1080p 120hz VS 1440p/Larger 1080p

forerunner

Honorable
Jun 2, 2012
101
0
10,690
So im looking at upgrading my rig to a GTX 970 (and either keeping my 3770k or upgrading to 6700k) and I am wondering if i should make the jump to 1440p gaming. I find with my Samsung S23A700D(i think) 23 inch 120hz monitor, that allthough i love the refresh rate, i feel like i keep leaning in towards the screen even at only 3 feet from my face, to look for enemies hiding in bushes and what not at long distances.

Also, the 120hz thing is great, dont get me wrong,i love the smoothness of it but it makes me paranoid that im trying to squeeze more than necesarry out of my rig to maintain that playability.

In some games im averaging just over 60 fps and i consider that totally playable but 80+ does feel much better. anything under 60fps is basically unplayable to me. Especially when its fluctuating and affecting my aiming.

I know that upgrading to the 970 will make 1080p gaming great, but wouldi be able to realistically handle 1440p gaming or would i just basically be back to what im experiencing now at 1080p with one 670 ( or even sli 670(i have two))?

this is my fear. Ive never seen a 1440p monitor in person (my tv is 4k though) so idk what to expect or if its such an "ahhhhh" thing, that its totally worth going for.

Would i maybe be happier with just a larger monitor? or would i just see more pixels and be less happy?
 
Solution
Multiple issues being discussed here:

1. Once you have used 120 / 144 Hz gaming, it' shard to go back.

2. 144 hz gaming w/ select G-Sync / ULMB equipped 1440p monitors is about the best gaming experience available today.

3. If you have "normal vision", you will likely be able to see individual pixels with a 27" 1080p monitor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot_pitch

Windows was designed based upon 96 dpi (a lot of reasons why which I won't go into here)

A 23" 1080p screen has a ppi of 96 (95.9) ... 23.6" and 24" have 93.3 and 91.8 respectively and is not vert noticeable. But at 27", you are down to 81.6 and I find that a bit "grainy".

My son is using an Aver Predator XB270HU (144Hz / 1440p / IPS) w/ twin 970s. I played...

Karmazyn83

Distinguished
Oct 23, 2013
56
1
18,545
I believe that 970 will not be powerful enough to yield results you got used to playing on your 23 inch monitor.
I was wondering about this myself when my old 22inch iiyama was not good enouth and I decided to get 27 inch 144 Mhz monitor opposed to 1440p monitor. I know that my R9 290X would suffice to run games at 1440p resolution but I would lose fluidity I have got used to by playing on 144 Mhz monitor.
I would not go into 1440p without anything slower than 980 or AMD equivalent.

Good luck !
 

forerunner

Honorable
Jun 2, 2012
101
0
10,690


Did you regret the choice to jump up the 5 inches? I was told and believed that reaching that size at 1080 with the distance i sit from my monitor would do nothing but make it easier to see pixels.
 
Multiple issues being discussed here:

1. Once you have used 120 / 144 Hz gaming, it' shard to go back.

2. 144 hz gaming w/ select G-Sync / ULMB equipped 1440p monitors is about the best gaming experience available today.

3. If you have "normal vision", you will likely be able to see individual pixels with a 27" 1080p monitor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot_pitch

Windows was designed based upon 96 dpi (a lot of reasons why which I won't go into here)

A 23" 1080p screen has a ppi of 96 (95.9) ... 23.6" and 24" have 93.3 and 91.8 respectively and is not vert noticeable. But at 27", you are down to 81.6 and I find that a bit "grainy".

My son is using an Aver Predator XB270HU (144Hz / 1440p / IPS) w/ twin 970s. I played Witcher 3 on it and it's the best image I have ever seen in a game. As I recall, he gets about 65-70 fps.

This is from techpowerup site and should help a bit deciding if 1440p is the way to go and shows 970 performance (stock) with one and then two 970s in SLI .

