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Need a new monitor, can't decide.

4K views 19 replies 9 participants last post by  kossair 
#1 ·
So basically i'm looking for a new monitor for my 3 year old gaming rig.

I've read all around the internet about good monitors right now, 1440p or 120/144hz etc etc. Going from a 22'' I've mostly been looking at 27'' monitors cause i like the size and want a bigger and more visual experience in my gaming.

My current GPU is a Geforce 470 gtx, and this card seems it's not powerfull enough to feed neither the 144hz nor the 1440p monitors.

So I'm thinking i will upgrade my GPU later, as I need a new monitor now since my old one doesn't work anymore.

I've been looking at:

TN monitors:
ASUS VG278HE
ASUS VE278H
ASUS VE278Q

IPS monitors:
LG 27EA63V-P
LG IPS277L-BN (Review)

AMVA:
BenQ GW2750HM


I'm kinda stuck now, i figured I want the quality of an IPS monitor but if the responsiveness is too noticeably high that's a deal breaker for me. I also had a though time finding a IPS monitor with good responsiveness.

I will mostly use it for gaming and watching movies. I do not require 3D compability.

What i play: Skyrim,Tera,Bf3,Fallout,Farcry3,LoL. Nothing hugely competitive and since i play alot of singleplayer games like skyrim it makes the IPS monitors more attractive.

Old monitor: Samsung SyncMaster P2270

My current budget is at about 500$.

Any help regarding this matter is hugely appreciated as i'm having a tough time deciding.
smile.gif
I'm also open for any suggestions.
 
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#2 ·
Wouldnt using a 27" monitor right in front of you, on a desk, for gaming, just be ridiculous? I mean maybe like for an fps using a game controller, like a console game, but for any level of competiton or precision I cant understand why you would use anything more than 23-24.

Honest question, not a rhetorical one.

As I understand it, 120hz monitors are TN, and IPS are better than TN due to color accuracy and other stuff. Besides, what modern game on high settings is going to have a minimum fps significantly above 60fps? I suppose it depends what you play, single player GPU limited games vs cpu limited multiplayer games, but any multiplayer game drops under 60.

I mean skyrim, LOL, why get a 120hz when youll be under 60fps. You say yourself IPS color would be best for the games you play.

I dont know much about monitors, all I know is it appears the u2312hm 23" 1080p is considered the best value under $200 and the u2412m if you prefer 24" and 1440p (although i believe it isnt as dominant a choice for 24s/1440s as the u2312hm is for 23inchers).I do know that a lot of asus monitors, like those you listed, have quality control issues and common ghosting issues (they are really good though for a super cheap, quality monitor though if price is more important)
 
#4 ·
Well, the thought behind getting a 27'' was as previously stated to get a more visual experience, i also have a couple of buddys with 27'' screens and they have said its completely fine to play with eventhough its big. I've also seen them play on theyr monitors and it looked good to me aswell.

I also considered the 144hz one as its supposed to be alot smoother both in and out of game. And the reason i posted the cheap asus monitors is because i have a quite old GPU and if it can't run 144hz/1440p i might aswell just go with a regular one, and thats when i started to look at IPS/VA monitors.

As i i previously mentioned my budget is at 500$, so there wouldn't be any problem in going higher from the cheap asus models. I just simply do not know what to get.

I've read alot about the different panels, and from what i've read the TN panels are inferior to the VA/IPS/PLS panels. Though as previously mentioned i do play some fps games, and if the responsive time of the VA/IPS monitors was too high and that i noticed ghosting etc, that would be a deal breaker.

Last one i looked at was the BenQ GW2750HM, VA panel and lowest MS i could find. If anyone owns or are familiar with this monitor please give a word
smile.gif
 
#5 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by El-Fuego View Post

I got Asus 27" the VS278Q-P, and really happy with it, and you will actually enjoy playing fps with it!
I sit about 1m from it and I love it,
it's 60hz, cant really justify more than that unless you are going 3D
it have 1ms respond time
and it was $279
I don't know, this is the kind of useless anecdotes that I find terribly useless. Maybe you would've been more happier with another monitor, maybe you aren't aware of how terrible your monitor is in comparison to other monitors, maybe it's a great monitor but you paid 2x for a quality level you could've had for half the price.

