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Thinking about upgrading my GPU
Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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So I have an AMD R7 360 (2GB DDR5). It works well enough, letting me play most titles from the past few years at medium graphics setting, but more recent titles (like Assassin's Creed: Unity or Watch Dogs 2) just barely chug along at ~20 FPS on low with a crummy resolution, making it not worth playing. So I'm thinking it's time to upgrade. I've been eyeing the AMD R9 380x, as it's a decent step up from what I already have and isn't too expensive.

With what I have now, I don't think I'll be able to play too many new AAA games for much longer. But I don't know if I should bite the bullet and upgrade now, or wait another six months to a year when current GPU prices drop a bit more.

What do you think? I've never upgraded my hardware before, so I'm looking for some advice from experience PC gamers. How often do you upgrade your PC hardware, and do you think the R9 380x is good enough, or would you recommend something else?

Thanks. :)

Edit
Thank you everyone who replied. I settled on an EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC 6GB. ;D

MiquelFire
Member #3,110
January 2003
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According to this, that is a worthwhile upgrade at least. The page states that the new card should be at least three tiers better, and what you're looking into is six tiers.

Generally that's how I upgrade, when what I have is too slow to handle what I want to play, then I'll upgrade. Since my last upgrade was for GTA 5 and I don't buy AAA games that often, I should be set for a good while.

---
Febreze (and other air fresheners actually) is just below perfumes/colognes, and that's just below dead skunks in terms of smells that offend my nose.
MiquelFire.red
If anyone is of the opinion that there is no systemic racism in America, they're either blind, stupid, or racist too. ~Edgar Reynaldo

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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That's a fantastic GPU hierarchy, MiquelFire. Thanks for sharing it. I think I'll get the R9 380X then sometime soon. Hopefully this'll keep me good for a couple of years.

I wonder if I should upgrade my CPU as well. I have an AMD FX-4300. There's a CPU hierarchy here, where the AMD FX-9590 is only two tiers above the 4300. Then there's shiny new Ryzen 7, but I can't afford that. I might hold off on the CPU upgrade for a while.

raynebc
Member #11,908
May 2010

GPU is a great upgrade. I got a GTX 1060 to breath new life into my 6 year old i5 computer and I can play modern games at 1080p ultra quality settings at a mostly steady 45-60fps.

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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After doing a bit of research, I've decided to go with the AMD R9 380 instead of the 380X. The reason for this is because the performance of the 380X is only slightly above the 380, and that the 380 is a bit cheaper than the 380X. I just have to make sure it'll fit in my rig and I'll be good to go. :D

@raynebc: Do you know the exact version of i5 you have?

bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
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My GPU needs replacing too, but at 30 I have too many hundred-dollar-plus items that I need to replace and I can't afford any of it so I just drink my money away and hope it all holds on. :D Today I had to replace 4 tires on my finacée's car. We bought the Walmart special and got away with USD$210, but that still hurts.

raynebc
Member #11,908
May 2010

Do you know the exact version of i5 you have?

i5-2500K

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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bamccaig said:

Today I had to replace 4 tires on my finacée's car.

You'll save money in the long run if you dump your fiancee, bam. Women are expensive. :-X

raynebc said:

i5-2500K

That's a pretty good one. I was just looking at the 2500 on Newegg a little while ago.

Neil Roy
Member #2,229
April 2002
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Take the next 6 months, and save up some money each month to buy a better CPU. I am a long time AMD user as well, but if you can get an Intel CPU, I would say go for that instead.

I am still using a 3 core AMD CPU, and can run software on HIGH settings usually, though I have not bought any really new titles so I don't think is probably true anymore. I found my video card upgrade made a larger difference (and that is rapidly getting old).

I had a computer system (two actually) given to me with Intel CPUs in them that have two cores. I done some research into them and found out they benchmarked much faster than my AMD 3 core, mainly because of hyperthreading which would be like having a 4 core AMD. <shrug>

In any case, if you can wait 6 months, you could use those months to set aside some funds each month and buy something better. Or if you need more than a CPU, what I often do when I upgrade is I plan out what I need, then buy a part or two a month and usually within 6 months I have what I want and didn't go broke each month doing it.

