Okay so I've been debating on picking up a 4k monitor to go along with my new Asus GTX1080 Strix. But I'm wondering if old games will actually look any better or if it's a placebo effect? Basically what I'm asking is will I see any more detail than I would on my 1080p monitor? And for the record I got a GTX1080 to future proof my rig I know it's overkill for 1080p but eventually I'd really like a 4k monitor.
The only noticeable difference would be the sharpness of the image. And this only applies to 3D games. Any 2D games wont have a noticeable difference. In a worst case scenario 2D games may look worse due to the up scaling of the pixels.
The reason I ask is because you can see videos online of people playing Half-Life 2 in 4k and it made me wonder does it really matter for games that are older what type of monitor you use? If it did does it make any noticeable difference because most of what I play now are old games and I got the 1080 because my 9800 GT decided to shit the bed. I've got fallout 4 and those types of new games but I'll replay them in 4k when a 4k monitor doesn't cost me an arm and a leg. I might have to wait a while but I'm okay with that.
A 144hz monitor is better for old games because you actually see the extra frames
You completely forgot about the size of the monitor. For monitors larger than 24" 1080p is IMO too small resolution, if you want to upgrade to a larger monitor like 27" or 30" go for 4K.
I think the switch to 4K will pay of the best for games released after 2006-2007, which had much more objects on the screen; grass, trees with many leaves, and bigger draw distances. At 4K all those small objects will be rendered on 4 times more pixels than in 1080p and you will be able to see them in more detail, grass and leaves wont be a pixelated mess.
I am currently also playing a lot of old games that I played at 1024x768 or even 800x600 more than a decade ago, at unstable 20-40 FPS. But now on a 1080p screen with rock solid 60 FPS or higher, I turn the anti-aliasing to the max, same with anisotropic filtering and old games look so much better than I remember them, so sharp and clean, like a Pixar movie(if we ignore low resolution textures and low quality 3D models of course...). I wish to own a 4K 120Hz monitor one day, I think a switch to that from 1080p 60Hz will blow my mind.
I find 1080p is still good up to 28", as long as you're sitting about a foot or more away from your screen. I would say get a 1080p or 1440p monitor that outputs 120/144hz, even at 60 fps it still looks better. You can still run the game at 4k, and it will look great, but I do agree that playing old games at higher framerates is hella amazing for how smoothly they run.
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