League of Legends remains a highly competitive MOBA where each player looks for every advantage they can get. With multiple games operating better on higher resolutions, this begs the question, can you play League of Legends in 4K?

Can You Play League Of Legends In 4k?

Yes, you can play League of Legends in 4K. You can do so by opening a Training match, pressing Escape, heading to Video under the General tab and changing your resolution to 3840×2160. 

In this article, we’re going to go over the exact reasons how you can play League of Legends in 4K and whether it is worth it in the first place. 

League Of Legends In 4K: System Requirements

League of Legends isn’t the most demanding game on the planet. But, to run it at 4K, you’ll need a relatively beefy GPU:

Resolution and Frame Rate3840×2160 (60 FPS)3840×2160 (144 FPS)3840×2160 (360 FPS)
GPU NeededGTX 1060 / RX 470RTX 2060 Super / Radeon 5700 XTRTX 3090 

Note: These benchmarks are conducted without a CPU / RAM bottleneck in mind since League of Legends is primarily a GPU bound game.

How To Enable 4K Resolution In League Of Legends

If you meet the system requirements, you’ll be able to configure your resolution within League of Legends and enable 4K resolution, whether on macOS or Windows. Here’s how:

  1. Open the League of Legends client
  2. Head to a Training match and select a random champion
  3. After doing so, wait until you boot into the actual game
  4. Now, press the Escape key on your keyboard and click on Video
  5. Under the General tab, select the Resolution dropdown
  6. For 4K, select 3840×2160

Is League Of Legends in 4K Worth It?

Source: ProSettings.net

No, League of Legends in 4K is not worth it. This is because you end up sacrificing a lot of your FPS for the advantage of playing at a higher resolution. In a game like League, where using your Flash at the right time can make or break a fight, a single frame drop can lead to drastically poor results.

Let’s take the best-case scenario, you have a beefy enough GPU that you don’t suffer from any frame drops and are able to play the game at your native refresh rate. Even in this niche case, higher resolution simply won’t make that much of a difference.

While you get a clearer image at a higher resolution, there’s no difference in aspect ratio between 1080p and 4K. So, you still get the same amount of information on your screen regardless of your monitor’s size.

Plus, even if you do bump your resolution up to 4K, Riot has still not optimized the game to run at high resolutions. So, you’ll need to increase your cursor size manually and suffer from a few frame drops here and there, regardless of your system. 

Do Pros Play League Of Legends In 4K?

No, professional players do not play League of Legends in 4K. This is because of two primary reasons:

  • Frame Rate Preference: Pro players would rather invest in a 1080p monitor clocking in at 360 Hz rather than a 4K monitor at 144 Hz. This is because FPS matters more in a game like League compared to resolution.
  • Habit: Plain and simple, pro players spend years getting used to a certain resolution. So, unless and until an upgrade really makes a huge difference, they’ll be the last to upgrade as they’ll have to get used to a new variable.
  • Frame Drops: Higher resolutions require beefier cards. Sometimes, even these cards can drop frames in an intense fight. This is a risk that a pro player cannot afford. So, they’d rather stay at a lower resolution.

FAQ

Why Do Pro LoL Players Play On The Lowest Settings And Resolution?

Pro LoL players play on the lowest settings and resolution to reduce visual clutter. The lower the clutter, the lesser the information they’ll need to absorb at any given instance. 

What Is The Best Resolution For League? 

The best resolution for League is 1920×1080, with an aspect ratio of 16:9. This resolution is also tried and tested by professional players and is their most commonly used resolution too.

Wrapping Up

Playing League of Legends at 4K, while tempting at first, doesn’t really lead to any real benefit in terms of improving your gameplay. So, if you like the increased visual fidelity – by all means, go for it. But, if you are serious about climbing Ranked, we suggest opting for more frames instead of resolution. 

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