Is 1440p worth it?

I built my current machine last year which is Asus z170 based, running a 6600k at 4.4Ghz and Vengeance RAM at 3Ghz.

I re-used my monitor and graphics as I didn't want to lay down all the cash in one go so they are the weak links, so now I'm thinking of moving everything up to speed.

I currently have two R9 270s in Crossfire. I ran a single one for a couple of years; I added the second a few months back as a cheap bandaid but of course it does nothing for Doom, and with such variable support and performance scaling I'm thinking it's time to cut my losses and open my wallet again for a single card solution.

My monitor is an 8-year-old 23" Samsung 1080p. Nothing really wrong with it, but I'm finding myself wanting to give the newer titles a go in QHD. More to the point, I'm putting off playing the newer titles in my Steam library. Amazon has Asus 24" and AOC 27" QHD monitors at ~£200.

The card is probably going to have to be used from ebay. I don't really want to pay through the nose for a new 10xx card. My whole life I have used ATi / AMD cards, but I find myself looking hard at the 980 Ti for 1440p. I have a Corsair Carbide case that can handle the long versions. Are these likely to have been on mining duty?

Have you made the switch to 1440p and would recommend it? How are your frame rates?

I don't think 1440p is "worth it" for games over 1080p. I mean, it's nice that things are a little crisper, but it's not a game changer, so to speak. Modern games (like, say, Doom 2016) tend to decouple rendering resolution from screen resolution and have good rescaling algorithms, so I tend to play Doom 2016 at 75% (equivalent to 1080p) on my 1440p 144hz monitor, just for the extra frame rate.

A 1440p monitor is nice to have in general, though, just for the extra screen real estate.

I ain't neva goin back.

1080p its the standard for now wait a few years and 4K will be the same price as a normal 1080p monitor and will be the new standard.

8 hours ago, Linguica said:

I don't think 1440p is "worth it" for games over 1080p. I mean, it's nice that things are a little crisper, but it's not a game changer, so to speak. Modern games (like, say, Doom 2016) tend to decouple rendering resolution from screen resolution and have good rescaling algorithms, so I tend to play Doom 2016 at 75% (equivalent to 1080p) on my 1440p 144hz monitor, just for the extra frame rate.

 

A 1440p monitor is nice to have in general, though, just for the extra screen real estate.

How does the game feel at 120+ FPS?

It feels good.

Honestly I don't notice as big of an improvement going from 60 fps to 100+ fps as it seems like other people do. Like when I load up the Nvidia demo program with a swinging pendulum I can tell the difference, but while playing the game, it just... maybe seems a little smoother? But not mind blowing.

I notice a 60 to 55 fps drop, but when I sit further away from the monitor I don't notice it.

9 minutes ago, Linguica said:

Honestly I don't notice as big of an improvement going from 60 fps to 100+ fps as it seems like other people do. Like when I load up the Nvidia demo program with a swinging pendulum I can tell the difference, but while playing the game, it just... maybe seems a little smoother? But not mind blowing.

I get a similar feeling while watching videos of gameplay in 60 fps. For some really weird reason it feels better when I watch 60 FPS than when I play it.

24 minutes ago, DooM_RO said:

I get a similar feeling while watching videos of gameplay in 60 fps. For some really weird reason it feels better when I watch 60 FPS than when I play it.

Funny, I was just thinking that myself no more than an hour ago - I was watching some Quake Live videos in 60FPS and they felt smoother than butter.

The whole 144hz thing is another factor, and one about which I know nothing. I mean, I understand the technicalities, but haven't seen one in the flesh so I don't know if the cash would be better headed toward, say, a 144hz 1080p display than a ~60hz 1440p. Perhaps I'll just have to haul my ass to PC World or somewhere and try to see for myself.

That would probably give me more card options, because I think I'm right in saying you don't need to be at the 980 Ti level to be getting around 140 or whatever FPS in most titles.

Ling I seem to remember yours is a g-sync setup? And that you were pretty excited about it - has that held up?

My appreciation for 120fps depends on the game really. But for games like Quake and so it's a pretty big deal. But 30fps is cancer in most cases. And framerate in console games like bloodborne is distracting with how poor they tend to be.

As for monitors. IF I'd buy a new one I'd go for something like Acer Predator Z35 35" . those cuved displays tickle my fancy for a more vr feel.

As someone who's never had the cutting-edge top of the line machine, as long as I'm at 30fps I'm happy.

I personally haven't had the chance to try anything above 100hz yet, but I've 'overclocked' my monitor to 100hz and the difference is there. I noticed it as soon as I moved the mouse cursor. I can see a bit of a difference in game but if I'm to be honest I doubt it would make a huge difference while playing if I tried them back to back. I'm too focused on playing to notice. Definitely not the difference from 50 to 60fps but it's there.

I've got a BenQ XL2411z, and going to 144hz from 60hz was really noticeable for me. The response time is My favorite thing about it, so it does feel really good. What's most notable, is then going back and trying a 60hz monitor. It will feel increadibly choppy. The colors are crappy on 144hz monitors, and the gamma on this thing is kinda weird, Colors on this are quite inaccurate.

I've tried multiple 27" monitors running at 1440p and I had the same problem with all of them, being that certain text on screen was juuuust outside of being fully comfortable to read. I'm used to monitors having a PPI of around 91-95, like my current one running 1200p at 24 inches. 27 @ 1440p is about 109 PPI, and I just didn't find it as comfortable to read smaller text, especially since I like to slouch in my seat sometimes and create more distance from the monitor. I'm aware that scaling options exist, but they aren't as universal as they ought to be and can also cause issues here and there. Plus, I feel like the extra screen estate over 1080/1200 is kind of wasted if you have to scale things, so it just never sat right with me.

I would like to try a 32" screen running 1440p, but those are pretty rare and only use VA panels instead of IPS, which probably isn't a huge deal but I do kind of worry about potential problems. That, and 32" is just a big thing to have on my desk, and might not be that comfortable anyway.

31 minutes ago, MrGlide said:

The colors are crappy on 144hz monitors, and the gamma on this thing is kinda weird, Colors on this are quite inaccurate.

I don't have this issue on my 144hz monitor - It's colours are near-enough the same as the colours of my other two 60hz monitors to not see any difference!

A lot of cheapo TFT/LCD monitors have crappy colors. Regardless of IF they are 60or 100+ hz