My last upgrade for example, I bought my case + motherboard the first month, then I would buy the RAM, Video, and anything I needed over the next few months, a part at a time, plug them into the new system and wait it out. This way I could buy slightly better than what I could otherwise afford if I tried getting it all at one time. I have had my current system for a very long time now.

---
“I love you too.” - last words of Wanda Roy

bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
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You'll save money in the long run if you dump your fiancee, bam. Women are expensive. :-X

Don't I know it! She's also planning a wedding for next year!

type568
Member #8,381
March 2007
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Quote:

i5-2500K

Great CPU. I had it clocked to 4.0 with stock cooler without any problems. Since default(automatic) settings were awful, I also made it run cooler back then.

Though now it still runs at 4.0, but with a little upgrade of a cooler.

The stuff progresses so slow nowadays, that the now.. Six(?) year old cpu is still high end, and more than enough for any game. Best to have appropriate RAM though. And enough of it..

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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Neil Roy said:

Take the next 6 months, and save up some money each month to buy a better CPU.

That's a good idea, Neil. Better to make incremental upgrades than to go broke all at once, like you said. :) I don't have very many expenses, so I think I could even do this in just 4 months.

bamccaig said:

Don't I know it! She's also planning a wedding for next year!

How do you feel about a wedding? A lot of people go into debt for weddings, which boggles my mind. :o I hope your lady isn't a big spender!

type568 said:

Best to have appropriate RAM though. And enough of it..

...

Great CPU. I had it clocked to 4.0 with stock cooler without any problems.

I have 16GB of DDR3 RAM, so I'm good. I know that DDR5 would be better, but I don't think the upgrade would impact gaming at all.

Also, what's the difference between the i5-2500 and the i5-2500K? From what I can tell, the 2500K has a greater potential for overclocking, but sucks up ~%40 more power than the vanilla 2500. The price difference is only ~$30 between the two (from what I've seen on Amazon).

Chris Katko
Member #1,881
January 2002
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I've got a GTX 1060. I have zero complaints. It's not "super fast" in 4K and recording. But, I knew going in that it was an entry-level 4K. At 1080p it does everything I could want.

I second just putting some money back for PC upgrades every month. It'll happen faster than you think if you just put say $50 a month away. SAVE SOME FOR HARD DRIVES. If you've got anything important, the last thing you want is a HDD failure to come at the same time as "no money."

Sidenote: NONE of the SSD's I've bought--3 so far, all on sale/promotion--have had any kinds of failures. All this "fear" people told me to have about them has been unwarranted compared to the TWO Seagate physical HDD failures in a row that all 3 SSD's have outlasted. I'm hoping to save up money to get a 500 or 1 TB SSD. Hell, I'd love to move a ton of my data over to SSDs. I just don't trust these damn platters anymore.

AND, even if you've got "write once, ready many" data like movies and stuff, IIRC, SSD's have infinite read cycles. So you could fill one up with say, movies, and never change it, and never worry that playing those movies is reducing your eventual life. (Additionally, just having a physical drive on, wears it down. Ugh. That adds up when your drives are all on 24/7.)

Lastly, to stress, SSD's have "Wear leveling" because each cell only has so many writes. But I have NEVER gone below 90% "wear left" yet and I use my tiny drives like swap drives--filling them up, deleting them/moving to physicals, and filling them up again. And the oldest has to be at least 5 years old (Again, outlasting two seagate physical drives).

I don't think I'll be able to play too many new AAA games for much longer.

I can't think of any AAA game that's worth playing right now. ;D My Steam and GOG have been filled with indie games (with actual NEW game mechanics) and good old games. Space Engineers. Kerbal Space Program. Streets of Rogue.

I'm on the last level of Dune 2, and I'm on level 11 of GDI of Command and Conquer. I'm doing a play through with notes of game mechanics. I'm looking into making a video that illustrates the evolution of game mechanics of the Westwood series.

I also recently beat Myst, and Space Quest 1-3 (the EGA ones, before the mouse interface).

I never really played Myst before. When I was a kid all of that "reading" was horrible with my ADD teenage impatience. But as an adult, I was really impressed with it--especially the use of audio in puzzles as well as the interactivity of the puzzle controls.

