Question 2070 super - worth upgrading monitor to 1080 high refresh?

[MEMOFLEX]

Good afternoon all

Looking for a little bit of advice regarding my brothers computer and whether a monitor upgrade to a higher 120+ refresh rate would be worth it. I am struggling with whether investing in another 1080p monitor in 2024 would be worth it and so I am looking for some opinions on what others would potentially do in this situation.

The specs are :

Cpu : 5700x
MB : Asus TUF B550 gaming plus WiFi
RAM : Corsair Dominator 3200 c16 32 GB (2x16)
GPU : Msi 2070 super ventus 2x
PSU : Corsair RMX750
Monitor : Iilyama 24" 75hz TN Black Eagle

As a little background info my brother knows nothing about computers really and I put him together his first computer a few years back and have been making incremental updates to keep the system relevant but earlier this year I gave him my old 2070 super as an upgrade to the previous 1070 ti that I put in originally. This was a decent boost for him and at 1080p the 2070S is still a decent card and I only upgraded as I wanted a little more performance after 3 years of good service from the card.

He recently came over to my house and ended up playing some games - primarily warzone as he plays this more than anything but does also play a number of newer games with Helldivers 2 and Hogwarts Legacy being a couple of examples - and he found that playing at a higher refresh rate in warzone was a much better experience. He was also impressed by the considerably better colours and image. I am using 27" 1440p IPS LG ultragear 165hz monitors. As a consequence he has been asking me on whether going to a higher refresh rate 1080p monitor would be worth the investment.

Prices for high refresh 1080p IPS monitors are quite good now with some decent 24" options in the £130 - £150 range but would people go down this route at this stage?

He has recently got married and so money is at a premium and so rather than tie myself in knots I thought I would ask the community their thoughts.

A 1440p monitor could be considered if people think this is an option and I am willing to chuck a bit of money at it to help him out if required. My main reasons for not recommending this is the 8gb vram buffer but the offset of higher resolution against lower settings could work. This would give him better options for the future and he would likely still be able to get 120+ frames in warzone with the right settings.

I would be hoping to at least get another 2 years put of the 2070S if possible.

Any thoughts on the approach they would take would be appreciated in taking the next steps. If there is something I haven't mentioned or thought please let me know.

Thanks

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

am struggling with whether investing in another 1080p monitor in 2024 would be worth it

i would say no.
but, I gave up on 1080p gaming ~10 years ago and moved on to 1440p when the GTX 10 series was released.

the size of the display will also make a big difference in what resolution you should choose.
with 16:9 aspect ratio i would say anything >/=27" you should definitely consider 1440p or higher.
32" even, I would start considering 4K.

my 34" 21:9 ultrawide @ 1440p is perfect for me for now, but am always considering moving up to a 39" 32:9 super-ultrawide.

 

[Third-Eye]

High refresh rate is good for desktop usage and gaming and 1080p 144+Hz are cheap these days. Unless the budget is very restricted, I don't see any reason not to get a faster display even if it's 1080p. I suggest not getting anything above 24".

The 2070 Super, which is slightly above 3060 performance, should be capable of 120+FPS in a lot of games on lower settings 1080p or even higher on esports titles like Overwatch 2 or Counterstrike 2.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

you should definitely go to some local shops, Best Buy, etc
and check out the options in person.

if you're only considering a 16:9 aspect ratio;
in my opinion, 24" is a tiny display and not worth using.
27" is the smallest I would even consider.
32" is better for a regular desktop setup.

but 21:9 ultrawide is even better for a gaming-based system.

 

[Third-Eye]

you should definitely go to some local shops, Best Buy, etc
and check out the options in person.

if you're only considering a 16:9 aspect ratio;
in my opinion, 24" is a tiny display and not worth using.
27" is the smallest I would even consider.
32" is better for a regular desktop setup.

but 21:9 ultrawide is even better for a gaming-based system.

