Just a quick poll - Do you game Windowed or full screen?

Windowed, Full Screen Windowed or Full Screen (no window)?

  • Full Screen - immersion please

    Votes: 103 75.7%

  • Full Screen Windowed - I multi-task / multi-game

    Votes: 31 22.8%

  • Windowed - I run other stuff while I game12-14-2014

    Votes: 2 1.5%
  • Total voters
    136
  • Poll closed .
sabregen

sabregen

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A friend and myself are having a discussion on the merits of both and I am curious whether you game full screen or windowed, plain and simple.

edit: no multiples. pick the one you prefer.
 
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Borderless windowed mode tends to, in my experience, have the least issues with alt-tabbing or other things popping up over the game etc. Most games handle alt-tabbing fine, but some just...break if you try, so rather than find out which are which I just try to run borderless windowed mode whenever the option is available.
 
need option for both. Some games i play windowed, some i play fullscreen windowed, and some i play fullscreen.
 
if you like to alt+tab out it tends to prevent the game from crashing, since it's already windowed, and unlike non-fullscreen window mode, the game keeps mouse focus until you alt+tab out.
 
I've been doing borderless when possible because it makes alt-tabbing much easier.
 
Depends on the game and situation. Some games I might even be switching between the two regularly during play.

So none of the poll options really apply.

polonyc2 said:
Full Screen only

what are the merits of Windowed Mode?
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Same as any other program, multi-tasking.
 
I use 3 monitors both at the office and at home. If I'm gaming in the middle of something, I just line things to be monitored on the flanking screens, and full screen the middle.

Occasionally I'll go through the hassle of nvsurround or the amd equivalent, but it always boggled me why anyone would use windowed mode and not take full advantage of the monitor. Too distracting, too.
 
sabregen said:
if you like to alt+tab out it tends to prevent the game from crashing, since it's already windowed, and unlike non-fullscreen window mode, the game keeps mouse focus until you alt+tab out.
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I can still alt+tab from 95% of games just fine when using Full Screen mode, so Windowed Mode makes no difference to me
 
can't do windowed for SLI or crossfire. and i've been running multi-GPU for years. so no windowed for me :)
 
Zinn said:
can't do windowed for SLI or crossfire. and i've been running multi-GPU for years. so no windowed for me :)
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Crossfire you can't do windowed. SLI will work in windowed, now I don't know if performance is impacted.
 
I do most games fullscreen except MMOs. I play those windowed fullscreen so I can alt-tab easily bring up some site or video. Or if one performs better, like I Skyrim and Titanfall I run windowed because there was a stutter I would get at fullscreen.
 
Full Screen, ofc

I have my laptop right next to me, if I want or need anything else while gaming.
 
Full screen. I want every pixel available filled with the game I'm playing.
 
I game full screen, but I do have to use Windowed Full screen mode in Diablo 3 so I get the correct resolution of 2560x1080.

 
Borderless mode if available. I often glance at something else when I pause the game for few minutes and then continue. Alt+tabbing can sometimes crash a game, so I`d rather not deal with it if possible.
 
Zorlag said:
Borderless mode if available. I often glance at something else when I pause the game for few minutes and then continue. Alt+tabbing can sometimes crash a game, so I`d rather not deal with it if possible.
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what games have crashed on you? I can't recall any game crashing on me when alt-tabbing in and out.
 
Fullscreen. On computers in the 90's you would take performance hit. Full screen helps me to focus on the game ( stuff like Steam chat is distracting enough ).

If it is a modern game and I like the art direction, it will more likely look better at 1920 x 1200

You won't get the same effect watching "The Mirror" on a computer screen, versus watching it on a larger theatre screen:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072443/
 
Doesn't borderless windowed mode cause some performance issues in some games? I know Far Cry 4 runs like crap for me in Borderless mode. Like, severe stutter and frame drops. Once I go full screen everything is fine. Maybe it's an SLI thing?
 
No option really fits for me.

I will borderless windowed (which is basically full screen without any of the drawbacks) if it's available, otherwise I will full screen if I have to pick between windowed or full screen.

I do not "multi-game" or any such thing so the option of fullscreen windowed didn't really seem to fit my choice.
 
Zepher said:
what games have crashed on you? I can't recall any game crashing on me when alt-tabbing in and out.
Click to expand...

Elder scroll games might not always crash, but the odds of savegame corruption or general wonkiness go up.
 
KickAssCop said:
Only an idiot plays windowed.
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That's a dick claim. I can think of a few reasons that I played some games windowed for good reasons.

1. Civilization Beyond Earth - game didn't offer proper resolutions when in full screen on high refresh monitors. Had to run windowed to get 1920x1080.

2. This War of Mine - game is locked to 30 FPS unless you run windowed.

3. Minecraft - always run windowed so I can do other things.

I suppose I must be an idiot...
 
Stiler said:
I will borderless windowed (which is basically full screen without any of the drawbacks)
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Crossfire (and probably SLI) don't work in any windowed scenario. Must be full screen to make use of all cards. Obviously does not apply to everyone.
 
no poll options fit so didnt take it. Some games are windowed, some windowed fullscreen, others fullscreen. All depends on the timing/games.
 
2 monitors side by side, one to game on (Windowed full screen) and the other with my browser, WinAMP, GTalk windows open or a movie playing.

SLI works very nicely in this setup as a note.
 
Same as the others, it depends on the game for me. For something like Dragon Age or a battlefield game (though I haven't played one since bad company 2) I would always go full screen. For an MMO sort of game (I play WoW) I go borderless full screen so I can easily mouse over to my second monitor for browsing/looking up items, etc.
 
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