-----sig:
“Programs should be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.” - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
"Political Correctness is fascism disguised as manners" --George Carlin

bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
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How do you feel about a wedding? A lot of people go into debt for weddings, which boggles my mind. :o I hope your lady isn't a big spender!

O/T

I'm an atheist so I think marriage is largely a waste of time. Especially these days where even the majority of religious people divorce. Obviously it has no real meaning. It's all about giving girls the "princess" wedding they saw on Disney movies growing up. 100 years ago that was unheard of. Disney invented all of this shit, and girls grew up believing they're entitled to it.

My finacée is a bit more realistic. She knows how I feel about it already so she knows I won't be giving her anything like that. I couldn't even if I wanted to (I have no intentions of going into any debt for it; I'd rather just have a family BBQ with a minister :D). She's making the plans, and it sounds like my parents are going to help with funding a little bit. We don't know what means yet. I think she has a little saved up for a dress. We might get the hall fee covered by my parents.

Still it can be thousands even for a cheap wedding. So I don't know how we'll afford it, especially by next year. And she was just forced to quit her second job, which was paying back her student loan, because she was required to work too many hours a week (50-60 hour weeks, going 2 weeks without a day off). I don't think it's realistic for us to get married. But who knows, her family might decide they can help out too. I don't think we'd make much money from a stag and doe because I'm not a people person, and her family is stupid. But we'll see.

The worst thing is that she's obsessed with watching "Say Yes To The Dress", where Americans throw $5000 dresses on credit cards and think nothing of it. ::) And then describe these grandiose weddings with all the bells and whistles, and say things like "it doesn't matter who's paying, it's all up to the bride!" Stupid.

She used to be bad with money, but I try not to let her be. >:( Her "parents" growing up were bad examples. She's learning. :)

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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I'm too lazy to quote right now, so enjoy a big jumble of text. ;D

@Chris Katko: The GTX 1060 looks sweet. How do you feel about 4K? Do you think it's worth the upgrade? My parents got a 4K TV a while back, and while it certainly looks sharper, it's not so much better that it'd warrant upgrading to (in my opinion). I'm content with 1080p for now. Likewise with HDD vs SSD, I acknowledge the benefits of SSD, but am cool with HDD for now (though I'll definitely get a SSD when the prices drop some more). I've heard plenty of horror stories about SSD failure, so it's good to know you've had no issues with them so far. As for AAA games and indie titles, there's plenty of really good indie games out right now, but I still enjoy the occasional AAA title. ;) I have a big backlog of games to get through eventually. I'm currently playing Bayonetta, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut. I like to 100% a game (do every quest, explore every area of the map, get all the achievements, etc) before putting it to rest, so this'll take some time.

@bamccaig:

I'm religious, but I have similar thoughts regarding marriage. Marriage often ends in ruin and can be a large waste of time. I see marriage as a cultural thing though, not a religious one. That being said, I think a lot of marriages fail because people are not willing to work for their marriage. People marry for love, but love isn't just an emotion, it's also a commitment. Love as an emotion comes and goes with time; the "fairy tale" marriage does not last long. If you truly love your fiancee, I encourage you to be willing to work hard at keeping the marriage afloat, because there will be times of difficulties in every marriage. Marriage can be worth it, but not every is cut out for marriage. But whatever happens, I wish you and your fiancee all the best. :)

Oh, and there better be cake at the wedding. And I better be invited if there is. >:(

bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
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I find 1080p is too small for a computer monitor. The monitor I bought forever ago had a native resolution of 2048x1152. I rather like that, and wouldn't mind going even bigger. I haven't been keeping up with the times, but it seems you cannot find those anymore. It's a little bit strange, I find. I don't want to settle for 1080p...

I also find 1080p is more than adequate for a TV screen though. Half of the things I watch on TV were recorded in the 4:3 days anyway (reruns and old movies). :D

I also like to complete 100% of quests and things. I want to experience all of the gameplay. I like to get as much out of a game as I can. That includes replaying it if I can, but usually I take shortcuts on subsequent runs unless it's that good of a game. I've probably played through FFVII 7 or so times, but rarely completing the final Northern Cave/battle.

