Which Monitor is Best for Gaming?

[avidday7]

Hi all!

I am currently looking for a new monitor to replace my curent one as it is looking fuzzy etc. I have a budget of about $200 to $350 AUD. Here are the ones I am looking at. I am a gamer playing games such as War Thunder, Euro Truck Simulator 2, Civ 5, Space Engineers, Project Cars. I am using an R9 270 but plan to upgrade in the future, so is FreeSync an option I should look into?

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=558_1641&products_id=27647
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=558_1641&products_id=32267
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=558_1094&products_id=32188
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=558_1094&products_id=28096

I would like 1080p, preferably IPS or equivalent, perhaps 144hz, FreeSync maybe.

Thanks
avidday7

 

[guanyu210379]

1920x1080p on 27" is a no-go if you sit 2-3 feet away. One monitor is disqualified due to this reason.

Making a recommendation is a big confusing, The problem is you want to have 144Hz IPS with FreeSync but want to have 1080p, this combination is not available.
At the same time, you listed 60Hzs IPS and 144Hz TN plus you listed 21:9 and 16:9 monitors.
Those are complete different monitor categories with their pros and cons.
It is clear that you still do not know what you want and this is a bit confusing to me to recommend a monitor which suits to your liking.

 

[guanyu210379]

If you want 144Hz IPS with FreeSync but on 2560x1440, yes, there is at least one. It is the ASUS MG279Q.
But I think MG279Q is outside your budget.

 

[avidday7]

1920x1080p on 27" is a no-go if you sit 2-3 feet away. One monitor is disqualified due to this reason.

Making a recommendation is a big confusing, The problem is you want to have 144Hz IPS with FreeSync but want to have 1080p, this combination is not available.
At the same time, you listed 60Hzs IPS and 144Hz TN plus you listed 21:9 and 16:9 monitors.
Those are complete different monitor categories with their pros and cons.
It is clear that you still do not know what you want and this is a bit confusing to me to recommend a monitor which suits to your liking.

Ok. Yeah I'm not really sure sorry.

 

[guanyu210379]

hmm...how do I start ?
how about this? which one is more important to you? Assuming your GPU is sufficient for the games.
A) a faster monitor which lead to smoother games, can display more than 60fps and relatively free from tearing but the color+contrast reproduction and viewing angle are bad.
or
B) a monitor with really good color+contrast reproduction and excellent viewing angle but slow, which lead to a lot less smoother games, can not display more than 60fps and has screen tearing issues and thus in need of VSync/adaptive VSync and/or triple buffering.

If you like
C) a monitor with really good color+contrast reproduction and excellent viewing angle but also fast, can display more than 60 fps and completely free from tearing.
AUD350 is not enough

and, please also post your current monitor.

 

[photonboy]

Also,
Don't even consider FreeSync or GSYNC if only 40Hz to 60Hz (or 30Hz to 60Hz). It's too hard to keep games in that range.

FreeSync monitors only offer 1440p so far and possibly a few 4K models. Aside from one of the 21:9 ratios that I don't like they cost $600USD roughly or more.

Personally, I recommend the following plan:

1. Buy an inexpensive 1080p, 60Hz 24" monitor now.
2. Upgrade to an NVIDIA graphics card.
3. Later buy a suitable GSYNC monitor.

The GSYNC module is only going to improve (we should see light-strobe to reduce blur working in GSYNC mode). FreeSync is going to be very difficult to improve as it's mostly through software. There's not much the monitor manufacturing can do since they don't actually replace the guts of the monitor like NVidia did.

Prices should continue to drop.

*Having said all that, for CIV5 you really do want a 1440p monitor as the game benefits from higher resolution quite a bit. More than 60Hz is not required for CIV5 and ideally IPS for color. Response time needs to be low to prevent blur but that affects fast titles more.

Thus a lot of pros and cons to consider:
1) 60Hz vs 144Hz
2) IPS vs TN
3) 1440p vs 1080p

Your budget unfortunately is really too low for 1440p or even 1080p at 144Hz.

All I see in your budget is 1080p, 60Hz (unless my AU pricing is incorrect).

IPS (avoid anything above 5ms response): https://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-monitor-mx239h
or
TN: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/benq-monitor-gl2460hm

Summary:
A bit complex I know, but my top recommendation is the above IPS panel so far.