro Last Light) is not as crippling as Crysis 3, it is still considered more demanding than your average game. Taking that into consideration make 1920x1080 a more viable option. You should be able to play most games with max graphics with at least 50FPS. Demanding games means you will need to drop down to medium graphics for better performance.
 

Luke Tribble

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It isn't a tragedy if I can't max out crysis 3, I just want to get the best possible resolution for my specs so I can enjoy a multitude of titles on the highest graphic settings I can get out of them. As such, does this mean I should go with 1920x1280 so i can get that 50 fps?
 
With the Althon II X4 750k and the Radeon HD 7850 you should generally be able to 50FPS in many games at 1920x1080 resolution at max or near max graphics quality for most games. The exception would be crippling games like Crysis 3 and very demanding games like Hitman: Absolution and Metro Last Light. However, getting a 1600x900 resolution monitor will mean even more games can possible achieve 50FPS. Additionally, it also means the Radeon HD 7850 will last you longer before you feel the need to upgrade if you go with a smaller resolution screen.

I don't know if you bothered to look at all the benchmarks from the Techpowerup link I provided but here it is again. Use it to help you make your decision.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_7870_Devil/6.html

Personally, as long as a game is running at least 40FPS I would be satisfied. Plus I don't mind dropping down to medium settings if necessary.