You gotta look at this from a realistic view point with the person wants and needs.

They're not in the US and also on a smaller £130 - £150 (up to $197 USD) budget so that leaves 1440p high refresh rate out as an option if buying new. 24" 144-170Hz is easily doable in a £150 max budget.

1080p at 27" and higher is awful to use and the only good 27" start at 1440p resolution, which will require compromises on graphics settings to get good performance on a 2070 Super. 1080p on a 1440p going to look horrible as well, so lowering resolution as a performance compromise will be a crap shoot.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

They're not in the US and also on a smaller £130 - £150 (up to $197 USD) budget so that leaves 1440p high refresh rate out as an option

budgets can be extended when one realizes they will not find a suitable option within said budget.

while 24" 1080p may be "doable", it is still pretty much a crap option with a tiny display.

as OP stated,

1440p monitor could be considered if people think this is an option and I am willing to chuck a bit of money at it to help him out if required

 

[punkncat]

A couple of points I would make here.

I assume y'all are younger fellas and are not having issues with eyesight yet, so that 'advantage' of the lower resolution may not be in play.

FPS is sort of like Pandora's Box. Once you open it, and get a taste of it, hard not to want. Alongside that you should consider your monitor and its sync type. Many people may not agree with the premise of what I have to say about that: I would take a system that nail 60 FPS with ZERO drops and proper frame sync any day over some high refresh rate with huge dips and poor sync.

I think a 2070 is a level of card that would work well with 1080/120. The issue here being that like most buyers it will be much more likely that you would purchase a new base system and/or a graphics card before replacing the monitor again. In this particular situation I would try to find as large a monitor that will properly fit the space, and would look at something 1440P with as high a refresh rate as you can find in an OFFICIAL sync compatibility for the Nvidia card. It is quite common to find monitors that are G Sync compatible that also work with Free Sync. The other way around is a bit less common so unless the next graphics solution is to be AMD I wouldn't go that way.

.02

 

[MEMOFLEX]

i would say no.
but, I gave up on 1080p gaming ~10 years ago and moved on to 1440p when the GTX 10 series was released.

the size of the display will also make a big difference in what resolution you should choose.
with 16:9 aspect ratio i would say anything >/=27" you should definitely consider 1440p or higher.
32" even, I would start considering 4K.

my 34" 21:9 ultrawide @ 1440p is perfect for me for now, but am always considering moving up to a 39" 32:9 super-ultrawide.

Thanks for the response bud.

This is the challenge that I have been having as I have been on 1440p for a while now and using a 1080p display is noticeable now. My brother however has been using 1080p for a while so whilst he has tasted 1440p it is more the smoothness of a higher refresh rate that I think he is after - a better quality screen type would also make a difference as the colours on his TN panel do look a bit washed out by comparison.

The higher refresh rate would primarily be for Warzone and a solid 60fps for the remaining AAA titles so maybe a 27" 1440p screen would be the better option longer term. As mentioned then I can add a bit of cash myself to get him the best option. Maybe DLSS can get him over the line where required. I will have a look at the pricing to see what is available and come back.

High refresh rate is good for desktop usage and gaming and 1080p 144+Hz are cheap these days. Unless the budget is very restricted, I don't see any reason not to get a faster display even if it's 1080p. I suggest not getting anything above 24".

The 2070 Super, which is slightly above 3060 performance, should be capable of 120+FPS in a lot of games on lower settings 1080p or even higher on esports titles like Overwatch 2 or Counterstrike 2.

Thanks for the answer. Whilst money is tight for him at present I think getting the best longer term option is what I am aiming for and the last thing I want to do is get a half decent 1080p screen only to consider replacing it again in the near future.

 

[MEMOFLEX]

A couple of points I would make here.

I assume y'all are younger fellas and are not having issues with eyesight yet, so that 'advantage' of the lower resolution may not be in play.

