best gaming monitor for q1 2017 for $150 or less

[Jordan Booth]

currently i am looking to get a gaming monitor. i am debating among several monitors for $150 or less i will link my top 2 below but i would really appreciate your guys' input as im not 100% sure what i am looking for. my system is an fx 8320@4.4ghz cm 212 evo a gigabyte ga-970-ds3p an msi: rx 480 cx 750 80+ bronze cert 8gb of g.skill ddr3 ram a 1tb sshd from seagate and a diypc-g3 mid tower case.

#1 choice currently: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824025212&cm_re=lg_25um56-p-_-24-025-212-_-Product

#2 choice currently: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236385&cm_re=vx248h-_-24-236-385-_-Product

 

[Lucky_SLS]

here u go https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824160275

 

[Jordan Booth]

here u go https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824160275

seems like a very nice monitor can you explain to me why you chose it and what make it better than the other two i had mentioned?

 

[Lucky_SLS]

this aoc comes with free sync, since u have a rx480. its a non ips ie a tn panel. but has 1ms response time. overall, low price too

the lg is good too with ips, if u like ultrawide go for it. but the aoc is best for gaming in general with its 75hz n free sync

 

[madmatt30]

Honestly mate the ultawides are nice screens but the 25inch for me just isn't big enough, its the equivalent if say a 20inch monitor on the vertical height.
You want a minimum 27inch if going with an uws.

 

[madmatt30]

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/CWFPxr/asus-monitor-vx238h

Probably the best budget gaming monitor there is in all honesty at that price.

 

[Jordan Booth]

Honestly mate the ultawides are nice screens but the 25inch for me just isn't big enough, its the equivalent if say a 20inch monitor on the vertical height.
You want a minimum 27inch if going with an uws.

i did not know this thank you for the info and can you explain why you chose the monitor you did?

 

[Lucky_SLS]

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/CWFPxr/asus-monitor-vx238h

Probably the best budget gaming monitor there is in all honesty at that price.

even if aoc comes with free sync and has same response time? op has a radeon to take advantage of free sync....

 

[Jordan Booth]

this aoc comes with free sync, since u have a rx480. its a non ips ie a tn panel. but has 1ms response time. overall, low price too

the lg is good too with ips, if u like ultrawide go for it. but the aoc is best for gaming in general with its 75hz n free sync

can you explain the advantage of the 75hz over 60hz and what freesync is and how it will be helpful to the gaming performance? i am currenly using a 22" sceptre monitor that is nearly a decade old and displays at 1680x1050. idk the hz or ms gtg but im sure its not amazing lol, so i am sure i will see a big improvement no matter what way i go with it but i just wanna make sure i get the best deal possible

 

[Lucky_SLS]

this aoc comes with free sync, since u have a rx480. its a non ips ie a tn panel. but has 1ms response time. overall, low price too

the lg is good too with ips, if u like ultrawide go for it. but the aoc is best for gaming in general with its 75hz n free sync

can you explain the advantage of the 75hz over 60hz and what freesync is and how it will be helpful to the gaming performance? i am currenly using a 22" sceptre monitor that is nearly a decade old and displays at 1680x1050. idk the hz or ms gtg but im sure its not amazing lol, so i am sure i will see a big improvement no matter what way i go with it but i just wanna make sure i get the best deal possible

read these
https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1011625/
http://pcunleashed.com/what-is-screen-tearing-and-what-do-you-do-about-it/

 

[madmatt30]

The aoc is a lovely 'little' screen make no mistake - & that little comment is the sole reason I wouldn't pick it personally.

There's a big size difference between a 21.5 & a 23 inch screen & 23/24 inch for gaming for me is the minimum I'd go.

You have a 22inch screen ? Wound you be happy with something slightly smaller or would you find yourself a month down the line thinking 'hmm I wish I'd gone for something a but bigger' ??

Apart from the 75mhz rating & freesync I'd expect comparable response time & panel quality on the aoc & Asus.They both have flicker free , tracefree & blue light specs.
Freesync ?? Not really sold at all , disable vsync & enable a 60fps framecap limit with rivatuner & you virtually have freesync on any screen.
75htz ? Nice but with an fx chip you should be setting your goal at 60fps max anyway IMO.

Like I said the aoc is a good screen & cheap too, the Asus is as good , is bigger, has twin hdmi sockets & audio pass through (you can plug a speaker or headphones directly in the monitor & the onboard DAC is better quality than most board outputs)

Generally/mainly though its about the screen size more than anything else.

