How do you game? I'm like the cookie monster of gaming.

I graduate with a masters of engineering in 2 years. I'm mostly trying to save right now, but I managed to scrape a little together for a MSI GTX 970.

I understand people like their 27" monitors, but I very much love playing on my old 42" Vizio at 1080p. I understand that pixel density is an issue with most "hardcore" pc gamers, but I just love being able to lay on a couch and game on the weekends with a controller.

Anyways, with the advent of 4k gaming, I don't even see the point if you're below a certain screen size. I CANNOT WAIT for a 40"+ 4k LED TV to be within the $600 price tag. That with a pair of GTX 970s would be the ultimate gaming station in my opinion. Maybe by the time I graduate they'll have awesome TVs for that price range.

Anyways, I'm sorry for the rant. I just love PC gaming so so so much. The customization is intoxicating. I figured if anybody knows what I'm going through, it'd be people here.

I'm open to other suggestions if anybody has any for really good gaming setups. I'm even open to a nice 27" 1440p setup if anybody has recommendations for a good price. Anyways, I'm really very excited for this next generation of PC gaming. Batman: Arkham Knight, The Wither 3, Star Wars: Battlefront 3. We have a lot of VERY good games coming our way!

I game on a 27" IPS (one of the Korean jobbers for $300). 4K gaming is a tough sell now due to the horsepower you need to run it (well). But plenty of people with the wallet do it!

Welcome!

The Seiki 4K displays go for less than $500 (if you can still find one), but a 970 is a little underpowered at full resolution. Drop down to 1080p120 and then it works like a charm.

At this point, 4K is more for general desktop use than gaming.

Seems like it comes down to personal preference mostly. I'd say the type of games you play will probably influence your setup too. I've got two main rigs for gaming, one with a 1080p projector on a 98" screen and another with triple 22" displays at 5760x1080, and each has its pros and cons. Some people will say projectors aren't good for gaming but personally I think it's absolutely the best if you've got the right room for it. Can't beat reclining on the couch instead of being hunched over a desk. I just wish I could find a vaguely competent wireless mouse for gaming (I've torn up two Zowie EC1s already due to snagging cords). I play most games on the projector because it's more comfortable, but when I want some serious immersion and/or precision I switch over to the triple display setup with a good set of headphones. The peripheral vision from the Surround setup is just awesome for shooters and racing, and the extra screen real estate is extremely useful in strategy games. Enticing as 4K is, it's just not there yet for projectors and I think I'd still personally prefer a triple display setup for both work and play at close range. I suppose a 4K triple display would suit me just fine but I can wait a bit for price to go down and HDMI 2.0 compatibility to become a bit more widespread (at which point we'll of course be checking out those new 5K monitors, right?)

Still gaming at 1080p.

Might get a 1440p within a couple of months.

But I play an average of 30 minutes/1h a day max...

1080p suits me well for now...

My main gaming screen is a 40" LG 120hz TV. I tried to find one with the lowest response time. I am happy with it so far!

I'm a couch gamer as well. I sit in front of a PC all day at work, and the last thing I want to do is come home and go to a desk again. While I mostly play with an xbox 360 controller (*gasp*), I am working on building a solution to be able to play with a M+K. The biggest drawback I find is games/websites/software with small text. Even on a 50" screen, when you're sitting 8-10 feet away, it can be a real strain on the eyes.

Even on a 50" screen, when you're sitting 8-10 feet away, it can be a real strain on the eyes.

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Ctrl + and - FTW!

EarthDog said:

Ctrl + and - FTW!

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That works great on webpages and whatnot, but some software and games don't scale like that unless I turn the resolution waaaay down. Kerbal Space Program, for example, I sometimes have to turn down to 1280x1024 to read text on component descriptions.

Or ctrl+wheel!

bamato said:

I'm a couch gamer as well. I sit in front of a PC all day at work, and the last thing I want to do is come home and go to a desk again. While I mostly play with an xbox 360 controller (*gasp*), I am working on building a solution to be able to play with a M+K. The biggest drawback I find is games/websites/software with small text. Even on a 50" screen, when you're sitting 8-10 feet away, it can be a real strain on the eyes.

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I use mouse/keyboard 90% of the time but I won't hesitate to say that 360 Controllers totally have their place in PC gaming. I finally grabbed 4 controllers about a year ago and I've been quickly curating a collection of couch co-op games. Only a select group have any interest in LAN gaming, but you can hand almost anyone a controller and get them into a game of BroForce or Castle Crashers. I don't see how anyone enjoys FPS games with a controller, but for platformers, arcade games and the like it's the only way to go.

Regarding eye strain, I can certainly imagine it being an issue on some games. Eve Online is the first example that comes to mind. I tried it once and quit after an hour just because the text was some insane size 4 font. I swear it's like the devs designed it to run in CGA resolution or something. Anyway, have you tried setting the font scaling to 125% or 150% in Windows? That almost universally solved readability issues for me.

It looks like Philips is releasing a 40" 4k monitor for around $800, http://www.tomshardware.com/news/philips-4k-bdm4065uc-monitor,27977.html

Galaxy said:

Anyway, have you tried setting the font scaling to 125% or 150% in Windows? That almost universally solved readability issues for me.

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I have. It helps to a certain extent.

I agree with the controller comment. When it comes to platformers and co-op games, they are definitely a plus. If I have friends over that don't pc game (and lets face it, if they did, they brought their box over anyway) and I hand them a M+K, they look confused (imagine the first time a human discovered fire).

On a 50" 4K display, I found that about 4-5 feet away is the optimum viewing distance. Think in terms of pixel density when finding the optimum viewing distance.

Heres a 42" for $600, 4K Res

I wonder if that one is a real 240Hz or just marketing 240Hz. If it's the former, it would be a great choice for gamers. No idea how well ELED (some new quantum dot technology?) works in the real world.

As someone who has spent tons of hours playing tf2 trying to 1up others, trying to get the best responsiveness possible and chasing that edge over others, I fail to see any point in 4k gaming other than being a technological show-off for now. Times will change in favor of 4k but in general it is way too early for them to be adopted, and as opposed to how the resolution slowly progressed over the years towards 1080p, 4k is like surprise guise we just doubled the mainstream resolution. I think this and the release of 4k to be somewhat connected. I'm against that point of view and really prefer bettering the visuals with what resolution most people have than going the SSAA way. Also responsiveness matters in the games being realistic. 4K will definitely increase productivity for those who can afford it. I just hope that it doesnt drag gaming towards the console way.

TL;DR
4K is born a little early than it was supposed to imo, it is just a niche for gaming right now and may stall the development of better visuals opposed to more pixels.

4K is more for desktop use than gaming at this point. The real highlight for gaming is high frame rate (120Hz and beyond). Nice thing about the Seiki 4K displays is that they also work as 1080p120 displays (and that's a real 120Hz, believe it or not). Nice for those who use one setup for both games and normal desktop, and especially good for game developers who would like a big workspace and the ability to test play on the same screen. The low price is just a bonus, and a really good deal for a MVA panel.