O/T

Matter of fact, I currently have the game completed on my PS3 up to just before the Northern Cave. I want to try to defeat the weapons first legitimately, but from reading guides it seems the only way to do it is to max out attributes by morphing monsters in the underwater plane. Unfortunately, that requires an insane amount of grinding to do. I started out on it and probably did it for a week, but there's a long way to go. I eventually got bored of it and switched games. I haven't touched it in months. I should probably just backup my save files, and try to complete the story at this point. I can always return to the weapons if I ever end up off of work for several months. :D To this day, FFVII remains the pinnacle of game story for me. I don't think I've ever experienced a better story in any format, and I doubt I ever will. I'm only sorry it's over (but cautiously looking forward to the remake).

--

I'm not so strict on achievements since some of them are really difficult to achieve. For example, I've collectively played something like 7000 hours worth of Counter-Strike in the last decade (maybe more). That's split across Source and Global Offensive. In Source, I have 95% of achievements unlocked (140/147). In Global Offensive, I already have 87% unlocked (145/167), despite only playing 1500 hours of GO. The remaining achievements in both games are largely chance occurrences (that haven't occurred in that many years) or are large scale achievements like insane amounts of money or kills, etc.

For example, a choice pick from GO: "The Frugal Beret": Win ten rounds in a row without dying or spending any cash in Classic mode. This is nearly impossible against an evenly matched team. The only way to achieve this would be playing against much lower ranked players, or having your team stacked with higher ranked players (them carrying you). I don't think it's an especially honorable achievement to unlock. The odd duckling might earn it, but most probably achieve it by bullying lesser ranked players.

For example, a choice pick from Source, which I miss dearly, but don't play anymore: "Cold War": Win a round without your team killing any enemy players. This effectively would require you to coordinate with your entire team to use a full arsenal of non-lethal grenades and intentionally miss shots in an attempt to get lucky and hold the enemy off long enough to complete an objective. Even with everybody working together, I could see it taking hundreds of attempts to achieve it. It would again be much easier if the enemy team was lower ranked. An equally matched team would walk all over you if you attempted this.

--

There should be cake. The mother of one of Miranda's good friends from university has her own cake shop and has promised us a free cake of Miranda's choosing (assuming it's not an insane amount of work).

As for invitations, there may be a few here that get them, but I think they'd need an IRC presence since the forums are so dead. I don't remember you until more recently, and I'm not sure you've ever joined IRC. I don't think you make the cut. :( But if there's cake left over, and when is there not, maybe I could mail you a slice glob. :D

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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bamccaig said:

I find 1080p is too small for a computer monitor.

I can't relate. I've never played at anything higher than 1080p though, so maybe I'd feel differently if I had. I'm totally comfortable at 1080p. Heck, I'm even good with 720p for many titles (especially indie, or pixel-styled, games). How big is your monitor in centimeters / inches?

FFVII is pretty old at this point, but I've heard good things about it. Do you think it's a good starting point for someone who's never played the series before?

As for achievements, chance-based one suck. Maybe someday you'll get 100% in GO though. :) I personally don't feel done with a game until I get all the achievements though. I've been playing Spec Ops: The Line on and off for about a year now and am only one achievement away from being done with it. The achievement involves finishing the game at the hardest difficulty, and it's pretty difficult (I think). I'm only two chapters away from getting it though...

Anyway, I've been using Allegro since 2012 sometime, but didn't register on the forums until 2013. I've popped into IRC a few times, but have never been active there. But I see now that you live in Canadialand, which is too far to travel anyway. :P Maybe you could just take a picture of the cake instead and post it on the forum. I'd be happy with that. ;D

Neil Roy
Member #2,229
April 2002
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How do you feel about a wedding? A lot of people go into debt for weddings, which boggles my mind.

I got married at the Justice of the Peace, cost me nothing. My wife and I didn't want a big wedding and there's no church out there that I like. Worked out well. Been married 32 years so far. So there's no need to do a big expense for people. My wife costs me nothing, heck, I probably spend more then she ever will, so I usually buy her stuff. :)

I can't relate. I've never played at anything higher than 1080p though, so maybe I'd feel differently if I had. I'm totally comfortable at 1080p. Heck, I'm even good with 720p for many titles (especially indie, or pixel-styled, games). How big is your monitor in centimeters / inches?