I don't really know about 60 hz vs 120hz, but as I understand it, if the games you play on the hardware you have doesnt have you significantly above 80+ FPS minimums (which basically means no CPU intensive game or no modern AAA game) then 120hz is useless, and also IPS is only on 60hz so thus 60hz IPS > 120hz TN.

As for response time, it's a meaningless figure that is fudged and altered by response time altering firmware and technologies. But as I understand it, the Asus' response times listed are usually way off and their true response time isn't so hot. Wish I could find a review that actually tests the response time.
Quote:
if the responsive time of the VA/IPS monitors was too high and that i noticed ghosting etc, that would be a deal breaker.
Like I said, response times mean nothing, I think you'll find if you google this, you'll find this is commonly known. You absolutely cannot trust manufacturer response times, it means nothing, it's input lag that's really more important than response time, and there are tons of extra stuff that reduce response time significantly artificially that make it a non-issue. I know that the u2312hm, for example, has like the lowest response time of any monitor, it's just insanely fast despite it's 'slow' rating of 8ms (it was like the only monitor under 1ms i think of a bunch tested, u2412m too), while a lot of the sub-$300 asus models just had terrible real world response times. Not to mention ghosting is common on them.

Couldn't tell you what 27" to get, but don't rule out IPS, and you need to look into real, tested response times, input times, know the difference, and look around to see if ghosting is a common issue on said monitor.

That said there just appears to be a million high quality monitors that you can't go wrong with - dell US, S, Asus, Samsung, LG.
 
#6 ·
Remember if you want to truely upgrade so that your purchase lasts for some time and you get value for money you can run your new 1440P monitor at 1080P or lower resolution in game back off some settings and use FXAA instead of MSAA for BF3 and any other FPS. Then when you either decide to SLI with another GTX470 (probably not worth it due to the VRAM on your card) or upgrade to a more powerful card with higher VRAM) you will have a stunning experience rather than just plain old 1080P which will be old tech very soon indeed!

This is on sale at newegg at the moment (it is the same PLS LED panel that I own): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236294

Admittedly $50 over budget but u get what u pay for!

(NB: this monitor uses PWM if you are sensitive to this, best not buy it)!
 
#7 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Belial View Post

I don't know, this is the kind of useless anecdotes that I find terribly useless. Maybe you would've been more happier with another monitor, maybe you aren't aware of how terrible your monitor is in comparison to other monitors, maybe it's a great monitor but you paid 2x for a quality level you could've had for half the price.

I don't really know about 60 hz vs 120hz, but as I understand it, if the games you play on the hardware you have doesnt have you significantly above 80+ FPS minimums (which basically means no CPU intensive game or no modern AAA game) then 120hz is useless, and also IPS is only on 60hz so thus 60hz IPS > 120hz TN.
I was just stating my "finish line" if you may call it that when i was looking for monitors too,
please enlighten me how did i paid 2 times the price for a 27" monitor ? I refuse to buy a no-name brand or something from unknown source without warranty wheil all these stories of DOA and dead pixels flying around.
I did my research and my asus was a clear winner for 27" non-3D monitor.
 
#8 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by El-Fuego View Post

I was just stating my "finish line" if you may call it that when i was looking for monitors too,
please enlighten me how did i paid 2 times the price for a 27" monitor ? I refuse to buy a no-name brand or something from unknown source without warranty wheil all these stories of DOA and dead pixels flying around.
I did my research and my asus was a clear winner for 27" non-3D monitor.
Lol.

I guess you didn't do too much "research" then.
 
#9 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Remmib View Post

Lol.

I guess you didn't do too much "research" then.
well everyone entitled to their opinion, with monitors and TVs I'd rather go to a local store, and buy it from their, if anything happened, if the device was defective, I'll drive back their and exchange it right away, no RMA, and no shipping no waiting,
this is my opinion, this is how I see things. if you have other thoughts please share it with me and everyone else here.
 
#10 ·
If you're not regularly playing competitive FPS games against energy-drink-fueled teenagers, get a nice IPS panel instead of a "fast" TN panel.

