I recently switched to 4K my self - I chose 4K over 1440p because if you like to game ( and since your posting on gol I assume you do ;) ) you can play in 1080p with no extra scaling processing or image distortion because 4k is exactly twice as large in both dimensions so you can't tell the difference between a 4k monitor showing 1080p and a 1080p monitor.

So especially if your gfx card it a little on the "lite" site that will be a good help.

Between the hiDPI setting and font scaling you can tweak readability how you like, there are how ever a few older programs like ddd that doesn't understand either and reading 10pt font can be quite difficult. However all the programs you mention are recent enough that it should not be a problem.


I chose a BenQ BL2711U because it was a good compromise between color-fidelity (10bit FRC) and gaming performance - but keep in mind that it maxes out at 60Hz and to get that you will a good quality display port cable ( the included cable was too short for my stand desk )

Just to argue against 4K here, most games run really badly at 4K. 4K has other issues, like tons of applications not supporting HiDPI, like Steam, it's absolutely tiny at 4K and very hard to read.

Also, 1080p on a 4K monitor is terrible. I would also argue against that. I felt games looked really crap in such low resolution on a high res monitor.

In the end, I gave away my 4K monitor in favour of two nice 1080p monitors, never been happier again.

Make the decision very carefully.

Quoting: liamdaweAlso, 1080p on a 4K monitor is terrible. I would also argue against that. I felt games looked really crap in such low resolution on a high res monitor.

Now you are entitled to you own opinions, but this makes *NO* sense

1080p on a 4K monitor would use 4 pixels to draw 1 and look *exactly* like 1080p on a same size monitor - the only reason it would look any different is if the monitor uses any kind of upscaling - but iirc only TVs do that and even if you've a monitor that does it you can turn it off.

It's not like in scenarios where you need sub pixel scaling ( ie display 1080p on a 1440p sceen ) which causes smearing.

It could very much depend on the monitor, but I can tell you for certain 1080p on the 4K monitor I was using did not look the same. There was a difference, it was slightly blurry and a bit of googling tells me it's actually very common. Don't take either of our word for it though, I do suggest a bit of research first.

Quoting: Guppy1080p on a 4K monitor would use 4 pixels to draw 1 and look *exactly* like 1080p on a same size monitor

Unfortunately, that's not the case. My best explanation would be that the RGB layout of a single pixels blurs against those next to it. You can actually demonstrate that quite effectively in GIMP by doing the following:

1. Draw a one pixel wide vertical blue (0,0,255) line.
2. Draw a one pixel wide vertical yellow (255,255,0) line directly right of it.
3. Zoom to 100%.
4. See a perfectly white line (assuming a common horizontal RGB pixel layout) on your 1080p screen.

If you do this using 1080p on a 4k screen, you'll be able to distinguish the two colours separately. Unless you increase the distance to your monitor by quite a bit.

It won't look the same.

yeah, 4K monitors i have seen are all terrible when something is 1080p in it.

4k is still pointless in gaming imo, you need way too much power to enjoy games on it something like 1080Ti and a really good CPU.

multimonitor is the way to go for me also.

1440p is fine if you have GPU 1070 or up i think.

1080p when you have anything lower than that like AMD 480 or nvidias 1060

Thank you guys!

My first idea was to go with WQHD but I think I will play mainly on FHD anyway because I don't want to spent too much for the GPU* so I thought that 4K would be better only for the reasons said by Guppy, off course depends on many factors, for istance the dimensions, I think I'll go for a 25-28" as said.

I use only Linux and I'm a casual gamer, but I would like to play more with a proper computer and proper games that "now" we can enjoy.

So the WQHD is sub-optimal for games without a proper GPU, so playing on FHD? Could be the window mode a solution, a FHD window on a WQHD display? How it is and does every game support this mode?



* Maybe I can make an exception just for the lowest Vega card, if it will be something like a 1070 GTX with a power usage like a 1060 GTX ...

You can simply have the screen display the true resolution but 1080p om a 4k 27" monitor That​ Would be like using a 13" monitor..

If you can try it your self before buying then do so, because I don't know what what kind of crappy monitors the above posters have been using - I see no such thing on my setup. Sure a 27" "1080p" screen is a little on the large side but is very playable and there is no blurry scaling.

