Looking to buy a decent monitor

[niroshido]

1. What Is Your Country Of Origin? Republic Of Ireland

2. What do you plan to do with this monitor? (ex. Games, Movie Watching, Photo Editing, etc.) Games, Photoshop and general use

3. What resolution and screen size do you want? Greater than 19" but prefer 27" or greater

4. What refresh rate do you want? (ex. 60 hz , 70 hz.) Debatable but greater than 75Hz

5. How much are you looking to spend? This too is debatable

6. Brands Preferred (ex. Samsung, Acer, Asus, AOC, HP, Viewsonic, etc. ) Asus or Acer

7. Brands Not Preferred (state reason why) N/A

8. Are You Buying More Than One Monitor? No

9. How Many Displays Can Your GPU Support Maximum? And what GPU and driver version are you using if applicable? - Using 2 EVGA GeForce GT980Ti's

10. What Port Do You Want To Connect To (ex. DVI-D, HDMI, etc). I don't know if there is a performance benefit to either any specific cable, as long as the cabling is good enough

11. Is This Monitor A Primary Display Or A Secondary Display? Depends, if a monitor is recommended that is below 27" and would be somewhat similar to my current monitor (Dell SE197FP 19" LCD monitor https://www.cnet.com/products/dell-se197fp-lcd-monitor-19-series/specs/) then I may consider the new monitor as a backup or primary, if the monitor >= 27" the monitor will be my primary.

12. Is This A Secondary Display For A Laptop?


So to explain, I have built a brand a computer at the start of 2016, there was only 3 things that did not get replaced My monitor, Keyboard and mouse. This is my build https://pcpartpicker.com/b/74xYcf

I want a monitor for gaming (I am not a pro-gamer), I want it for drawing and photo-editing (photoshop CS5) and I want it for general purpose.

I have been eye-balling the Asus PG279Q and the Acer Predator X34. but one of the big issues I've encountered so far is that the nearest sellers are in the U.K. most of these sellers don't deliver to Ireland and those that do have jacked up the prices to almost 100 pounds / 150 euros more expensive than normal and then have a 20 - 40 pound transport cost attached, the distance also makes for other issues
- If item is broken, by the time you get the package (1 - 2 weeks) the return has been lost.
- If there is dead pixels... same as above.
- If I decide to ship from the states you are looking at over 100 USD in shipping costs

While some would say that for a monitor as expensive as the two mentioned above, you should be willing to pay that bit extra, the inherent risk of having associated with obtaining a defected monitor causes some concern.

So I would be looking for a few additional things
- A reputable seller
- A seller who delivers to Ireland
- A seller who allows for returns with a dead-pixel policy
- A seller who isn't going to extort me (for example: On Amazon.co.uk one person selling the Acer Predator X34 is selling for £2,159.45) I don't care if people call this Supply and demand its absolute baloni that a monitor is at this price.

 

[coozie7]

1: Nice place, the Emerald Isle.

2: You'll want to go with either an IPS, PLS or VA panel, the faster TN displays lack pinpoint the colour accuracy needed for high quality Photoshop work (but they're fine otherwise).

3: Make sure you have room! Also, the larger the display the further away you should sit, 27" is about as large as a desktop display can comfortably be, any larger any you'll constantly be moving your head to take it all in!

4: Moving over 60Hz with those dual GTX980Tis' would mean either using a Gsync display (expensive) or by cheating with a Freesync monitor and using it as a conventional fast panel, but you'll lose the adaptive sync features, an article on it: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/02/19/gysnc-or-freesync/

5: Please set a reasonable budget, prices vary hugely.

6: Meh.

7: Meh, again.

8:

9: Nice. You weren't messing about with that rig, were you? 😉

10: For high refresh you'll need to use a DisplayPort cable, neither DVI nor HDMI can handle the huge amounts of data a 144HZ screen needs.

11: I'll suggest you use the new display as primary, with the little Dell as secondary or kept in the attic as a reserve.

Check out Overclockers and Scan, AFAIK they both ship to the ROI, although costa are likely to be higher.
Amazon has some reputable sellers, and hosts plenty of good stuff of its own, they also ship far and wide and seem to have an excellent reputation for customer service.
Bear in mind, very, very few panel suppliers will RMA a panel for a single dead pixel, most will only allow a warranty return with 2 or more.

A final point: I had a 27" 1080 60 Hz TN display and swapped it for a 27" Freesync IPS 144Hz monitor fairly recently.
The higher rez is a must have at this screen size.
Higher refresh is a different matter, if you play mainly fast paced games then it's almost a must have, DOOM (2016) running at >90FPS is something to behold but it's not a deal breaker otherwise.

 

[niroshido]

1: Nice place, the Emerald Isle.

2: You'll want to go with either an IPS, PLS or VA panel, the faster TN displays lack pinpoint the colour accuracy needed for high quality Photoshop work (but they're fine otherwise).

3: Make sure you have room! Also, the larger the display the further away you should sit, 27" is about as large as a desktop display can comfortably be, any larger any you'll constantly be moving your head to take it all in!

