this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023
4 points (100.0% liked)

PC Gaming

11 readers
1 users here now

Discuss Games, Hardware and News on PC Gaming **Discord** https://discord.gg/4bxJgkY **Mastodon** https://cupoftea.social **Donate** https://ko-fi.com/cupofteasocial **Wiki** https://www.pcgamingwiki.com

founded 1 year ago
 

I'm on the market for a new monitor. Mine is a very old Asus that is a 1080p/60hz monitor.

A few days ago I used to be the occasional competitive player (just playing with friends) and while I might play a competitive game or two again, I'm wondering if I should buy the BenQ Zowie 2546K. Where I'm looking (local market), it's currently the lowest price it's ever been.

But my hesitation lies on the fact that I might have more use for a 4k/140hz monitor.

I guess I'm mostly looking for personal recommendations.

top 10 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old

Personally I would prefer higher pixel density and potentially better color accuracy and contrast, over 240hz.

[–] Sami@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I think diminishing returns make 240Hz not worth it for the average competitive player. There are 2 exceptions:

  1. You're very competitive

  2. You've got the money to spend

Here's one way to look at it 60Hz is 1 refresh every 17 milliseconds. At 165Hz it's every 6ms and at 240Hz it's every 4ms. So from that perspective whatever premium you're paying is to have the opponent's head appear on the screen 2ms faster (also impacted by other hardware induced delays). For context, the average person's response time to visual stimulus is about 250ms.

It's definitely nice to have and I haven't gone above 165Hz myself as a disclaimer but you will need to consistently hit 240 FPS in games to make use of the extra refresh rate and that requires a beefy CPU and/or GPU depending on the game. Especially if you want your 1% lows (FPS dips) to stay above 240 as well.

To my eyes, the main benefit of a higher refresh rate for fast paced games is the smoothness of motion (at least CSGO which is what I play). If I can track an enemy's head then I'm good and I don't think you need 240Hz for that.

[–] cowfodder@unilem.org 2 points 1 year ago

If you have the card to push it you'd probably have a better experience with 1440p 165hz or 4k 140hz. Except at the highest levels of competition you're not really going to get much going to 240hz.

[–] geoh@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Two things this will depend on - what are your system specs, and what games do you play.

If you’re on a mid/low end setup you’re not likely to be able to drive games at 4k, so go with the 1080p one. If you’re on a high end rig then 4k may make more sense.

Second thing is the games. If you mainly play esports titles that have low system requirements, you’ll be able to take advantage of more frames. If you play AAA/“cinematic” titles then 4k will be better.

Honestly though, my preference is 1440p at 120-144Hz. It’s a good sweet spot, just look for GSync support. Decent HDR is a bonus too.

[–] Acala@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Two things this will depend on - what are your system specs, and what games do you play.

The thing is my PC has really old specs. But I saw the monitor heavily discounted so I thought I'd snatch it even if I can't really use it properly for a few months.

[–] geoh@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

If it’s in budget and you plan on upgrading then it’s not a bad idea! Personally I’d follow this priority for a monitor:

  1. 120Hz+
  2. GSync support
  3. Resolution
  4. Panel type
  5. HDR

Figure out what’s important to you and try and find something that ticks as many of your boxes as possible 🙂

[–] terraborra@lemmy.nz 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There’s 3 factors you should take into account when trying to decide on resolution vs refresh rate:

  • Your graphics card
  • Your ideal monitor size
  • How far you sit from the monitor

If you’re going for a bigger screen (e.g 32”+) and sit close to the monitor then you’re going to want a higher resolution (1440p+). If it’s a 24” like the BenQ and it’s a couple of feet away from you, you’re probably better off prioritising refresh rate.

[–] Acala@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago

My GPU is not able to drive anything of that sort hahaha. But the monitor was much cheaper than it used to be so I thought I'd snatch it and wait for a few months until I buy a new rig.

[–] usrtrv@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Personally would go with a higher resolution, especially if you're using it for more than gaming. I recently purchased a 4K/165Hz monitor that I'm enjoying. 1080p is claustrophobic for me when not gaming, but I've been on 1440p for awhile.

[–] Acala@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

May I know which 4k/165hz monitor you got?