TV or monitor

[TheSplitz15]

I just got the parts to my first PC. I'm now deciding on whether I'm going to use my TV or buy a monitor. My TV is a 55 inch Panasonic SmartTV. For a monitor i'm looking at: http://www.asus.com/Commercial_Monitors_Projectors/PB278Q/

From the research i've been doing a lot of people recommend Using a monitor over a TV, however I'm still kinda confused about the different monitor types (IPS Vs. TN etc.) I definitely want it to be a 27 inch 2560 x 1400 monitor. Are there any brands that are really good? Is the monitor that i'm looking at really good? Also here are the parts that make up my PC.

CPU - Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5 GHz
Motherboard - ASUS Z87 Sabertooth
CPU Fan - Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Video Card - EVGA GTX 780 Ti Classified
RAM - Kingston HyperX Blu 16GB
SSD - Crucial M500 240GB
HDD - Western Digital Blue 1TB
Case - CM Storm Stryker – Full Tower
Power Supply - Seasonic M12II-850
Optical Drive - Asus Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-Ray Drive

Should I just use my TV and play at 1080p and have superb FPS...or get a monitor and play at 1440p with still really good FPS? If it's not that much of an improvement I don't care, but it seems like it would be.

 

[plaintuts]

if you like to sit in front of a desk get a monitor with an IPS screen with 2ms or less response time and a 144hz refresh rate.
something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824014375

if you like to sit on the couch while gaming, the TV is fine.

 

[ChrisR83]

There is allot more to consider when you are looking at monitor vs tv. First, what are you mainly going to do? Gamming, watching tv, browsing ect. What types of games are you going to play? MMO, RPG, or Shooter? For MMO and RPG type games you don’t need to worry so much about GTG times, input lag, and refresh rates. But if you play allot of shooter type games, where speed and accuracy are important then I say monitor hands down. The faster GTG, higher refresh rates, and lower input lag are a major factor.

With the system you have, I would say go for a 2ms or less GTG monitor with low input lag and high refresh rates. You are going to be running just about every game out right now over 60fps @1080p. so if you get a monitor/tv with 60hz refresh anything over 60fps you will not even see, so what is the point of a nice powerful system like yours. I highly recommend getting a 144hz monitor, here are a couple from ASUS,
24”
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236313
27”
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236293

BenQ also has great 144hz monitors but they are going to cost a bit more.

You could look at going with a 1440p monitor, but I personally like 1080p (I think with a good monitor games look amazing @ 1080p) and would rater have high fps with clear smooth images and low input lag. I plan on waiting a few more years for prices to drop and refresh rates increase before I jump to a higher resolution.

 

[TheSplitz15]

There is allot more to consider when you are looking at monitor vs tv. First, what are you mainly going to do? Gamming, watching tv, browsing ect. What types of games are you going to play? MMO, RPG, or Shooter? For MMO and RPG type games you don’t need to worry so much about GTG times, input lag, and refresh rates. But if you play allot of shooter type games, where speed and accuracy are important then I say monitor hands down. The faster GTG, higher refresh rates, and lower input lag are a major factor.

With the system you have, I would say go for a 2ms or less GTG monitor with low input lag and high refresh rates. You are going to be running just about every game out right now over 60fps @1080p. so if you get a monitor/tv with 60hz refresh anything over 60fps you will not even see, so what is the point of a nice powerful system like yours. I highly recommend getting a 144hz monitor, here are a couple from ASUS,
24”
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236313
27”
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236293

BenQ also has great 144hz monitors but they are going to cost a bit more.

You could look at going with a 1440p monitor, but I personally like 1080p (I think with a good monitor games look amazing @ 1080p) and would rater have high fps with clear smooth images and low input lag. I plan on waiting a few more years for prices to drop and refresh rates increase before I jump to a higher resolution.

I'm mainly using it for gaming. I really play all types of games, not a big MMO fan but I can always try. But i play basically anything, including shooters. I'm not the super competitive player though, I don't mind being competitive from time to time but I definitely enjoy the casual-ness of single player solo kinda games. Why isn't there a 1440p monitor with 144hz refresh rates? I can't find something like that anywhere..the choices seem to be 1440p for a better looking game but not as high of refresh rates..or 1080p with 144hz. maybe I'm missing something.