 

[Jordan Booth]

this aoc comes with free sync, since u have a rx480. its a non ips ie a tn panel. but has 1ms response time. overall, low price too

the lg is good too with ips, if u like ultrawide go for it. but the aoc is best for gaming in general with its 75hz n free sync

can you explain the advantage of the 75hz over 60hz and what freesync is and how it will be helpful to the gaming performance? i am currenly using a 22" sceptre monitor that is nearly a decade old and displays at 1680x1050. idk the hz or ms gtg but im sure its not amazing lol, so i am sure i will see a big improvement no matter what way i go with it but i just wanna make sure i get the best deal possible

read these
https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1011625/
http://pcunleashed.com/what-is-screen-tearing-and-what-do-you-do-about-it/

so essentially what i get from the articles is i just need to push 60fps and cap it there and make sure there is no dips below that if i dont have some form of variable sync. i currently already do this on my system in each one of my games. i didnt know what this was but the reason i capped my system is because i didnt want it to what i like to call rubber band. so if im pushing a game at max utilization of my cpu or gpu at like 100fps or something and then it snaps back and i have a huge dip that causes dropped frames or tearing ect. guess they are pretty similar but idk if you have looked at my system but the cpu is the bottleneck not the gpu so if i put more strain on the gpu i.e higher resolution would i not see a performance increase as my cpu takes on less of the load? not quite sure how it works but i have seen people play the likes of cs:go on a super old dual core and a relatively new gpu and at 720 they had worse fps and stability then at 1080. i figure the same concept would apply right? could be way out in left field on this one but like i said i dont really know what i am talking about.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

hmm.... so if u feel 21.5 is small, go with the lg ultrawide ips. ultrawide, check. ips, check. both asus n lg have 60hz. since its a monitor i am assuming u sit close like in a desk n play. so 25" is ok with me. if not i did go with matt's thinking. make no mistake, aoc is still damn good.
but thats me

 

[Jordan Booth]

The aoc is a lovely 'little' screen make no mistake - & that little comment is the sole reason I wouldn't pick it personally.

There's a big size difference between a 21.5 & a 23 inch screen & 23/24 inch for gaming for me is the minimum I'd go.

You have a 22inch screen ? Wound you be happy with something slightly smaller or would you find yourself a month down the line thinking 'hmm I wish I'd gone for something a but bigger' ??

Apart from the 75mhz rating & freesync I'd expect comparable response time & panel quality on the aoc & Asus.They both have flicker free , tracefree & blue light specs.
Freesync ?? Not really sold at all , disable vsync & enable a 60fps framecap limit with rivatuner & you virtually have freesync on any screen.
75htz ? Nice but with an fx chip you should be setting your goal at 60fps max anyway IMO.

Like I said the aoc is a good screen & cheap too, the Asus is as good , is bigger, has twin hdmi sockets & audio pass through (you can plug a speaker or headphones directly in the monitor & the onboard DAC is better quality than most board outputs)

Generally/mainly though its about the screen size more than anything else.

i do agree size DOES matter lol and i agree i have never had any issues with screen tearing or anything like that in the passed since setting a 60fps cap on my games. and my fx8320 does admirably! i am an amd fanboy in the since that i love their price to performance especially with the release of ryzen but that will be for another day. currently i am able to max out the likes of fallout 4 witcher 3 shadow of moridor and many other triple A titles while staying around the 60fps cap with my system at 1080p. (i used my buddies for benchmarking purposes). i will be upgrading to ryzen when the r5 and r3 chips come out but that will be well into q2 before those ones are released which is why i want a better monitor. i understand its not a one size fits all "this is the best hands down", which is why i made this thread i want several different perspectives on the matter and i will decide what one i feel best fits me and my needs.

 

[Jordan Booth]

hmm.... so if u feel 21.5 is small, go with the lg ultrawide ips. ultrawide, check. ips, check. both asus n lg have 60hz. since its a monitor i am assuming u sit close like in a desk n play. so 25" is ok with me. if not i did go with matt's thinking. make no mistake, aoc is still damn good.
but thats me

agreed i do sit at a desk and play i have a steam link for when i want to game on the couch on my 65" samsung smart tv. with that being said i do feel a downsize would be a bad choice for me i can see how spec for spec (neglecting resolution of course) the aoc carries it's own weight and even beats my choices but honestly for what im looking for i believe the 21.5" screen is a deal breaker.

 

[Jordan Booth]

so one last thing before i select who had the best answer. the difference between 1080p and 1440p/2k is it worth it? what i mean by that is can you tell a difference in the resolution with your eyes sitting at a desk in relatively close proximity?

