DON'T Game at 8K - RTX 4090 Demo

Linus Tech Tips explores the practicality of 8K gaming using the RTX 4090, sponsored by MSI. The video opens with a provocative setup, asking whether 8K gaming is genuinely useful or merely a marketing bandwagon. They revisit the concept with a high-end MSI Suprim Liquid X 4090 and a colossal 88 inch LG OLED as the 8K display target, framing their investigation around performance, image quality, and the real difference between 8K and 4K. The hosts retest a prior 8K setup featuring a 3090 to establish a baseline, then upgrade to the 4090 to compare gaming at 8K across several titles and settings. The discussion quickly shifts from raw FPS to the importance of native 8K rendering versus DLSS upscaling, HDR presence, and frame-time stability. They reveal that native 8K rendering can be feasible and surprisingly smooth in some scenarios, though the visual gains can be subtle depending on viewing distance and content. In closing, they acknowledge that while 8K gaming is technically possible, the practical benefits are highly dependent on the game, display size, viewing distance, and whether the extra realism justifies the cost and power draw. They also highlight that the MSI monitor used in the test targets 4K gaming with high refresh and color accuracy, illustrating how high-end hardware can excel in both 4K and 8K contexts. The video ends with a balanced takeaway: 8K gaming is real but not universally transformative, and for many users a 4K experience with high-end GPUs may deliver the best value.

Topics · technology · gaming · hardware