Upgrade to 4K monitor?

[Boeing_Driver 76]

Just curious for those that have upgraded their monitors to 4K...Assuming you did nothing else to your rig, what were your impressions? Does it require a significant video card upgrade? Or did you see better resolution? Would the performance be worse if nothing else was done beyond changing monitors?

[CaptainNick 575]

Performance will be worse FPS wise from same settings in a lower resolution to 4k. I ended up keeping similar high settings for everything but turned the render scaler down to 80 when I made the switch. 2070 Super, and I prioritize 45-60fps for the smoothness of feel and Track IR vs the "all you need is 30 fps" school of thought. I can easily tell the difference between the two, especially when moving my head for track IR. 

Id love to get a newer 3080 card but I'm not paying the price of a crappy used car for a 2yr old product now.

[Noel 4,484]

2 hours ago, Boeing_Driver said:

Just curious for those that have upgraded their monitors to 4K...Assuming you did nothing else to your rig, what were your impressions? Does it require a significant video card upgrade? Or did you see better resolution? Would the performance be worse if nothing else was done beyond changing monitors?

What are you currently using?  I'm not using 4K but do use a 34" curved 3440x1440 display which is an ultrawide 21:9 aspect ratio, and to me this is ideal for flight simulation.  To me these fit well with an essentially curved interface in the aircraft and fits well w/ the aspect ratio of a cockpit view.  I like that I literally turn my head to look left and right. Plus, 4K is nearly double the number of pixels to be rendered.  As you must know to perceive the differences viewing distance is critical to consider:  the closer your eyes are to the display, the more you will see the visual difference between these resolutions.

[Mace 1,901]

2 hours ago, Boeing_Driver said:

Just curious for those that have upgraded their monitors to 4K...Assuming you did nothing else to your rig, what were your impressions? Does it require a significant video card upgrade? Or did you see better resolution? Would the performance be worse if nothing else was done beyond changing monitors?

As was said performance will be worse.  Make sure you have a video card that can handle 4K well.  Mine (1080ti) is borderline.  So much so that I am not presently running 4K, because I'm experimenting with head tracking options,... I am presently running a 2K res and my frames are 45-60+ now, whereas at 4K they were in the 30's (or less at times in hi-density areas) -- and for head tracking, like SmoothTrack or TrackIR or VR I agree CaptainNick, you want 45-60 fps.

[SAS443 1,711]

Been simming in 4K since 2017 with the following cards 980ti, 1080ti, 2080ti.

Yes, it was tough with the 980ti, but worked out alright with P3D v4/Xplane 11 since at least former has potato-graphics and required a beefy CPU primarily.

I would not recommend MSFS in 4K unless you have 2080 card or AMD equivalent. 

I also use MSI afterburner for vsync settings to keep the GPU processing power in check.

[737_800 434]

24 minutes ago, Mace said:

As was said performance will be worse.  Make sure you have a video card that can handle 4K well.  Mine (1080ti) is borderline.  So much so that I am not presently running 4K, because I'm experimenting with head tracking options,... I am presently running a 2K res and my frames are 45-60+ now, whereas at 4K they were in the 30's (or less at times in hi-density areas) -- and for head tracking, like SmoothTrack or TrackIR or VR I agree CaptainNick, you want 45-60 fps.

You have set everything up to high or ultra?

[Nyxx 6,993]

2 hours ago, CaptainNick said:

Performance will be worse FPS wise from same settings in a lower resolution to 4k. I ended up keeping similar high settings for everything but turned the render scaler down to 80 when I made the switch. 2070 Super, and I prioritize 45-60fps for the smoothness of feel and Track IR vs the "all you need is 30 fps" school of thought. I can easily tell the difference between the two, especially when moving my head for track IR. 

Id love to get a newer 3080 card but I'm not paying the price of a crappy used car for a 2yr old product now.

They came out the end of September 2020 so how is that 2 years old? I agree the prices now are silly. I also run at 40 fps because of TrackIR

[Mace 1,901]

11 minutes ago, 737_800 said:

You have set everything up to high or ultra?

