TANE 2k vs. 4k

Thai1On

Slave to my route
As the time draws near to start building my new rig I am perplexed by this question. For TANE and the other additions that will surely follow is it worth the investment to go 4K? Does TANE even support 4K?

Dave
 
As the time draws near to start building my new rig I am perplexed by this question. For TANE and the other additions that will surely follow is it worth the investment to go 4K? Does TANE even support 4K?

Dave

The more pixels you have the more horsepower you need to keep the frames rates up. 1920 by 1080 is reasonable for TANE.

Cheerio John
 
As the time draws near to start building my new rig I am perplexed by this question. For TANE and the other additions that will surely follow is it worth the investment to go 4K? Does TANE even support 4K?

Dave

Your question intrigued me, so I'm trying 4K on my Mac (hackintosh, RX460 graphics card). I went full-screen, 4K, and noticed two things. First of all, I was limited to 30hz at 4k (possibly a card issue), but then, I noticed that all the text was tiny, and for me, barely legible it was so tiny. Lastly, I'm not sure I saw any advantage over what I normally see in windowed mode.

I think, though, that if only for the sake of your eyes (pixel-size below what our eyes can perceive is a huge relief on eye strain), and for future-proofing your purchase, you should probably go 4K.
 
My guess is that it will take at least a couple of new generations of CPU and graphics cards before demanding simulations / games such as Trainz will provide a good user experience at 4K, with the graphics quality settings dialed up. However, you can always run those applications at 1080p on a 4k monitor if you run other tasks that would benefit from and thus justify the 4k resolution (e.g. media work, etc.).

If you are looking to have a 27 inch (say) monitor right in front of you, then I can vouch for the fact that a 2560 x 1440 IPS yields a very pleasant user experience (mine's driven by an i7 6700k and GTX 1080 - both already yesterday's technology, sigh).
 
Your question intrigued me, so I'm trying 4K on my Mac (hackintosh, RX460 graphics card). I went full-screen, 4K, and noticed two things. First of all, I was limited to 30hz at 4k (possibly a card issue), but then, I noticed that all the text was tiny, and for me, barely legible it was so tiny. Lastly, I'm not sure I saw any advantage over what I normally see in windowed mode.

Your RX 460 won't be able to drive a 4K experience at a reasonable framerate simply because it's too weak a card. As for it being limited to 30Hz, this is possibly two factors, the panel of your display isn't able to go any higher than 30Hz which was common with early models, or the connector you're using isn't appropriate for 4k 60Hz. You need at least HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.2a.

The text sizing issue is resolved through display scaling which is managed by either your graphics driver or Windows.

Jack
 
Your RX 460 won't be able to drive a 4K experience at a reasonable framerate simply because it's too weak a card. As for it being limited to 30Hz, this is possibly two factors, the panel of your display isn't able to go any higher than 30Hz which was common with early models, or the connector you're using isn't appropriate for 4k 60Hz. You need at least HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.2a.

The text sizing issue is resolved through display scaling which is managed by either your graphics driver or Windows.

Jack

I wasn't trying to get framerates, just see how the resolution looked at 4K over lower resolutions. I got terrible framerates, and would never want to play it at that resolution on my Mac. What I was attempting was to answer the OP's question on whether or not 4K _resolution_ was worth it over lower resolutions, so I ramped up all the resolution and detail features, and said heck with framerates, just to see how it would look (not how it would play--I know my card isn't going to give me good framerates at 4k). So, at 4K, I could see that resolution and rendering, etc. were all improved. But honestly, I didn't think it all that great of an improvement. I just don't think Trainz is improved all that much at 4K--at least not yet.

My Mac normally runs my 4K monitor at 60hz (and trust me, when I first bought the monitor, I had a hassle finding cables that would give me 60hz). I don't know why Trainz won't push 60hz in full screen. And the font scaling--again, no problems normally. Those were likely Mac-only issues--or specific to my particular Hackintosh. On the other hand, the resolution and detail are independent of these issues, and will carry over between platforms. That was what the OP is interested in. And my final "verdict" I think is correct. You can play at 4K, but right now, I don't think Trainz takes full advantage of it. On the other hand, I don't think Trainz should be a reason to not upgrade to 4K at this time. Maybe it's because I'm older, but my eyes can strain with lower monitor resolutions. If I can see the pixels now, it creates eye strain. But honestly, why put yourself through lower resolution pixelation? Certainly at larger monitor sizes, IMO, it's almost a must. ;-) But these are just the thoughts of one man, sitting here in his home, ruminating. The OP has the joy of listening to us ramble, and deciding. :)
 
Oh I love it ;)! My plan is to get a 27 inch monitor so it sounds like I may have to go with the 1080 ti and not just a 1080.

Another question on monitors is 60, 90, and 144 htz. Is there any real world noticeable difference in these monitors? I guess what I'm asking is does it make that big a difference in frame rates and overall viewing enjoyment? Also do these new curved monitors add more to the "Trainz" experience?

Dave
 
Strange you ask that question as, this very weekend, I took delivery of an AOC 32" 2560 x 1440 display with 144hz refresh. It's being used with an i7 6700 and GTX1070 combination and, I have to say, it looks pretty awesome! So far Trainz doesn't look any more 'laggy' than with my 1920 x 1080 monitor, but I haven't used it very intensively yet.

Paul
 
Thank you Paul this is the information I was hoping for. Now its back to Newegg and continue shopping.

Dave
 
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