How badly am I wasting my 1080Ti on a 1080p monitor

Hello

I have a 1080Ti with an i7 7700k.

My monitor is the 24" 1080p 180hz Asus one with G-sync. I bought it at the start of the year before my desktop when I was using my laptop and PS4 for gaming - I was kind of put of by 1440p at the time because of scaling with the 1080p output from my PS4 but now I rarely play PS4 and if I do it's on my TV now.

I paid $650 for my monitor maybe 6 months ago. I really have my eyes on this Asus 27inch 1440p IPS g-sync 165hz monitor, which is $1,050. Mum is going to kill me though replacing things so soon again.

Now that I only play PC games I really feel like I'm wasting my GPU...

I'm just at bit of a loss as to what to do. If I swap monitors again, am I going to end up wanting to swap again next year and get a 4k 100hz monitor and like a GTX 2080 Ti?

Is 1440p a good investment or are we getting really close to high FPS 4k gaming and I should hold out?

:3

Edit: Sorry and a question about higher resolution... I play a lot of FF XIV which has pretty basic graphics by today's standards. The game doesn't have high quality 4k textures like for instance Forza 7 (100gb download omg that killed me even on NBN). Would a game with average quality textures look any better at higher resolution? Is the only benefit going to be less aliasing?

 

i don't think a single 1080ti is enough for 4k for today's newer more demanding games

i think you would be happier on a 27 - 29" 1440p @ 144hz

 

I think its a mistake to get all caught up in the gear instead of the games. Just relax, your monitor and card are better than 99% of what people have. You can cruise every new game for the next 3 years with this set up. 120hz + at 1080p on lock for years ahead with any game. Sounds good to me.

 

+1 to this.

1080Ti is good 1440p @ 144hz. Don't go from 1080p 160Hz to 4K@60Hz, your eyes will bleed get the 165hz Swift (or simillar) G-sync 1440p panel.

Wait couple of years, when the HDR 4K@120hz panels are out and decent GPU to run them, then upgrade to 4K

 

Well you are not 'wasting' your current monitor because you need a 1080 Ti anyway to maintain close to 180fps in most games at 1080P.

I am not a fan of 1440P for my personal use due to scaling issues with 1080P content, I don't just game on my PC and I watch a lot of my shows and movies at 1080P - videos simply look sharper at native res.

 

On the other hand, Netflix 4K shows look better on 1440p than 1080p panel, more and more youtube channels are putting 1440p content out. Also windows desktop is visibly sharper @ 1440p. 1440p is the sweet spot at the moment(1080p is dated now, has been around for way too long), we should see first HDR 4K120hz panels Q1-2 2018 and wider spread of 4K in 2019

 

Look for a second hand 1440P high Hz monitor. Would be a lot cheaper than trying to get a brand new GSync one.

Personally wouldnt run a 1080P on anything these days.

 

If I had to choose again I would go for a high hertz 1440p screen.
don't get my wrong I love my screen but you need sli ti's to run it properly, and if the game doesn't support it......

 

Yes 1080P is overkill for a 1080Ti, but as enthusiasts that's also kind of the point

If you wanted to take advantage of it more, hunt down a second hand 4K monitor that'd be the go. I game on 4K every day and despite what people say it runs perfectly on ALL modern titles, I have a GTX1080 with a good overclock and I never have issues, if anything sometimes you might not just click the Ultra Mega Hyper settings which are full of diminishing returns anyway.

 

Agreed, I did this and spent about 4k on my rig, sold it 5 months later lol I need to update my sig.

 

1080P is fine up to 23 - 24 inches IMO, however at 27+ inches 1080P is quite pixellaated and 1440P is noticeably sharper.

PPI on a 1440P 30inch monitor is only marginally better than 1080P at 24 inches, FWIW.

The problem with 120Hz 4K screens is that we don't as yet have GPUs powerful enough to run games anywhere near 120fps avg at 4K. A 1080 Ti certainly isn't up to the task and I doubt even a next gen 2080 Ti can deliver 120fps consistently at 4K

 

I'm gonna take my laptop, which has a GTX 1060, down to JB-HIFI or harvey norman or something and play around with a 1440p screen on games I play. It's kinda hard to buy monitors while looking at them on the internet through a monitor.

My friend is also interested in buying my current monitor for $400, so that's a positive for him as well (I thought that was a reasonable price, I hope I'm not ripping him off :3).

Thanks for everyone's thoughts, but I kinda realised I actually don't know what 1440p looks like, so will go down to the shop.

 

depends on the title, starcraft 2 will churn out those frames at 4k

crysis 3 on the hand will struggle.

 

This. Get off the upgrade treadmill. Be content with what you have. The only thing you're wasting is your wallet.

 

Well obviously I meant on newer titles. From what I've seen the 1080 Ti can do about 60 - 80fps avg at 4K, but mins will be in the 40s, not exactly the smoothest experience but certainly playable.

 

Not that I claim to know much about gaming laptops, but isn't a 'laptop' 1060 considerably inferior to a 'desktop' 1060, gimped in the same way as a laptop i7 can have similar specs to a desktop i3?

You'd be better off seeing if you can find a friendly computer shop with a prebuilt 7700K/1080Ti system to try out on a good monitor? Oranges vs Oranges? Or even better.. take your own tower in. If they want the sale, they'll let you.

 

Actually the latest gen of nVidia laptop GPUs pretty much perform the same as their desktop counterpart (as long as they are cooled adequately, which some laptops fail to do)

This is in stark contrast to years past when lets say, a 970M performed only at about 60% that of a desktop GTX 970.

 

I have a 1080Ti with my 27" Samsung 120hz 1080p. 1440p is great but I don't think a 1080Ti is overkill for 1080p with high refresh rate. When you're immersed in something at 120fps on ultra (eg. The Witcher 3) it's very much not overkill in my opinion and there are games that still won't hold 120fps with all settings maxed out let alone 180fps.

That being said, as soon as we get 4k/100+hz monitors I will be getting one and grabbing whatever card that gets close to running it. I would rather wait than grab something that's 1440p and struggle to hit 144fps at that resolution.

Personal preference though, some people cannot undo having the extra real estate. My 1440p monitor was 60hz and I'd much rather have the high refresh rate. Each to their own.

 

My 1080ti smashes most games maxed @ 4k 60fps.