GeForce GTX 1070 and 4k Monitor [Solved]

[larry77]

Dear All,
I have a workstation hp z420 with a GTX 1070 graphic card.
Due to protracted teleworking, my employer partially subsidizes the purchase of a new monitor.
I am not at all into gaming, rather I write code and watch movies.
Does it make any sense for me to buy a 4k monitor? And would my card support it (so far no issues with a 2560x1440 monitor)?
I am looking for something in the range 27-28 inches.

I read all sort of things. Some people claim that 4k is something to go for due to the higher dpi which is supposed to be easier on the eyes.
Others insist that if you download a non-4k movie, then the monitor needs to rescale it and it will look uglier than on a lower resolution monitor.
Any suggestion is appreciated.
Thanks!

[LE_746F6D617A7A69]

Some people claim that 4k is something to go for due to the higher dpi which is supposed to be easier on the eyes.
Others insist that if you download a non-4k movie, then the monitor needs to rescale it and it will look uglier than on a lower resolution monitor.
Any suggestion is appreciated.
Thanks!

Bullshit.
Human eye needs max 96 DPI at a proper distance from the monitor - that's all.
Far more important than the resolution is the white level balance, mainly the blue and red-shift.
Both blue and red-shift methods are necessary only when You are hiring slaves, not a programmers - because only slaves are those who are writing shitty code at night.

Regards.

[sunrat]

I use a 27" 4K monitor and would never consider going back to HD or less. Text looks pleasingly crisp and easy on the eyes which is important as it's normally viewed fairly close to the screen.
Your GTX1070 will run 4K easily; I have a GTX970 and it's great.
As for movies, they are usually watched from further away than reading text so resolution is less critical. On the 27" screen I find 720p videos look fine. Only if the screen is much larger, eg. 55" or more, does higher resolution have a palpable advantage.

Human eye needs max 96 DPI at a proper distance from the monitor - that's all.

Sounds like a statement from someone who doesn't use a 4K monitor.

Far more important than the resolution is the white level balance, mainly the blue and red-shift.
Both blue and red-shift methods are necessary only when You are hiring slaves, not a programmers - because only slaves are those who are writing shitty code at night.

Irrelevant to this topic. Colour temperature can easily be adjusted. I run 3500K at night and I'm not a programmer or a slave.

[LE_746F6D617A7A69]

Sounds like a statement from someone who doesn't use a 4K monitor.

But of course, 4K causes just a huge waste of resources and energy:
- Higher memory usage, slower RAM access: 1680x1050x32bit -> 7MB buffer (no double-buffering), bandwidth@60Hz = 420MB/s, 4096x2160x32bit -> 35MB buffer, bandwidth@60Hz = 2.1GB/s -> a performance killer even for modern HW.
- Higher CPU load: f.e. font rendering in the terminal consumes exponentially more CPU time at higher resolutions, and the GUI only makes things worse.

While the doubtful higher image quality can work as a placebo in case of movies, it gives just nothing in case when the computer is used for text editing or writing programs.

[sunrat]

Sounds like a statement from someone who doesn't use a 4K monitor.

But of course, 4K causes just a huge waste of resources and energy:
- Higher memory usage, slower RAM access: 1680x1050x32bit -> 7MB buffer (no double-buffering), bandwidth@60Hz = 420MB/s, 4096x2160x32bit -> 35MB buffer, bandwidth@60Hz = 2.1GB/s -> a performance killer even for modern HW.
- Higher CPU load: f.e. font rendering in the terminal consumes exponentially more CPU time at higher resolutions, and the GUI only makes things worse.

Not relevant. Op asked if his hardware can handle it and if it would be an improvement. As a 4K owner it's a definite yes.

While the doubtful higher image quality can work as a placebo in case of movies, it gives just nothing in case when the computer is used for text editing or writing programs.

That's exactly the opposite of what I said. Text rendering is far superior to HD or less.

[CwF]

What about the monitor having its own upscaler? Then it may give a better result sending a lower HD resolution if appropriate, then no performance hit.

[LE_746F6D617A7A69]

Not relevant. Op asked if his hardware can handle it and if it would be an improvement. As a 4K owner it's a definite yes.

The OP said that: "I am not at all into gaming, rather I write code and watch movies. Does it make any sense for me to buy a 4k monitor?". One of the intended use case is text editing - sub-pixel font rendering and anti-aliasing are very old and tested technologies - IMO it's very unlikely to see any difference without using magnifying glass, unless we include the placebo effect.

Movies are different thing - and image re-scaling can indeed be a problem - but it hugely depends on the end-user's expectations and experiences.

[NFT5]

Interesting timing for this thread. A few days ago I bought a new 55" 4K monitor. Actually, it's a TV as well but, apart from free to air and inbuilt Netflix and Youtube, its purpose will be to function as a monitor. At the moment I'm running it from a PC with FX6300 CPU, 8GB RAM and a GT710 card. The graphics card struggles a bit, so OP's GTX1070 would be much better.

I was lucky to pick up one of last years models, which runs Linux instead of Android in the latest. Shorter on features but better on performance and, importantly, doesn't come with the inbuilt advertisement bar.

Obviously ridiculous overkill as a monitor but it is so clear that you can get up close and personal without any pixelation effect. So, it could be used as a monitor, so long as your chair was on rails and your mouse mat was the size of a bath towel. But, if it was about 30" and 4K it would replace the two 24" monitors currently on my desk, in a heartbeat.

[larry77]

Dear All,
Thanks for the many opinions you gave me.
In the end of the day, I think I will definitely give it a try.
To be honest, my main concern was that my seasoned hardware could handle it and it text editing is easier on the eyes, well, that pretty much settles the question.
Of course, there is 4k monitor and 4k monitor: glossy vs matty, IPS vs TN etc..., but this is another story.
Cheers