I've been thinking about getting a 1440p monitor for a while now, but what with 4k monitors steeply declining in price I'm beginning to doubt whether grabbing a 1440p monitor right now would be worth it. Obviously, with 4k I'd need a more powerful GPU setup, but considering 4k might not be in a good place to purchase for a couple of years, it shouldn't be too difficult to get a decent setup for 4k.
Basically, is it worth it to invest in 1440p now if 4k might be readily available at pretty decent prices in a couple of years? Of course, I may be underestimating the price of 4k in two years.
The other thing that you should think about is performance. You mention that you will need a more powerful graphics card but that is really an understatement. Looking at benchmarks from the 295x2 it is clear that even that struggles at 4k. See the OC3D review of it.
I agree. The hardware isn't available for 4K, and affordable 4K panels are low quality, low refresh rates (30Hz). The hardware requirements for 1440p are quite reasonable. A single high-end card would be suitable. e.g 770 or 280x. R9 290 and above would be preferable.
1440p is still the every man's choice. The only thing that I would state, is that 1440p panels might drop is price quite sharply, with the direction that the panel market is going. Consider a cheap Korean panel.
For the price of a 4K panel, you could probably purchase a single 1440p panel, and a single 144Hz panel. Or other panel configurations/choices.
I'd wait until GPU's catch up, because from a practical standpoint, 4K gaming isn't feasible yet. You'd have to drop so much on GPU's that a 4K monitor would seam cheap in comparison to get a decent experience at 4K. 1440p is doable, but does require the enthusiast grade cards, such as 780 or R9 290 to drive comfortably with some decent details.
Another route to look at would be those 21:9 monitors. If you grab a 30"+ 21:9 monitor, that should set up you quite nicely. I'm not sure how much value you put into Linus' opinions, but he thinks 21:9 makes 4K more or less irrelevant.
I have to disagree when I got my PB278Q I was still using my 7950 and I could still max just about everything at playable FPS sure if you really care about maxing Metro Last Light or Crysis 3 then your going to need the 290 or 780 but otherwise a 770 or 280X should be fine
I suppose I may be over-estimating the performance of 1440p gaming, but the 7950 is no chump either and isn't too far behind a 770, especially at higher resolutions, where GCN was known to stretch it's legs over Kepler. The point I was trying to make is don't expect 1440p on something like a 750-Ti.
I only play one game at 1440p - NBA 2k14, which I have all the filtering maxed, then it's downscaled to my 1080p monitor. My framerate is still through the roof...
Thanks for all the feedback. I'll look into purchasing a 1440p monitor in a few month, perhaps when they're a bit cheaper. Also, it seems like my HD 7950 should still be pretty good for it; to be honest, especially combined with my overclock on it, I'm very happy with how it performs at 1080p. I'll probably grab a 1440p monitor and stick with my 7950 for a year or two.
Edit: Moving this thread in a slightly different direction now. Are there any 120 hz 1440p monitors? Also, what are your thoughts on IPS vs TN? I believe my current 1080p monitor is a 60 Hz TN panel which I'm quite happy with, but I'm not sure if I'd rather go with a higher refresh rate or better colors. At least from my understanding there are no 120 hz IPS panels.
You should probably wait and then re-evaluate later when 4k prices become more acceptable and once HDMI 2 and Displayport 1.2a are widely available. Honestly, I wouldn't want to get a new monitor until I could get one with Adaptive sync (Free sync, or whatever you want to call it) is available. Regardless of the resolution, that technology is worth having. A lot of people don't really like 4k monitors, but I think that it is because they are approaching them in the wrong way. To me, it doesn't seem as though 4k is supposed to be a replacement for the 1080p 24" screens that are currently standard. It should be closer to having 4 of those screens tiled with a slightly better ppi. I wouldn't want a 4k monitor that is below 32" and honestly, closer to 42" would be closer to what I would want. Keep that in mind when you are looking around, or at least consider it. Also, I know that Linus prefers 21:9 monitors to 4k, you could check out his video about it in Linus Tech Tips.
I know that there aren't any 120hz 1440p IPS (that aren't overclocked at least), as for 1080p, I have no idea. About the refresh rates, I know of plenty of people who have said that they couldn't imagine going back to 60hz after going up to 120 or 144hz, but to me, it seems as thought that would only really be a benefit if you are playing fast games such as FPS or racing games, where every little amount helps. For standard use, I don't think that anything over 60hz is really necessary, but try it out and see what you think for yourself, if at all possible.
IPS is the better rounded choice. Great for design, movies, good middle ground for gaming. You can overclock some IPS monitors with a passthrough. Most are not overclockable.
There's the ROG swift, which will soon be available. That's a 1440p TN.
I would lean to the IPS panel. 60 FPS is a realistic target with a single high-end card.
You wouldn't push 120 FPS+ at 1440p with a single 7950, nor most other cards. While my 780 can max most games at 60FPS, I would definitely require a second 780 to push anywhere near 120 frames.
I have thought about getting a 21:9 monitor, but I'm sort of nervous about it considering it seems to be a slightly atypical aspect ratio, at least for the time being. How is the support for that aspect ratio in games? Also, in games that do not support it, does it just run in the regular 16:9 1080p with black bars on the left and right?
I am not familiar enough with that aspect ratio to be able to tell you. Honestly, I ham hedging my bet on a large 4k once Displayport 1.2a becomes standard.
Another thing to bear in mind is GET the 4k panel if you have the cash and just want it and play at 1080p. the scaling is perfect for 1080p and things should look exceedingly crisp. Then later when GPU can actually run at 4K you are already good to go. :)