The Perfect 24" Monitor for Nvidia surround (3 Monitor Setup) 5760 X 1080 or a Single 27", to run BF4, Dayz SA, Arma 3 etc

[prochaos]

Hi there first post here, ive been looking for days for the perfect monitor to go with my build in order run bf4, dayz, arma 3 and maybe some other games, not sure yet. i preferably want to set up Nvidia Surround and have 3 monitors, all the same model. im really looking for 120+ Hz since reading so many reviews and posts everyone is able to tell the the difference after using a 60hz monitor and im willing to sacrifice a bit of image quality for a better refresh rate, what your view on this point and have you accepted the same decision to gain hz over colour for games like dayz SA etc.

My price range is £150 - £250 per 23" - 24 1080p" Monitor, i really dont want to go higher but if theres an extra option available then i welcome it. Through my research im aware of the Asus VG248QE, it seems to always end up on top but i have read reviews of it lacking in image quality a lot and it has a very hefty price tag of £275 but from reading about it a lot it seems to be number #1 for gaming. Due to its high price id love to have more options for cheaper monitors of similar quality. id prefer a tn panel since i wont be moving them up or down much so the angels are a major issue and everywhere i read tn panels seem to be the better choice for gaming.
Im not sure yet but i might instead be interested in a single 27 " monitor again 120hz +, great colour etc but i would prefer 3 monitors

Whats your experience with the Asus VG248QE ? was it worth the cost and 144hz to sacrifice the colour ?
what monitors of similar quality to the Asus VG248QE is there out there with a cheaper price tag ?

Im not sure about ips monitors since i have no experience with comparing a high hz monitor to a ips but from ym research they have a much better colour quality so i welcome high end options.

My build is as follows, it will be from Dino PC once i decide on a couple things including a monitor choice that will live up to the rest of the components and bring the best out of them. (ive chosen dino pc since this is my first build and i dont trust myself, with my lack of experience and knowledge, i might end up doing harm to one of the components and end up spending more money to fixing it than i would of if i let Dino pc built it, id rather pay a little extra to have it built properly and ofc overclocked, ive read many of their reviews and they are highly recommended.

CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K
CPU Overclocking: 4.3Ghz - Extreme Overclock
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100 Extreme Water Cooler
Operating System: Windows 8.1 (64-bit)
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1 Sniper M5
RAM: 16GB Corsair 2133mhz Vengeance Pro (2x8GB)
Hard Drive: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5 inch Basic SATA SSD
Secondary Hard Drive: 1TB S-ATAIII 6.0Gb/s HHD
Optical Drive: 22x DVD±RW DL S-ATA
Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB
Sound card: Onboard 7.1 Audio
Case: CM Storm Trooper or Corsair Obsidian 750D (Not sure Yet)
PSU: 750W Corsair RM Fully Modular
Warranty: 3 Year SureCare Warranty

This will be a costly build in the end but i hope i wont have to upgrade it for a while or have any issue with it since it will be tested by dino pc before being shipping out.
Any reply is a welcome response and much appreciated
Kind Regards Elliot

 

[HiTechObsessed]

If you're going to be wanting to do Surround (which I definitely suggest since you have the budget) I would go for something like dual 290s or 290X's. A single 780 Ti can definitely power a Surround setup, but if you're wanting higher refresh rates, a single GPU just won't cut it, as you won't be able to take advantage of it. And the 290/x in Crossfire would be really nice with the extra VRAM, which would allow higher AA and higher quality settings for longer into the future without taking a hit. And going the dual 290 route will only be a little more expensive than a single 780 Ti, which you can make up the price increase by dropping the RAM to 1600. I would also look for a better power supply. The RM series is built using small, inferior capacitors, and I wouldn't recommend it on a high-end build like this.

