Playing @ 1080p vs 4k , Pro's and Con's?

For the last week I have been putting together a improved PC setup, ready for tomorrow but during my testing I been looking at the right balance between quality of the graphics vs's performance.

I am using slightly older gear and either next week or at the end of July I will be replacing the CPU with the top i7 for the generation of hardware I am using.

Currently I have an i5 4670 running at 3.6GHZ, with 24GB DDR3 RAM (I will also be making this 32GB with matching RAM soon) and a GTX1080 Extreme with 8GB GDDR5 RAM. I run this through to my 43" LG Ultra HD HDR LED TV in Computer/Gaming mode with either 120mhz in 1080p or 60mhz in 4K.


In game I am able to have most of the graphics maxed out and in 4K I have a stable 58-61FPS and in 1080p with everything maxed, I am getting over 130FPS. I keep switching back and forth trying to judge how much of a difference in visual quality the two settings are.

For me, I don't do the big raid stuff very much and I am mainly running dungeons and enjoying the various quests and storyline (I know, I know, I'm a noob). Because I have major lower spinal damage, my nerves cause me a lot of pain, so I am always on a high amount of opiates for pain control, which makes me a bit slower with my reactions.

When playing, I have not noticed any big problems when in 4K and when I go over to 1080p, I do notice a smoother feel to everything. Originally I started playing FF14 on a PS4 and then a PS4-PRo, which is why I am blown away with how the PC version looks and feels.


On the Shadowbringers benchmark, the 4K settings scored 8000 and the 1080p scored 12850. Cause my benchmark for some reason is stuck in Japanese, I don't know if the 8000 is classed as good or bad?


So with the above info, what would you say is the better way to go, when the servers go live tomorrow?


Thanks to anyone who is able to give me some good advice on what to do with this.


Felix

I like higher Resolution because it allows me to space out my UI much more compared to 1080p. Only problem I have with it, is that when the game zooms in on textures, they look really disgusting (imo) and that bothers me. Obviously the lower the Resolution, the less stress you put on your Rig but with high FPS, it could allow you to use things like Reshade to make your XIV experience better. Use whatever gives you the most stable experience.

You'll get less jaggies at 4k, the downside is you will get more framerate drops if you are in super crowded areas of if a lot is going on, on screen(I have a super decorator friend and my frames drop the moment I got into her house XD).

Running 14 on high resolution is kind of crappy to be honest, the UI scaling is terrible so text looks garbled at many scaling options. If you run fullscreen it'd probably be better to use lower resolution that it is optimized for like 1080p. I use windowed on my 4k monitor at actual resolution (no scaling) so running 1080p is very small on the screen so I run mine bigger but it's not the greatest. It worked better on my old 1440p screen but I'd rather not revert at this point lol.

I think the game looks just fine at 4k most of the time, but sometimes it can become very pixalated. I usually notice it on NPC armor.

Your frame rate will drop. In very busy areas my frame rate can drop to around 45 frames while its usually around 55+ frames in most areas. Currently I run it on unlimited with v-sync on and set to fast, but when I've played with the in-game limiter it usually goes between 50-55 frames so I guess I'll see if that changes with the new update. I have an i7-8700K @3.70GHz, 32gigs of RAM and a 1080Ti. My Shadowbrings benchmark with at max settings was around 8500, which is "Extremely High".

Honestly if you are only wanting 4k just for FFXIV I wouldn't do it at this point. The game runs fine and they have done a lot of updates to scale the UI for it but the graphics aren't really optimized for 4k and sometimes it can become very distracting (I'm looking at you Hein and Nidhogg-Estinien).

The upgrade you have planned to go from 24 - 32 for your ram is not worth the money. Anything over 16 is useless when gaming. Their are plenty of benchmarking videos that show resources used and performance at various levels of ram. 16 is still overkill for all gaming these days and likely won't change anytime soon. Spend that money on something else or save it for a new build in the future.

8000 benchmark isn't bad, and I believe that still scores you an Extremely High score according to the benchmark. That should be enough answer for you that your system at 4k will still perform quite well in most situations.

I believe a PPI / Pixel Per Inch of around 110 is the desired ratio, but it ultimately comes down to preference. Your 4k 43 Inch TV is 102.5 PPI which if you notice things being a bit too small, it's because of that. If you find yourself scaling the UI, Fonts, etc... to be larger than running 4k is a waste.

My advice and please note it's just advice. Don't move forward with your upgrades at all. Save the money for building a new system in a year or two. What you have will play FF14 at 1080p or 4k well enough to enjoy the game.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cerick

The upgrade you have planned to go from 24 - 32 for your ram is not worth the money. Anything over 16 is useless when gaming. Their are plenty of benchmarking videos that show resources used and performance at various levels of ram. 16 is still overkill for all gaming these days and likely won't change anytime soon. Spend that money on something else or save it for a new build in the future...

