Alora Fane

Despite my ignorance of hardware, thanks to suggestions from people here I was able to decide on which PC to get... weeks ago. Months? I've still yet to set it up, and I'm wondering whether to replace my monitor(s) after all but don't know which one(s) to get!

How long has it been now since my new PC arrived? Weeks, at least, maybe even months. Other people would be excited and eager, they'd have it all up and running on the day it arrived... but I keep putting off setting it up because I know I'll have to transfer files and set up accounts on the new one and everything, and even though all that likely won't take that long once I've started, it's starting that's the hardest part, and... bleh. I don't remember having this issue with past PCs! I'll just blame depression or something, like with so much else. I wonder what it's like to have mental energy most of the time!!

I've at least taken it out of the box and plugged it in, but I've yet to turn it on for the first time because I still need to connect a monitor. I've been using two monitors with my current PC for a while: one's got a resolution of 2560x1080, the other's 1920x1080. I was planning to just keep these rather than buying new ones, since the PC itself cost enough!

While transferring stuff over, I was planning to have both PCs running at once, and to use my smaller, secondary monitor for the new PC until I'd finished setting up so I could keep using my 'main' one for the familiar PC. But it looks like the smaller (and older, I think) monitor's connected using ∞ what this website tells me is a DVI plug? ∞ While the only ports on this new PC are the less-outdated types. There's also a HDMI port on the back of the monitor, but I assume I'd need to get a different cable anyway...

I've been wondering for a while whether I should have got a new monitor (or two) with the new PC anyway, so I'm writing this to ask once again for any suggestions from those of you who have much more interest in and knowledge about this sort of stuff!

What resolutions are people typically using these days? I vaguely know that 4k monitors are a thing, but are they the norm, or a luxury limited to elite gamer types who spend most of their income on BUFFING UP their rainbow-lit GAMING RIG to maximise framerates for FASTER FRAGGING in high-speed battle royale FPSeses or whatever it is they care about? Do people even still use the term 'fragging'?? Did they ever??? Clearly I know so much about the world of gaming despite trying to make a living from contributing to it!!!

I find it valuable to have the space to open multiple windows at once, especially with programs like Unity where you often have to switch between a bunch of different ones. So I like having two monitors - one wider - for that. But I also feel that at least one of them should reflect the most common resolution players are likely to use so then I can get an idea of how what I'm making will run for them.

And I'm already using all my desk space with these two! (I don't know their physical size or how to check that; it's not like I have a tape measure lying around.)

I'm not overly concerned about frame rates. I'd say I don't care about things looking super sharp and fluid either, but I suspect a big part of that is just because I don't know what it's like to have something like that. My parents have a TV in the living room which is likely quite modern, and I was surprised when watching something on that recently how higher the framerate seemed compared to anything I'm used to. Maybe I'm just missing out on a lot out of ignorance; very likely!

So yes. What monitors do you use? Any that you'd suggest? I already paid over £2000 for the PC so I don't want to spend hundreds more on new monitors, but I probably also shouldn't just get the cheapest one(s) I can find either... as I almost did when trying to just decide for myself earlier but thought I should probably write this instead.

(I know I could just use the newer monitor to set up the new PC since that does have a compatible plug, but since the other one's probably quite old at this point I might as well replace at least one of them anyway... Plus I do wonder if I'm just missing out on a lot of recent hardware development most people are making use of!)

4 COMMENTS

phsc57~2Y

One important thing to consider is that, resolution affects performance A LOT, it makes sense because the amount of pixels and things to be properly calculated and displayed increases a lot, this is particularly true for the triple AAA super omega graphics poggers games or whatever, which you won't play, BUT this can be true for a few other things maybe?

I have a setup similar to yours and I don't see many issues, same resolutions but probably different brands, I don't think it really matters, if you want to consider getting something to help productivity and such, consider getting a third monitor! maybe a 1920x1080 one just to keep more things on view at once which you can quickly switch to! no need to have something very high resolutin like 4K if you are not going to use.

My parents also have a super fancy television with an absurd resolution, and it looks really good, like REALLY GOOD, but it does not matter for you, the only reason I would get a 4k monitor is to play some fancy games, or watch movies or whatever which is something I enjoy, but I think you don't, so just keeps yours, maybe get a new one, and upgrade them once 4k ones are cheap.