I'm the same way. 720P doesn't bother me, I am fine with it. 1080P is perfect I think, never seen a reason to go higher. I would rather stay at 1080P and use the extra speed gained for better quality graphics and the like. :)

---
“I love you too.” - last words of Wanda Roy

bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
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How big is your monitor in centimeters / inches?

My memory claims it's a 22" monitor. The name and Google imply it's 23": Samsung 2343BW. I don't have a measuring tape handy. Which ever..

FFVII is pretty old at this point, but I've heard good things about it. Do you think it's a good starting point for someone who's never played the series before?

I've only played a few Final Fantasy games. Of the ones I've played, FFVII is definitely the best, but it's also the one I started with. Maybe that's a reason not to start with it. I've usually been disappointed when I try different Final Fantasy games. I'm always disappointed that each game isn't like FFVII. They always change so much that you need to have an open mind for a different game every time. The story in FFVII is amazing, and because each title is so different and unrelated storywise to the previous titles you don't need to start at I. You can jump into the series at any time. It does take a bit of getting used to learning how the battle system works, especially if you've never played a game like it before. As a child, it took several attempts to get started. It isn't until the story picks up that you really get hooked. There are guides online that could assist with learning the system, but I'd be wary of walkthroughs that are going to break the immersion and rob you of the story.

It's also a long game though. I think I probably played close to 2 months this last time through to get to where I am just before the ending. That's another thing preventing me from playing again: the PS1 save files are timestamp based, and I've already maxed out the timestamp so they all just say 99:99 or whatever now. :( I can't figure out which one is the latest one! In any case, if you do decide to take it on, keep in mind it'll take a long time, it'll probably keep you up some nights, and you might be forced to quit before you finish.

If anyone asked me which game to start with I'd say FFVII. Even if you don't develop a love for the series, since each game stands on its own, it's worth it just having this one. It has aged well for me, but I'm not sure if it would have aged well for a new player.

I enjoyed FFIX, but only got to play through about half. I started on FFXII, but spent too much time leveling up before progressing with the story (old habits die hard, trying FFVII tactics) and it happened around the same time the PS3 was released so I ended up buying a PS3 and never picking FFXII back up again. I was excited about it anyway. I tried to play FFXIII, but I found it was far too linear to be fun. The graphics were good during cut scenes, but seemed terrible during regular gameplay. For a "next-generation" FF I wanted to explore the world freely. I also just found the environments ridiculously stupid in the beginning. I didn't get very far before I put the controller down on it and haven't looked back.

On Android I played through most of FFI. It was neat to see the origin for the whole series. It wasn't bad. I'm not sure how close I am to finishing, but based on a guide I think I'm close. I can't remember if I quit because battles became too bothersome or if I just didn't have time for it.

Anyway, I've been using Allegro since 2012 sometime, but didn't register on the forums until 2013. I've popped into IRC a few times, but have never been active there. But I see now that you live in Canadialand, which is too far to travel anyway. :P Maybe you could just take a picture of the cake instead and post it on the forum. I'd be happy with that. ;D

What is your IRC nick? I am bambams. :)

I can certainly post a picture of the cake, but in all fairness I probably will be too busy getting pulled around by my ears to even think of it. We'll see. :)

Neil Roy said:

I would rather stay at 1080P and use the extra speed gained for better quality graphics and the like. :)

*cringe*

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
avatar

Neil Roy said:

I got married at the Justice of the Peace, cost me nothing.

That's the best way to do it. :D If I ever get married, I'd love to do it like that (and then maybe throw a small, inexpensive party afterward or something).

Neil Roy said:

I'm the same way. 720P doesn't bother me, I am fine with it. 1080P is perfect I think, never seen a reason to go higher. I would rather stay at 1080P and use the extra speed gained for better quality graphics and the like. :)

Finally, someone who gets it. :D In a perfect world, I'd afford pretty graphics and nice performance, but for now I lean more toward performance (gotta have that buttery smooth frame-rate!). An upgraded GPU would afford me both though. Someday soon.

bamccaig said:

My memory claims it's a 22" monitor.