4: Moving over 60Hz with those dual GTX980Tis' would mean either using a Gsync display (expensive) or by cheating with a Freesync monitor and using it as a conventional fast panel, but you'll lose the adaptive sync features, an article on it: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/02/19/gysnc-or-freesync/

5: Please set a reasonable budget, prices vary hugely.

6: Meh.

7: Meh, again.

8:

9: Nice. You weren't messing about with that rig, were you? 😉

10: For high refresh you'll need to use a DisplayPort cable, neither DVI nor HDMI can handle the huge amounts of data a 144HZ screen needs.

11: I'll suggest you use the new display as primary, with the little Dell as secondary or kept in the attic as a reserve.

Check out Overclockers and Scan, AFAIK they both ship to the ROI, although costa are likely to be higher.
Amazon has some reputable sellers, and hosts plenty of good stuff of its own, they also ship far and wide and seem to have an excellent reputation for customer service.
Bear in mind, very, very few panel suppliers will RMA a panel for a single dead pixel, most will only allow a warranty return with 2 or more.

A final point: I had a 27" 1080 60 Hz TN display and swapped it for a 27" Freesync IPS 144Hz monitor fairly recently.
The higher rez is a must have at this screen size.
Higher refresh is a different matter, if you play mainly fast paced games then it's almost a must have, DOOM (2016) running at >90FPS is something to behold but it's not a deal breaker otherwise.

Personally the thought of getting an IPS panel would be considered a priority for me.
I have a tendency of using and needing many windows open side by side. for example if I want to use my drawing tablet and practice drawing, I would have the web browser occupy 50% of my screen and the other side is photoshop.

I don't know how to prioritize refresh rate here because, I play World of warships, world of tanks, maybe a bit of Battlefield and Civilization VI. I don't consider myself a pro gamer not even in the great imagination I have, I do not use driving games.

In relation to budget, this is very very difficult one to answer, as you saw with my build up above, I spent a good few pennies on building that machine and I did so because I wanted to build something that would last and was quite advanced. But I would say that it should be less than 1,000 Euros

 

[coozie7]

Thought you would want an IPS/PLS/VA type over TN, hence the suggestion, so we agree on that point.

All those games will play perfectly well at 60Hz, so I'll advise you look for a display of that refresh rate- not only are they easier to find but a good deal less expensive-and use the clout of those big GPU's to accelerate Photoshop rather than aiming at sky high gaming frame rates.
Unless you think otherwise, of course.

Cost is largely going to be dependant on the chosen refresh rate, and will jump significantly if you go for a Gsync display, but you should easily obtain a good quality monitor for well under a thousand Euro.

If, as I suspect, you're using the system mainly for paid Photoshop commissions then I'll advise you to set gaming aside as a requirement, any 60Hz display is still capable enough for most mortals, I only moved up to a 144Hz monitor thanks to an unexpected pension pot windfall, otherwise I'd still be perfectly happy using my previous 60 Hz monitor.

Which leaves resolution, you MAY find it better to aim at a 4K 27" (maybe even larger if space allows) to give you that extra screen space and the ability to handle large images with less scrolling. Try running the system with DSR enabled at 4K to gauge gaming/application performance, although you may find it's a bit much at 19" you'll at least get some feel for the higher rez.

New suggestions:
Single 60Hz 27" 2560x1440 IPS/VA/PLS screen.
Or, Single 4K screen of a larger size if space permits.

 

[niroshido]

Thought you would want an IPS/PLS/VA type over TN, hence the suggestion, so we agree on that point.

All those games will play perfectly well at 60Hz, so I'll advise you look for a display of that refresh rate- not only are they easier to find but a good deal less expensive-and use the clout of those big GPU's to accelerate Photoshop rather than aiming at sky high gaming frame rates.
Unless you think otherwise, of course.

Cost is largely going to be dependant on the chosen refresh rate, and will jump significantly if you go for a Gsync display, but you should easily obtain a good quality monitor for well under a thousand Euro.

If, as I suspect, you're using the system mainly for paid Photoshop commissions then I'll advise you to set gaming aside as a requirement, any 60Hz display is still capable enough for most mortals, I only moved up to a 144Hz monitor thanks to an unexpected pension pot windfall, otherwise I'd still be perfectly happy using my previous 60 Hz monitor.

Which leaves resolution, you MAY find it better to aim at a 4K 27" (maybe even larger if space allows) to give you that extra screen space and the ability to handle large images with less scrolling. Try running the system with DSR enabled at 4K to gauge gaming/application performance, although you may find it's a bit much at 19" you'll at least get some feel for the higher rez.

New suggestions:
Single 60Hz 27" 2560x1440 IPS/VA/PLS screen.
Or, Single 4K screen of a larger size if space permits.

Thanks for your input so far, unfortunately I am still undecided.
You made an assumption about the following "as I suspect, you're using the system mainly for paid Photoshop commissions " This actually is not true.
I like drawing, I own a Wacom Intuos Pro Medium and have been basically learning the skills I had lost many years ago, as a hobby. I do like drawing and wanted to use split screen so I can improve my knowledge of line work and the foundations of art (perspective drawing, character design).