 

[ChrisR83]

To my knowledge there are not any 1440p or higher monitors @ 144hz. I don’t know why, maybe the cost would be too high, or the technology just isn’t there yet. Like I said before I would rather stay at 1080p for a few more years. IMO playing at 144hz on FPS type games seeing more than twice as many images per second with clear fast moving images, beats higher resolutions. Right now the higher resolutions get very demanding when it comes to GPU’s and Vram, the cost to run higher resolution with good FPS just doesn’t seem worth it to me right now.

Now there are going to be people who disagree with me and that’s ok. It all comes down to what you prefer and what you are looking for when you game. I am perfectly happy with my VG248QE, I plan on picking up two more and I will be good for years to come.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

When I build my rig, I'm definitely going to be using my TV. When I was younger, I didn't mind sitting at a desk for hours while playing games, but now I want to relax in my recliner and stare at a big screen with surround sound while other people can sit on the couch and watch, too.

For MMO and RPG type games you don’t need to worry so much about GTG times, input lag, and refresh rates. But if you play allot of shooter type games, where speed and accuracy are important then I say monitor hands down. The faster GTG, higher refresh rates, and lower input lag are a major factor.

People say this all the time, but I have a question about that. Is there more lag from a PC hooked up to a TV through HDMI than there is with a gaming console hooked up the same way? If it's similar to what you would get with a console, then that's acceptable to me. I don't really understand why it would be worse than that if you're using high end hardware.

 

[ChrisR83]

Input lag is in the monitor/tv, it affects how long it takes your monitor/tv to displays the movement/action from your controller/mouse, tv’s generally have higher input lag then quality gaming monitors. The average casual gamer (console or pc) probably will not have a problem with input lag, because they started gaming with it, it has always been there so it is not an issue for them. But once you step up to a faster monitor with lower input lag and play on it for a while, if you were to ever go back that is when you will notice the difference.

It is just like the 144hz monitors, if you have always played at 60hz, then jumped on a 144hz monitor the average person will not see the difference right away. If they continued to play on a 144hz monitor and got adjusted to it, then were to go back to a 60hz monitor they will notice right away.

Some people are happy gaming on tv’s I am not saying they are wrong, if they are happy and enjoy the gaming experience then more power to them. This is my opinion from my experience, I notice right away between 60 and 144hz, and if Vsync is on or off (Vsync increases input lag). Like I said if you are happy cool, game your way.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Input lag is in the monitor/tv, it affects how long it takes your monitor/tv to displays the movement/action from your controller/mouse, tv’s generally have higher input lag then quality gaming monitors. The average casual gamer (console or pc) probably will not have a problem with input lag, because they started gaming with it, it has always been there so it is not an issue for them. But once you step up to a faster monitor with lower input lag and play on it for a while, if you were to ever go back that is when you will notice the difference.

It is just like the 144hz monitors, if you have always played at 60hz, then jumped on a 144hz monitor the average person will not see the difference right away. If they continued to play on a 144hz monitor and got adjusted to it, then were to go back to a 60hz monitor they will notice right away.

Some people are happy gaming on tv’s I am not saying they are wrong, if they are happy and enjoy the gaming experience then more power to them. This is my opinion from my experience, I notice right away between 60 and 144hz, and if Vsync is on or off (Vsync increases input lag). Like I said if you are happy cool, game your way.

I get what you're saying. So there's no more lag with a PC to TV connection than a console, but if you've gotten used to no lag on a monitor, it makes it hard to go back. I can understand that. At my stage of life, the comfort of my recliner is a higher priority. 😀

 

[TheSplitz15]

Thanks for the advice but I ultimately went with the ASUS PB278Q 27-inch 1440P. I've spent the last week researching the different monitor options...better detail at 1440p but less fluid/smooth, or more fluid/smooth but not as highly detailed at 1080p. I was considering the Dell U2713hm, but the ASUS had a bit of a better response time making it aimed more for gamers and about 100 dollars cheaper (though dell's customer service and 3 year warranty was very attractive.) Worse case scenario I can always sell the ASUS, though perhaps not at the full retail price. For me I'm just not a super competitive "twitch" gamer, so I opted for the better image quality over the faster response time. Don't get me wrong, I love shooters and multiplayer here and there but I'm pretty relaxed about it. Thanks for the advice guys even though I went the other route with 1440p =P