1080P @ 144Hz vs 1440 @ 60 or 144Hz; Your thoughts?

[Ak_Lance]

So I am going to get a new monitor I am just up in the air want to know what you folks thought. I have a GeForce 1070, will the 1070 handle max settings on a 1440 @ 144Hz? I have been reading both.

[AOD_Pczdemon]

I've been dual 27" screens for years (60hz) and finally decided to upgrade to a 144hz and went with 1440p. The higher resolution is noticeable at 27"+ screen size. If your screen size is smaller, I would advise 1080p @ 144hz. It's up to what you're used to / looking for and what your $ limit is.

As for suggestions, I went with this dell monitor because most of the acer/asus monitors I looked at had terrible reviews (like 2/5 stars,eggs, etc.). It's worked flawlessly so far and I'm loving it (I got it for $450 and had it for 8 months): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Ak_Lance]

Thank you demon, I'll take a look.

[MightyDWC]

I've been dual 27" screens for years (60hz) and finally decided to upgrade to a 144hz and went with 1440p. The higher resolution is noticeable at 27"+ screen size. If your screen size is smaller, I would advise 1080p @ 144hz. It's up to what you're used to / looking for and what your $ limit is.

As for suggestions, I went with this dell monitor because most of the acer/asus monitors I looked at had terrible reviews (like 2/5 stars,eggs, etc.). It's worked flawlessly so far and I'm loving it (I got it for $450 and had it for 8 months): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is the EXACT same monitor I went with as you said, because of all the issues and bad reviews with asus and acer. When I first got mine, I played with the monitor settings, and had a REALLY bad trailing issue on my mouse, and things on screen leaving trails. A 10 minute call with Dell Tech Support fixed it (simple reset of factory settings).

I have a GTX 970, and can run things at 1440 144hz with 60 fps no problem. However I find my KDR and general game experience is more enjoyable running 1080 at 144. My fps usually runs 120 to 130. If it's like a single player campain I'll run 1440 just to enjoy the beauty of the game.

I've had this monitor for a year with NO issues.

[ZED]

I have a 1080p 144hz monitor from BenQ XL2411Z + GTX 1070
http://www.benq.ca/product/monitor/xl2411z/
This is Zowie series monitor. So, I would recommend to go with Zowie series from BenQ http://zowie.benq.com/en/product/monitor.html
These monitors are widely used by Professional Gamers at E-Sport.

It's a fantastic monitor with a lot of options to tweak it to your desired liking. What's the best part of this monitor is that it has very very low input lag compared to other monitors in the same class. If I would upgrade my monitor I would for sure go with another BenQ monitor. Also, BenQ has a fantastic built quality. I've never experienced any problems or whatsoever with this monitor, while my friend has problems setting his ASUS 144hz monitor to run in 144 hz mode.

One thing I'd like to point out that I will NEVER EVER go lower than 144 Hz. The gameplay is so much smoother with 144 Hz refresh rate even if you are running a game at 60 FPS. The myth that you need 144 fps to run on 144 Hz is a complete bullshit cause that's not how it really works. With 144 Hz any movement is so much smoother and there is no screen tearing even at low frame rates that you usually would get on 60 Hz monitor.
Moreover, since I use my PC a lot for work I also run 144 Hz on my Windows. So, movement of my mouse and screen is just much more smoother and crisp clear, which allows me to work all day without my eyes getting tired.
I had a couple PC geeks who came to my house and they immediately freaked out when they saw how smooth my mouse is within Windows.
It's hard to show the difference with a video but once you see it and try it, you will never want to go back to 60 Hz screen.
I'm so used to 144 Hz now that when I switch to 60 Hz even in Windows, my eyes start to hurt looking how that mouse is leaving a huge trail behind.

So, go with 144 Hz screen weather you choose 1080p or 1440p!!! And don't listen to that BS that oh but you need 144 FPS to run 144 Hz!!! Mark my words, you will see that difference yourself when you see those 144 Hz.

