Confused on resolution?

[kirrasbank]

Hey guys im wanting to get into gaming. In about a month or so im going to be building a gaming computer!

I'm so lost on the graphics.

Screen resolution
Game graphics /low/mid/high/ultra

Does the screen resolution say for instance 1080p make you lag? Im just so lost it gives me a headache. what exactly is 1080p/720p. I know xbox and ps3 aparently run at 720p. So will i see a difference from 720-1080

Is 1080p like the screen size? Cause i never hear any1 saying my 15 inch screen is in 1080p. Im just lost, if someone could explain to me about the screen resolutions.. Im only going to be on 1 monitor so i dont need no fancy resolutions like 2400 or what ever it is.

thanks

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

1080p - 1080 vertical pixels (picture elements, as in dots), that are drawn progressively (as opposed to being interlaced which would be 1080i).

The resolution isn't directly what causes lag, as you can have poor performance at any resolution. Having a lack of the ability to push enough information to your screen at a chosen resolution is what is going to cause you problems. Most graphics cards, and yes, there's plenty to pick from, have a range of resolutions which they are best suited for. It is likely easiest to start with your budget, before trying to pick particular hardware.

The reason Xbox 360 and PS3 are 720P is their inability to maintain a high enough frame rate at anything higher. They just don't have the horsepower in the graphics department, and likely, even if they did, their main processing would likely then become a bottleneck.

If you already have a screen that you are satisfied with, that can also help you in determining your goal here. You really don't need a graphics card that is going to cost an arm and a leg if you don't plan to run it at high resolutions.

 

[warezme]

You monitor can support multiple resolutions. This is why you don't hear anyone saying I have a 15" 1080p screen. The screen size (15") is independent of the resolution. I have an HTC One phone that supports 1080p and it is only 4.7". However ALL monitors will have a NATIVE resolution they support. This is the resolution in which the vertical and horizontal pixels are matched to a given resolution. You want a monitor that has a native 1080p resolution for example. This means the monitor will run 1080p without have to scale the image. Scaling to fit the monitors native resolution can make the image worse. Also, when games show low/mid/high/ultra settings this is also independent of the screen size or resolution. You can run a game at 800x600 and Ultra on a 1080p 15" monitor but the monitor will have to scale the 800x600 to fill the screen because it is not a native resolution and it will look pixelatted. You can also run a game at 1080p on 15" monitor at low in game settings and it will probably look equally bad even though you aren't scaling. Ideally you want to match the screen resolution with the one your monitor supports and run the game at it's highest settings.

The higher the resolution and the higher the game settings the more pixels your video card will have to push and your CPU process. This is why gamers of PC computers always talk about the fastest video card and computer combo they can get their hands on. The beauty of a PC is you can build a machine that easily outperforms a console and beyond if you put a little effort and money into it.

 

[cookybiscuit]

720p means there are 1280 horizontal pixels and 720 vertical ones, this is the same regardless of how big the screen is. 1080p is 1920 horizontal, 1080 vertical, same concept as before.

Higher resolution means a less blurry/less pixelated image. For example, here 720p is on the left, 1080p on the right. http://i.imgur.com/dV0R5tK.jpg

 

[kirrasbank]

so.. If i get a monitor like this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236117

1920x1080.. So if i go this monitor it would look alot better then the other monitors at like 1300x-x-x-x ETC. Also, when im on my labtop screen it says 1366x768. when i click on it i can bring it down to 1024x768 which takes like 2inches off the sides. by doing so will that make games and normal browsing run faster? or will the recommended settings make it run the same?

basically if i have a r9 280x or a hd 7970 and im playing on like 1400x900 or something vs 1980x1080 Will i only see like a 5 fps drop....

also is the higher the inch of monitor the more it would increase lag ,or is it just the resolution sizes.. Like if i had a 28 inch at 1400x900 if thats even possible idk. im just trying to get my point out there lol.

 

[cookybiscuit]

Resolution does decrease performance, but cards like 280X are more than capable of 1080p. Screen size doesn't effect performance what so ever.

 

[kirrasbank]

thanks. I just figured because the tv was bigger it would make it lag some what.. cause more inches to show pixels..

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

Screen size is irrelevant to resolution, as warezme tried to point out. It's a reasonably simple metric, once you understand what's being done. To determine the number of pixels you're asking the video card to manipulate, multiply your width by your height, such as 1024 x 768, or 1920 x 1080. In the first case you get 786,432 and in the latter case you get 2,073,600. To run at the resolution of 1080p, you're going to need to push some 2.6 times as many pixels to the screen.

As far as your screen is concerned, it will draw the entirety of it's own pixels, 60 times every second, regardless of what your computer is feeding it. Again, this has nothing to do with how big it is. This is just the way they are. You can get faster screens, but at the moment, let's keep things simple.

Essentially, the better the graphics card, the more pixels it can push to the screen each second. You just need to find a card that gets you past the threshold of performance that the resolution you choose is going to require. At the same time, you want to have enough oomph in your graphics card to be able to handle the level of detail you are going to run your games at. This varies from game to game, but you can usually get a decent ball-park estimate for what a card is going to do for you.

An R9-280X or HD 7970 as you mention would handle 1080p gaming very well, provided you have a CPU of sufficient speed to keep it fed.

Try not to sweat the whole "screen size" issue. Just concern yourself with how many dots are on your screen, not how big the dots are. The more dots the more work. The dots will always be drawn by the screen itself at least 60 times every second, the only catch is, will your computer feed 60 unique pictures for the screen to make use of? Maybe, maybe not. This boils down to your CPU, GPU, and a few other minor factors. 🙂

 

[kirrasbank]

thanks!