4k monitors

[Taernath]

I'm in the market to upgrade to 4k, mostly for gaming. I understand the advantage of a 144hz refresh rate, but for anyone that actually owns one is it worth it? What brand or model would you recommend?

[Velfi]

I've got 2x Asus VG248's, and I've never run them side by side with an older 60hz monitor since getting them but I have been pretty happy with them.

One time the refresh rate got set to 59hz for some reason and it was making me feel a little queasy looking at them, but then I investigated and fixed the setting and it was fine again.

edit: I don't actually know/haven't tested if these will do 4K, I was just addressing the 144hz.

[Ashliana]

Regarding 144Hz: Unless your video card can reach 144 frames per second, it generally isn't going to give you much benefit. You're better off getting a G-Sync monitor (if you have an nVidia GPU) or a FreeSync monitor (if you have an AMD GPU). And even then, the only supposed benefit you're going to see is in shooters.

On a relate note, regarding 4K: IMO, 4K doesn't make sense in a monitor-sized display. For an extremely questioable increase in clarity, you are increasing the load on your GPU from having to render 2.1 million pixels at 1080p to 8.3 million pixels at 4K. Because of that, you're going to have to have a powerful GPU to get even decent framerates -- even a GTX 1080 (a $600-700 card) is going to struggle to render some games at above 40-50 FPS at 4K. Some games, it can manage about 100. Going forward, though, you're likely to run into issues unless you replace even one of those, or run an additional card in SLI/Crossfire.

If I were you, I wouldn't consider more than a 1440p display (about 3.7 million pixels), but personally, I think those only make sense on display sizes of 28"+.

I've got a 1080p 144Hz 3D-capable display, and I hate it -- not because of the 144Hz quality, but because it's a TN panel rather than an IPS panel. In my research for the model, the reviewers all praised it endlessly despite being one.. but it's got all the problems that TN panels typically have, and more. Unbelievably shitty viewing angles.

[Taernath]

Yeah, my setup is mostly capable of 4k at the moment, though I will be upgrading once the 1080ti comes out.

I'm not so concerned with IPS panels because I don't use video editing, I'll be sitting right in front of it, and though it will be for gaming I don't really play CS:GO.