[SOLVED] Which monitor with my build and budget?

[The Nully]

Last year I invested some money in a brand new PC build. What I neglected to consider at the time (with the view to upgrading once I had some more money in the bank) was a monitor. As a result I’m running the following rig on a 5ms 60hz monitor:

CPU: i7-8700k
GPU: GTX 1080
MOBO: AsRock Extreme4
RAM: 16GB LPX Vengeance 3200mhz
Cooler: Noctua NHD15
Case: Fractal Design Define R5
Storage: Samsung Evo SSDs

My budget for a new monitor is roughly £250. I can stretch a little beyond that for something fantastic.

I’m clueless when it comes to monitors. I told some friends I’ve met my build and they say I’m wasting it with the 60hz monitor. However, one of them says 240hz is the way to go and the other says 144hz as “your eyes can’t even see 240hz.”

Could someone give me a concise education lesson on the difference between 60/144/240 and what would suit my needs? I don’t want game experience to suffer or be throttled by anything - on that point, some say thr 240hz is overkill and my build will struggle.

I also don’t understand the whole TN/VA panel thing and the sync stuff etc.

Please help me! I’m UK based at the moment and so only UK retailer recommendations please (EBuyer/Scan/OCers/Amazon etc).

Thanks very much.

 

[WildCard999]

What types of games do you play?

 

[The Nully]

What types of games do you play?

All sorts. Anything from old/new Total War games, to grand strategy such as EUIV, CK2 to FPS games such as Call of Duty, Apex Legends, R6 Siege. GTAV.

Lots of variety.

 

[WildCard999]

All sorts. Anything from old/new Total War games, to grand strategy such as EUIV, CK2 to FPS games such as Call of Duty, Apex Legends, R6 Siege. GTAV.

Lots of variety.

So since your playing a bit of everything then you'd probably benefit from a higher refresh monitor but for your slower paced games I'd also go 1440P.

With your budget I'd get this.

PCPartPicker Part List

Monitor: Samsung LC27JG50QQNZA 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor (£249.00 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £249.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-04 15:00 BST+0100

Single player games, up the settings and play at a lower refresh rate (whatever the GTX 1080 can do).

Multiplayer competitive titles, adjust for 144hz.

As for the 60 vs 144 vs 240 the difference can be noticeable but it depends on the game. Faster paced competitive shooters & racing titles you can see the difference between all 3 however for single player, slower games the difference is minimal. 144hz gives you a good all around speed which would be good for any type of games. Also with 240hz the only supported panel type is TN which has poorer colors then VA or IPS (the recommendation above is VA).

 

[The Nully]

So since your playing a bit of everything then you'd probably benefit from a higher refresh monitor but for your slower paced games I'd also go 1440P.

With your budget I'd get this.

PCPartPicker Part List

Monitor: Samsung LC27JG50QQNZA 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor (£249.00 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £249.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-04 15:00 BST+0100

Single player games, up the settings and play at a lower refresh rate (whatever the GTX 1080 can do).

Multiplayer competitive titles, adjust for 144hz.

As for the 60 vs 144 vs 240 the difference can be noticeable but it depends on the game. Faster paced competitive shooters & racing titles you can see the difference between all 3 however for single player, slower games the difference is minimal. 144hz gives you a good all around speed which would be good for any type of games. Also with 240hz the only supported panel type is TN which has poorer colors then VA or IPS (the recommendation above is VA).

Thanks for the information there. Very helpful indeed. So your suggestion in a nutshell would be a 144hz monitor with a VA panel?

What do you mean by “multiplayer competitive titles, adjust for 144hz” - ideally I don’t want to be going into system settings and adjusting everything before I play games. Do you just mean adjust the games settings to optimise for 144hz play?

Can you make a recommendation for a non-curved monitor? I never seem to get on with curved screens.

Thanks a bunch

 

[WildCard999]

You wouldn't need to adjust the settings every time you played, just once. I adjust the settings for MP games to match the refresh rate without looking horrible.

The non curved ones are a bit more however they have Freesync which should work with your GTX 1080 using a Displayport cable.

I'd get this one but it's quite a bit over budget.

PCPartPicker Part List

Monitor: LG 32GK650F-B 32.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor (£344.98 @ Laptops Direct)
Total: £344.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-04 15:33 BST+0100

 

[WildCard999]

There's another one I'd highly recommend. It's 21:9 ratio 2560x1080P/144hz/IPS/Freesync. The resolution is less then 1440P so your system should get better FPS on this then the ones above and 21:9 gives great immersion. It is curved but from the reviews I've read it's barely noticeable after awhile (mine isn't curved).

