1440p or 4k?

[TeamKorea]

would it be worth the extra $$$ to get the 4k monitor? i am debating between the asus pb278q and the asus pb287... I am wondering if the 4k would be the extra $200?

update: i have i7 4790k (not oc'd)
r9 290x

 

[bradsctt]

What are your system specs? You would need some high end hardware to make 4k playable, whereas 1440p runs well, even on cheaper hardware.

 

[someguynamedmatt]

I just bought myself a PB287Q - 4K is amazing. I'd say it's definitely worth the extra money - the 1440p PB278 isn't exactly a cheap monitor either, so I figure if you're going to spend that much on a display, you may as well go all the way and pick up a 4K instead.

Just a heads-up: if you do decide to go with a 4K monitor, be sure your video card can output DisplayPort 1.2 - you can only push 30FPS over a single HDMI connection, and there will be an unacceptable amount of display lag at that. I had a GTX 760 that could almost run everything I use at 4K, but have since upgraded to a GTX 980 which crushes everything, even gaming at ultra. It's effectively four 1080p panels - make sure you have the proper video hardware.

Just my opinion - take it for what it's worth.

 

[TeamKorea]

I just bought myself a PB287Q - 4K is amazing. I'd say it's definitely worth the extra money - the 1440p PB28 iosn't exactly a cheap monitor either, so I figure if you're going to spend that much on a display, you may as well go all the way and pick up a 4K instead.

Just a heads-up: if you do decide to go with a 4K monitor, be sure your video card can output DisplayPort 1.2 - you can only push 30FPS over a single HDMI connection, and there will be an unacceptable amount of display lag at that. I had a GTX 760 that could almost run everything I use at 4K, but have since upgraded to a GTX 980 which crushes everything, even gaming at ultra. It's effectively four 1080p panels - make sure you have the proper video hardware.

Just my opinion - take it for what it's worth.

Thanks for the reply i just put my order in for a pb287q and it is coming this friday! hope i am just as happy as you are with yours!!

 

[-Lone-]

Not trying to start a fight here, but you do know there's HDMI 2.0 on the 980, right? DP 1.2 is great, but thats just an additional info about the 980. Also, there isn't a single card that can run 4k ultra at a smooth level, but that depends on the person's perception of "smooth". For some people 30 fps is enough, for some 50, or 60, or 80...etc, it would also depend on which games you play. So maybe that's some info that people should know about before buying the monitor before he gets too excited? I love 4k but I don't want to encourage them to get it if their hardware is not up to it to the way "he" wants them to perform. Full specs would help.

 

[someguynamedmatt]

I understand - that's why we have the forums... to get everyone's opinions in one place! It also depends on what exactly you're running - I'm happy with 40FPS or so, and the games I play (Skyrim, Guild Wars, etc) do play exceptionally well. No, you probably won't be tanking along in BF4 at 60FPS, but drop the detail level a bit and disable all AA and you'll be just fine. HDMI 2.0 didn't really occur to me while I was writing that... I stand corrected. Both HDMI 2.0 and DP 1.2 are downwards compatible with earlier cables, too... I guess it's just that we've had physical HDMI ports the whole way back to nVidia's 7600GT and we're asked about 4K over HDMI 1.4 here all the time.

DP cables have nice latches on them, too. The PB287 does come with a DP cable, so it would save you buying an extra.

I have to respectfully disagree, though, with the concept of purchasing only what your hardware is capable of running and nothing more. By going with 4K over 1440p, you're opening an upgrade path in essence... even if you absolutely cannot run at full 4K, drop the resolution in-game down to a slightly lower resolution and you'll still be pulling a higher pixel density than good old 1080p until the hardware itself catches up. Let's say you went with a 1440p screen - a single GTX 980 can and will crush that resolution, even with a decent amount of AA... at that point, there's no reason for more video power unless you're the kind of person who enjoys excessive antialiasing, and so your next upgrade step is a 4K monitor regardless. You're left with a 1440p panel you probably will never use again (unless you want a second display, which is great) when you could just downscale a 4K panel until you're ready to run it at full power. I know my logic isn't perfect, but hopefully that makes sense. Things don't always advance at the same rate, and so my own preference is to make large(r) purchases and just scale them together, rather than making many more small(er) purchases just to keep everything at the same level.

Regardless of all of the above, don't forget of the benefits outside of gaming. Even if you could only push two frames per second, you still have a beautiful pixel density and a massive amount of workspace just for general use.

 

[-Lone-]

Yeah I guess so, but if it was me looking for an upgradable build for 4k, I'd get a mobo capable of 4 GPUs to start with than anything, or 1300-1600w PSU depending on which GPU and just get it over with, with everything else except for the GPUs so I'd only have to worry about that, lol. I agree DP does seem superior since they are already up to 4k@120Hz with their new version 1.3. I normally encourage people for 4k like you do, not many people do anyways, just pointing out some things