I've got a 40 inch 4K monitor. In fact, this model: Iiyama x4071uhsu

I specifically bought it with 60Hz screen refresh over display port. It uses MVA technology, rather than IPS or TN. My reasoning for getting it - The pixels are an useful size, it is like having four 20 inch screens in a single display. Before this one, I did own a 28 inch 4K and the pixels were too small, the screen estate was wasted by magnifying all the fonts and icons. Having 60Hz refresh makes it suitable for gaming, *but* it isn't fantastic for gaming.

Having 4K (and 40 inches) does mean a massive desktop for opening multiple applications side by side. It is great for viewing photo images, and I can watch 4K films on it too.

I'm using it with a reasonable CPU and a GTX 1070 graphics card. On a reasonable selection of my games, I'm able to enjoy gaming at 4K without the frame rate being too slow.

I've owned the monitor for about 10 months. Prior to the GTX 1070 8GB, I owned a GTX 960 4GB which was not powerful enough for any 4K gaming. The GTX 1070 makes a lot of games work decently well at 4K for me. I guess the next step is to think about the CPU. Ideally I would own a GTX 1080 (or 1080 Ti) and top-spec CPU to maximise my 4K gaming potential.

The sort of things I'm playing at 4K without feeling that I'm particularly suffering with poor performance:

Serious Sam 3 BFE, Dying Light Enhanced Edition, Mad Max, Grid Autosport, Doom 2016 (on Windows with Vulkan tech), Torchlight 2, 7 Days To Die, Rocket League, Shadow Warrior (2013), Watch Dogs 2 (on Windows), Life is Strange, Xonotic.

Then there are games which are a bit too slow, so I drop them down to 1080P (4 pixels to each 1 pixel of game):

Hitman (2016), and probably other new titles. This could be CPU-related or down to game/porting optimisation.

Noting that few of the things I play need excessive system or graphics power.

Had I the chance to relive my choices, I'd be tempted to go for 2x 1080P monitors or 1x or 2x 1440P monitor(s). Certainly I'd get a nice frame rate boost (say from 40fps to 70fps) by using the lower resolution. I don't generally play PvP FPS games, and I imagine the slower frame rate (of 4K gaming) would probably spoil that. I'm more into PvE single player campaign stuff.

Noting that I get a very impressive frame rate playing Doom at 4K (on Vulkan on Windows). I haven't specifically measured it, but it is easily 60fps and maybe as much as 100fps. As such I'm tempted to blame game optimisation for poor frame rate rather than my setup.

Running my games at 1080P on 4K display - Yes, it isn't as good, but I'm not suffering a massively detrimental effect like some have described on this forum so far. This could be down to the game graphics settings I'm choosing.

Also note, I turn some things off when 4K gaming (e.g. AA), but a lot of my options are set to High/Ultra.

Quoting: g000h....

Having 4K (and 40 inches) does mean a massive desktop for opening multiple applications side by side. It is great for viewing photo images, and I can watch 4K films on it too.

I'm using it with a reasonable CPU and a GTX 1070 graphics card. On a reasonable selection of my games, I'm able to enjoy gaming at 4K without the frame rate being too slow.

I've owned the monitor for about 10 months. Prior to the GTX 1070 8GB, I owned a GTX 960 4GB which was not powerful enough for any 4K gaming. The GTX 1070 makes a lot of games work decently well at 4K for me. I guess the next step is to think about the CPU. Ideally I would own a GTX 1080 (or 1080 Ti) and top-spec CPU to maximise my 4K gaming potential.

The sort of things I'm playing at 4K without feeling that I'm particularly suffering with poor performance:

Serious Sam 3 BFE, Dying Light Enhanced Edition, Mad Max, Grid Autosport, Doom 2016 (on Windows with Vulkan tech), Torchlight 2, 7 Days To Die, Rocket League, Shadow Warrior (2013), Watch Dogs 2 (on Windows), Life is Strange, Xonotic.

Then there are games which are a bit too slow, so I drop them down to 1080P (4 pixels to each 1 pixel of game):

Hitman (2016), and probably other new titles. This could be CPU-related or down to game/porting optimisation.

Noting that few of the things I play need excessive system or graphics power.

...

i kind of doubt that you can play most of those games listed with 60+ fps on maxed settings.
not to mention games like Deus Ex and Metro Redux. On windows its probably a bit better though but we are talking about Linux.

if you are fine reducing graphical quality to medium then probably you can get 60+ fps on 4K more easily. But in my book thats not acceptable to buy a 500€ GPU and then reduce graphical quality in games.