What specs to look at while buying a Monitor.

[JerrWolf]

I'm looking at these two monitors. One is upward $600, the other is upward $400.
the first is a 2k monitor while the second is a 4k monitor, on sale.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236399
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=24-236-405

What should I be looking for at which is best for me.
I have a i7 4790k and GTX 980 ti ASUS Strix for CPU/GPU.
I am currently using 1080p monitor, and I'd like to upgrade and have two monitors, older one for browsing and etc while new one for main monitor and games.

I am unsure if I will even use 4k in games often. I prefer 60fps in games.
Is it a waste to get a 4k monitor then? Is it a waste in this case being that it is cheaper than the 2k monitor?

 

[weberdarren97]

The 1440p monitor looks rather impressive actually... And to be honest, even the higher models of the board partner variations of the 980ti will have a hard time running multiple screens smoothly if you're 4k gaming on one of them.

To answer your question about which specifications are important... I look at response time (gray to gray) as well as resolution, contrast ratio and refresh rate. A 1000:1 contrast ratio isn't the highest there is, but it'll be fine as long as you don't have multiple different color party lights in your room that cast their light on your screen. I've heard of one screen (the Acer Predator I think it's the X34) that has a 100 million:1 contrast ratio.

 

[JerrWolf]

So with a single card you don't advice 4k gaming and having a dual monitor? (The second monitor won't be used for games).

 

[weberdarren97]

It's usually quite a strain for any single card to game at 4k in the first place, let alone run multiple screens while doing that

 

[weberdarren97]

Now I haven't seen any specifications for the next generation Nvidia cards yet, so they may turn out to be the exception to the rule I just said, but I can't confirm that yet.

 

[JerrWolf]

Hmm and what difference does the 1000:1 compared to the other make? In my room it is generally only natural and yellow artificial light in terms of color I suppose.

 

[weberdarren97]

The 4k one has a contrast ratio of 100 million:1, so it'll look good even under different lighting environments, where lower contrast ratios like 1000:1 would have a noticeable difference in display performance between natural light and artificial light... But if it's always under the same lighting, then in my opinion, anything over 750:1 is enough.

I'd go with the 1440p monitor simply because of the fact that 4k is a pretty heavy load even for a 980ti