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Some solid advice from Tim at Hardware Unboxed: "DON'T Upgrade Your GPU, Upgrade Your Monitor Instead"



Might ruffle some feathers here in the first 3-4 mins with statements like 4K providing a significant improvement over 1440p at 32" and those claiming '60fps is sufficient for gaming are wrong,' but I agree 100% with everything he said in the video.

Around the 9:30 mark he brings up typical systems at the entry, mid-range and enthusiast level from 5 years ago and compares the GPU vs monitor upgrade path today when staying within the same budget.

Some of his closing words:



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This was honestly a great video and as I'm researching buying a new proper full fat PC, I'd agree with everything said here. A new Monitor is 100% my first purchase, and also going to be my new TV since it's the only way to get a properly great screen at a 32" size.

Might ruffle some feathers here in the first 3-4 mins with statements like 4K providing a significant improvement over 1440p at 32" and those claiming '60fps is sufficient for gaming are wrong,' but I agree 100% with everything he said in the video.

Honestly he's right, at least when we're talking about monitors and all games generally.

A correctly used monitor should be precisely your arms length away from you and with the top third of the screen at eye level. That close up and at 32", you are 100% going to see a difference between 1440p and 2160p.

You'd probably not be able to tell 1800p and 2160p apart, but still, it would be a noticeable improvement.

It's at average TV viewing distances, often at an odd angle since people increasingly put them up high flat against a wall, where 4K is usually a waste of pixels. Even with a 60" TV it would be hard to tell it apart from a 1440p resolution at the yards away an average person would be looking at it. 20/20 vision just isn't that precise.

Similarly 60fps isn't just about how many pixels are being pushed by the system, it's about latency and pixel frequency. You can get noticeably smoother, snappier feeling games with higher frame rates, especially since VRR is the norm now. Combined with OLED's almost zero latency, 144hz and above simple make games feel and play better for most people.

Games are playable at even sub 30fps. But that doesn't mean they're ideal there, and more frames are always better if you can get them.

Even if you can't get a stable 60fps with your current rig, a 360hz monitor will let you easily play at 40fps too, which is still a massive step up from 30fps.
 
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Would anyone be interested in a Home Server thread, to discuss all aspects of NAS units, Radarr, Sonarr, associated software, code discussion etc?

Just in case anyone missed it :)

 
I'm encountering a strange new bug that creeps me out. Anybody had something similar?

It has to do with full screen modes and DisplayPort monitor.

I first had it in Yakuza Kiwami 2. Everytime I went into settings to change resolution in full screen mode (which defaulted to 4K I think) I would get a frozen black screen. Sound still works, everything works. I ALT+F4 the game but still have the black screen. Then I notice the crazy part. I can't turn off the monitor. Blue LED light still indicates that it's on, even if I'm pushing the off switch. It does not react to any buttons on a monitor. I go behind it and hard unplug it from power socket, plug again, it reloads and now everything is fine. Something is crashing the monitor! It's a 1440p 144hz Acer display with GSync connected via DisplayPort. I never encountered this before, and it always worked fine.

I think full screen mode in Yakuza Kiwami 2 is broken, I switched to borderless and played the game that way (1440p 144hz settings). Works great. Now I'm playing Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine. Old game. I'm running it at 1920×1440 with black bars. I had to ALT-TAB it sometimes, usually everything is fine, but sometimes same thing happens. Monitor crashes.

So I'm trying to figure out how this happens. This has to be a DisplayPort issue since it's the only standard where Windows have access to hardware inside a monitor (which annoyingly causes Windows to unplug the device everytime you turn off a monitor). Something about DP and using Full Screen mode. Beside the main display I have two others: one connected via HDMI, another with DP-DVI converter. Both work fine.

So it's either: a Windows update that broke something DP related, an Nvidia driver update that broke something DP related or perhaps it is a monitor issue. Hopefully not the last one.

Thoughts?
 
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I'm encountering a strange new bug that creeps me out. Anybody had something similar?

It has to do with full screen modes and DisplayPort monitor.

I first had it in Yakuza Kiwami 2. Everytime I went into settings to change resolution in full screen mode (which defaulted to 4K I think) I would get a frozen black screen. Sound still works, everything works. I ALT+F4 the game but still have the black screen. Then I notice the crazy part. I can't turn off the monitor. Blue LED light still indicates that it's on, even if I'm pushing the off switch. It does not react to any buttons on a monitor. I go behind it and hard unplug it from power socket, plug again, it reloads and now everything is fine. Something is crashing the monitor! It's a 1440p 144hz Acer display with GSync connected via DisplayPort. I never encountered this before, and it always worked fine.

I think full screen mode in Yakuza Kiwami 2 is broken, I switched to borderless and played the game that way (1440p 144hz settings). Works great. Now I'm playing Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine. Old game. I'm running it at 1920×1440 with black bars. I had to ALT-TAB it sometimes, usually everything is fine, but sometimes same thing happens. Monitor crashes.

So I'm trying to figure out how this happens. This has to be a DisplayPort issue since it's the only standard where Windows have access to hardware inside a monitor (which annoyingly causes Windows to unplug the device everytime you turn off a monitor). Something about DP and using Full Screen mode. Beside the main display I have two others: one connected via HDMI, another with DP-DVI converter. Both work fine.

So it's either: a Windows update that broke something DP related, an Nvidia driver update that broke something DP related or perhaps it is a monitor issue. Hopefully not the last one.

