Help deciding on a new gaming monitor

[litegrace]

Hi everyone, I'm going to be building a gaming rig soon and I wanted some help with deciding on what monitor to get. I don't have a very big budget, but I'm looking for something 22" or 24" (within that range, can be a bit smaller or bigger). I plan on maxing AAA games out (Dying Light, Evolve, Advanced Warfare, etc) on 1080p and 60fps. I probably won't be trying for any more than 60fps, and will probably lock it at that.

My main question is whether I should get a 60hz IPS display (or LED TN display), or go for a 120hz display. This is also where I'm confused. I've heard mixed opinions on whether or not 120hz really makes a difference at 60fps. I would think that it wouldn't (since it would still be displaying 60 frames and not 120), but people seem to think that it still matters (not including screen tear if the fps is uncapped and goes above 60 on a 60hz display, which makes sense). Does anyone have any experience with this? I just don't understand how 120hz would make a difference compared to 60hz if they are both receiving 60fps from the GPU. If it does make a difference, can someone explain that? It just seems so impossible to find any concrete information on this subject. I also want to note that the 60hz displays I've looked at so far (including the IPS) all have 2-5 ms response time if that matters. Thanks!

 

[ZeroWhite]

Personally I've always used 60Hz monitors, I've seen higher Hz monitors in action and wasn't very impressed but yet this is my personally opinion because some do swear by a higher refresh rate. The most important factor to consider in my eyes is the response time, 1-2ms is the only acceptable range for a smooth gaming experience. IPS monitors look fantastic but any reasonable priced IPS monitor is not going to refresh as fast as a standard LCD/LED monitor. Hopefully this information will help you make an informed decision.

*Edit, I don't mean refresh as fast as an LCD/LED, I mean won't have as low of a response time.

 

[Brillis Wuce]

120/144hz monitors are good for even 60fps gaming simply because you don't have to enable Vsync. When Vsync is enabled, there is actually a tiny delay in your gameplay. Having a high refresh rate monitor makes it so you don't have to enable it.

Regular use is also better. Even when just navigating through Windows, the experience is much smoother. When you go back to a 60hz monitor, the experience feels choppy.

 

[litegrace]

120/144hz monitors are good for even 60fps gaming simply because you don't have to enable Vsync. When Vsync is enabled, there is actually a tiny delay in your gameplay. Having a high refresh rate monitor makes it so you don't have to enable it.

Regular use is also better. Even when just navigating through Windows, the experience is much smoother. When you go back to a 60hz monitor, the experience feels choppy.

I literally just now saw the post on the side about the best monitors February 2015 lol. Since everything under the gaming section is 120/144hz I'm assuming that it does make a difference. I guess it does make it so you don't have to Vsync which is a plus. So is there any reason to favor 144hz over 120hz? Or is that basically just if you get fps over 120? I can't imagine you could even see a visible difference at that point, with it being so high to begin with and only being a 22hz difference. But, again, I really don't know these things so that's why I'm asking others 😛

 

[litegrace]

I also don't mean to keep asking questions, but could someone explain in more detail what the advantage of a 120hz is? I understand that if you aren't capping at 60fps it gives you the benefit of more frames and no screen tearing, but beyond that (assuming you are viewing things at 60fps, not the Windows interface or anything) does it really help with anything? To me it seems like if your GPU is sending 60 fps to your monitor, then there shouldn't be any reason for a 120hz to be better than a 60hz. I don't know though, there might be an explanation for why it is better, that's why I'm asking. Of course, that's assuming both have the same 1 or 2 ms response time, I can understand the difference if the 60hz had like 5+ ms response. So, is it purely for non-Vsynced games then?

 

[Brillis Wuce]

Ask all the questions you want 😉

120hz vs 144hz is a debate between price and what frame rates you're getting, but it ultimately doesn't matter, like you mentioned above.

Think about fluidity. Have you seen a 60hz TV versus a 120/240hz TV? Big difference.

Think about gaming from 30 fps to 60 fps. It's night and day. Now imagine you doubled it again to 120hz 😉.

 

[litegrace]

So do you think it would be worth it to get a 120/144hz monitor if my rig is going to be running either an R9 290 or GTX 970? I'm just not sure how much fps I'll even be able to get out of AAA titles with those if the settings are maxed. That's why I was originally considering an IPS display since I heard they look nicer. Do you think it's worth it for those cards? I'm just worried I might only get 65-70 fps max and not really be able to see the difference on a 120/144hz display.

 

[Brillis Wuce]

If you look at my build in the bottom right corner, you'll see I have the GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0. I love my setup, but I've got to tell you, the only thing I regret is buying 60Hz monitors.

When I turn Vsync off, I'm getting 80-100 fps in BF4. Even in Dying light and Metro Last Light, I'm getting quiet a bit above 60 fps. On games that are even only a few years old, I'm getting 110 fps.

But my monitor is limiting all of them to 60, and it bugs the hell out of me.

By the way, go for the GTX 970 😉

 

[litegrace]

If you look at my build in the bottom right corner, you'll see I have the GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0. I love my setup, but I've got to tell you, the only thing I regret is buying 60Hz monitors.

When I turn Vsync off, I'm getting 80-100 fps in BF4. Even in Dying light and Metro Last Light, I'm getting quiet a bit above 60 fps. On games that are even only a few years old, I'm getting 110 fps.

But my monitor is limiting all of them to 60, and it bugs the hell out of me.

By the way, go for the GTX 970 😉

Yeah I was most likely going to get the GTX 970, but considering waiting on AMD's 300 series to come out (they are supposed to be significantly stronger and roughly the same price, but we'll see). I will probably go with the 120/144hz display then, I just kind of liked the idea of IPS looking really nice 😛

 

[Brillis Wuce]

Understandable, but IPS are only absolutely necessary for media or 3D environments where color accuracy is key. I went from IPS to TN, and I can tell you the difference is small. You won't be disappointed 😉

 

[litegrace]

Understandable, but IPS are only absolutely necessary for media or 3D environments where color accuracy is key. I went from IPS to TN, and I can tell you the difference is small. You won't be disappointed 😉

Okay, cool I guess I'm just being picky, I thought IPS would be really nice for games like Skyrim with a big open world, but I'm sure overall having the 120/144hz is going to make a bigger difference for most games. I'm going to be spending a lot on my build, so I'm just trying to make sure I get the best experience out of it. Thanks for all the help

 

[Brillis Wuce]

No problem. Good luck with your build.