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Buy 4k or 1080p Monitor ?

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  • Gaming
  • Graphics Cards
  • Computers
  • Games
  • Graphics
  • Resolution
  • Monitors
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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June 21, 2014 9:50:11 AM

I'm currently using a 19" 1440x900 resolution monitor and I would like to upgrade. I use my computer mainly for browsing and playing games. I know that my computer is capable at playing games at 1080p at a good framerate but i know it will suck at 4k

so i have two options

Buy a 1080p monitor at a lower price and use that and couple of years later buy a 4k monitor and upgrade graphics card

or

Buy a 4k monitor play games at 1080p resolution and upgrade my graphics card (and/or other components) couple of years later

The second option seems better as i will not be spending extra money but give me your thoughts.

Also one more question: Do games play well at 1080p while using a 4k monitor ?

System specs:
CPU: Intel core i5 3570k @ 3.8 Ghz
GPU: Nvidia gtx 660
RAM: Kingston Hyper x 8Gb Ram @ 1600Mhz
Motherboard: Asus p8z77-v lx
PSU: Corsair cx600
HDD: 2TB western digital Sata 6 Gb/s
Lite on blu ray drive
Sharkoon t9 mid tower case

More about : buy 1080p monitor

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June 21, 2014 9:53:06 AM

I would just get a 1080p now. 4k monitors are so expensive and not enough support for them. Hopefully they'll be more supported and cheaper in future years. It would really suck if you bought one now for a hefty price AND not use it, and find out that it is cheaper and better in a few years when you do use 4k.
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June 21, 2014 9:56:52 AM

yup, software developers are so slow it'll take 10 years before they're as usable as 1080p. the picture is nice when all things meld though...............why not a 1920x1200?
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June 21, 2014 9:59:08 AM

Get the 1080p the hardware needed to run 4k games is still too expensive to buy right now.
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June 21, 2014 10:02:57 AM

So if i bought a 1080p monitor right now and couple of years down the line buy a 4k monitor would i be able to use the 1080p as a secondary one (extended desktop) and use the 4k one as my main one. is it possibly to run 2 monitors simultaneously at different resolution ?
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June 21, 2014 10:04:46 AM

You'll need an ultra-high-end rig, such as an i7-4930k + GTX 780 Ti 3-way SLI build, to run games smoothly in 4K. Get the 1080p monitor. Or you can get a 2560x1600 monitor, but expect slower, but still playable, fps performance.
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June 21, 2014 10:08:41 AM

erykkrol said:
So if i bought a 1080p monitor right now and couple of years down the line buy a 4k monitor would i be able to use the 1080p as a secondary one (extended desktop) and use the 4k one as my main one. is it possibly to run 2 monitors simultaneously at different resolution ?


Yes, absolutely.

I would highly suggest going to the 1080p monitor. A long time ago I upgraded from 1600x900 to 1080p, and it made a HUGE difference.
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June 21, 2014 10:08:52 AM

It depends on a couple things: Your frame rate, and your preference when it comes to quality vs performance. If you're considering 4K right now, it's a good bet that you've got a bit of money to spend. With that in mind, an R9 295X2 ($1,500) can push 4K @ 60 fps average (with plenty of drops below 60 fps) in just a handful of games. So how much does frame rate matter to you? For me, I always try to get 60 fps or close to it without compromising image quality, but I will reduce certain parts of image quality if it means I can achieve 60 fps. So is 60 fps that important to you? If we say that, 3 years from now, there's a GPU that can push 4K at 60 fps in most games at say, $700 or $800, is that worth the wait and would you be able to meet that price? That'd be quite the hefty spending.

In addition, I agree with ksham. 4K is decreasing in price. In those 3 years, 4K should drop in price considerably. Also, 4K is like, $600 or $700 at the cheapest right now? In 3 years, I could see that dropping to $300 or even less. So if that's the case, it'd be cheaper to buy a 4K in 3 years at $300 and a $150 1080p monitor right now than a $600 4K monitor now (and it'll probably have better features in future too).

Plus, I'm pretty sure 1080p looks like ass on a 4K monitor. That pixel quadrupling might irk you for a while.
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June 21, 2014 10:13:04 AM

I would definitely go with 1080p monitor. 4kmonitors are very expensive, and there is not much support for them yet. I'm thinking of replacing my old 1080p tv with a new 4k tv,but I'll wait till they get cheaper, unless my tv breaks. Even with tv's there is still not much support for 4k, at least not yet. Right now you can get a 32" 1080p monitor for less( way less) then a 4k monitor.
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June 21, 2014 10:16:27 AM

Thank you for the answers. I will probably settle for a 1080p monitor. best solution goes to each of you :D 
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June 21, 2014 10:29:07 AM

that's another thing............ post above made me think of it...... are all 4k's 60Hz?.............. don't ever buy a 30Hz monitor.......... EVER!
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