New Monitor Recommendations

ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Hey, so since I got my new gaming rig, I've been thinking of upgrading my monitor. Right now, I have a 28" Samsung S27D360. It's treated me well, of course, but I don't think it was ever a monitor specifically built for gaming.

I'd be looking for something about the same size. Given the specs on my computer now, I'm pretty sure it's good for 4K gaming. Price range is probably no more than $500 (Canadian), if doable.

Any suggestions or recommendations?
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Which GPU do you have, again? Because that's probably going to be the biggest determining factor.
Which brand and model?

--Patrick
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

PatrThom said:
Which GPU do you have, again? Because that's probably going to be the biggest determining factor.
Which brand and model?

--Patrick
Click to expand...
If you mean brand and model monitor, no preference. I see BenQ monitors, which is a new brand name for me. Not sure if they're any good.

Copy/pasted from my recent order:

-AMD RYZEN 7 3700X 8-Core 3.6 GHz (4.4 GHz Max Boost
-Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3000 (PC4 24000)
-ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 2060 OC Edition 6GB GDDR6 VR Ready
-ASRock X570 PHANTOM GAMING 4 AM4 AMD X570 SATA 6Gb/s ATX AMD Motherboard
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

ThatNickGuy said:
I discovered this one while browsing. Never had a curved monitor before, but I hear they're nice to have with gaming.

www.newegg.ca

MSI Optix G27C2 27" 144Hz LED Backlight Curved Gaming Monitor - Newegg.com

Buy MSI Optix G27C2 27" 1920 x 1080 1ms (MPRT) 144Hz DVI HDMI DisplayPort AMD FreeSync Widescreen Anti-Glare LED Backlight Curved Gaming Monitor with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!
www.newegg.ca www.newegg.ca
Click to expand...
Curved monitors are nice.


It's been awhile since I shopped for monitors, but the big things to look at are native resolution, refresh rate, and things like color depth, contest, active sync, etc. I'm in the minority that still believes 2k is the sweet spot for gaming monitors, with 4k only being preferable at very large sizes
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

6GB VRAM means you will always be able to play at up to 1440p, but you will have occasional issues with games at 4K if you turn on AA (Anti-Aliasing). Fortunately(?) 4K monitors are still relatively expensive, so I suppose that makes the decision easier, sorta.

Secondly, you have a GeForce-based card, so monitors which say "G-Sync Certified" or "G-Sync HDR Certified" are going to be better at doing Adaptive Sync than ones that aren't. Being certified like this means that they will cost more than ones that aren't, though. Sorry.

Next, decide what size monitor you want. 20/21in/52cm, 24in/61cm, or 27in/69cm? Larger = more expensive, of course, and I don't know how much room you have available atop your battlestation.

Refresh rate: This is also going to be a matter of personal preference. My recommendation is to not go below 100Hz, and to definitely not go below 120Hz if you intend to use 3D shutter glasses. Again, the higher the refresh rate, the higher the cost, but the smoother the action. On a related note, for gaming I would not bother with any monitor that advertises any Response Time (Also possibly labeled as "MPRT," "GtG," or "G2G") greater than 1ms.

--Patrick
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

ThatNickGuy said:
Kind of leaning towards this one. It's under my budget. And my friend recommended 1444p, 120hz, which this hits.
Click to expand...
The only potential problem I would have with this one is the 4ms response time, which is going to cause some ghosting, but if a similar model with 1ms is drastically more expensive I don't know that I would see it as that big a deal
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Ravenpoe said:
The only potential problem I would have with this one is the 4ms response time, which is going to cause some ghosting, but if a similar model with 1ms is drastically more expensive I don't know that I would see it as that big a deal
Click to expand...
Honestly, I doubt I'll even notice a difference in response time. I would imagine it would still be leagues better than what I have now. Although I looked up old reviews for my current monitor and they were quite positive back in the day.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

ThatNickGuy said:
I doubt I'll even notice a difference in response time.
Click to expand...
At 60Hz (16.7ms), you probably wouldn't. At 120Hz (8ms) or 144Hz (7ms), a 4ms response time is gonna start creeping in on fast-moving objects, or when you whip your view around in FPS-type games. That said, the 4ms is the GtG response time, which is the time it takes for a pixel to change color. The monitor is advertised as having a 1ms MPRT, which I assume means that the backlight supports strobing to cut down how much each frame bleeds over into the next. In other words, it shouldn't be an issue. :)

The monitor you've chosen is FreeSync, though. Not G-Sync. NVIDIA cards can still use FreeSync with modern drivers, you just have to turn it on in the NVIDIA Control Panel (even if it complains "ARE YOU SURE?" and all that)... HOWEVER you must use a DisplayPort cable if you want the full 144Hz! The spec sheet on that monitor says HDMI only allows up to 120Hz. If you're going to get a DP cable, might as well get one that's 1.4 certified. Your monitor might only be certified up to v1.2, but your GPU is certified up to 1.4 if you ever decide to upgrade your monitor again. Now that DP2.0 is out, the price difference between 1.2 and 1.4 should be minimal.

--Patrick
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

PatrThom said:
At 60Hz (16.7ms), you probably wouldn't. At 120Hz (8ms) or 144Hz (7ms), a 4ms response time is gonna start creeping in on fast-moving objects, or when you whip your view around in FPS-type games. That said, the 4ms is the GtG response time, which is the time it takes for a pixel to change color. The monitor is advertised as having a 1ms MPRT, which I assume means that the backlight supports strobing to cut down how much each frame bleeds over into the next. In other words, it shouldn't be an issue. :)

The monitor you've chosen is FreeSync, though. Not G-Sync. NVIDIA cards can still use FreeSync with modern drivers, you just have to turn it on in the NVIDIA Control Panel (even if it complains "ARE YOU SURE?" and all that)... HOWEVER you must use a DisplayPort cable if you want the full 144Hz! The spec sheet on that monitor says HDMI only allows up to 120Hz. If you're going to get a DP cable, might as well get one that's 1.4 certified. Your monitor might only be certified up to v1.2, but your GPU is certified up to 1.4 if you ever decide to upgrade your monitor again. Now that DP2.0 is out, the price difference between 1.2 and 1.4 should be minimal.