[little_meow]

Good information to a question I hadn't thought to ask just yet

[AstroCat]

I went through this a while ago. I have a pretty beefy system (stats in .sig) and I went for a 27" 1080p 144hz Gsync monitor and I'm super happy with it. Here's the deal if you want over 60fps with ultra/max settings in games then there is no way a 1070 card will consistently do that at 1440p, I tested it a ton. For example even with my 1080 SC card and 6700k @ 4.5Ghz Witcher 3 at max settings would dip down to 60fps and once and a while sub 60fps running at 1080. Usually it was in the low 80-120 zone, if I did that at 1440 it would be much lower. It depends on where your priorities are, for me I wanted wanted max in-game quality and constant 60-144fps without having to worry about Vsync (always hitting 144fps which was never gonna happen), so I got this monitor (Acer XB270H 27") and I'm super happy with it.

[Ak_Lance]

Very very good info, thank you guys so much for your experiences. Something else i was thinking about after further investigation last night (and reading your responses), will I see a dip in quality if I go to 27" 1080 monitor @ 144Hz? I have been reading that if you go up to 27" @ 1080p it's a hair too big for the number of pixels regardless of the Hz. I'd like a 27" but 24" is not a deal breaker. I mainly want smooth play with high fps, not overly concerned with super max details of pretty stuff.

[ZED]

I went through this a while ago. I have a pretty beefy system (stats in .sig) and I went for a 27" 1080p 144hz Gsync monitor and I'm super happy with it. Here's the deal if you want over 60fps with ultra/max settings in games then there is no way a 1070 card will consistently do that at 1440p, I tested it a ton. For example even with my 1080 SC card and 6700k @ 4.5Ghz Witcher 3 at max settings would dip down to 60fps and once and a while sub 60fps running at 1080. Usually it was in the low 80-120 zone, if I did that at 1440 it would be much lower. It depends on where your priorities are, for me I wanted wanted max in-game quality and constant 60-144fps without having to worry about Vsync (always hitting 144fps which was never gonna happen), so I got this monitor (Acer XB270H 27") and I'm super happy with it.

In what games you are dipping below 60 FPS with your 1070?

I have i5 6600k OC to 4.3 Ghz and GTX 1070 and all my games run 80+ FPS. Most of them run 100 FPS on average, like BF1, BF4, Star Wars BF, PCars, iRacing, Assetto Corsa, and many more.
Some games like Witcher 3, GTA 5 run 80+ FPS
But I never see any game dipping below 60 FPS and mostly they stay above 70 FPS on those games that are poorly optimized like Assassins Creed Syndicate, for example.

[ZED]

Very very good info, thank you guys so much for your experiences. Something else i was thinking about after further investigation last night (and reading your responses), will I see a dip in quality if I go to 27" 1080 monitor @ 144Hz? I have been reading that if you go up to 27" @ 1080p it's a hair too big for the number of pixels regardless of the Hz. I'd like a 27" but 24" is not a deal breaker. I mainly want smooth play with high fps, not overly concerned with super max details of pretty stuff.

You will be fine with 27" 1080p screen but I would consider 1440p at that point. You can always downscale resolution. It's better to downscale than upscale. For example, if you upscale 1080p to 1440p it won't be as good as if you already have 1440p screen. But if you downscale 1440p to 1080p then the 1080p will look better on 1440p monitor than on 1080p monitor.
Also, GTX 1070 handles 1440p just fine. Maybe, just maybe on some very poorly optimized games you might want to turn down to 1080p but in most games you will be fine with 1440p and you will be able to max them out and still run 80 - 144 fps. Personally I upscaled my 1080p screen to 1440p in Star Wars Battlefront and I'm still hitting 110 FPS on average.

To make you sure that you will be fine with 1440p.
Look at my GTA 5 Benchmark video with MSAA x4

[ZED]

For example even with my 1080 SC card and 6700k @ 4.5Ghz Witcher 3 at max settings would dip down to 60fps and once and a while sub 60fps running at 1080

I dunno bro but with all useless NVIDIA Hairworks ON, I'm running Witcher 3 with my GTX 1070 and i5 6600k @ 1080p and getting 60+ FPS. If I turn down that useless NVIDIA Hairworks then the game runs perfectly fine above 80 FPS.

[AstroCat]

You are at 1080p and just barely staying above 60. If you were at 1440 you'd be way below.