I bought a BenQ 2411T (144hz 24" TN) in February, and by April I had switched to a 27" Dell U2713HM (60hz 27" IPS). Just couldn't handle the downsides in image quality on the TN panel, plus it requires either a lot of GPU power or a reduction in game quality settings in order to play most modern games at 100+hzfps. As long as you play at native resolution, input lag tends to be a non-issue on most panels, from what I've seen.
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by El-Fuego View Post

well everyone entitled to their opinion, with monitors and TVs I'd rather go to a local store, and buy it from their, if anything happened, if the device was defective, I'll drive back their and exchange it right away, no RMA, and no shipping no waiting,
this is my opinion, this is how I see things. if you have other thoughts please share it with me and everyone else here.
Check out www.ipsledmonitors.com ...they offer a 30 day, no questions asked, return policy on the overclockable Korean monitors.

Also, you can get warranties, through SquareTrade...3 years protection for $45.
 
#12 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaFaRsHeR View Post

Remember if you want to truely upgrade so that your purchase lasts for some time and you get value for money you can run your new 1440P monitor at 1080P or lower resolution in game back off some settings and use FXAA instead of MSAA for BF3 and any other FPS. Then when you either decide to SLI with another GTX470 (probably not worth it due to the VRAM on your card) or upgrade to a more powerful card with higher VRAM) you will have a stunning experience rather than just plain old 1080P which will be old tech very soon indeed!

This is on sale at newegg at the moment (it is the same PLS LED panel that I own): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236294

Admittedly $50 over budget but u get what u pay for!

(NB: this monitor uses PWM if you are sensitive to this, best not buy it)!
A lot of games only run in 1080, and running them on a 1200 or 1440 monitor actually makes them worse (Blizzard games, for example) due to black bars, stretching, etc. And you get way more value with ~$100-200 monitors, paying an almost 100% price increase for an extra 1-4 inches and a few hundred pixels is hardly what I would call as 'value'. Like why in the world would you buy a 1440p monitor if the games you play are 1080, just buy a 1080 monitor and use the rest of the money on your gf or gpu or bbq.

Monitors, and GPUs, have very good resale value, I wouldn't worry about 'future proofing', that's just silly. If all you play is BF3 or SC2 for the next 10 years then the monitor will easily last you 10 years, not to mention they'll still hold their own very well for the foreseeable future (it's like people saying 4 years to go to buy the AMD 6 cores when we are just starting to see mainstream 4-core support and only 3 games use 6 cores right now, all AAA titles that are heavily GPU driven that still run 100+ FPS on 4 cores).
Quote:
please enlighten me how did i paid 2 times the price for a 27" monitor ? I refuse to buy a no-name brand or something from unknown source without warranty wheil all these stories of DOA and dead pixels flying around.
I did my research and my asus was a clear winner for 27" non-3D monitor.
I didn't proclaim you did, I know very little about monitors and I think I've made it clear I have just as many questions as the OP. That said, someone saying "Well I bought X so therefore I'm going to recommend it, it's awesome!" is some of the worst advice you can give. There's no frame of reference.

It's like the asrock z77 extreme4. It works just fine. But it's quality is more like a board half the price, and similarly priced boards are twice as good, literally. People go around recomending the extreme4 because it's what they bought and use, even though they've never used any other board.

Now I'm sure the Asus monitor you bought is a good monitor, Asus is a good brand in general, but it's arguable if it's the best monitor (it might be, I don't know). But recommending it just because it works for you in the very non-intensive stuff you likely do isn't really helpful, it's like people recommending high end motherboards when all they do is some low, 4.4ghz overclock that doesn't really push the board. It's like if I were to recommend a sports car to an F1 racer because it's what I use.

You may very well be right, but based on the comment alone that you gave, it wasn't helpful. If you were more in-depth, that'd be more helpful. There's a lot of mediocre asus monitors too. But...
Quote:
? I refuse to buy a no-name brand or something from unknown source without warranty wheil all these stories of DOA and dead pixels flying around.
This comments makes me wonder if you know what you are talking about here. I mean what no-name brand monitors are there? DOA items exist for anything that's electronic or manufacturered, especially if it's both, and even hand-made items can be flawed. It's the nature of electronics and manufactrered items. Just because some monitors electronics are DOA, doesn't mean it's a bad product. ALL monitors, inlcuding your Asus, has DOAs. Until quantum physics is better understood, there will always be DOA's, dead pixels, etc every once in a while.

