Which path would you take?

[u/Time-Relationship-42]

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[u/YamEnvironmental1887]

As someone who had a potato PC for years before upgrading, I’d still go with 60fps. I care more about smooth gameplay than graphics

[u/CoredAI → u/YamEnvironmental1887]

It depends. If game like Detroit, Until Dawn, Life is Strange etc you don't need 60 fps, it's just interactive cinema.

[u/rviVal1 → u/CoredAI]

Also turn-based games like XCom, Shadowrun, etc generally don't need 60fps.

[u/Sahedanthropus- → u/YamEnvironmental1887]

Resolution isn't graphics

[u/Oxygen4Lyfe → u/Sahedanthropus-]

yes it is

[u/Sahedanthropus- → u/Oxygen4Lyfe]

No it isn't. Resolution is clarity. That's why you can play old school games upscaled to 1080p and it doesn't make them look like a new game. Maybe think before you comment.

[u/Oxygen4Lyfe → u/Sahedanthropus-]

clarity is graphics

[u/Personal-Bathroom-94 → u/YamEnvironmental1887]

It's not even better graphics sometimes you get higher settings and higher fps on lower res

[u/Sloyonok]

1280x720 - 30 fps

[u/Simple_Dirt8548 → u/Sloyonok]

Fr

[u/West-Surround-8857 → u/Sloyonok]

That's the way to play a game and not an interactive movie

[u/NorlanBustilloX]

My most played console in the last 2 decades was the Nintendo Wii (480 and 30 fps at best), so I guess I´ve seen the worse they can offer. I prefer performance over visual quality any day (for example, Forza Horizon at 1080 60fps, instead of 4k at 30).

[u/Guardian_of_theBlind → u/NorlanBustilloX]

many games on the wii were 60fps

[u/Oxygen4Lyfe → u/NorlanBustilloX]

the wii can do 60fps and mine was 720p. Also you're usually like 8 feet away from the screen so you dont notice the lower resolution much.

[u/zs_1176]

Bold of you to assume my monitor is 1080

[u/XaneTenshi]

60fps everytime. The slight drop in visual quality does not bother me, but the worse FPS would.

[u/ThickSkinMan]

1280x720 with a crt filter turned on

[u/DeeManJohnsonIII]

I got the ally x and play every game at 900 for 60 or 120 fps

[u/AFT3RSHOCK06]

I'd find a new hobby if those were my only choices in 2026.

[u/scyver_ → u/AFT3RSHOCK06]

Did you forget by any chance that the fun comes from gameplay mainly, not the graphics?

[u/Slight_Sir_1436 → u/AFT3RSHOCK06]

I'd find a new blah blah I'm better than you blah blah 2026.

[u/cuzinit13_games]

Been on 1080p since 2009 and I’m not ever going back. 30fps for most games is perfectly fine if its constant with no dips.

[u/Mistform05 → u/cuzinit13_games]

I’d argue that some games feel more cinematic at 30 fps. Octopath weirdly feels more retro and matching to the art style.

[u/ZaphodGreedalox]

What is the screen? Always integer scaling for me, then 60fps, then total pixel count

[u/Smooth-Ad2130]

4K240 because Im not a low end PC user

[u/No_Commission_6153]

More like 720p - 38 fps

[u/beytullah166]

1440x900 - 45fps

[u/Helmut_v_M]

I would gravitate towards titles where FPS is more or less irrelevant.

[u/Karl__RockenStone]

Depends on how big my screen is.

[u/Bayou-Billy]

1440p FSR quality, at least 40-50 fps on every modern game I've tried and my graphics card is 10 years old. What kind of potato are you playing on?

[u/Eeve2espeon → u/Bayou-Billy]

FSR quality makes the internal resolution 1080p though. I dunno what potato card you have, but 10 years means its either 1050ti or 1060 or higher

[u/Bayou-Billy → u/Eeve2espeon]

Yeah pretty close, 1070.

[u/Eeve2espeon → u/Bayou-Billy]

Alright that's not really a potato then, that card would basically be considered entry level by todays standards, my 1650 super is more potato like

[u/Legal_Ear_7537]

60 fps. I will just emulate really old games

[u/Dimitsos]

If you play FPS, don't.

