My PC setup is very important to me, as both a freelance writer who works from home and as someone who plays a lot of video games.
While I’d love to upgrade all my components and tackle the cable monster that plagues the underside of my desk, neither of these tasks is at the top of my list when it comes to my tech New Year’s resolutions. Instead, that honor goes to finally buying my dream displays.
Ever since I reviewed (and shortly after, purchased for myself) a laptop with a 4K OLED display, any display with lesser specs looks incredibly ‘meh.’ Of course, if I opt for a 4K OLED monitor, I’ll likely need to upgrade a few PC components as well.
If you have a similar goal for your PC setup, read on to hear my plan.
What specs am I looking for in my dream displays?
Currently, my PC setup includes two 27-inch Acer SB272 monitors mounted with a Huanuo dual monitor mount. Each monitor features 1920 x 1080-pixel resolution, an IPS panel, and a 100Hz refresh rate, and while they’re not bad monitors, I’m well overdue for an upgrade.
The first decision to tackle is deciding between OLED vs QLED display tech. While QLED displays are exceptionally bright and a good alternative to OLED, I think the vibrant colors and rich, deep blacks produced by OLED displays just can’t be beat, especially for gaming.
Next up, resolution. In the debate of 4K vs QHD monitors, many gamers regard QHD resolution as the best because you’ll get a slightly sharper image compared to 1080p monitors and still manage higher refresh rates on average compared to 4K monitors. However, for photo editing and games that don’t require as high of a refresh rate, I want at least one of my monitors to have 4K resolution.
When it comes to size, I’ve seen a lot of people mention that you can’t fully appreciate 4K resolution on smaller displays and recommend going for a 32-inch monitor if you want 4K. Whether or not that’s true, adding a 32-inch monitor to my setup sounds pretty sweet. However, adding two 32-inch monitors sounds like a bit much for my desk.
For that reason, I’ve landed on my dream display setup including one 32-inch 4K OLED monitor and one 27-inch QHD OLED monitor, with both featuring a minimum refresh rate of 144Hz.
What upgrades does my PC need to get the most out of my displays?
Running a game at 4K resolution and 60Hz takes a lot of graphics power, so I’d definitely need to upgrade to one of the best graphics cards I can get.
I currently have an AMD PowerColor 6700 XT GPU that wouldn’t be able to seamlessly handle 4K gaming. Upgrading to a beefier GPU also means I’ll need a bigger case, as my existing mid-size tower only accommodates a 300-millimeter GPU length.
Past upgrading my GPU and my case, the only thing I may want to upgrade for fear of bottleneck issues is my CPU. I currently have an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X CPU, and I’d likely want to skip up to a Ryzen 7 series chip instead.
Other than that, my existing AM4 motherboard, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage don’t need to be touched. I ran all potential parts through PC Part Picker, too, and it doesn’t even look like I’d need to upgrade my power supply.
Here are the specific upgrades I plan on making in 2025
With all these wants in mind, here’s exactly what I’m planning to budget for in the new year.
Upgrading my PC comes first because I can’t take advantage of the glorious visuals new monitors have to offer until my components can handle the pressure. I plan on swapping out my PowerColor Fighter AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT GPU for a more powerful PowerColor Fighter 7800 XT GPU (or the 7800 XT Hellhound variant if the Fighter is out of stock).
For a new CPU, I’m looking at the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X to replace my Ryzen 5 5600X. When it comes to cases, I’m not going to pick anything specific now. I’ll likely just see what’s on sale at the time I buy my new GPU and CPU and see what’s the best value that’ll accommodate a larger GPU.
My opinion on which specific monitors I want could change between now and when I have enough saved to upgrade, but the specs I want are clear. I’m looking for monitors with a minimum refresh rate of 144Hz, one that’s a 32-inch 4K OLED monitor and the other a 27-inch QHD OLED monitor.
Right now, my top picks are the Samsung 32-inch Odyssey OLED G8 monitor with 4K resolution and refresh rate support up to 240Hz and the Samsung 27-inch Odyssey OLED G6 monitor with QHD resolution and refresh rate support up to 360Hz. I know I’ll be paying a premium for Samsung monitors, but it feels worth it with the display specs I’m looking for.
Now, all that’s left to do is start stashing away money for my very expensive 2025 upgrade and consider whether I want to add a monitor light bar to my wishlist as well.
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sarahnchaney@gmail.com (Sarah Chaney)