FPS is sort of like Pandora's Box. Once you open it, and get a taste of it, hard not to want. Alongside that you should consider your monitor and its sync type. Many people may not agree with the premise of what I have to say about that: I would take a system that nail 60 FPS with ZERO drops and proper frame sync any day over some high refresh rate with huge dips and poor sync.

I think a 2070 is a level of card that would work well with 1080/120. The issue here being that like most buyers it will be much more likely that you would purchase a new base system and/or a graphics card before replacing the monitor again. In this particular situation I would try to find as large a monitor that will properly fit the space, and would look at something 1440P with as high a refresh rate as you can find in an OFFICIAL sync compatibility for the Nvidia card. It is quite common to find monitors that are G Sync compatible that also work with Free Sync. The other way around is a bit less common so unless the next graphics solution is to be AMD I wouldn't go that way.

.02

We are not young anymore unfortunately but whilst our bodies are not what they used to be our eyes are still ok haha.

I fully agree on the FPS as I thought it was all a bit of snake oil until I started using a high refresh regularly. I find it very noticeable using a 60fps system now - certainly for shooters and driving games. A solid 60fps for single player games however is also the baseline which is partly why I have found this such a head scratcher. DLSS - whilst only the 2.0 version is available for the 2070S - should still be viable, when required, until we can upgrade the card down the line but I feel that the card still has some life left in it but I guess time will tell with newer games.

Money is tight for him at present - the wedding was very expensive and his young kid seems to get more expensive by the day - but I would expect that in a years time then things may normalise a little then he may be able to afford to upgrade the card if he is really struggling. Things like birthdays and Christmas may be able to be utilised to trop up his available funds as required (plus I don't mind helping him out a bit if he needs a small top up here and there) - no real allegiance to either Nvidia or AMD and despite pretty much exclusively using Nvidia for myself the lasty couple of years I have primarily put AMD cards into builds I have done for others as the the cost / performance has been the better option

The variable refresh rates on gsync / freesync monitors seem very good nowadays so I am leaning towards the 1440p and just adding a bit of money to help him out.

If the budget was increased to say £200 - £250 is there any particular monitors that you would recommend?

 

[MEMOFLEX]

Following on from the comments listed above I did a bit of research into 2070S performance at 1440p and found the following:

https://www.techspot.com/review/2791-nvidia-geforce-rtx-4070-super/

Obviously this is a review for the 4070 super but it gives details of the 2070S. At the higher game settings then it is what I expected and a sub 60fps experience at native. I would expect a medium graphics setting however might be ok and as mentioned a DLSS / FSR boost if absolutely needed - something that is not really an option at 1080p.

I have also been pleasantly surprised by the cost of 1440p 165hz monitors with me finding the same monitor as I have (LG GP850P) for £250 which is the top end of the budget and will involve me adding some of my own funds. I will continue to look for other options as ideally I would like to spend less if possible but should anyone know of any 1440p monitors they would recommend then please shout out as I think based on the comments this is the way to go over the 1080p option.

If it would be better to start another thread in the monitor section then I can do and close this down

 

[MEMOFLEX]

Just to close this thread off we ended up picking a 1440p 165Hz monitor to prep for the future and manage settings accordingly. I let my brother borrow one of my monitors for a couple of weeks (1440p 165hz) , alongside a 1080p 165hz that I borrowed from a friend, to see how he got on and in the games he plays regularly, the 2070S performed surprisingly well with tweaks to settings made as required. Medium settings and above performed well with most of the games we tried and DLSS chipped in if and when required. This experience with the 1440p monitor was preferable to the previous 1080p 75Hz and the 1080p 165hz and with an education on settings , he is very happy with the decision made. The DLSS scaling to 1440p offered a preferable image quality.

This will likely shorten the usefulness and lifespan of the 2070S but in the short term will certainly improve his experience in the regular games he plays with the caveat that newer games he may have to reduce texture qualities to hit the 60+ fps target as required.

A big thank you to all that offered opinion's and advice. Really appreciated