--Patrick
Click to expand...
Sorry man, this is too much technical talk for me to follow.
 
DarkAudit

DarkAudit

Just gonna throw this out there. The TCL 50S425. Yes, it's a 50" TV. Yes it's 60Hz that cheats to get to "120". But it rates well as a PC and gaming monitor. When properly set, color is near spot-on. And Linus seems to like it:
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

ThatNickGuy said:
Sorry man, this is too much technical talk for me to follow.
Click to expand...
tl;dr:
-The monitor is not a bad choice. You will have to change some settings on your computer once you install it to get the most out of it, though.
-You should hook it up to your GPU using a DisplayPort cable instead of HDMI.
-Your DisplayPort cable (if you already have one) must say it supports a minimum of DisplayPort v1.2.
-If you have to buy a DP cable AND the cost difference is minimal, try to instead step up to a DP cable that says it supports DisplayPort v1.4.

--Patrick
 
Bones

Bones

it really is a mess for monitors today too, I have a new samsung monitor on order that has a HDMI port that supports 4K at 60Hz(which is all you are gonna get for awhile anyways at 4k) however you have to have a top of the line HDMI cable to do it(which i just ordered from amazon) this is fine by me as it is not my primary display for gaming(and my other DP is in use by my Oculus Rift >_>) also for pat(as he has been my go to guy on cables for high end monitors) i had an old "standard" hdmi cable and upgrade to one of the new "high speed premium" cables. HOLY SHIT THE NEW CABLES ARE SUPER THICK FOR THE SUPER HDMI SIGNALS!
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Heh. By the time I get to upgrade any of the HDMI v1.2a-era entertainment stuff around here, they'll probably be up to HDMI 3.3 or something.

--Patrick
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Necroing this thread, if a month might be considering a necro.

I am also looking for a new monitor. I want to stay under $400 and I'd like to get a 4K. I don't need one that large and am downsizing from my 50" to somewhere around 27".

I have a GTX1080 card.

Thoughts?
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Never fucking mind. $113 shipping on that monitor?!? Fuck that and whomever thought that would fly.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Dave said:
I have a GTX1080 card.
Click to expand...
I thought you had a GTX 1080 Ti?

Anyway if you're looking for a 4K monitor, you're going to have a hard time finding one that's higher than 60Hz but under $1000. How about a nice 2K? The one you linked was a 2K.

--Patrick
 
Bones

Bones

Dave said:
I went with a Samsung.

| Nebraska Furniture Mart

www.nfm.com www.nfm.com
Click to expand...
Dave I have its big brother the UH850, and its successor the UJ590, these are badass monitors and the very best Ive ever seen in 4k monitors! the one on the left is samsungs first large format monitor the T260, unfortunately the backlight just died so now im trying to source another 32 to replace it.
 
Bones

Bones

PatrThom said:
Ooo, heat the person, not the house!

--Patrick
Click to expand...
thanks man, i have no life, so this is my fun, I just locked down another UJ59, so ill have three of these monsters in about 10 days. I will admit, there are "better" monitors on the market than samsung, but they are a minimum of 600+ dollars and the only 32 inch 4k monitor ive seen running above 60 hz is a 1200 dollar unit from benq that I just couldnt stomach the price on.
 
Bones

Bones

oh lol, those are for lighting when i record, im to cheap for studio lighting! i use an electric blanket when its cold hahaha.
 
Bones

Bones

i also have a monitor question. so the one im getting has two hdmi ins, one is 4k 60 hz the other is 4k 30 hz. im wondering if i am using an input at a lower resolution if I will be able to get 60hz because im not trying to drive a 4k source? its no biggie, im going to use the 30hz input for my switch and i just noticed that.
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
Bones said:
i also have a monitor question. so the one im getting has two hdmi ins, one is 4k 60 hz the other is 4k 30 hz. im wondering if i am using an input at a lower resolution if I will be able to get 60hz because im not trying to drive a 4k source? its no biggie, im going to use the 30hz input for my switch and i just noticed that.
Click to expand...
Yes, you'll be able to do 1080p @ 60Hz, if I found the correct manual (and in most cases). I think you can even do 2560x1440 @ 60Hz
 
Bones

Bones

afaik that seems to be the deal, I dont play any fast twitch games on my stuff so im pretty sure it will be fine.
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
PatrThom said:
Wouldn't that just be the difference between HDMI v1 and HDMI v2?
Click to expand...
I try not to make assumptions. Especially with all the fine differences between 1.3, 1.4, 2.0 and 2.1. Especially considering that you can cheat out 4K60 over HDMI 1.4 by reducing the color from 4:4:4 to 4:2:0.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Hey if you want that really wiiiiiiiiiiide view, how about this $4K monitor?




It's 3840 x 600, or 58:9 aspect ratio. Perfect for anyone stuck inside their Robocop cosplay helmet, I guess.

--Patrick
 
Bones

Bones

PatrThom said:
Oh look, Linus did a video just for @Bones !




--Patrick
Click to expand...
he basically reaffirmed all the things I learned, shorter is better for signal, the highest grade of cables are hard to find and stupid expensive to do what they need to do because of high failure rates. amazing this just showed up THIS WEEK!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top