The future of PC gaming: GPUs and 4K monitors

We dream of futuristic graphics cards with chrome Hot Rod piping and names as cool as The Pixelator. In reality, future graphics cards won't be human-sized or be styled after 1950s automobiles, but they will be faster than what we're running today. More importantly, APIs like AMD's Mantle will let our computers talk directly to our graphics cards, delivering better performance through more efficient coding. And we're going to need that performance, since 4K monitors are already on the horizon. Here's our look at the 2014 GPU landscape and the future of 4K displays.

[ravensly]

4k the thing only consoles can dream

[Jdoki]

Yeah dude, enjoy playing Uncharted 4 and Halo 5 at 4k on PC...

[Psychotica]

Most PC gamers who can afford 4K have the consoles as well. They aren't relying on mom & dad to buy stuff for them.

[Jdoki]

Sorry? What? That's impossible... I heard that as soon as you get a 4k screen your 'PC Elitist' membership card turns up in the post, and anyone found also owning a console is forced to play Zelda's Adventure on CD-i until they repent or go insane.

[Stapleface]

I think you came into the wrong article if your going to be offended by facts stated by pc gamers. Yes that was kind of fanboyish, but that doesn't take away from the truth of his statement. Also I have to agree with Psychotica that most people who can afford a high end pc also have consoles. So they don't miss out on any of those exclusives which would without any doubt what so ever, look better on pc IF they were released there. It's too bad UC4 with it's beautiful visuals will never be seen past 1080p except for by the devs. I'm sure they play with those settings while they are MAKING THOSE GAMES ON THEIR PC's. lol

[Jdoki]

Offended? Lol.

I was just pointing out the stupidity of ravensly's comment. The first comment on the article is not about the article, it's idiotic 'PC Master Race' rubbish.

I play games not tech specs. And I can guarantee that my enjoyment of playing exclusive games at 1080p (or, shock horror... lower!) on my consoles is every bit as good as my enjoyment playing exclusive games at 1440p on my PC.

Stating that console games would look better on PC is completely moot - as titles like Uncharted 4 will never come to PC.

And to make a huge generalisation about people who game only on consoles having stuff bought by their Mom and Dad is just asinine.

[aquamala]

and what console do you have that can play exclusives on other platforms?

[Jdoki]

Personally I'd prefer to see more 21:9 ultra wide screens aimed at gamers.

A gaming version of LG's 3440 x 1440 screen would be great. I find that resolution nicer for both work, and playing games.

Not sure I really see the benefit of 4K for me.

[traumadisaster]

Was it "not for you" going from 800x600 to HD? Every 5 years resolution has increased for decades, and no one goes backwards buying a 1368x720 monitor. Yes, increased resoulution is better just depends on the price point my brotha. I've been gaming at 4096x2160p for over a year and a half and 1080 looks like rough.

[Jdoki]

21:9 at 3440x1440 isn't a backwards step... It's a side step in to a totally different aspect ratio of screen.

Just as there was a significant difference when things moved from 4:3 to 16:9 ratio - it is a hugely different experience moving to 21:9

So whether the resolution is 3440x1440 or 4096x2160 or 5120x2160 (the largest resolution 21:9 screen you can get) is not my point.

For those who want a traditional 16:9 screen at 4k resolution - great. But I also hope that we see some Ultra Wide format monitors that are tailored to gaming - For things like racing games it is the next best thing to multi-monitor set-ups.

[TheBoy]

Future of console gaming, 900p 30 FPS, low end hardware.

[pastysmash]

Future of PC gaming.

(At least in the UK) More astronomical prices for Hardware on their way.

[Psychotica]

I almost invested in 4k this summer until I read about problems such as gaming menus with fonts so small they are very hard to read. The killer for me was the refresh rates for monitors <$1000.

[Stapleface]

Go with a 1440p monitor. They are beautiful, have good refresh rates, and takes way less to run than 4k. Fonts are not too small, at least not for me.

[traumadisaster]

60hz too slow? 4k tvs were 30hz last year, this year they do 60 and nvidia released updated drivers for their cards to do 60hz at 4k. Windows has the ability to increase font size and only a few games had small in game font, majority are perfect.