And every monitor I know of, has warranties. Most of the time, companies will cover warranty on used products, they dont ask for receipt, etc (Dell and Asus, for example).
Quote:
well everyone entitled to their opinion, with monitors and TVs I'd rather go to a local store, and buy it from their, if anything happened, if the device was defective, I'll drive back their and exchange it right away, no RMA, and no shipping no waiting,
this is my opinion, this is how I see things. if you have other thoughts please share it with me and everyone else here.
Yes, but the problem is when it's no longer 'opinion' and becomes just 'misinformed'. Opinion is something like preferring matte to glossy screens. Misinformed would be saying something like you want to buy at a local store due to RMA and shipping issues - Dell, Asus, and companies like Newegg, Frys, Amazon, will actually pay for return shipping on RMAs (you may have to call them or email them first, not a big deal). If anything, you are more than likely to have an issue with a local store (and what about gas and time? Why not just print the label, put it outside for the mailman to pick up, and it's back to the manufacturer in 2-3 business days?).

I mean there are good reasons to buy things local, particularly monitors, but your claim about RMA and warranty being easier with local stores is absurd. All that your local store is going to do is wrap it up themselves and ship it to Dell, Asus, etc. Oh, and this is only if you paid the 'Extended Warranty' crap, that you have to be an absolute and complete sucker to buy (besides the original 10-30 day return period most stores have). I seriously hope you don't get those, why buy those when manufacturer warranties exist and are often way better.
Quote:
, plus it requires either a lot of GPU power or a reduction in game quality settings in order to play most modern games at 100+hz.
Yea, I honestly don't know of any modern or semi-modern game you'd play where your minimum FPS would be above 80+ to justify 120/144hz monitors, unless you play lots of single player games (who does that?). Especially CPU-driven games, SC2 came out like 4 years ago but on a 5ghz i7 Ivy you still see minimum fps in the 40s... on 720p, and in 1v1 (speaking from experience, most people didn't believe me that I had 40+ minimums in SC2 so it's not like it was me, you can search sc2 benches).

I'm here because I really don't know much, I have a lot of questions, but there are a few things I know (ie that newegg and asus and dell are trustworthy, dont need to know about monitors to know that). Any hostility is merely my passion on the subject, so don't take offense El-Fuego if you perceive any.
 
#14 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Belial View Post

A lot of games only run in 1080, and running them on a 1200 or 1440 monitor actually makes them worse (Blizzard games, for example) due to black bars, stretching, etc. And you get way more value with ~$100-200 monitors, paying an almost 100% price increase for an extra 1-4 inches and a few hundred pixels is hardly what I would call as 'value'. Like why in the world would you buy a 1440p monitor if the games you play are 1080, just buy a 1080 monitor and use the rest of the money on your gf or gpu or bbq.

Monitors, and GPUs, have very good resale value, I wouldn't worry about 'future proofing', that's just silly. If all you play is BF3 or SC2 for the next 10 years then the monitor will easily last you 10 years, not to mention they'll still hold their own very well for the foreseeable future (it's like people saying 4 years to go to buy the AMD 6 cores when we are just starting to see mainstream 4-core support and only 3 games use 6 cores right now, all AAA titles that are heavily GPU driven that still run 100+ FPS on 4 cores).
I didn't proclaim you did, I know very little about monitors and I think I've made it clear I have just as many questions as the OP. That said, someone saying "Well I bought X so therefore I'm going to recommend it, it's awesome!" is some of the worst advice you can give. There's no frame of reference.

It's like the asrock z77 extreme4. It works just fine. But it's quality is more like a board half the price, and similarly priced boards are twice as good, literally. People go around recomending the extreme4 because it's what they bought and use, even though they've never used any other board.

Now I'm sure the Asus monitor you bought is a good monitor, Asus is a good brand in general, but it's arguable if it's the best monitor (it might be, I don't know). But recommending it just because it works for you in the very non-intensive stuff you likely do isn't really helpful, it's like people recommending high end motherboards when all they do is some low, 4.4ghz overclock that doesn't really push the board. It's like if I were to recommend a sports car to an F1 racer because it's what I use.

You may very well be right, but based on the comment alone that you gave, it wasn't helpful. If you were more in-depth, that'd be more helpful. There's a lot of mediocre asus monitors too. But...
This comments makes me wonder if you know what you are talking about here. I mean what no-name brand monitors are there? DOA items exist for anything that's electronic or manufacturered, especially if it's both, and even hand-made items can be flawed. It's the nature of electronics and manufactrered items. Just because some monitors electronics are DOA, doesn't mean it's a bad product. ALL monitors, inlcuding your Asus, has DOAs. Until quantum physics is better understood, there will always be DOA's, dead pixels, etc every once in a while.