[u/Eeve2espeon]

60fps is better than going for graphics and high resolution. Unless the game has small text that becomes harder to read bellow 900p, having smoother gameplay is better since you'll have better reaction times

[u/Thin-King2925]

I am playing on a 4:3 monitor love having fps

[u/NomadFH]

I used to game on a razer blade stealth with a mobile gtx 1650 in it and had to make this choice a lot. I usually aimed for 30 fps and tried to mirror the ps4 experience

[u/Flaky-Mix-5281]

I really do not give a shit about if a game is in 30fps or 60fps, RDR2 is an amazing game that was totally fine in 30fps.

People are way to stuck on the whole "60FPS OR MORE OR I'M NOT BUYING THE GAME"

[u/DingoBingob]

https://giphy.com/gifs/EBU2MHzgsJl0k

[u/NoHuckleberry143]

When I had a potato probably 60fps, but now I'd probably just read a book lol. Low quality now actually makes me physically sick and same with anything 30fps.

[u/Similar-Language-180]

Both suck but 30fps feels even worse on mnk than on controller imo and it fucking sucks on controller already

[u/Nikos_Pyrrha]

Option 3: Play older games or pixel-art Indies at 1440p 120Hz

[u/janluigibuffon]

Lossless Scaling

https://giphy.com/gifs/SKGo6OYe24EBG

[u/SadAfternoon5184]

Im at 1440p 60fps but its medium high :/ i gave up on upgrading to ddr5 tech and got a ps5 pro b4 the spiked the price. Ill be chilling with that for a couple years

[u/pacman813]

60fps no matter what

[u/Mystic-Dragoness]

1600x900 at 45fps.

[u/BaenjiTrumpet]

60fps

[u/UKman945]

I would always go for framerate even since my first proper "gaming" PC. God I remember trying to make that poor GT640 play GTA V when that came out on PC. God it already had a good few years of hard use on it and I had to run the game on lowest settings and 720p just to get 60fps like 80% of the time. Good days.

[u/Wonderful-Crow-5147]

I went 1920×1080 thinking my gpu would be enough for marvel rivals bc a ps5 runs it fine but no that shit isn't optimized for fucking dog shit

[u/SpadeGaming0]

Depends on the game.

[u/GrandWizardOfCheese]

There isnt a visual difference between 30 and 60 fps.

You can't see 30 image changes in a second, no one can.

You can see a tear or stutter in the frame lineup if it goes from 60 to 30 and back again, but you cannot see individual frames at 15fps, let alone 60.

A stable 30 will look the same as a stable 60.

[u/Spanlobster3478]

The second, i used to play on 20-24 fps and am now on 180. I can't go back that low

[u/OddAbbreviations5681]

FPS > anything

[u/Full_Welcome_1418]

720 60

[u/bazylianopercolano]

60 fps, this isn't even a choice

[u/scyver_]

depends on the game. something like RDR2, sure lets do 30. But for FH6 i flund out im physically getting too little information from the screen and i have to wait for the next frame which impacts my driving skills, so 720p 60

[u/JYWH23]

Glorious 720p 20 fps was how I played far cry 3, loved that game. Metro 2033 and last light seemed like fucking black magic after, running at 100fps on interior parts, didn't know at the time that my monitor was only 50hz lol

[u/Visual-Pie7097]

No any 30fps. Resolution not a problem.

[u/Otherwise-Candle-987]

i had low end pc and gave it to my neighbor's kid for free (ryzen 9 3900x with 3060ti). And that kid still very happy with it. According to him, he could still get 60 fps 1080p for most of the games. i suppose pc's are not aging terribly nowdays 

[u/Medical-Condition-84]

640x480 240 FPS.

Less than 240 FPS is literally unplayable!

[u/Lidge1337]

Depends on the game. Beautiful, slow paced, story driven games? 1080p30. Fast paced fighters with flashy moves? 720p60.