PCPartPicker Part List

Monitor: LG 34UC79G-B 34.0" 2560x1080 144 Hz Monitor (£299.97 @ Laptops Direct)
Total: £299.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-04 15:34 BST+0100

I have a similer one but isnt' 144hz (75hz) and absolutely love it. Most games support 21:9 and having that extra peripheral view helps quite a bit in FPS.

Here's the TH review of it.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/lg-34uc79g-34-inch-ultra-wide-freesync-monitor,4891.html

 

[The Nully]

I’ll check these out. If you (or anyone else) has any further recommendations I’d be happy to hear those. The £350 mark is too much I’d say, but I’ll table it just in case I manage to convince myself.

What’s the difference between TN/IPS/VA? Is VA better than IPS?

Also, I intend on running a 60hz monitor as a secondary viewing platform just to run a movie or something in the background - will this cause issues if I run a 144hz as a primary?

 

[WildCard999]

The difference in panel types is colors, they look best on IPS > VA > TN.
This article explains it a bit further as there's more too it such as viewing angles.
https://www.techspot.com/article/1788-display-tech-compared/

As for using the 60hz as a secondary there should be no issues although it depends on whichever has focus (i'll explain). For example if I was gaming on my main screen and using Netflix on the secondary screen if I wanted to change the show or movie I'd click on the secondary screen to do so. When I did the FPS dipped heavily on the game however once I was all set on the secondary screen I'd click back to the game and FPS would be back to normal. And unless your running something graphically intense (such as a game or benchmark) there shouldn't be a performance hit for your gaming.

 

[The Nully]

The difference in panel types is colors, they look best on IPS > VA > TN.

As for using the 60hz as a secondary there should be no issues although it depends on whichever has focus (i'll explain). For example if I was gaming on my main screen and using Netflix on the secondary screen if I wanted to change the show or movie I'd click on the secondary screen to do so. When I did the FPS dipped heavily on the game however once I was all set on the secondary screen I'd click back to the game and FPS would be back to normal. And unless your running something graphically intense (such as a game or benchmark) there shouldn't be a performance hit for your gaming.

Very helpful, thanks for that!

Which brings me to my next question, but please bare with my cluelessness; what's the difference between G-Sync and FreeSync? A buddy of mine told me I should get one that has G-Sync.

I'm the type of guy that needs things explained and then I absorb that and make a decision; I like to have options too. I'm not a fan of the curved options, I'd have to stick with a straight one. Have you got any additional ideas?

Thanks bud

 

[WildCard999]

https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/acc...ync-amd-and-nvidia-face-off-for-adaptive-sync
(Explains some of the differences)

Essentially they're both a form of adaptive sync so they since the GPU frames with the monitor frames so you don't get screen tearing. For awhile Gsync was just for Nvidia and Freesync was AMD however within the last year Nvidia GPU's now can work with AMD Freesync monitors which are usually cheaper as long as you use a Displayport cable and follow the directions below.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/how-to-run-gsync-on-freesync-monitor,6072.html

If it were me I'd stick with Freesync as that would allow me to get either AMD or Nvidia GPU's in the future opposed to just Nvidia. The only reason to consider Gsync is that most of the 240hz monitors are Gsync.

 

[The Nully]

https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/acc...ync-amd-and-nvidia-face-off-for-adaptive-sync
(Explains some of the differences)

Essentially they're both a form of adaptive sync so they since the GPU frames with the monitor frames so you don't get screen tearing. For awhile Gsync was just for Nvidia and Freesync was AMD however within the last year Nvidia GPU's now can work with AMD Freesync monitors which are usually cheaper as long as you use a Displayport cable and follow the directions below.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/how-to-run-gsync-on-freesync-monitor,6072.html

If it were me I'd stick with Freesync as that would allow me to get either AMD or Nvidia GPU's in the future opposed to just Nvidia. The only reason to consider Gsync is that most of the 240hz monitors are Gsync.

Gotcha. I’ve done some digging around.

What’s your opinion on this monitor in terms of value for money/performance with my build/better alternatives within the same price bracket?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/aoc-...-widescreen-led-gaming-monitor-mo-048-ao.html

 

[WildCard999]

It's nice and pretty good for the price. I'm not really seeing anything much better for the price and the system would work fine with it.