NVIDIA Hairworks on all (which I like and wanted on)... you will for sure get below 60fps in certain areas. I tested this out a ton and over many different games... sure the average will stay above but I noted several times it dipped below. Total War series of games are another great example that drop below 60 at times, even at 1080! With 1080p I never had to really had to worry about it in Witcher 3, at 1440p for sure. This is with everything maxed, and think about how newer games are going to be even more demeaning. I'd rather be ahead of the curve for sure. Now, maybe 1080ti SC or whatever comes after the 1080 can keep 60fps at 1440 at ultra/max settings... when that day comes I'll get a new 1440 monitor.

[AstroCat]

Very very good info, thank you guys so much for your experiences. Something else i was thinking about after further investigation last night (and reading your responses), will I see a dip in quality if I go to 27" 1080 monitor @ 144Hz? I have been reading that if you go up to 27" @ 1080p it's a hair too big for the number of pixels regardless of the Hz. I'd like a 27" but 24" is not a deal breaker. I mainly want smooth play with high fps, not overly concerned with super max details of pretty stuff.

I haven't had any issues with 1080p on my 27", I am usually also able to run full anti-aliasing and related settings in games so this hasn't really been an issue. Also you could always use DSR to upscale if it's not supported in the game.

But, ultimately it's a personal decision on what you want our of your gaming/monitor situation. I wanted ultra/max settings, and always above 60fps, preferably over 80fps or so and I wanted Gsync so I didn't have to worry about Vsync and screen tearing. So for me, 1080 made sense, if I really wanted higher native res. at the expense of lower fps and/or in-game settings I would have for sure gone for 1440p. Also if you have 1440p, eventually there will be a card that can drive it and stay above 60fps with max settings, although there will always be those games that push the tech edge that might be too demanding.

[AstroCat]

Sorry for triple post... one more thing... any time you run an LCD monitor off of it's native resolution the screen quality will drop. So having a 1440p monitor and running something at 1080p is not a valid option for most people, other wise I would have done this. The screen will get "blurry" and will not be as clear in a very noticeable way.

[ZED]

You are at 1080p and just barely staying above 60. If you were at 1440 you'd be way below.

NVIDIA Hairworks on all (which I like and wanted on)... you will for sure get below 60fps in certain areas. I tested this out a ton and over many different games... sure the average will stay above but I noted several times it dipped below. Total War series of games are another great example that drop below 60 at times, even at 1080! With 1080p I never had to really had to worry about it in Witcher 3, at 1440p for sure. This is with everything maxed, and think about how newer games are going to be even more demeaning. I'd rather be ahead of the curve for sure. Now, maybe 1080ti SC or whatever comes after the 1080 can keep 60fps at 1440 at ultra/max settings... when that day comes I'll get a new 1440 monitor.

Yet, I'm running it 60 FPS with Hairworks ON. That Hairworks is just a useless setting that all it does is just decrease game performance with unnoticeable graphical improvement. So, as I said, turning it off makes the game run 80+ FPS @ 1080 with GTX 1070 and i5 6600k.
Most games can be ran at 1440p with GTX 1070 and stay well above 60 FPS mark.

Here is an example GTX 1070 running BF1 @ 1440p and staying above 70 FPS

[ZED]

Sorry for triple post... one more thing... any time you run an LCD monitor off of it's native resolution the screen quality will drop. So having a 1440p monitor and running something at 1080p is not a valid option for most people, other wise I would have done this. The screen will get "blurry" and will not be as clear in a very noticeable way.

I've tested on my 4k TV. I downscaled from 4k to 1080p and it looks better than on my 1080p monitor. As I said in my previous posts, screens that have high resolution they downscale better and can offer better results than screens running their native resolution. Just like in my case a 4k TV @1080p looks better than a 1080p monitor at its Native Resolution.

[AstroCat]

I've tested on my 4k TV. I downscaled from 4k to 1080p and it looks better than on my 1080p monitor. As I said in my previous posts, screens that have high resolution they downscale better and can offer better results than screens running their native resolution. Just like in my case a 4k TV @1080p looks better than a 1080p monitor at its Native Resolution.

I think Hairworks makes a difference in the way the hair moves and looks on the characters and monsters, so sorry I disagree, I think it looks noticeably better in-game and I waned to use it because of this reason.

1080p downscaled will not look as good as native resolution, it will be more blurry, the amount will depend the scaler that is used (your TV and monitor could have totally different scalers in them, and almost for sure do). Also 2k will not look as good on a 4k as well because it's non linear scaling. There is a lot of data on all this out there there to be researched. Check it out, and you'll find the same information I did. Also, I've tested this in my studio and at work on a variety of systems.

