Is Gaming With a Great Computer and a Bad/Old Monitor Bad for Gaming?

[Fiddlestix]

I'm looking at building a computer that is running about $1,000. I have a really old monitor that is fairly small. Do I HAVE to upgrade when I get my new computer? Will the monitor bottleneck performance or make everything look badly? Thank you.

 

[Aargh]

That would really depend on the specs of the monitor and the PC you'll be using it with. Old doesn't necessarily mean bad.

The most important aspects to consider are resolution and refresh rate. For example, if you're building a powerful PC that can run your favorite games on a 4k resolution at 144 FPS, that's a lot of wasted power (and money!) when it's all being displayed on a monitor that can't do better than 1920x1080 at 60Hz. That doesn't mean everything will suddenly look awful, but it does mean that your system is going to get bottlenecked by what your monitor can display and not live up to its potential. Of course, if you're not interested in playing games at a higher resolution or with more FPS and your build reflects that, your old monitor might still do just fine.

Either way. you definitely want to consider the limits of your monitor when building a new PC, regardless of whether you're using your old monitor or looking for a new one. But without knowing the specs of your monitor or what you're building your PC for, it's hard to give a straight-forward answer.

 

[Faike]

No you don't have to upgrade. I mean it really depends on how serious you are and what games you play. Yes a 144hz monitor is noticable to anyone who uses a 144hz monitor but a lot of people who never used one before can't even tell until they downgrade to a 60hz.
A really nice monitor is more like a last upgrade because unless you're used to using one that's super nice it won't make or break your PC.
I wouldn't even argue that you'd be wasting FPS if you're getting more than 60 because getting more than 60 makes the game play smoother no matter how fast your PC can render frames.

But if it's REALLY small and old and you're going for a 1000 build I would definitely at least try out a nicer monitor (perhaps borrow a friends temporarily) and see how much of a difference it is to you. I can't go back to a 60hz monitor personally (it actually hurts my eyes!) but it has the least impact on your system and can always be upgraded whenever you want to. It isn't necessary for the PC to work optimally.

 

[neiler0847]

Your gaming experience will be governed by the "weakest link in the chain", as it were. There is no technical reason why it won't work (unless it is so old that the connections are not compatible), but you might not have as much fun.