My advice and please note it's just advice. Don't move forward with your upgrades at all. Save the money for building a new system in a year or two. What you have will play FF14 at 1080p or 4k well enough to enjoy the game.

---

Agreed; you usually benefit from more than 16GB when doing workstation-type work (rendering, animation, etc.), but even brand-new, modern AAA games don't need more than 16GB right now. In addition, purchasing more DDR3 RAM will hinder your upgrade options in the future, as modern builds require DDR4 RAM and DDR5 will probably be available for regular builders in the next few years.

Thank you all for the very helpful replies, this just shows how good the FF14 community are when people are in need of help, and ask the right way and make the effort to thanks them (even if I got an answer I didn't want to see). Being a Brit and raised to be a bit "old school" and shows some manners aka P's and Q's! :D

Because I struggle to sit on a chair for more than 25mins, I actually lay on my bed and I am about 3-4 metres (10ft) from the screen, so I guess that's why I find 1080p to look really "good".

I think I will go with the 1080p 120hz , as I think the game areas are going to be very busy for the next few weeks, so it might be better to go in them with a less demanding config and where I have enough FPS that even with me dropping frames, the movement should still "feel" smooth?

I only learned about the software "reshade" earlier today and was meaning to get it installed on my PC (for all my Web/Streaming stuff, I am on my MacBook Pro which is next to me all the time).


With regards to the RAM and it not worth me having a matched 32GB set of 4 x 8GB , outside of FF14 I play a lot of racing games/sims (iRacing). I thought these really did benefit from well specced and matched RAM sets? My IT driven OCD will drive me mad with an uneven setup and also I would like to have my E-pein be like my real one, old, outdated and I'm the only one interested in using it these days.


Again, seriously, big thanks for your posts peeps. You've been a great help for me on this matter!


Felix

4k feels to me like something perfectly married to screenshots and high-quality production for fanmade videos, but as constantly game-play, it's not exactly ideal unless a setup really allows it to shine.

I really like 4K but it stutters like in Eureka when 100+ others are fighting with you. It's not really noticeable but when you see someone next to you playing at 60fps at HD and look back, it becomes jagged. I would much rather play at 144hz at 1080p than 30~60FPS at 4K. It looks much more beautiful but it also negatively impacts the gameplay, immersion and reaction time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Seraph522

Agreed; you usually benefit from more than 16GB when doing workstation-type work (rendering, animation, etc.), but even brand-new, modern AAA games don't need more than 16GB right now. In addition, purchasing more DDR3 RAM will hinder your upgrade options in the future, as modern builds require DDR4 RAM and DDR5 will probably be available for regular builders in the next few years.

---

The reason why I've gone the route I have is due to me recycling my old rig and my dad's rig. Until recently, my Poppa was making and publishing a small magazine for our local area in Oxford (about 4000 copies a month). So when he first started about 5 years ago, we used a well liked PC parts company in the UK to put a PC together that meet his needs at the time. It was later turned into a hackingtosh. Now he just needs a basic setup that is safe for him to do his banking on, he can edit his digital photos (just basic organisation rather than Photoshop), has office on it etc. So I used his Asus motherboard and 1150 i5, I then put my SSD, GTX1080 extreme and other bits to make what I am gaming with and he's got my 1156 i7 and Intel motherboard. Because I can get a refurbished 1150 i7 pretty cheaply, I will then just get the highest spec elements I can, as I find this gives me the best bang for the buck at this time.


I do intent to eventually build a modern system again, but for now, I find recycling and getting refurbished parts works best with what money I am able to spare.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FelixDaCat

Currently I have an i5 4670 running at 3.6GHZ, with 24GB DDR3 RAM (I will also be making this 32GB with matching RAM soon) and a GTX1080 Extreme with 8GB GDDR5 RAM. I run this through to my 43" LG Ultra HD HDR TV with either 120mhz in 1080p or 60mhz in 4K.

---

I have a slightly better spec than that (i7-4770, 32GB) and 4K only runs at 60fps in small spaces. RAID's, and most 3.0+ later areas are 40fps-50fps on average at 4K.

Also ignore "16GB ought to be enough" type of comments. The more important aspect of the RAM is it operating in dual-channel mode. So you need 4 x 8GB for 32GB, or 4x4GB for 16GB. If you have 24, then you are not likely running in dual channel mode as one of those slots will be forcing it not to.

But to be honest, it's time to move on to either a 9th generation Intel or 3rd generation Ryzen CPU with DDR4. You can stick with this system for a while longer but recent Spectre/Meltdown patches have actually shaved off 15% of the system performance already.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KisaiTenshi

I have a slightly better spec than that (i7-4770, 32GB) and 4K only runs at 60fps in small spaces. RAID's, and most 3.0+ later areas are 40fps-50fps on average at 4K.