So you have/had a 22" / 23" monitor that has a resolution of 2048x1152? Do you think you could even tell the difference between 1080p and above on a monitor that size? My monitor is about the same size and it's only 1080p, and I'm totally content with it. I just can't imagine there being a noticeable difference. :o

bamccaig said:

I've already maxed out the timestamp so they all just say 99:99 or whatever now.

I've always wondered if game timers max out after 99, and now I know. :o I want to play Metroid Prime (which sports an in-game timer) and see if/when it'll max out now...

bamccaig said:

For a "next-generation" FF I wanted to explore the world freely.

Have you played the latest FF game? I hear it has a great open world to explore.

bamccaig said:

What is your IRC nick?

I'm ecj2.

I look forward to hearing more about that cake in the future. ;)

bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
avatar

So you have/had a 22" / 23" monitor that has a resolution of 2048x1152? Do you think you could even tell the difference between 1080p and above on a monitor that size? My monitor is about the same size and it's only 1080p, and I'm totally content with it. I just can't imagine there being a noticeable difference. :o

I know I can tell the difference because my monitors at work max out at 1080, as does the laptop screen. It's annoying. :P Certainly if you've never used anything larger you won't know what you're missing, and that's fine. I can watch 80's and 90's re-runs stretched across my 1080p TV and it doesn't bother me at all. When it comes to my computer monitor though, I want to maximize what I can see on the screen at a time, without stretching it since I'm close enough to notice.

Have you played the latest FF game? I hear it has a great open world to explore.

I'm not even sure what the latest one would be. I know that FFXIV has been out for a while, but that is an online game like FFXI was. I don't have time for that type of game, and can't imagine how it could be anything like the FF that I love. A lot of the fun would be lost if there were stronger people running around.

Apparently this latest game you speak of is FFXV. It sounds open world, and that is definitely interesting. Truth is, these games are better suited to children and teenagers that have the time and ambition for such endeavors. I find at my age I'm more critical than excited. I've already seen it done, and unless you can exceed my expectations it's just more of the same! What's more: it's console only, and after my PS3 died twice and I had to replace it after only 5 or so years I swore off consoles. The whole point is for a cheap system to play games on. I paid something like $700 for that console, and it died. The repairs cost $200, that died again after a year, and I had to pay another $200 for a new console with most of the features removed. So $1100 for a box that does a fraction of the things a PC can do, and if it dies again it'll be a second paper weight. I don't plan to buy a console of this generation unless the price drops dramatically while I simultaneously have money to burn and nothing better to burn it on. I'd probably sooner buy a Steam Machine (but since I don't run Windows at home that won't be very useful to me either).

Chris Katko
Member #1,881
January 2002
avatar

4K is definitely noticable and useful. I use 4K every day in my software development and IT work. Being able to have 4 1080p screens at once is very useful. (1 VM, 2 RDP, and my desktop, for example.)

4K is also really pretty for 3-D games. I even played old games like Deus Ex at 4K. You don't need anti-aliasing when you have 4K.

Anyone who says "4K doesn't matter" is blind or stubborn. (And my eyes SUCK.) What really matters is DPI.

1080p on a laptop is too much without high-dpi scaling.
1080p on a 22" screen is perfect.
1080p on a 55" screen makes your eyes bleed (at desktop-length away from the screen).

I got a bonus (first ever!) at my job and I spent it all toward a "entry level" Samsung 4K 55" TV. It takes awhile to get used to the DPI and screen area (more than you can actually see at once if you sit only 2-3 feet away). But it's super fun. I have to set the FOV to ~110 degrees or higher and games FEEL much more immersive. Like having 3-D glasses without the glasses. (Though, obviously NOT AS GOOD as true stereo + point-of-view where mountains actually feel real.)

ALSO, the first 4K movie we watched, The Jungle Book, was MIND BLOWING. It's on Netflix (and we have the 4K netflix option) and certain scenes forced me to PAUSE it. Why? Because for the first time, certain scenes, FELT REAL. Certain structures, certain mountains, they had enough texture to confuse my mind and feel like I was flying as the helicopter-mounted camera zoomed around.

