My system specs are in the signature. My relevant personal specs are: senior (OK, kinda old), decent vision around 20/20, and totally OK with my current HD monitor operating at 1/2 refresh rate = 30 fps. My system has enough power to reach 40-50 Hz at mostly ultra settings, but I prefer the stutter-free liquidity locked at 30. MSFS V-sync works well on my current monitor which is an ASUS unit mainly used for photography; there's minimal tearing when I scan horizontally across the scene out of the cockpit.

I have space for a  monitor under 30 inches, so no 50 in tv screens. I think I would be totally satisfied with 2K resolution, but there's this nice 4K screen at available at a decent price at Amazon, a Dell S2722QC. It has a 4K screen, and I guess my 3070ti could handle 4K well enough, but my first question is: Can I use a 4K monitor at 2K without image degradation vs a native 2K screen? 

Obviously, the Dell monitor mentioned above is not specifically for gaming, but it is my impression that the way I set up MSFS, a gaming monitor really wouldn't do much for me. I'm not able to see motion blur or micro stutters using my current monitor so it doesn't seem logical that I would benefit from something that syncs at high refresh rates. So my second question is the following: Am I missing something about a gaming monitor that would make a significant difference for me going forward? In other words, is there a killer feature of gaming monitors that is relevant to someone using a flight simulator at 30 fps?

In advance, many thanks for any advice or suggestions.

 

Running a monitor at non-native resolution (4k -> 2k) is not really a good idea. It will "work", but it's not going to be as nice and crisp as running at native 2k.

There will be image degradation. Whether you are OK with it or not is up to you, but personally I wouldn't buy a 4K monitor to run at 2K unless you know you can return it. 

3070 Ti on your machine should be able to handle 4K with maybe a couple of settings lowered. 4K is a real game changer so I would say buy the monitor (with return policy), run at native 4K, tweak some settings to achieve good FPS, and then see what's what. 

As commented above, you will get the best result or image quality when the display device is showing images or videos of its native resolution. 

Also, typically a gaming monitor will have a higher refresh rate which will usually benefit any 'game'. Having said that, I have been using different Dell monitors for flight simming for the past twenty years. They are 60Hz and I run at 30 fps. I have always been happy with the results. 

I always choose a Dell ultrasharp monitor. I purchased a Dell 27" P2723QE 4K Ultra HD IPS Monitor USB-C monitor for my son earlier this year. He is delighted with the image quality.

5 hours ago, jrw4 said:

In advance, many thanks for any advice or suggestions.

Hi John,

I recently bought a replacement for my also excellent curved Dell Ultrasharp U3415W in order to have hardware Gsync.  The screen I bought is a gaming screen, same resolution (curved 34" 3440x1440) and with HDR600, which I would not buy again, and it does bump price substantially. Like you I was very happy w/ locked [email protected] I sampled RTSS' framerate limiter with Edge Sync.  I discovered this incredible applet delivers the lowest frame time variance of any of the locking methods including MSFS's, NV Control Panel, and even RTSS' own scanline sync.  I also concluded the importance of FTV in delivering ultra-smooth, fluid animation goes up the lower the frame rate, i.e. becomes more important when running lower frame rates.  For people w/ the latest CPUs and GPUs who can sustain much higher frame rates they can afford to have less than ultra low FTV.     

The problem w/ RTSS' framerate limiter w/ Edge Sync is that it also creates a migrating tearline that is built-in.  Gsync solves this completely.  So now with the simple keypress I can toggle from framerate unlimited to framerate locked.  Because we're no longer limited by the monitor's refresh rate we can set the lock anywhere:  28, 34, 40, etc.  I find a frame rate of 33 or more produces ultra smooth everything and also reduces CPU and GPU usage substantially over wide open.  For example I might be at the gate where I just was 45min ago, KBOS in the PMDG 738 w/ FSLTL traffic and GSX Pro, and see the unlocked frame rate is ~44fps at the gate while GSX PAX are loading.   Prior to loading FSLTL it was 54fps or so.  I like to try to run the lock 4-6fps below unlocked rate.  But, I also know 38 is no better than 33 when you have perfect FTV.  So a quick key press and we're locked at my default 33 with no need to stop the sim or open RTSS as it has a hotkey programmer and this is done seamlessly.   If unlocked is close to this lower limit I just leave it unlocked until air born.

After all that:  absolute YES on true hardware Gsync.   Forget HDR600 (aka, Gsync Ultimate) unless you need it for something other than MSFS.  And then--check out the magic that is RTSS framerate limiter w/ Edge Sync along w/ your Gsync display.

With your specs I'd steer clear of 4K especially at that screen size.  VRAM demand is going to go up as well as total load on your CPU. 

Edited December 15, 20223 yr by Noel

Here is a chart so you can look at specs including Gsync:  GeForce G-SYNC Monitors: Manufacturers & Specs (nvidia.com)

Thanks friends. I think I'm going to try that Dell monitor and see how it all goes. I don't think I can afford one of those G-Sync units given the difference in price of such monitors. I checked a few off of the NVidia web site list, and the G-Sync models look to be twice the price. 

It will be interesting to see what combination of screen resolution,  rendering scale, etc., works out best. And I have until the end of January to return the monitor if I can't see much of a difference anyway.