I was on 1680x1050 too (I had a 20"), then moved to 2560x1440 (27"), and now recently to 5120x2160 (40"). Every such upgrade has been meaningful for me, and still, it's not something I do every year. The first 27" I bought is almost 10 years old at this point.

Depends on what you do, of course - but for me, even just scrolling through text feels better on a higher refresh rate and higher resolution.