New Monitor with RX580 4GB - 75Hz Free Sync vs 144 Hz vs 144Hz Freesync?

[mopovich]

Hi All!

I am currently using a 5 year old 24" Asus 1080p 60Hz monitor for gaming. It was not a high end gaming model or anything to begin with. I am looking at upgrading my monitor because a) I want to go to a 27" model and b) I want to take better advantage of the RX580 4GB card that I bought last year. I mostly play RPG and RTS games and I am looking to get the best bang for buck with my purchase - I don't believe I want to spend more than 300$ CAD before tax. As for future proofing, I am entering my late 20s and to be honest, I don't know how much gaming I will be doing once I enter my 30s, so I don't feel a strong need to ensure this monitor needs to be able to support a subsequent rig/graphics card upgrade.

My relevant system specs:

OC'd Core i5-2500k at 3.8GHz
Gigabyte Radeon RX580 4GB
8GB DDR3 RAM

I have taken a variety of factors into my decision and wanted to run them by the community to help me make a final decision. Here are the different parameters I have looked at and where I stand on my decision for each one.

1) Refresh Rate: ? - This is where I am a little confused. I can't decide whether to go with a 75Hz Freesync monitor (~250$ CAD), 144Hz (~325$) or 144Hz Freesync (~$350). Is the 144Hz worth the extra money? Will the RX 580 that I have be able to sustain high enough frame rates to justify 144Hz? Is Freesync more important than maximum refresh rate? Any feedback on this is really what I am looking for.

2) Resolution: 1080P - I don't believe the 4GB RX580 will have the chops to game at 1440p based on the reviews I read. I also plan on using this setup for at least 2-3 years for casual gaming and I really don't think it will be able to sustain good performance at 1440 for games that come out in the next year or two.

3) Response Time: 4ms or 5ms - From everything I have looked at, the gain in noticeable performance from 4/5ms to 1ms is negligible and that Motion Blur reduction technology in monitors do a good enough job of making the gap even less noticable, so I don't think I need 1ms response.

4) Size: 27" - I want to upgrade for size and given desk space etc. I don't feel as though I need anything bigger than 27".

Here are the best examples of monitors that I have found on Newegg.ca:
75Hz Freesync: https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
144Hz: https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
144Hz Freesync: https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Please feel free to disagree if you feel there my conclusions on any of these parameters are not correct! And of course - any help or advice is greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance!

 

[Tweak155]

This highly depends what games you play. If the games you play can run at 140fps, then FreeSync is not that important. If you're having trouble pushing 60fps, then the FreeSync will help.

The safest bet is the 144hz FreeSync if it is a mix of both types of games (ones that push the hardware vs ones that don't). I think the RX580 is pretty good at 1440p, my 970 still does quite fine for me at that resolution.

 

[Headfoot]

Response time is going to be irrelevant, their stats are junk. Real responsiveness will depend almost totally on how fast of a HZ rate you pick.

144hz is glorious, especially with Freesync. You might not get that experience though because your CPU will bottleneck you from hitting the higher FPSes in modern games. You could probably still hit the high FPS in things like Counter Strike, TF2, etc. So it depends on what you play.

I will say that 144hz is the best by far in FPS. You legitimately play better and respond quicker because you have less total latency and better motion tracking. In strategy games and the like its really nice, but its not a game changer like it is in FPSes.

 

[ZGR]

You want 144hz. No question. Acer has a factory refurbished 144hz for $144 on Amazon. 75hz is hot garbage.