This may be a dumb question, but if you have a 4k monitor and come across a game that your build cannot run well at 4k, can you have your GPU output in say 1440p and will the display then upscale it to 4k? Is that something that is possible?
Yes, and you will typically get a good result as AI upscaling to 4k is a mature technology. You should check the monitor to verify it indeed does AI upscaling.
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A post was merged into an existing topic: Help With New PC specs
I hate to circle back to such an old post here but I am trying to wrap my head around pixel count but also physical size here.
So 3840 on a 32" will show more game horizontally than 3440 despite the ultrawide having more horizontal inches? So basically it takes less pixels and streteches them out over a bigger area and comparitively the 32" takes more pixels and kind of āsquishesā them down to a smaller area (for lack of a better term). Hope that makes sense and doesnāt make me sound total stupid!
3840 vs 3440 so yes. Keep in mind a 75" 4k TV stretches 3840 pixels across a large area so donāt confuse pixels with physical dimensions.
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Thatās the part Iām still working thru my brain. Is it more important to me to have more in the peripheral with less resolution with an ultrawide or lose the outside but gain better resolution with the 4k. I keep going back and forth and having a tough time deciding which I would enjoy more.
I canāt really go bigger than 32" or 34" right now due to where my desk is. Living in a 2 bedroom condo with my sonās in one bedroom has limited me to a corner of the other bedroom so my space is at a premium.
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Just a little update. I blew my budget and went 32" 4k QD-OLED.
I wound up with the MSI MAG 321UPX. I orginally wanted the MPG 321URX but they didnt have any in stock. Only difference looks to be that the UPX i have lacks the USB and KVM switch. Lack of USB is no big deal now that MSI allows firmware updates thru DP.
Other than that as far as i can tell the UPX is same as URX for slightly cheaper.
Now working on color settings and such. Found a video for the URX on settings that i have beeen working with.
One thing i am researching is if i should be leaving HDR on all the time in Windows 11 or not. Opinions on that seem to be a mixed bag.
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If your PC/gpu can sufficiently drive a monitor with HDR why would you want to turn it off? Personally I would never use the sim without HDR.
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Its more i keep reading people talking about one should only turn on HDR when they play a HDR game. Seems like an awful lot of toggling. Trying to wrap my head around why people feel its not desirable to just leave it on all the time whether gaming or not.
Keep in mind that the application running on an HDR monitor has to support HDR in order to see the benefits. My monitor has Auto HDR built in, so it will switch as needed.
I think most good HDR-capable monitors have that feature (which is an option that can be enabled/disabled if desired.)
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Iāll have to look to see but I donāt remember the 321UPX having Auto Hdr. For now Iāve been using leaving HDR on all the time thru Windows 11 and then also ticking Auto HDR in Windows 11. Just been seeing some articles not to do that and to manually control it to prevent issues with the OLED.
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Congratulations on your new monitor! How are you finding it overall, apart from still fine-tuning the setup?
I watched and eventually followed a couple of guides on setting up my 321URX, and that has HDR on in Windows among quite a few other small changes. I find that when using it like this for work, videos and games including MSFS 2020 it looks really good, but 2024 can look a little bright. Iāve tried it with HDR on and off in the game settings, but am still not entirely sure which I prefer. I like the fine details and textures you can pick up with it on though, and you can always tone things down by introducing a bit of weather.
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I like it so far but still messing with settings. Iāve been told I tinker too much instead od just enjoying. Lol.
I watched a video from TFTCentral on the 321URX which seems like the same panel as my 321UPX with mine really just missing the USB and KVM switch. I am trying out those settings but finding the white backgrounds of like webpages are warmer in color (more yellow) than I am used to. I tend to prefer cooler.
Next, now that i have a monitor I next need to look at controls. My space isnāt big enough for anything elaborate and donāt think I have room for a yoke so looking at what would be best going forward especially for a beginner.
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Ha ha! Weāre on a flight sim forum so tinkering is going to be happening forever, itās just a fact of life in this hobby!
I followed the TFT Central guide for the 321URX but did make some further small adjustments until I was 100% happy with it. I think once you get near enough, then youāll just get used to it - Iām still amazed by how good it looks every day.
Controls could be a whole other forum by itself, but if youāre looking for recommendations based on personal experience and for your stated need, I would direct you straight to the VKB Gladiator NXT joystick.
Iāve owned a Thrustmaster T-Flight Hotas X, Logitech Extreme 3D Pro, Thrustmaster T16000M and a Logitech X56 before someone on here directed me towards VKB years ago. All the Logitech and Thrustmaster products share the same very basic and cheap plastic ball-and-socket gimbal, which frankly feels rubbish next to the Gladiatorās much better design. The build and component quality used by TM & Logitech is very close to flimsy cheap plastic toys, and you donāt have to search far to find multiple tales of bad soldering, broken wires, failed potentiometers amid plenty of other issues.