A mix of both, I don't use preset settings.   I have tested with them though.  Here is what i found:

4K ultra is "ok" with my 1080ti, but if you want 45-60 frames it will not achieve that.

4K high is better, but still not to the 45-60 level.

2K ultra is fine with my 1080ti, it can easily peg 45-60 frames.

[Boeing_Driver 76]

21 hours ago, 737_800 said:

You have set everything up to high or ultra?

I have everything pretty much set to HIGH. I think I've got a Radeon 2200 and I tend to get about 30-40 FPS, which is okay with me.

[Flyfaster_MTN002 412]

On 1/14/2022 at 11:54 AM, Boeing_Driver said:

Just curious for those that have upgraded their monitors to 4K...Assuming you did nothing else to your rig, what were your impressions? Does it require a significant video card upgrade? Or did you see better resolution? Would the performance be worse if nothing else was done beyond changing monitors?

Went from 27" to 49" ultra wide and that is with a 1060 card (!!!) FPS are lousy (for now) but what a difference in immersion... well worth it until new computer shows up.

[regis9 3,999]

I went from a 2k, 32” monitor to a 4K, 55” TV.  I did see some performance drop but not enough to make me regret my decision.  Granted I have a 2080ti which was likely overkill at 2k resolution but I regret nothing about my move to 4K.

[RJC68 822]

I upgraded to a 43 inch 4K TV and have been totally surprised at how my 1080TI performs, first I did run in 2K to try and maintain as close to 60fps as I possibly could but then I tried the Vsync & 30fps option and was blown away by the graphic settings I could achieve, the sim looks beautiful and runs a solid 30fps everywhere. I also have a Grassmonkey Puck head tracker and modified PS3 eye and once I dialed the curves in I was pleasantly surprised. I actually find the looking around with the head tracker smoother than using my HAT switch.

I do plan on upgrading my GPU at some point in the future but I refuse to pay the scalping prices. For now I am quite happy with the way my rig performs and how the sim looks no matter what aircraft I fly. If I am buzzing about in something like the 152 or 172 I actually turn off Vsync. One thing is for sure once you see the instruments in full 4K it is hard to use any other resolution and you can definitely run 4K and get a good result with something other than a 3090. 

Edited January 15, 2022 by RJC68

[Boeing_Driver 76]

44 minutes ago, RJC68 said:

I upgraded to a 43 inch 4K TV and have been totally surprised at how my 1080TI performs, first I did run in 2K to try and maintain as close to 60fps as I possibly could but then I tried the Vsync & 30fps option and was blown away by the graphic settings I could achieve, the sim looks beautiful and runs a solid 30fps everywhere. I also have a Grassmonkey Puck head tracker and modified PS3 eye and once I dialed the curves in I was pleasantly surprised. I actually find the looking around with the head tracker smoother than using my HAT switch.

I do plan on upgrading my GPU at some point in the future but I refuse to pay the scalping prices. For now I am quite happy with the way my rig performs and how the sim looks no matter what aircraft I fly. If I am buzzing about in something like the 152 or 172 I actually turn off Vsync. One thing is for sure once you see the instruments in full 4K it is hard to use any other resolution and you can definitely run 4K and get a good result with something other than a 3090. 

What is Vsync and how best should it be used?

[Av8ing1 46]

I went to 4k with a 2080 Super and while it was flyable I was left really wanting more performance. I also want to keep settings as high as possible. I mean what is the point in trying to run 4k but having to give up eye candy? So I finally got a 3080 Ti, that and the last few sim updates and I am happy with 4k performance. No doubt there is a lot of subjectiveness to all this but in my opinion, don't spend on 4k equipment until you are ready to go all the way. 

[G-RFRY 1,705]

I have been using 4K since before MSFS was released you don`t need so much AA settings, which is why I don`t understand people buying a 3090 and running 1080P or 1440P which is 4 times the price of a good 4K monitor. 4K will be the norm soon even game consoles.

When was the last time you purchased a none 4K smart TV.

Edited January 16, 2022 by G-RFRY