Which for gaming: 120hz or IPS?

I believe for gaming most people go for the 120Hz monitors. IPS tend to just look incredible and while either will work I believe the 120Hz is best for gaming if you have a card to push the FPS that high.

I never experienced 120hz in gaming so I'm going to tell you not to take my advice too seriously however I had one of those Korean 27" IPS monitors and playing Battlefield 3 and other games on it made me extremely immersed in them.
IPS has many pros. Images DO look noticeably better on IPS, viewing angles help share media with friends, and movies look more vibrant. Not over-saturated, but vibrant (I guess this applies to games too)

120hz is supposed to be easier on the eyes and make gaming feel more fluid. But with that 5850 if yours you probably will not be getting above 60fps in most games if you want to keep the settings high.

My vote goes to IPS. I feel that 120hz will not be as much of an upgrade with your current hardware while even a laptop hooked up to an IPS will look better compared to a TN.

There have been numerous threads on this but I will go ahead and give you the scoop.

Hands down a good 120hz monitor. First off the 120hz makes gaming so smooth if your pc can handle it. Even when running something around 75fps, you will notice a noticeable difference, which I consider a game changer.

While you might have a higher resolution, the contrast ratio and response time will be lacking on a ips in comparison. They are pretty far behind the times in this regard and both of those things are crucial to gaming. Defiantly a good picture, but more so the response time. 120hz by definition means it refreshes twice as fast. That means it basically cuts down the response time in half as well, leaving most 120hz monitors with a unrecognizable delay time.

To give you a example on this, my asus 120hz 27" has a 50mill:1 dcr (yes that is dynamic, but still) and a 2ms response time (the response time that is pretty much unnoticeable to humans by definition). With a standard isp monitor the contrast ratios you get seem to be around 1-5000:1 and response times are still around 6ms.

Also 3d gaming, while maybe not practical 24/7 is still a amazing plus to come with 120hz monitors. Not all 120hz monitors are 3d, but all 3d monitors are 120hz. Once you buy a decent 120hz monitor you would be crazy to not get one supported by 3d vision. The pricing is very minimal in difference if there is even any (depends on what you are comparing).

As a gamer the decision shouldn't be too hard. Is slightly better resolution worth giving up all that? No but I still dream about a high res isp moinitor that does have all that. Some day...
Edited by Outlawed - 8/5/12 at 12:35pm

I'd say if you play fps games and/or hate tearing, go 120hz.

Most people think you need 120fps in games to take advantage of 120hz, this is simply not true. You will not see tearing on a 120hz monitor at any fps above 60... probably below as well I just havent tested that part.

IMO high resolution gaming is best, it just turns out that those with the higher resolutions (1440p+) tend to be IPS. 120hz is great if you can push the higher required frames for fluid gameplay.

Some questions come to mind:

1. What kind of games you play primarily - FPSs, racing sims, RTSs, MMOs...? Would you say your games are mostly motion heavy or not?
2. Do you intend to upgrade your GPU (says its 5850)?
3. Do you prefer glossy or matte screens?
3. Would you say you're particularly sensitive to refresh rate/ghosting or input lag when it comes to displays?

Personally I prefer better picture quality over Hz. Not to say 120Hz does not has its merits. It will make things smoother and more responsive in games if your GPU can manage over 60FPS. Also note that a IPS monitor will make movies look better while a 120Hz will do little to noting to improve your movie viewing experience.

Not this topic again.... Just choose whatever you like.

While the IPS will look better for everyday tasks, I doubt you'll notice the difference in fast-paced games.

You will, however, probably benefit by the 120hz monitor in said fast-paced games.