By comparison, the VKB is much more solid and was designed for users to dismantle and configure at home, such as by adding further modules to the side. The gimbal has adjustable spring weights, adjustable damping via dry clutches, ball bearings and contactless sensors throughout, including on the rudder twist. It also has very powerful software for calibration and configuration - this can take a little getting used to as it isnāt immediately intuitive, but there are lots of video guides on the VKB site and elsewhere to walk you through it.
In standard or premium guise - āPremiumā gets you a second trigger and swaps a couple of buttons for 8-way hats - you can choose left or right handed and there is a throttle slider in the base, so it has everything you need to fly practically any aircraft. Itās very far ahead of even the more expensive models from TM & Logitech, and is the only real budget-priced entry to high-end controls.
My Gladiator did over 1,000 flying hours in MSFS 2020, and it still looked and felt exactly the same as the day I got it. Over time, I added the THQ throttle module to the side of it, followed by the SEM controls & buttons module and the FSM-GA autopilot module. These can all be mounted separately or on the sides of the Gladiator like I did, making it into a really solid hotas that I could pick up or put aside in a second. Iāve since upgraded to the even higher-end VKB Ginfighter IV base with and MCGU grip, S-TEC throttle and added the VKB rudder pedals. The THQ, SEM and FSM-GA modules are all still in daily use however, and have never given the slightest problem in 1000ās of hours.
Should you have any questions or issues with them, the VKB forum and Discord pages are full of knowledgeable users and VKB staff to help you out, so the customer service and support you get is also way better than with the mass-market guys.
One final thing Iād add - if anyone points you towards the WinWing Ursa Minor joystick, I would be extremely cautious. It appears to use what looks suspiciously like a direct copy of the gimbal used in the Gladiator but the implementation, build and electrics seem to be lacking compared to VKB. If you search this forum or the net in general for āUrsa Minor problemsā you will find a LOT. I donāt like that they appear to have āborrowedā the design of their competitors.
If you do the same search for āVKB Gladiator problemsā there are hardly any, and theyāre 99% all either old models or users needing help with assembling them correctly or using the software. Check also on the internet auction site and any local marketplaces you have - there will be very few Gladiators available used, because once people have them, they tend to love & keep them.
Sorry for the lengthy ramble, but Iām a bit of a fan. This was my final Gladiator setup:
ā¦and this is it now with the Gunfighter & S-TECS, still using the same NXT modules:
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Wow thank you for the awesome write up!
I will definitely look into the VKB Gladiator. I think I can only start with a stick for now but that one looks like it might foot the bill for now. I will check out their forum and Discord.
Your setup looks pretty good for a small space. How do yiu store it all? Or does it stay out all the time?
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Thank you. Sorry again for the long ramble but theyāre important, so discussing flight controls warrants experience & honesty.
A single Gladiator will do everything you need, it wonāt break or otherwise let you down, & you can expand it in the future so it will last you. It will also save you the waste of time & money that happens when you buy a cheap mass-market stick, have it break, try to deal with their customer service, and then buy a VKB in the end anyway.
My desk switches between flight sim and work / general PC use, so the three mounts on the front use a single clamping lever each & can be swapped out in a minute and put safely aside until the weekend.
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Off topic a bit: Quasar, Iām digging the purple glow! Is that RGB, or did you install UV lighting?
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Thanks again for all fhe valuable information. I greatly appreciate it.
Ha ha, thank you! I like the purple too, and just happened to catch it at the right moment.
The Mad Catz mouse & Ducky keyboard donāt co-ordinate with the rest and have their own on-board settings, so they just sit at a pale blue all the time.
The be quiet Shadow Base 800DX case has a single button on the front that links & co-ordinates the RGB of anything connected to the motherboard (if they can be co-ordinated). The MSI motherboard has the MSI centre software for updates anyway, so I use the RGB settings in that to set a very slow and gradual colour wave. This acts on the BQ case, the MSI mobo, the MSI GPU and the BQ AIO cooler. Thereās no other added lighting - this is just the case & the other components on their own.
The AIO cooler in the picture is actually the Asus Pro-Art LC420, but I have since changed it for the be quiet Silent Loop 3 420 which is way better. The Asus coolerās RGB couldnāt be linked to the rest of the kit, and their Armoury Crate software for it is terrible, just really awful. It was causing me all kinds of problems including regular failures to start up so it just had to go. It also didnāt cool much better than the preceding 280mm and the Noctua fans that came with it were surprisingly noisy, much louder in use than the be quiet fans on the new one. Since the PC sits right next to me, these things make a difference & itās nice to have it as quiet as possible.
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