There are also these ultrawide monitors and such, they are expensive but really big, the fancy rich big companies have a few of these to test their products, because often things don't work that well in them, because they are ultrawide! and I don't like them, they are basically having two monitors but as one which I find oddly uncomfortable.

Also for cables, very often there are adapters you can use and such, just google about it, worst case scenario if things don't work well, sell your monitor and get a new one but don't go for something big.

If you look at monitor size statistics, the most popular has been 1920x1080 for years, the standard desktop PC resolution, 1366x768 comes close because it is often featured in laptops and such which is a big market, but 1536x864 has been getting more popular, but you don't care because you don't use laptops.

while around 23% of desktop users own a 1920x1080 monitor, only 2.6% own a 2560x1440 one, I find the increase to be worth it often because the size of the monitor also increases, however 4k I think is not worth it, I find it funny that the lower value than the big market value boy is 1600x900 at only 3.3%.

I can't even find statistics on the amount of people who own 4k, but I'd guess around 1% or less, and then we have the new big technology, 8k, which is absurd, it is more common on TVs and it works better for htat sort of thing, but I think very few people own that stuff.

Well that is my view at least, only get something 4k or whatever if you feel like watching some movies on your computer or playing some games with the modern fancy graphics kind IF you can run them that well of course, BUT YOU PROBABLY COULD GET ANOTHER MONITOR IF THAT IS AN OPTION BECAUSE IT PROBABLY WOULD MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER AND MORE COMFORTABLE, I myself would get one if I had desk spacea for it.

I have a setup similar to yours and I don't see many issues, same resolutions but probably different brands, I don't think it really matters, if you want to consider getting something to help productivity and such, consider getting a third monitor! maybe a 1920x1080 one just to keep more things on view at once which you can quickly switch to! no need to have something very high resolutin like 4K if you are not going to use.

My parents also have a super fancy television with an absurd resolution, and it looks really good, like REALLY GOOD, but it does not matter for you, the only reason I would get a 4k monitor is to play some fancy games, or watch movies or whatever which is something I enjoy, but I think you don't, so just keeps yours, maybe get a new one, and upgrade them once 4k ones are cheap.

There are also these ultrawide monitors and such, they are expensive but really big, the fancy rich big companies have a few of these to test their products, because often things don't work that well in them, because they are ultrawide! and I don't like them, they are basically having two monitors but as one which I find oddly uncomfortable.

Also for cables, very often there are adapters you can use and such, just google about it, worst case scenario if things don't work well, sell your monitor and get a new one but don't go for something big.

If you look at monitor size statistics, the most popular has been 1920x1080 for years, the standard desktop PC resolution, 1366x768 comes close because it is often featured in laptops and such which is a big market, but 1536x864 has been getting more popular, but you don't care because you don't use laptops.

while around 23% of desktop users own a 1920x1080 monitor, only 2.6% own a 2560x1440 one, I find the increase to be worth it often because the size of the monitor also increases, however 4k I think is not worth it, I find it funny that the lower value than the big market value boy is 1600x900 at only 3.3%.

I can't even find statistics on the amount of people who own 4k, but I'd guess around 1% or less, and then we have the new big technology, 8k, which is absurd, it is more common on TVs and it works better for htat sort of thing, but I think very few people own that stuff.

Well that is my view at least, only get something 4k or whatever if you feel like watching some movies on your computer or playing some games with the modern fancy graphics kind IF you can run them that well of course, BUT YOU PROBABLY COULD GET ANOTHER MONITOR IF THAT IS AN OPTION BECAUSE IT PROBABLY WOULD MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER AND MORE COMFORTABLE, I myself would get one if I had desk spacea for it.

phsc57~2Y

Another thing I forgot to say about the computer, did you consider simply putting your current hard-drive (or SSD?) on your new computer? (or ask someone to do that? pay them??? it is rather easy and I don't think much can go wrong when compared to other computer stuff), that is a really viable option which I myself often do.
Also, what browser do you use? because ones such as Chrome can easily sync most of your passwords and accounts basically automatically, as well with search history and common things you go for.

