1440p monitor advice.

[tezvanzan]

Hi, there seems to be a ridiculous amount of choice in Monitors these days, and I was wondering if I could get some advice here.

I'm upgrading, to the following:

Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz
MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX
Kingston Fury 8GB 1866
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB
Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Tri-X
SuperFlower Golden Green HX 650W
+ other bits & pieces.

All that I've left to choose is the display. Right now I have an old VX2262wm and I run it at 1680 x 1050 (the maximum & native resolution)

So I'm trying to decide on what to do with the monitor, I was going to get a 23/24 inch 1080p panel (budget around €150), but am not sure now, so below are the options I'm considering.

a) Stick with my Viewsonic, happily max everything out at the mentioned resolution.
b) Get something like an Asus 1080p, continue to max stuff out, and have a better pic.
c) Stump up for a 1440p montior or higher (well, my budget for UHD would be €350 so am probably going to max out at 1440p) Push my kit to the max.
d) Save some more cash and go for something higher rez?

I'm assuming it's going to be b or c, but this in itself raises more questions, which one to get, there seems to be a lot out there, Asus, BenQ, Acer, Samsung, things like that, all with lots and lots of good reviews and ratings, especially on Amazon, what's more and each brand has a ridiculous amount of sub models, the choice is astounding.

I know everyone's needs are slightly different, so, to help narrow things down a bit more:

Criteria:

• 
  ■ Size: 24" Min 28" Max, no room for anything bigger.
  ■ Usage: Gaming, gaming and more gaming, + some casual digital art, (corel painter mainly).
  ■ Adjustability: Not a deal breaker either way, but would be nice to have height adjust and normal tilt.
  ■ Interface: Again, not something I mind about, as long as there is some kind of calibration.
  ■ Response time: Ghosting isn't nice but, I don't play competitive FPS, just play lots of RPGs, Some single Player FPS games, Open world games, Space games etc
  ■ Colour: Colour is important, IPS seem to have a strong edge here, but some TN Panels seem to be strong too.
  ■ Viewing Angle: I don't see this as an issue, as I run 1 monitor straight on.
  ■ Quality: Great build quality, I only upgrade things like monitors once or at the most twice a decade.
  ■ Power consumption: Lower is better, but the difference between 30 and 50 watts between monitors isn't going to keep me awake.
  ■ Design: Not an issue... Shiny, mat, silver black, thin bezel, I don't give a rats ass about it. When I am gaming I'm looking at the bright bit in the middle, not the plastic container surrounding it.

I try to include as much info as possible because I know everyone's needs are different, and it might help.

Would appreciate it if there are any monitor aficionados that could help narrow down the choice, and make some recommendations.

Cheers guys.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Viewing angle is more important than you think - even if you're viewing head on (like everyone else) there will still be vertical colour shift on a TN panel. If your screen was filled with a solid blue for example, the shade will be different at the top than the bottom. As you straighten up or slouch down, you'll see colours shift. They'll be stronger, darker, more vibrant lower down (as your perspective is lower), a bit more faded higher up. BUT you'll see finer detail where it's faded, while fine detail will be crushed lower down. TL;DR - TN really sucks if you want colour accuracy. IPS is the way to go.

Brands-wise, I'd highly recommend ASUS. Their RTC overdrive tech seems to be one of the best (certainly offers some of the most granular adjustment) so you can minimise those trails. Plus generally excellent build quality. As for size / res, I'd go with a 23-24" model at 1080p. Considering that some games (such as Dead Rising 3 and Watch Dogs) are already pushing high-end cards pretty hard, I'm not sure this is the time to be going higher than 1080p if you like to max your games and get a fluid, responsive framerate. Hope that helps.

 

[tezvanzan]

Thanks Sam, that sounds like solid advice.

In regards to the viewing angle, I assumed all of this viewing angle stuff was in relation to people with 3 monitor setups who would be looking at 2 displays from an angle and one straight on. so, good to know!

Any Particular Asus Model in mind by the way? there are a few around that size, all with very similar lettering?

If not that's cool, at least I've narrowed my search to 1080p 23/24 Asus, which all seem highly rated on the buying sites and part picker.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Yeah it's a common misconception! Certainly it does apply to horizontal viewing angles too, but as you say, that's generally a much more minor consideration. I'm afraid I couldn't say what's best re models because ASUS are absolutely nuts with the number of models. Seems there's a new one every week and generally very little difference between them.

The PA238Q and PB238Q are solid options, as is the MX239H but there are so many others that would be just as good (and most using the exact same IPS panels) that my advice would be to just go by price, features and make sure it lists Trace Free in the features (that's the RTC control - almost every model will feature it but check just to be sure). And when it arrives, I'd recommend that you set Trace Free to the 40 setting. Cranking it up to 100 will result in overshoot, where you get a kind of inverse trail (too much voltage applied so the trails are simply inverted). tftcentral.co.uk is a brilliant resource if you want to learn loads more.

 

[tezvanzan]

Dude, that's great.

I feel properly armed now, and know what to look for, and I agree, they are nuts with their model numbers, they even seem to vary depending on what side of the pond you're on. But like I said, the field is sufficiently narrowed.

Thanks for the quick responses and advice!

 

[sam_p_lay]

No problem. Glad I could help

 

[tezvanzan]

Hey Sam, Sorry to bother you again.
After getting all the rig components together my monitor budget got nibbled at, so I've had to drop down to slightly more budget models, from what I cans ee they should be fine, but I was wondering if there were any red flags that you knew of, or if you would choose one over the other, (They look like they use the same IPS panel to be honest, (And I'm aware that the pictures are slightly misleading on bezel size).

What do you recon?
LG 23MP65HQ
http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-23MP65HQ-23-inch-Widescreen-Monitor/dp/B00HYZXU2E/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

or
AOC I2369VM
http://www.amazon.co.uk/AOC-I2369VM-inch-Monitor-50000000/dp/B00BDBWE0Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1416008289&sr=1-1&keywords=AOC+i2369Vm

I was looking at the step down in this acer.
Asus VS239HV
http://www.amazon.co.uk/VS239HV-Widescreen-Monitor-1920x1080-DVI-D/dp/B00GGQFP9S/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1416001617&sr=1-3#productDetails

But it's hard to come by here in Ireland. (Not buying on Amazon BTW)

 

[sam_p_lay]

Not a problem! Like you say, they're probably all equally solid options. I'd be inclined to go with the ASUS for their Trace Free, but their site doesn't list that as a feature on this model. The site does sometimes make mistakes though and fail to mention features that are actually present, so I'd say go with the ASUS.