On to the monitors, the ASUS you listed above is a phenomenal choice. As long as you have the GPU power to back up a 120Hz+ monitor, I definitely suggest it. Getting 100+ FPS with no screen tearing is just amazing lol it's one of those things you can't really describe, you just need to experience it. If you're looking to save a few quid, you can save almost 100 total by going the BenQ route, which is still a very solid choice.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Monitor: BenQ XL2411Z 144Hz 24.0" Monitor (£239.99 @ Aria PC)
Monitor: BenQ XL2411Z 144Hz 24.0" Monitor (£239.99 @ Aria PC)
Monitor: BenQ XL2411Z 144Hz 24.0" Monitor (£239.99 @ Aria PC)
Total: £719.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-07 15:18 BST+0100)

 

[prochaos]

Hi HiTechObsessed, Thank you for you answer. I really would love to upgrade the GPU but its not really in my budget, i would end up spending more and more on upgrades and inevitably spend as much as i would of on 3 Asus VG248QE which wasnt my ideal choice when it comes to the final cost of my build.

thnanks for the monitor option ive noticed that benQ previously but i couldnt find too many reviews on it. How much would i be able to pull out of my build with 3 Asus VG248QE or one of thse 4 BenQ Models, BenQ XL2411T or BENQ XL2420T or BENQ XL2411Z or BENQ XL2420Z (they all seem so similar to me).
what would my fps be like or hz while using all 3 Asus VG248QE or perhaps only using the center monitor as a gaming monitor for some games.

Any news on any models of similar specs coming out soon that wont cost quite as much by any chance ?

 

[HiTechObsessed]

TechPowerUP has pretty good reviews of games when gaming at 5760x1080 (Surround) as you can see, a single 780 Ti won't really get you the performance you want to take advantage of the higher refresh rates: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_780_Ti_Gaming/16.html

I would definitely recommend you building yourself. That way, your budget will go a lot further, all in the right places, and is really pretty easy. LinusTechTips and CareyHolzman have phenomenal build guides that go through step by step and show/explain everything. Take a look at some to judge what you think.

LinusTechTips: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8mG-RkN2uTwlcLU_rv29Gt4578XfgJm_
CareyHolzman: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlgrBv7zqfLSv30OimQg92SjGuMapQSBl

Building yourself, you could easily get everything you're looking at here upgrade-wise, for cheaper:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£221.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£83.88 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£86.44 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£55.08 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£79.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£41.82 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£319.55 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) (£319.55 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£79.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£132.46 @ Ebuyer)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£72.99 @ Ebuyer)
Monitor: BenQ XL2411Z 144Hz 24.0" Monitor (£239.99 @ Aria PC)
Monitor: BenQ XL2411Z 144Hz 24.0" Monitor (£239.99 @ Aria PC)
Monitor: BenQ XL2411Z 144Hz 24.0" Monitor (£239.99 @ Aria PC)
Total: £2213.71
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-07 16:28 BST+0100)

 

[ImperialistMillitant]

I agree with person above, owning an R9 290x myself I can say it can power all three screens however It struggles with newer titles. Crossfire becomes a necessity for future and present bleeding edge titles.

 

[pdasterly]

a single card wont power thee monitors like you want it to. I dont know why people wont get the new g-sync monitor. this product actually has me excited over the possibilities its going to bring to the gaming areana

 

[HiTechObsessed]

G-Sync is awesome, but with the budge lined out above, isn't feasible for Surround. Especially with the AMD cards coming back to normal pricing, where you can get 780 Ti performance for $150-$200 less each card, and get a 1080p 144Hz monitor for ~$200 less each. With Crossfire and Surround, you're looking at a savings of about $800 or so going with dual 290X's and 3 144Hz monitors.

Yes, the G-Sync setup would be ideal and better, but on a strict budget, isn't feasible.

 

[prochaos]

Hi, im afraid im not confidant enough to build it myself, well i know i could build it and put it togther but if there was an issue then it would end up coming down to a mistake of mine and it might cost me extra money and more time and as far as overclocking the cpu myself, i wouldnt know where to start.

there prices over at dino pc are actually really cheap at the moment with the sales and i calculated the cost of the components elsewhere it almost breaks even, a little over but im willing to pay the £50-£100 extra to have it properly done. Never know I might build my next pc myself.

What do you mean by a saving of $800 cpus Authority ? in the uk the cost for crossfire 290x's would be an extra £235.20 over my current build which is out of my budget atm but i might in the future do a gtx 780ti sli in order to upgrade it and keep up with newer gpu's, crossfire 290's would also be £82.50 more than my current build.