As for the GTX 1060, it won't run >60 FPS for many modern games. But it runs a great deal of games at "less than maximum" detail, and any game only a couple years old runs at full detail. And again, you don't NEED anti-aliasing anymore because it already looks crisp as hell.

{"name":"9PqAvl9.jpg","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/a\/2\/a2242073b00e14b193e0917783bd3420.jpg","w":5312,"h":2988,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/a\/2\/a2242073b00e14b193e0917783bd3420"}9PqAvl9.jpg

video

Hardest part about telling people about better graphics is... they can't see it unless they own the hardware... :-/

I'm told The Witcher 3 in 4K is downright gorgeous. I own it but I'm saving it for a time when I can binge it.

[edit] If you get a 4K screen MAKE SURE YOU GET one that can run at 60 FPS at 4K. Some only run 30 FPS. ALSO, your HDMI cable has to be a large enough (low enough) AWG (american wire gauge). Like 28 or smaller ("thicker"). I bought "4K ready" cables and they were all crap. I had to go by wire gauge. Amazon has them for cheap too. Otherwise, you'll be stuck in 4:2:0 mode which halves the horizontal resolution for color which will turn all text unreadable. That's very frustrating when you spend a crap ton of money, get the stuff home, plug it in, and then fiddle for days trying to FIND the problem, and then wait another few days for the cable to show up in the mail. "But I want to play with my new toy NNNNoowww!!!"

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"Political Correctness is fascism disguised as manners" --George Carlin

Neil Roy
Member #2,229
April 2002
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bamccaig said:

When it comes to my computer monitor though, I want to maximize what I can see on the screen at a time, without stretching it since I'm close enough to notice.

I can definitely see it being noticeable if you have a larger monitor. I personally just cannot justify the expense of a larger monitor, faster video card etc. Maybe someday. But I have other things I would spend that on first, faster CPU and GPU instead with 1080P and maybe two monitors for development.

And I can see the difference, but what I am saying is I don't feel it is something I need. I am completely happy with 1080P. But then again, I JUST this year finally bought an HD TV when my CRT finally died. ;)

---
“I love you too.” - last words of Wanda Roy

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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bammcaig said:

I paid something like $700 for that console, and it died.

Wow, that sucks. Which part of it exactly died? I've heard that the more recent versions of the PS4 have some issues with overheating, but never have I heard of them outright dying. Now, if we were talking about the Xbox, then yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if one of those died (anyone remember the "red ring of death"?).

As for the GTX 1060, it won't run >60 FPS for many modern games.

You mean in 4K, or 1080p?

Chris Katko said:

ALSO, the first 4K movie we watched, The Jungle Book, was MIND BLOWING.

I agree, The Jungle Book was great. I was blown away when I saw it in IMAX.

Chris Katko said:

And again, you don't NEED anti-aliasing anymore because it already looks crisp as hell.

Good point. I'm not itching to upgrade to 4K anytime soon, but even without trying it, I can definitely agree that a bigger resolution would result in less aliasing. That's probably my only complaint about 1080p--the persistence of noticeable jagged edges.

Neil Roy said:

But then again, I JUST this year finally bought an HD TV when my CRT finally died. ;)

Have your CRT-induced skin burns gone away yet? :P

bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
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Wow, that sucks. Which part of it exactly died? I've heard that the more recent versions of the PS4 have some issues with overheating, but never have I heard of them outright dying. Now, if we were talking about the Xbox, then yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if one of those died (anyone remember the "red ring of death"?).

It was a PS3 that died, not a PS4. :) I think it was overheating, but the design of the console didn't really make cleaning it very easy. At least, not without going beyond what Sony intended an end-user to do. I tried to follow online guides to clean it, but to no avail. The device still refused to start back up. I think that there might have been a piece of the board that would melt eventually and screw the board. Not nearly as fragile as the 360 was, but it was still a problem after enough time had passed. I don't know if the PS4 is improved in its cooling/cleaning design, but if you say they have overheating problems too I suspect it's a similar story. It would be ideal if the end user could open the entire case up and blow out all the dust without voiding any warranties or triggering any kill switches. :-/

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