And, staying just above 60fps in a current game is not what I wanted. I wanted well over 60 for today with the hopes that the next few gens stay at least above 60.

if you are happy with your setup I'm not trying to convince you not to be... that's awesome you are satisfied with your system. I just have a different set of expectations I was trying to achieve. So when the op asked for advice I gave him mine based on my experience and goals.

[ZED]

I think Hairworks makes a difference in the way the hair moves and looks on the characters and monsters, so sorry I disagree, I think it looks noticeably better in-game and I waned to use it because of this reason.

1080p downscaled will not look as good as native resolution, it will be more blurry, the amount will depend the scaler that is used (your TV and monitor could have totally different scalers in them, and almost for sure do). Also 2k will not look as good on a 4k as well because it's non linear scaling. There is a lot of data on all this out there there to be researched. Check it out, and you'll find the same information I did. Also, I've tested this in my studio and at work on a variety of systems.

And, staying just above 60fps in a current game is not what I wanted. I wanted well over 60 for today with the hopes that the next few gens stay at least above 60.

if you are happy with your setup I'm not trying to convince you not to be... that's awesome you are satisfied with your system. I just have a different set of expectations I was trying to achieve. So when the op asked for advice I gave him mine based on my experience and goals.

I personally did not notice any significant difference with HairWorks on and off. You may notice some sort of difference if you literally zoom in on the object and look at it but in the normal gameplay when you move around and do stuff there is no difference at all.

You may be right about the different scalers that TV and Monitor has. It actually makes sense since my TV has a great scaling technology built in that improves 1080p video.

As for staying just above 60 fps. Well personally I stayed with my 1080p screen because when I was doing upgrade to GTX 1070 my intention was to run games 100+ FPS Ultra graphics, which it does just fine for most games that I play. Except Witcher 3, which actually I don't play and never played it for more than 1 hour. But the games that I play are: BF1, BF4, Star Wars, Project Cars, iRacing, GTA 5, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2 - all run 100 FPS on average and some do even more than that.

As for if I'm happy with my setup, I'm always upgrading it. My next upgrade is going to be i7 7700k, which I will probably do sometime in March and then next upgrade will be Oculus Rift for racing games and then later Fanatec Wheel setup that will replace my Logitec G29 and the list will go on and on. Pretty much every 3 - 4 month I do change or upgrade some part on my system.

[MightyDWC]

i gota chime in and agree with zed that you DON'T need to run 144 fps to fully experience/enjoy 144mhz. When I first plugged this monitor up and turned on gsync in the Nvidia control panel and set the refresh rate to 144, I was blown away at just how much better Windows looked. When I first got this monitor, I had a gtx 760, and upgraded to a 970 (before I knew about the 10 series). The first game I loaded up was Crisis 3, max settings, 1440p. Granted I was only averaging 45-50 fps via ShadowPlay monitor, the compensation 144hz gives made it seamless between frame drops. As I said in my earlier post I can run any game on max setting at 1440 and average 60 fps, it's just with FPS in multiplayer (BF1, Titanfall, Overwatch) I don't need to see the pretty graphics, I need to be able to see my targets :) . So i run low settings, with ONLY mesh quality set to max (this will outline player models better at distance and through smoke/dust btw ;) on 1080 res and average 110-125 fps.

The other thing I will agree with ZED on is 144hz vs 60hz. I would say the difference is like the first time you experienced cable internet vs dial up. There IS NO GOING BACK LOL.

[AstroCat]

144Hz over 60Hz even at sub 144fps, absolutely agree 100%, especially with no screen tearing using Gsync, highly recommended. For me the graphic quality of the game effects my enjoyment hugely even in online fps games so for me high fps and max settings are both at the top of my list, thus the 1080 SC and 1080p with max settings. I always try and run all the bells and whistles on... as for hairworks... it makes a difference in-game for sure, it made the hair flow and look much more realistic to me, without it on it was the hair was stiff and kind of jarring to look at. And I played the heck out of Witcher 3 and it's DLC, I loved it, in my top 5 games ever... and definitely one of the best cRPGs I've ever played, a modern classic to be sure. :)