External 1080p Monitor with Macbook Pro Retina more or less graphically demanding?

SimonD91

Commendable
Jul 25, 2016
1
0
1,510
I would like to buy an external monitor for my 2014 15-inch Macbook Pro Retina (on-board graphics) for the purpose of some casual gaming and having more space on the screen for video editing etc.

My question is will performance improve or decrease using a 1080p monitor rather than the Retina display? I will use in clamshell mode, so I don't intend to use both screens at the same time which I know would be a bigger strain for sure. I plan to use the monitor at the native resolution of 1920x1080, whereas the Retina display is 2880x1800.

Going for a 22-23inch IPS monitor if that has any impact.

Sorry if this is obvious but I couldn't find any info about this and don't want to waste my money if it turns out gaming performance is made worse with the monitor, considering I have to use low settings for mediocre performance already (I know MacBooks aren't really designed for gaming!)

Thanks for any help on this
 
Solution
Running a game at 1080p will be less demanding than running it at 1800p, one of the biggest impacts on performance is screen resolution.