Im afraid i would have to leave g-sync since its out of my budget at the moment even tho it would be an amazing set up, is there any news on the cost of the new 4k asus monitor over here in the UK i noticed it had a price tag of $649. W

Would i be able to run a single 27"4k smoothly with my setup ?

Thanks again for all your comments

 

[HiTechObsessed]

I mentioned going to Crossfire 290s if you lowered your RAM to 8GB 1600 instead of 16GB, as it would be about even in price.

My comment to G-Sync was regarding the previous poster's comment.

A single 780 Ti will not power a 4k monitor on its own, you will need to SLI them to get good performance. You may be able to get around 30 FPS at medium, but I would be sad getting a super high resolution monitor and having to play on low settings lol

 

[prochaos]

Ah i see, yeh it would work at to the same however i might end up getting another 780 ti so i have a sli in the future so i would kinda have to replace them both in the future if i purchase 2 x 290's. if i recall i heard it on a LinusTechTips video that he mentioned a higher mhz ram would benefit the user when it comes to fps games like bf4, i dont think i would go below 16gb of 1866mhz since i would like that extra speed outside of games and it was only a difference of £15 between 16gb of 2133 and 16gb of 1866mhz

any idea what my fps and hz on 3x Asus VG248QE (it will stay at a constant 144hz if im correct ?) would be like on high - ultra setting on say dayz SA or bf4, so many reviews have praised the asus when it comes to fps games and to be honest i will be playing them the majority of the time.

yeh 4k and g-sync are out of my league at the moment at least lol

thanks Elliot

 

[HiTechObsessed]

Higher speed RAM doesn't do anything noticeable to performance unless you're using an integrated GPU. You may see a 1 or 2 FPS increase at the most going from 1600 to 2133 in gaming.

The 780 Ti will do pretty well on 5760x1080, but not on a 144Hz monitor. At high settings, depending on AA, you'll get around 40-50 FPS in BF4 and DayZ. There's 2 reasons I recommend the 290s over a 780 Ti. The first is VRAM. 3GB is kinda low for 5760x1080, especially looking into the future. And if you're going to be running monitors over 60Hz, a pair of 290s will be much more capable of taking advantage over a 780 Ti. I just don't want you to waste over 500 quid on monitors where the one feature you're paying all this money for you can utilize.

 

[prochaos]

Oh a reply already, i totally understand why spend £700 on 3 monitors and not take full advantage of them, i read some reviews that eyeinfinity is inferior to nvidia surround and some people had issues running crossfire with a triple display. i think i would rather go with 290x crossfire than 290 crossfire buts its not in my budget, would you perhaps recommend going with the 780ti and then when the 780 ti 6gb comes out and the 780ti reduces in price go with a 780 ti sli ?

or perhaps wait for the 780ti 6gb or 790 ? any ideas on a release date it must be getting cloose

 

[HiTechObsessed]

I've seen reviews saying Eyefinity is better, and seen people have issues with SLI hooking up triple monitors lol It's all in where you happen to look.

The 290 is essentially a down-clocked 290x.

But yeah, that's a fine plan, as long as you know going into it you won't have immediate use of the high refresh rate. A pair of 780 Ti's in SLI will be really great in Surround

About the release date of a 790 or future 8XX cards, no one has any idea. Back at Christmas time the Maxwell cards were supposed to be released in March lol

 

[pdasterly]

800 series is mobile cards, maybe 9xx series. 20mm chips for nvidia are delayed til 2015. i had gtx 760 sli and i had a few problems but nothing nvidia couldn't fix. yes the 780ti is going to be killer setup, look into r9 290's with a water cooled setup, your gonna want as much ram a possible

 

[HiTechObsessed]

800 series right now is mobile cards, but that logic doesn't make sense. There are GTX 700 series mobile cards. The difference is the M at the end lol

 

[pdasterly]

we shall see, only time will tell. I do want a fully unlocked 20mm maxwell chip but they are delayed til 2015. In the mean time I just picked up two r9 290x until the maxwell hits the streets running