Thoughts?

Can't really comment much, just that over the years, I encountered multiple games that had issues when Alt-Tabbing.
 
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RE2 Remake Steam key that might not work.

2NXPL-PXH3I-X6B7A

I have a bunch of whack-job friends that can't follow simple fucking instructions to let me know if they redeemed the key or not, so it's worth a try. Enjoy if you get it.
 
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Pretty good summary of how buggered PC hardware is looking for the foreseeable future.



Looks like price rises and performance plateaus are going to become the norm. Wouldn't be surprised if we get 6GB graphics cards to top it off too.
 
I think i'm to new to this forum to post new threads so I thought I'd comment here.

I rather impulsively purchased a Razer Blade 16 2024, with nvidia 4070, i9 14900hx processor 1tb ssd and 16gb ram. I planned on playing Forza Horizon, microsoft flight simulator and others. I am a bit sad and enjoy playing sims 3 (not keen on 4) . My old laptop is an MSI with a i7 7th gen and a 1060 nvidia so it was a nice leap improvement. Sims 3 looked amazing but wouldn't work initially until I patched it with an unofficial patch recommened by ea advisor. The laptop is gorgeous but unfortunatly the track pad misbehaves signifficantly leaving me swearing at my laptop. One of the reasons I switched brands from MSI was the annoying trackpad/ touchpad and the new one is much much worse. You get double clicks, right clicks when you clicked left, minimises windows unintentially. So basically for a £2500 price tag I was expecting a great experience. Sending it back now and thinking of spending a similar amount, was thinking maybe msi as old one lasted since 2018. any recommendations would be appreciated. I should probably wait until new nvidia and intel chips come out as I hear 13th and 14th gen chips have stability issues.
 
I think i'm to new to this forum to post new threads so I thought I'd comment here.

I rather impulsively purchased a Razer Blade 16 2024, with nvidia 4070, i9 14900hx processor 1tb ssd and 16gb ram. I planned on playing Forza Horizon, microsoft flight simulator and others. I am a bit sad and enjoy playing sims 3 (not keen on 4) . My old laptop is an MSI with a i7 7th gen and a 1060 nvidia so it was a nice leap improvement. Sims 3 looked amazing but wouldn't work initially until I patched it with an unofficial patch recommened by ea advisor. The laptop is gorgeous but unfortunatly the track pad misbehaves signifficantly leaving me swearing at my laptop. One of the reasons I switched brands from MSI was the annoying trackpad/ touchpad and the new one is much much worse. You get double clicks, right clicks when you clicked left, minimises windows unintentially. So basically for a £2500 price tag I was expecting a great experience. Sending it back now and thinking of spending a similar amount, was thinking maybe msi as old one lasted since 2018. any recommendations would be appreciated. I should probably wait until new nvidia and intel chips come out as I hear 13th and 14th gen chips have stability issues.

Do you need that much power? If your first game on a two and a half grand laptop is Sims 3, you might be better served with something cheaper, or a more premium style general use laptop for the same price.
 
Do you need that much power? If your first game on a two and a half grand laptop is Sims 3, you might be better served with something cheaper, or a more premium style general use laptop for the same price.

Sure, I just always heard razer blade had great build quality and I like the style of it. Was contemplating dell xps, then I saw it was only a little more for the razor blade. My old MSI GE62 7RF is rock solid build quality. Touch pad is a little annoying but maybe they all are. As I never use a mouse this is important
 
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Sure, I just always heard razer blade had great build quality and I like the style of it. Was contemplating dell xps, then I saw it was only a little more for the razor blade. My old MSI GE62 7RF is rock solid build quality. Touch pad is a little annoying but maybe they all are. As I never use a mouse this is important

Apparently Dell XPS and Microsoft Surface trackpads are pretty good.

Were you interested in a touch screen laptop as well? It would be easier for the manufacturers to get a touchscreen right when compared to a touchpad.
 
Has there been any more news about the RDR1 and Legacy of Kain Remasters? Given the source for both was so good, you'd think we would have heard something by now.
 
I've got 72 dollar Amazon.com credit and no idea what to import 😅 any suggestions? Dosnt work with any other Amazon stores. I can't see any Steam credit etc.
 
I've got 72 dollar Amazon.com credit and no idea what to import 😅 any suggestions? Dosnt work with any other Amazon stores. I can't see any Steam credit etc.

Gaming mouse and become a pro fps gaymer.

SSD for additional storage.

Dedicated mic for online gaming.

A lot of monster energy drinks.
 
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Gaming mouse and become a pro fps gaymer.

SSD for additional storage.

Dedicated mic for online gaming.

A lot of monster energy drinks.

haha you know I love my designer keyboard and smooth mouse lol.

SSD im maxed in all 4 nvme ports and Crucial MX's I use have gone up in price double compared to when I bought them.

Monster Energy drinks might be a good shout, I tend to have one a day!
 
Looking over some designer keyboards, I found this:

617CEOrQD5L.jpg


I do like the colours, but I prefer the keys to not be aligned in a grid. I don't know why the vowel letters are a different colour, but if it helps hostile while typing it can't be all bad. ☺️

The green buttons also glow in the dark. No charging necessary.
 
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How much SSD storage does everyone have on their gaming PCs? I have 10tb total, 8tb used for games and I'm wanting more. Then I looked on Reddit for how much people have and it's like only 2tb average 😱
 
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