GPU monitors and pixels

[Blaketho]

Hey guys, I'm new in the computer world, still haven't built my pc even. I'm looking into the difference between the GTX 770 and 780. Read a few other posts saying go with 780 if you play at higher resolutions than 1080. Since I've never had a pc or played any games on one I'm wondering how you determine what resolution you play at. I'm assuming most games are standard at 1080 for the settings, but can you change it to higher resolution in menus?

Also, if I go with the 780 to play at say 1200-1440p do I need a better monitor than this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236153

EDIT: compared this 770 with a 780 on newegg and the max resolution for it says 4096x2160 cant compare that too much though cause no max is listed for the 780 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130945
Thanks in advance

 

[blockhead78]

as far as resolution goes, a lot of it is down to preference.

1920*1080 is pretty much the norm at the moment and will deliver great high quality resolution

When you install a game, the resolution is governed by your montior and windows

you can only achieve 1200-1440 resolution if you have a monitor capable of it (ie. a 1920*1080 monitor isn't capable of 1440)

A lot of it will also depend on what kind of games you will be playing and if you will be using the PC for productivity as well

For me 1080 is perfect. Great gaming resolution and just the right amount of desktop real estate (remember, the higher the res, the smaller everything appears in windows)

 

[Daniel Sudakov]

Both of these cards will be fine. I would say a 780 is overkill for 1080p, but why not really if you can afford it?

I do have the 770 (EVGA 770 ACX SC) and it's a great card for 1080p, and I max out games with no problems. Are you willing to spend a bit more for a card like a 780? If a 770 is "good enough" card for 1080p, do you think it's worth spending more money for a higher end card?

Do you have your mind set on Nvidia cards? ATM, AMD offers good choices against the 780. The R9 290 has 4gb of memory, and it's cheaper for the same amount of GPU horsepower.

With 1440p, you'll have to get a new monitor. A 1920x1080 monitor can only go up to 1080p.

 

[Blaketho]

as far as resolution goes, a lot of it is down to preference.

1920*1080 is pretty much the norm at the moment and will deliver great high quality resolution

When you install a game, the resolution is governed by your montior and windows

you can only achieve 1200-1440 resolution if you have a monitor capable of it (ie. a 1920*1080 monitor isn't capable of 1440)

A lot of it will also depend on what kind of games you will be playing and if you will be using the PC for productivity as well

For me 1080 is perfect. Great gaming resolution and just the right amount of desktop real estate (remember, the higher the res, the smaller everything appears in windows)

Probably one of my favorite responses on this forum, thanks very helpful. So if i had a 1440 resolution monitor the icons and stuff would be smaller? Thats interesting. I would be playing mostly like mmos and skyrim type games, but I would like to add graphics mods and stuff like that. So I'm interested in a higher resolution than standard 1080, but I will also be using it for online classes and microsoft word etc.

 

[Blaketho]

Both of these cards will be fine. I would say a 780 is overkill for 1080p, but why not really if you can afford it?

I do have the 770 (EVGA 770 ACX SC) and it's a great card for 1080p, and I max out games with no problems. Are you willing to spend a bit more for a card like a 780? If a 770 is "good enough" card for 1080p, do you think it's worth spending more money for a higher end card?

Do you have your mind set on Nvidia cards? ATM, AMD offers good choices against the 780. The R9 290 has 4gb of memory, and it's cheaper for the same amount of GPU horsepower.

With 1440p, you'll have to get a new monitor. A 1920x1080 monitor can only go up to 1080p.

Yeah 770 would probably work for me, its just like I said in my last post that I would like to add some more intense graphics mods to skyrim and the like, so im wondering if 1080 would show that stuff as well as 1440

 

[Daniel Sudakov]

Both of these cards will be fine. I would say a 780 is overkill for 1080p, but why not really if you can afford it?

I do have the 770 (EVGA 770 ACX SC) and it's a great card for 1080p, and I max out games with no problems. Are you willing to spend a bit more for a card like a 780? If a 770 is "good enough" card for 1080p, do you think it's worth spending more money for a higher end card?

Do you have your mind set on Nvidia cards? ATM, AMD offers good choices against the 780. The R9 290 has 4gb of memory, and it's cheaper for the same amount of GPU horsepower.

With 1440p, you'll have to get a new monitor. A 1920x1080 monitor can only go up to 1080p.

Yeah 770 would probably work for me, its just like I said in my last post that I would like to add some more intense graphics mods to skyrim and the like, so im wondering if 1080 would show that stuff as well as 1440

Yes, 1440p has more pixels verses a 1080p monitor. Pictures will be sharper, but the prices for the monitors will be up to you to decide.

If you're planning to do 1440p gaming, my recommendation is to get the 780. if you're going with 1080p for now, I recommend a 770 with 4gb of memory, so you'll have good amount of memory for a lot of intense graphics mods.

 

[oxiide]

When people talk about what resolution you're planning to play games, they are referring to the native resolution of your monitor, because that's where games will look the best. Generally speaking, you cannot run a game at 1440p unless you've got a monitor with a 2560x1440 native resolution. You can go down (720p on a 1080p monitor, for example) but rarely can you go up.

If you're planning on 1440p, I'd actually recommend the Radeon R9 290 for about $100 less than the GTX 780, and approximately as fast. The 780 is rather poorly positioned in the market at the moment.

 

[k1114]

Icons and stuff may not be smaller. That depends on the dpi (monitor size and res) and the game. Windows has everything set in pixel sizes so with any size monitor with the same dpi, it all stays the same size. So a 24" 1080p would be the same size icons as a 32" 1440p. But some games may enlarge in game items with larger res, say in bf4 the gun you are holding is bigger on screen as well as any of the ui since they're not raster images and they keep the fov the same.

Monitors can't show a higher res. It's impossible. Pixels are tiny lights on your screen. A lightbulb can't magically divide itself, neither can pixels. You can show a lower res as it just spreads a single color over multiple pixels. You could scale a larger res image but you are still seeing the same res.

 

[Blaketho]

Icons and stuff may not be smaller. That depends on the dpi (monitor size and res) and the game. Windows has everything set in pixel sizes so with any size monitor with the same dpi, it all stays the same size. So a 24" 1080p would be the same size icons as a 32" 1440p. But some games may enlarge in game items with larger res, say in bf4 the gun you are holding is bigger on screen as well as any of the ui since they're not raster images and they keep the fov the same.

Monitors can't show a higher res. It's impossible. Pixels are tiny lights on your screen. A lightbulb can't magically divide itself, neither can pixels. You can show a lower res as it just spreads a single color over multiple pixels. You could scale a larger res image but you are still seeing the same res.

Makes sense, I do understand the whole needing a 1440 monitor to use 1440. I guess now its a matter of preference and cost