[Qrphe]

[email protected] is the next step for me, definitely not [email protected]

[Macdaddy71]

I don't understand how anyone can say PC gaming is as big as ever, when I started gaming you had to have a PC because it did push the best looking games back in the day, and you had a overflow of games, now the last couple of game systems ran right there with pc's..n EB games, Gamestop, Walmart shelves was full of PC games, this day n time bout all games for PC is on consoles, so I rather play consoles cause of the controller plus don't have to deal with all the drivers!!!! They don't make the games that made me have to build a PC every couple of years, drag racing, nascar, old gamers know what I'm talking bout.... Heck can't buy PC games at Gamstop no more, walmart n bestbuy, yea online..but a game made for the 360 will work on the 360 10 yrs from now, but older games I loved to play won't even run on my PC today,

[Stapleface]

People are still playing games that are over 20 years old on pc. I game on pc all the time and I don't have to deal with drivers. My pc does all that for me. I'm glad I don't have one of those completely manual input computers like some of you folks describe. I'm not the most computer literate person in the world so I would be screwed. Nothing against consoles because I love mine. My pc is going to collect dust in Sept thanks to Destiny but I'll have to dust it off come Oct. for Dragons Age. I refuse to play games that beautiful below 1440p.

[uth11]

I remember that too. PC in general has been slowly dying since about 2009 or so. First because of netbooks, then smartphones, tablets, and Mac has really eaten into PC share in the past few years, especially in laptops.

Gaming is one of the few bright spots for PC.

[SuperBlur]

PC gaming slowly dying ? It is at its most healthiest state ever , revenues from pc gaming surpass gaming consoles. Gimme a break and stop spreading non sense.

[Psychotica]

Um, I can run very old games on my PC. I can even run DOS games on my PC. It's also been years since I have any problems with video drivers.

[aquamala]

future? it's already here and many PC games support 4k resolution. just expensive for now, but prices will only keep dropping

[Corpser]

I love pc articles on n4g, console fanboys fight over tiny differences on other articles but on article like this graphics doesn't matter! It's about fun! Games not specs!

[iistuii]

It makes me laugh too. They kill each other over 900 compared to 1080 but when 1440 or above is mentioned it's about gameplay. Ok, games like Driveclub, Uncharted & TLOU won't see PC release, but imagine how they'd look if they did.

[WheatBread]

I think they should also focus on making pc hardware smaller. I'm talking powerful rigs with components the size of coins in a nuc case.

[uth11]

The problem is the latest and greatest in hardware ALWAYS runs hot and needs significant cooling- large heatsinks and fans on the CPU, many fans on the GPU and in the case, plus air space to help cool it.

Yes they DO shrink it down and make cooler/lower power versions of it (That's what the AMD Jaguar IS, essentially). But at the same time, a newer generation of hardware comes out, as large and hot as ever! And the cooler parts aren't good enough anymore for the PC gamers.

[SuperBlur]

"But at the same time, a newer generation of hardware comes out, as large and hot as ever! And the cooler parts aren't good enough anymore for the PC gamers." That does not even make sense , do you even read what doodoo you are trying to spread ? At least , if you are going to lie , do it so it doesn't come off as ignorant as that.

[uth11]

Where am I wrong?

Show me powerful gaming PC that doesn't have a GPU with at least 3 fans, isn't double-sloted, and a CPU that doesn't have a large heat-sink/fan

Show me a laptop that has the most powerful graphics chips/ CPU

[user5669510]

It's no end to his bs

[DougLord]

This resolution adulation needs to STOP. 4k (or 2160p) is the last thing on my checklist.

Lets ignore whether the game is any good (fun, memorable, good controls, etc...). Most of the good games that came out in the last 2 years have had cheesy 8-bit graphics.

Lets also ignore the fact that production values make more of a difference than anything you can change in the options menu, as does open world vs on rails etc...

Almost every single option on the settings screen is more important then resolution. 60 FPS, AA, ASF, shadow and lighting effects. Only once you have maxed them out should you move to a resolution above 1280x1024. With today's highend GPUs you can do this on a modern AAA title at up to 1080p. To do it at 1440p you have to have SLI 780ti.

4k at 30FPS and medium visuals is a waste of time and $$. Turn down the resolution and turn up the rest of it. It will be 3+ years before a 60fps, max visuals, 4k gaming rig can be had for <$3,000 (monitor included). And that's based on today's AAA titles. By that time Crysis 6 or ESO 7 will bring us back to barely running at 1080p.