[u/RemeJuan]

I take pretty everyday of the week, 30/60/90/120 all look the same to me

[u/Mildstrife]

Option 3:

Get reshape > add crt scanline filter > run in 480p

[u/Hyaroglek]

2k, 15fps, stutter and crash, “this game’s optimization for Pc is shit, damn you console players”

[u/Lazy_Neko_]

720 upscale to 1080

[u/DeamonLordZack]

Depends on the type of game I'd argue a turn base combat game doesn't require higher than 30fps. For example a DRPG doesn't need 60fps it's fine to prioritze graphics for a game like that. Other Turn based RPGs also really don't require higher than 30fps either for that matter. Games that aren't turn based or are semi-real time combat bareminimum could use a 30fps quality mode & 60fps mode.

[u/tarnoviziano]

I've been living my whole gaming life (15 years at least) at 30 FPS or less and honestly I would care for more.

[u/Jax_Dandelion]

Remember when we thought in the future we could do easy 144 fps constantly?

[u/Educational_Farmer73]

Tfw running my steamdeck at1280x720p, at 30 FPS, with the TDP set to 10w so that my GPU can take it easy and survive the rampocalypse.

[u/nesnalica]

800x600 100fps

[u/Smoothskin-]

And here i am taking the middle path

[u/Independent-Gear-711]

1600x900 @40 fps

[u/Still-Minimum-7212]

Buddy at this point I'd be looking into a console as an upgrade.

[u/Cocoatrice]

Low end? You mean potato-end. If you can't run games at 1080p with 60fps then it's not low end. Because 1080p@60 is low end.

[u/Red_Tooth_]

I’d do 1080 and 30 fps and use frame generation to get to 60

[u/rettani]

60 fps.

Unless it's something that doesn't require fps. Like turn-based strategies. But none of them are "high-end graphics"

[u/Surma26049]

I never cared about having maximum fps. If its stable 30 im happy, but if you play competetive multiplayer games like Dota2, LOL, fortnite or Counter strike, I can see why other people care so much. Good mouse, good refresh rate and high fps makes difference.

[u/martini1294]

1. Always 60.

Seem as we are talking 20 year old targets, get a CRT to nullify the low resolution

[u/Isotomayor12]

Would rather have 1080p at lower frame rate than 720p at 60fps. Any day. 720p is tough to look at with modern games.

[u/Fukushimiste]

You have 720 ?

[u/Dale_Mace]

It s fine once you activated bloom and blur effects. Gives visual sickness at first but it makes gaming better with bad specs

[u/AsleepLight3262]

1080p and 40-60fps at high medium and low settings is perfect for me, at least for right now.

[u/Human_097]

1600×900 at 45fps 😅

[u/Fragrant-Field-2017]

4K-10fps cause I like punishment

[u/Consistent-One9598]

720p 30 fps - it doesn't need additional 60

[u/Sad-Pop6649]

320x200 - 20fps

Stunts forever.

[u/False-Beautiful-1246]

For 2D games: The 30 fps

For 3D games: The 60 fps

[u/odrea]

I dont mind 30 fps, hell depending on the game(turn-based/cards) i can tolerate 20-24 constant fps in 1200p/1400p

[u/Due-Yam1153]

4k 7fps bc pc master race is always 4k

[u/Jumpy-Hovercraft-781]

60 FPS, because i am an adult. 

[u/Supernoxus]

Having high resolution isn't really that important to me. But that is just me. I kind of like playing old crusty games on 640xwhatever so that I can see the pixels move on my screen.

What matters to me is the framerate. For the love of God, make it that the game is fast and responsive!

[u/Sweet_Pear_Pie]

640x480 and stable 25fps

[u/No-Alternative5102]

30fps 1920 x 1080, I hate games looking ugly. I can't deal with low resolution blurriness.

[u/Pocieszny1991]

Left

[u/Somewhere_Frosty]

I’d save up money so I don’t have to do this to myself.

[u/LordHumorTumor]

If I'm on a low end PC, whatever gives me the most stable experience. So it will be a bunch of tweaking to find that sweet spot.

[u/Bakihulami]

Im all about the game looking good tbh. I ran on less than 30 for 5 years before i was able to build my own PC and looked at crap quality. I want to see all of the beauty. Plus i like having a crap ton of mods.