Batman: Arkham Origins goes from 132.7 with a 970 to 163.6
COD Advanced Warfare goes from 100.9 with a 970 to 154.5
Grid 2 goes from 95.9 with a 970 to 146.9
Alien Isolation goes from 87.3 with a 970 to 120.1
Bioshock Infinite goes from 87.1 with a 970 to 153.1
Civilization Beyond Earth goes from 70.4 with a 970 to 113.7
Battlefield 3 goes from 70.4 with a 970 to 124.6
Wolfenstein: New Order goes from 66.6 with a 970 to 63.2
Shadow of Mordor goes from 61.7 with a 970 to 107.1
Ryse goes from 53.6 with a 970 to 94.3
Metro LL goes from 51.6 with a 970 to 76.2
Battlefield 4 50.0 with a 970 to 88.1
Far Cry 4 goes from 47.2 with a 970 to 81.7
Dead Rising goes from 38.6 with a 970 to 37.1
Tomb Raider goes from 34.0 with a 970 to 60.3
Dragon Age Inquisition goes from 33.8 with a 980 to 60.6
Crysis 3 goes from 25.7 with a 970 to 47.1


 
Solution

forerunner

Honorable
Jun 2, 2012
101
0
10,690


1. I knowwwww
2. It sounds like it but they are pretty damn expensive. I think the cheapest option on amazon is the Dell for 599
3. And i started out at 20/15 vision as a kid but i think the massive amounts of digital screen viewing has brought me down to a normal 20/20 but i do fear the graininess of the 27 inchers.

It doesnt seem like theres really anything worth upgrading to as far as monitors go within the 1440 market that make it worth the performance drop. Maybe id be happy with one of the Benq 144hz monitors that are 24 inches for like 300$? Altough i think this monitor scores quite well for response times, i think the Benq could probably beat it. And probably with less motion blur. BenQ XL2411Z to be exact

On the flip side of that, I might deal with the "graininess" for the added ability to see more clearly at long distances in games like squad, where youre being shot by a guy from 700m away who's 2 pixels tall and all you have is an akm with iron sights. And on the plus side of that, 27 inch monitors (at least at 75hz or so) are quite cheap.

I turn my current monitor down to 100Hz to just see if i could live with the lower refresh rate, and although 100 its hard to notice the difference, 60hz is definitely noticeable. I have an Asus IPS panel next to me for photo editing. I might try and game solely on that for a little bit and see if that bothers me any.
 

forerunner

Honorable
Jun 2, 2012
101
0
10,690


Was literally just looking at that one on amazon. I feel like Ive had one of them before. Three years ago when i was first int he market for a 120hz monitor I had 3 different monitors on my desk. A BenQ this Samsung and An Asus, either exactly, that, or very comparable to that model. Almost certain it had an A in i though. At any rate, i chose the samsung for the colors, (which are actually way bluer than they are supposed to be and made my photoediting life a little painful)

But a while back, before i even considered looking at 1440p i was thinking about getting that exact asus monitor and comparing it to my existing one.

Although. I dont feel like the switch is really worth it, if they are going to remain the same size, although lightboost is really nice for eliminating that ghosting. (which, in all fairness, this monitor does have a fair amount of.) And for 250$ for that asus, is a pretty damn good price. This samsung was like 425$ in 2013
 

Karmazyn83

Distinguished
Oct 23, 2013
56
1
18,545


I have never regretted my decision. I made tons of research and decided to grab 27 inch 144 Mhz monitor. I was blown away by its performance. To me personally 27 inch and 1080p made loads of sense. Pixels are not much noticeable. The difference is minimal and you will not notice it when using a monitor. the refresh rate is superb and like JackNaylorPE mentioned it is really hard to go back from this experience.

1440p costs a lot more in a long run. You need to upgrade GPU more often and you will not yield the same results. I think that if you decide to buy 1440p monitor it would be better to invest in 2nd GPU.


 

forerunner

Honorable
Jun 2, 2012
101
0
10,690


Yeah it would have been the 120hz model.