And every monitor I know of, has warranties. Most of the time, companies will cover warranty on used products, they dont ask for receipt, etc (Dell and Asus, for example).
Yes, but the problem is when it's no longer 'opinion' and becomes just 'misinformed'. Opinion is something like preferring matte to glossy screens. Misinformed would be saying something like you want to buy at a local store due to RMA and shipping issues - Dell, Asus, and companies like Newegg, Frys, Amazon, will actually pay for return shipping on RMAs (you may have to call them or email them first, not a big deal). If anything, you are more than likely to have an issue with a local store (and what about gas and time? Why not just print the label, put it outside for the mailman to pick up, and it's back to the manufacturer in 2-3 business days?).

I mean there are good reasons to buy things local, particularly monitors, but your claim about RMA and warranty being easier with local stores is absurd. All that your local store is going to do is wrap it up themselves and ship it to Dell, Asus, etc. Oh, and this is only if you paid the 'Extended Warranty' crap, that you have to be an absolute and complete sucker to buy (besides the original 10-30 day return period most stores have). I seriously hope you don't get those, why buy those when manufacturer warranties exist and are often way better.
Yea, I honestly don't know of any modern or semi-modern game you'd play where your minimum FPS would be above 80+ to justify 120/144hz monitors, unless you play lots of single player games (who does that?). Especially CPU-driven games, SC2 came out like 4 years ago but on a 5ghz i7 Ivy you still see minimum fps in the 40s... on 720p, and in 1v1 (speaking from experience, most people didn't believe me that I had 40+ minimums in SC2 so it's not like it was me, you can search sc2 benches).

I'm here because I really don't know much, I have a lot of questions, but there are a few things I know (ie that newegg and asus and dell are trustworthy, dont need to know about monitors to know that). Any hostility is merely my passion on the subject, so don't take offense El-Fuego if you perceive any.
I am in the same boat as the OP. Though I've spent a few $k in the last few years looking for a good gaming monitor for my three gaming rigs.

Really want a 30" TN gaming panel @ $500... I'll buy 3 thnx!

(I am actually kinda cynical & leery as to why this market is not being served. I think some serious collusion is taking place.

Think of how wealthy one would be, if : 30" (16:10) 144hz, display port only, Superfast TN panel, low input-lag, etc..)

Really, It would not matter the price, they would sell like hotcakes... but under $600 would be awesome!

Until those exist & per the OP's query... we are stuck with 27" monitors. SO.. is there a clear "goto" choice (at any price) that gets solid 144hz and lag free..?

Please post a link.
 
#15 ·
can we please move on, the OP bought a monitor and i'm sure he's happy with it,
Belial, was commenting on my posts, I was arguing about the screen size 27" being perfect, then some people here didnt get what i was talking about (the size) and can't understand my logic, so I stopped posting.

just a note on RMA process, Asus RMA sucks, just search here and read the posts, it took them a month to send me a replacement motherboard, we can argue about that all the way to page 100 if we are talking about RMA, everyone is different and each repair/service center is different, so it's very possible to have 2 people with a very different RMA experience,

2nd, price wise my limit was $300 for 27" I Know my monitor is just meh comparing to $500 monitor,

My argument was that "I" < myself can't justify anything over 60hz I have my TV which is 120hz (also connected to the PC) and to be honest I cant see the difference, many others (and I think) the majority of games will tell you otherwise, that 60hz sucks and 120hz is the one to go,
for the higher resolution I wish I can get higher, I got 1080 because $300 was my limit and if there is something good 27" with higher resolution please let me know, so i can return it and exchange it! and i dont think you can,
final thought, I work in IT, I use many different monitors everyday, I work in 2 different locations, and in charge of the daily operations of over 90PC at any giving time, true most of what I use are Dell or HP, but I also use other brands too, Personally If it's not listed on my sig, I'll update that later, I have the asus i mentioned, I have viewsonic and my TV Vizio. so no, I kinda know what's what in computers, and i'm sure that there are million other people passing through this site knows more than me, still i think i can recommend something knowing I know what i'm talking about and not just being a fan boy. < if that makes any sense .

OP sorry fo hijacking your thread, I'm sorry if any of my comments made you or anyone else here uncomfortable.
 
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