 

[Lucky_SLS]

so one last thing before i select who had the best answer. the difference between 1080p and 1440p/2k is it worth it? what i mean by that is can you tell a difference in the resolution with your eyes sitting at a desk in relatively close proximity?

as u can see, its not worth it. an ultrawide screen is wat i prefer. moreover for a 2k screen ur fps would drop to 40ish

 

[Jordan Booth]

so one last thing before i select who had the best answer. the difference between 1080p and 1440p/2k is it worth it? what i mean by that is can you tell a difference in the resolution with your eyes sitting at a desk in relatively close proximity?

as u can see, its not worth it. an ultrawide screen is wat i prefer. moreover for a 2k screen ur fps would drop to 40ish

thank you all very much for the info i learned a great deal and i feel i have made a wise purchasing decision because of it i decided to go with the ultra wide lg as i feel it best suits my needs but that may not be the case for others. i appreciate it greatly!

 

[Lucky_SLS]

thank you all very much for the info i learned a great deal and i feel i have made a wise purchasing decision because of it i decided to go with the ultra wide lg as i feel it best suits my needs but that may not be the case for others. i appreciate it greatly!

we r happy to help

 

[madmatt30]

Just to put the sizes into context mate.

Especially as you're currently running a 22 inch 16:10 & would be swapping aspect ratios with a new screen.

21.5 inch aoc 16:9 - roughly same width but you'll lose 1.5inch on the vertical screen height.
23 inch Asus 16:9 - roughly same screen height but you'll gain 1.5/2 inch on the width
25 inch ultawide lg - you'll gain 2.5- 3 inches on the width but lose the same on the height - to me that's a big big issue .
Generally the aoc & the lg are going to be actually physically downsizing even though the resolution is considerably higher.

I love ultrawide screens personally BUT to get similar height to a 23 inch 16:9 or your current 22inch 16:10 you would need to be looking at a 29inch model in all honesty.

Just take that into consideration before purchasing the lg , you ought to find one in a physical store to look at before you splash the cash really.

 

[Jordan Booth]

Just to put the sizes into context mate.

Especially as you're currently running a 22 inch 16:10 & would be swapping aspect ratios with a new screen.

21.5 inch aoc 16:9 - roughly same width but you'll lose 1.5inch on the vertical screen height.
23 inch Asus 16:9 - roughly same screen height but you'll gain 1.5/2 inch on the width
25 inch ultawide lg - you'll gain 2.5- 3 inches on the width but lose the same on the height - to me that's a big big issue .
Generally the aoc & the lg are going to be actually physically downsizing even though the resolution is considerably higher.

I love ultrawide screens personally BUT to get similar height to a 23 inch 16:9 you would need to be looking at a 29inch model in all honesty.

Just take that into consideration before purchasing the lg , you ought to find one in a physical store to look at before you splash the cash really.

i appreciate the input however newegg has a return policy so if i feel like i do not like it i will just pay the restocking fee and get the Asus the reason being is the closest store that would have something like that on display is over 50miles away if not further as i live in a very low populated rural area. so the gas money would be more than the restocking fee hahaha

 

[madmatt30]

A fair comment mate , you nay well be very happy , the lg's have excellent quality screens & you can actually run them at 75htz fairly easily.
I borrowed the 29inch model for a couple of weeks a year back & seriously considered swapping it out for my 24 inch 144htz benq - properly torn between the two.

That's roughly what you'll be looking although the 22 in the picture is wider but shorter than your current screen.

 

[Jordan Booth]

A fair comment mate , you nay well be very happy , the lg's have excellent quality screens & you can actually run them at 75htz fairly easily.
I borrowed the 29inch model for a couple of weeks a year back & seriously considered swapping it out for my 24 inch 144htz benq - properly torn between the two.

That's roughly what you'll be looking although the 22 in the picture is wider but shorter than your current screen.

i really appreciate the picture! the size is actually really nice in my opinion i believe i will be happy with my decision as i was not dissatisified with my 22" monitor's size just the hardware is outdated and i believe this will be the best upgrade for me and my uses personally.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

A fair comment mate , you nay well be very happy , the lg's have excellent quality screens & you can actually run them at 75htz fairly easily.
I borrowed the 29inch model for a couple of weeks a year back & seriously considered swapping it out for my 24 inch 144htz benq - properly torn between the two.

That's roughly what you'll be looking although the 22 in the picture is wider but shorter than your current screen.

u really have some awesome rigs in ur home, cool dude

 

[madmatt30]

^ not mine mate - googled it ;-)

Jordan - one thing that bugged me when I borrowed the uws - for 2 hours I sat using it & just kept thinking something doesn't seem right.
& it was such a stupid niggly thing it sounds daft but its the stand height.
Lg should have made the stand taller or allowed height adjustment because it sits too low when compared to a 16:10/16:9 screen.

Your focal point is centre screen 99% of the time & its just uncomfortable at the height it is when you've been used to a different screen , propped a couple of hardback books under it & a completely different experience - I'd be 100% certain you'll find it exactly the same.