Also ignore "16GB ought to be enough" type of comments. The more important aspect of the RAM is it operating in dual-channel mode. So you need 4 x 8GB for 32GB, or 4x4GB for 16GB. If you have 24, then you are not likely running in dual channel mode as one of those slots will be forcing it not to.

But to be honest, it's time to move on to either a 9th generation Intel or 3rd generation Ryzen CPU with DDR4. You can stick with this system for a while longer but recent Spectre/Meltdown patches have actually shaved off 15% of the system performance already.

---

Yeah currently my RAM is done very wrong, but I just wanted to use it until it's replaced.


I don't think that people always need the latest hardware all the time tbh, as I don't play games that typically benefit from the latest stuff. Also, I will always have a PlayStation (currently PS4-Pro) which tends to get the AAA stuff. My "gaming" PC does tend to have MMO's and Sim games and I've been able to use slightly older gear which I will spend time overclocking and improving/keeping my IT skills in use , I've been doing this cycle since around 2008 and this is my 4th rig I think. (Due to amount of damage to the joints and nerves in my lower back, I've not been able to work, because the amount of pain I feel when sat on a chair has caused me to be classed as having long term serious health issue (they won't grant disability as I would be able to get so much more support) ) Also the sense of achievement I get when I "beat" the pain and there is something that makes things better for my folks, as they have to do so much for me since my spinal damage spread to new sections of my lower spine.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KisaiTenshi

I have a slightly better spec than that (i7-4770, 32GB) and 4K only runs at 60fps in small spaces. RAID's, and most 3.0+ later areas are 40fps-50fps on average at 4K.

Also ignore "16GB ought to be enough" type of comments. The more important aspect of the RAM is it operating in dual-channel mode. So you need 4 x 8GB for 32GB, or 4x4GB for 16GB. If you have 24, then you are not likely running in dual channel mode as one of those slots will be forcing it not to.

But to be honest, it's time to move on to either a 9th generation Intel or 3rd generation Ryzen CPU with DDR4. You can stick with this system for a while longer but recent Spectre/Meltdown patches have actually shaved off 15% of the system performance already.

---

Slight correction. Up to 12% relating to mainly database-type of tasks but the performance is negligible when it comes to compute-intensive workloads ie: games, encoding etc... But this changes if you have a CPU from around 2015 where slowdowns are more likely to occur but still remain in the single digits.

I've been playing in 4k since last december, and I really like it. More space on the UI, and FPS is really stable. If I have to chose between my old 144 hz 1080p or the 4k, I'll say 4k anytime. I also got used to that resolution on Windows, using it on 2 screens.

Except for maybe like a S rank hunt or Eureka, the fps doesn't really move. Downside is, the game is kinda ugly if you zoom too much, like the textures are not even HD in ffxiv.

Using here :
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
EVGA GTX 1080 TI FTW3
32 gb of RAM DDR4 3200 Mhz
And a SSD for the game, of course.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AlliciaCapulet

I've been playing in 4k since last december, and I really like it. More space on the UI, and FPS is really stable. If I have to chose between my old 144 hz 1080p or the 4k, I'll say 4k anytime. I also got used to that resolution on Windows, using it on 2 screens.

Except for maybe like a S rank hunt or Eureka, the fps doesn't really move. Downside is, the game is kinda ugly if you zoom too much, like the textures are not even HD in ffxiv.

Using here :
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
EVGA GTX 1080 TI FTW3
32 gb of RAM DDR4 3200 Mhz
And a SSD for the game, of course.

---

You raise a bloody good point

I'm using the Samsung 850-Evo 500GB SSD as my main C: drive. I have a 1TB standard HD, which I use for programmes and files that are not used very often. If I was asked what upgrade I have installed, that made my system have the biggest jump in performance, it would be the SSD. I really want to get myself the 1TB Samsung Evo SSD, but the prices are still a bit too much for me to afford. I am lucky that my MacBook Pro 15" i7 has the 255GB SSD option, as they really allow an older laptop be useful for many YEARS longer than people would expect.

Originally I got my 850-Evo for my PS4 when I started FF14 during Stormblood's early access, but before I got a chance to install it, my then MacBook Pro's HD died. Then FF14 caused my PS4 to die (it would always force all the fans to max out), so I got the PS4-Pro to replace it and I decided that the 1TB HD was more important. Now I have fully migrated to PC, the SSD and PC hardware really shocked me by how much of an improvement the PC version is.

For some reason, I just could not get into a groove of using a mouse and keyboard, which I usually prefer over controller, but I find the DS4 with the X-Fire feature works better and prevents me from getting target fixation.