My PC is a pretty expensive general purpose machine, which I use for photoshop (drawing buildings, characters, animals from reference images found on google), gaming (as mentioned, Battlefield, Civilization VI, World of Warships).

I will be honest, my heart is kind of set on the ROG Swift PG279Q 27" Monitor as it fulfills several of my interests (is an IPS panel, has good color accuracy and has one of the best refresh rates on the market) , but my concern mainly comes down to spending close to 1,000 euros and finding the monitor has the backlight bleed that has cursed a lot of these models.

My current monitor is operating at 75Hz refresh rate, but has limited features for adjustment, it is a 19" Dell monitor which was included when I bought my first PC, a Dell XPS 710 when I went to college, that was 10 years ago. While my PC has been replaced, my monitor has not and I often feel that I am missing out, considering that 2 Geforce GT980 Ti's are powering the graphics behind my new PC I can only feel that they are being under utilized and are not showing their true potential.
I would like to be convinced that spending 1,000 euros on a monitor will not leave me with buyers remorse, because if I commit to a monitor at that price I should be getting high quality and I expect the monitor to last, with no need for replacement in the next 10 years or have to buy a second monitor to compensate for the lack of screen space which I do find rather inhibiting, whether it be for drawing with the use of reference images, making music (which I do, using Cubase and sound libraries), or for viewing large documents, or simply just watching a movie and reading something at the side.

As you mentioned, there is a lot of monitors out there. My main interest would be to obtain a monitor that is an IPS panel, has good screen resolution, is of a good quality and has a refresh rate greater than 75Hz since I can't see a reason to be stepping backwards with my refresh rate (from a 75Hz monitor).

I know this makes things slightly more complex, but I am still hoping for either validation to buy the PG279Q or simply a monitor that wont give me buyers remorse

 

[coozie7]

Ah, right, I thought you were using the system on a professional/moneymaking basis mainly.
With that sorted...

If you're determined to go over 60Hz, that rules out a 4K display. To all intents and purposes they're hardware limited to 60Hz since even a Display Port connection can't shift enough data to run such a massive screen rez any faster.

If you JUST want a fast, high rez display, and are not concerned about the Gsync feature you could always run a Freesync display, it won't have the adaptive refresh active but it WILL run as a high refresh monitor. With those dual cards pumping out the pixels you could use the adaptive sync feature in the Nvidia drivers and you'll have 90% of the value of Gsync at a fraction of the price.

I'm sure this is wasted advice-you sound pretty switched on-but; Take your time, that big Asus isn't going to become unavailable any time soon and seek more opinions on other tech sites, Techpowerup, Guru3D, Hexus and AnandTech all have lively forums and would be good places to look for further advice.
If you post elsewhere, put the system specs, your uses and the reason why you're after a high refresh display at the top, or others are going to say the same as me.

Things like light bleed can vary from panel to panel, and it's a known issue with IPS displays, my Acer XF270HU ( bmijdprz ) has some but it's not bad enough to be an issue for me.

And finally, I'm NOT going to advise against that fine Asus, it's a top class product backed up by a high quality warranty, my personal opinion is that you MAY get better value from a lower cost high refresh Freesync display but whatever choice you make, at 27" you'll definitely want either a 2560x1440 or ultra widescreen ( 2560x 1080 for example ) resolution, 1920x1080 at that screen size will be too coarse for your needs.

 

[niroshido]

Ah, right, I thought you were using the system on a professional/moneymaking basis mainly.
With that sorted...

If you're determined to go over 60Hz, that rules out a 4K display. To all intents and purposes they're hardware limited to 60Hz since even a Display Port connection can't shift enough data to run such a massive screen rez any faster.

If you JUST want a fast, high rez display, and are not concerned about the Gsync feature you could always run a Freesync display, it won't have the adaptive refresh active but it WILL run as a high refresh monitor. With those dual cards pumping out the pixels you could use the adaptive sync feature in the Nvidia drivers and you'll have 90% of the value of Gsync at a fraction of the price.

I'm sure this is wasted advice-you sound pretty switched on-but; Take your time, that big Asus isn't going to become unavailable any time soon and seek more opinions on other tech sites, Techpowerup, Guru3D, Hexus and AnandTech all have lively forums and would be good places to look for further advice.
If you post elsewhere, put the system specs, your uses and the reason why you're after a high refresh display at the top, or others are going to say the same as me.

Things like light bleed can vary from panel to panel, and it's a known issue with IPS displays, my Acer XF270HU ( bmijdprz ) has some but it's not bad enough to be an issue for me.

And finally, I'm NOT going to advise against that fine Asus, it's a top class product backed up by a high quality warranty, my personal opinion is that you MAY get better value from a lower cost high refresh Freesync display but whatever choice you make, at 27" you'll definitely want either a 2560x1440 or ultra widescreen ( 2560x 1080 for example ) resolution, 1920x1080 at that screen size will be too coarse for your needs.

Thanks for the advice Coozie. I will take your recommendations into consideration.