Falcon64~2Y

4K monitors are definitely primarily marketed to gamers.

Personally, I wouldn't spend money on replacing monitors for now, yours seem perfectly serviceable. All you need to get is an HDMI cable for the smaller one, and that can be bought very cheaply at any hardware store.

The most common monitor resolution is still most likely 1920x1080, and having the game working (and looking decent) at that resolution should definitely be the baseline. The primary thing to deal with for higher resolution support is UI size, so you could make it scalable.

Regarding the monitor refresh rate (which caps your maximum frame rate), higher FPS is primarily noticeable in action games, shooters, racing games, and the like. The kinds of games you usually play (and make) are unlikely to feel much different with a higher frame rate. I doubt your monitor refresh rate is lower than 60Hz, which is perfectly fine.

DeNovo4~2Y

First of all, an HDMI-to-DVI converter is much cheaper than a new monitor. Or a DisplayPort-to-DVI converter, which I'm guessing is the other port your new PC has.

I have 2 4K monitors! I can tell you what they're good for, and what they're not so good for. They're both 27 inches.

4K monitors are, in terms of physical dimensions, not all that much bigger than my previous 24-inch 1080p monitors. The big difference is that the 3840x2160 pixel screens are much, much easier on my eyes, to the point that I significantly shrank my screen fonts and still had a much easier time reading. (The fonts are scaled up to 150% of what they would be for a 4k monitor, which means I can hold about 50% more text and images on my screen than I used to.

Notably, each 4K monitor contains enough pixels to hold 4 1080p monitors, which is very nice on my eyes!

That said, they're not actually all that useful compared to a strictly bigger low-resolution monitor. If what you're after is screen real estate, you could go with a super fancy ultrawide monitor (something like [LINK]&keywords=30-inch+monitor&qid=1649905845&sprefix=30-inch+monitor%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-3) for the same price as a cheap 4K monitor. It'll give you way more physical screen space than a 4K monitor.

(What happened to me is that my work shipped me a 4K monitor, and it was so nice to look at that I couldn't stand staring at my 1080p monitors anymore. It's a trap, I say, a trap!)

Based on what you've said, I don't think you should switch to a new monitor just yet; buy the cables, since they'll be handy anyway. If you do buy, I think a normal cheap monitor with decent reviews will serve you just fine, too. You can even do silly nonsense like I do and have two computers (personal gaming machine, work laptop) hooked up to both monitors at the same time and switch between them!

First of all, an HDMI-to-DVI converter is much cheaper than a new monitor. Or a DisplayPort-to-DVI converter, which I'm guessing is the other port your new PC has.

I have 2 4K monitors! I can tell you what they're good for, and what they're not so good for. They're both 27 inches.

4K monitors are, in terms of physical dimensions, not all that much bigger than my previous 24-inch 1080p monitors. The big difference is that the 3840x2160 pixel screens are much, much easier on my eyes, to the point that I significantly shrank my screen fonts and still had a much easier time reading. (The fonts are scaled up to 150% of what they would be for a 4k monitor, which means I can hold about 50% more text and images on my screen than I used to.

Notably, each 4K monitor contains enough pixels to hold 4 1080p monitors, which is very nice on my eyes!

That said, they're not actually all that useful compared to a strictly bigger low-resolution monitor. If what you're after is screen real estate, you could go with a super fancy ultrawide monitor (something like https://www.amazon.com/Sceptre-C305W-2560UN-30-inch-DisplayPort-Build/dp/B07XZNXWGS/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2VCCZ8PDIWD1F&keywords=30-inch+monitor&qid=1649905845&sprefix=30-inch+monitor%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-3) for the same price as a cheap 4K monitor. It'll give you way more physical screen space than a 4K monitor.

(What happened to me is that my work shipped me a 4K monitor, and it was so nice to look at that I couldn't stand staring at my 1080p monitors anymore. It's a trap, I say, a trap!)

Based on what you've said, I don't think you should switch to a new monitor just yet; buy the cables, since they'll be handy anyway. If you do buy, I think a normal cheap monitor with decent reviews will serve you just fine, too. You can even do silly nonsense like I do and have two computers (personal gaming machine, work laptop) hooked up to both monitors at the same time and switch between them!