Monitors?

[CanadianGamer]

So some of you may know me from my endless questions about choosing parts for a setup. Well, I have my next one. I have already shipped the case in for my PC and am going to be ordering parts, but I also want to start shipping in a monitor. I will have a Nvidia GPU, so gysnc would be appreciated.

So, I'm looking for a 1080p, 75-100hz, 24-27 inch curved monitor, for a max of 500 - 600 bucks. I've found a few, but what do you guys think? Remember, amazon, ebay, or newegg. Nothing else, please. If y'all can't find anything, 24-27' 100 - 144hz non curved options would work too. Also, If I have a freesync monitor but a Nvidia card, I can't use Freesync but is it going to do anything? Lower the hz rate, heighten response time. Nothing, right?

Thanks,
CG

 

[P4-630]

27" 1080p? Pixels too large IMO....

 

[TheLostSwede]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I0NF8RI/?tag=tec06d-20

or

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013HHVT4S/?tag=tec06d-20

or

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LW5CGIS/?tag=tec06d-20

 

[jboydgolfer]

https://m.newegg.com/products/9SIA1CZ6461965

 

[Vayra86]

Tip: don't go below 95-100 PPI or you'll be annoyed with pixels showing up at normal viewing distance. So 24 inch = 1080p, 27 inch = 1440p and so on. Really, don't go under

 

[Bill_Bright]

I have already shipped the case in for my PC and am going to be ordering parts, but I also want to start shipping in a monitor. I will have a Nvidia GPU, so gysnc would be appreciated.

A case is one thing because generally, unless crushed during shipping, they don't suddenly fail, nor are they DOA. And as far as I know, there are no new USB or other I/O standards soon to be released - but I could be wrong there.

But for the rest of the components, I don't recommend buying piecemeal. Instead I recommend you save your pennies until you have built up your budget, then buy everything at once or perhaps over a period of 2 or 3 weeks - no more. If you need to stretch it out longer, wait, then buy. This is for many reasons:

• The manufacturer's warranty starts on the date of purchase/shipping. If you buy over a period of months, a faulty component may not be discovered until half the warranty period is over.
  
• Retailer's return grace periods generally last for just 30 days. It is generally much easier (and faster) to return a defective component to the seller than to deal with the manufacturers warranty procedures.
• Many models have "revisions". This is particularly true with newly released models. These revisions often correct problems or add the latest features. This is not uncommon with graphics cards and motherboards. Buying in piecemeal can result in you having a superseded version before you ever have a chance to use it. Waiting helps ensure you have the latest and greatest right out of the box. This also applies to BIOS firmware updates.
  
• Advances in hardware technologies are happening on many fronts at once. Waiting to buy ensures you have the latest USB, M.2, SATA, PCIe, graphics, networking protocols as well as support for the latest CPUs and RAM.
• New products are being released all the time. You may buy a monitor today, then 4 - 6 months down the road when you buy your last component and start to put your parts together, a newer, better and cheaper monitor goes on the market.

So it is certainly good to start doing your homework now, but I would urge you to put off buying until you are ready to buy all. You may save some money in shipping costs too.

And just to add, don't try to cut corners in the budget with a cheap power supply. The PSU is one of, arguably the most important component in our computers. So budget for a good one, but don't choose it until you have selected all your other components and know their power requirements.

 

[CanadianGamer]

A case is one thing because generally, unless crushed during shipping, they don't suddenly fail, nor are they DOA. And as far as I know, there are no new USB or other I/O standards soon to be released - but I could be wrong there.

But for the rest of the components, I don't recommend buying piecemeal. Instead I recommend you save your pennies until you have built up your budget, then buy everything at once or perhaps over a period of 2 or 3 weeks - no more. If you need to stretch it out longer, wait, then buy. This is for many reasons:

• The manufacturer's warranty starts on the date of purchase/shipping. If you buy over a period of months, a faulty component may not be discovered until half the warranty period is over.
  
• Retailer's return grace periods generally last for just 30 days. It is generally much easier (and faster) to return a defective component to the seller than to deal with the manufacturers warranty procedures.
• Many models have "revisions". This is particularly true with newly released models. These revisions often correct problems or add the latest features. This is not uncommon with graphics cards and motherboards. Buying in piecemeal can result in you having a superseded version before you ever have a chance to use it. Waiting helps ensure you have the latest and greatest right out of the box. This also applies to BIOS firmware updates.
  
• Advances in hardware technologies are happening on many fronts at once. Waiting to buy ensures you have the latest USB, M.2, SATA, PCIe, graphics, networking protocols as well as support for the latest CPUs and RAM.
• New products are being released all the time. You may buy a monitor today, then 4 - 6 months down the road when you buy your last component and start to put your parts together, a newer, better and cheaper monitor goes on the market.

So it is certainly good to start doing your homework now, but I would urge you to put off buying until you are ready to buy all. You may save some money in shipping costs too.

And just to add, don't try to cut corners in the budget with a cheap power supply. The PSU is one of, arguably the most important component in our computers. So budget for a good one, but don't choose it until you have selected all your other components and know their power requirements.

The case and GPU are the only parts I'm shipping. Rest I'm buying in store. Also, I found this monitor: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072JZ66T3/?tag=tec06d-20 - quite cheap in my opinion for it's performance. What do you guys think?

 

[Bill_Bright]

I think you should do some more research about curved monitors. For many users, they have been disappointing after the novelty wears off. For monitor (and TV) makers and their marketing departments, they have not caught on or sold as well as they had hoped. In many circles, they are considered a gimmick.

Part of the problem is the "sweet viewing spot" is just one small spot a specific distance from the screen surface and precisely centered in front of the screen. Move your head just a few inches to the left or right, closer or further back and the ideal viewing angle is lost.

The Curved TV Gimmick Might Finally Be Dead

The case and GPU are the only parts I'm shipping. Rest I'm buying in store.

It is not where you are buying from that is the greatest concern, but the timing. Ideally, should buy all the components you need at same time and not spread the purchases out over several months.

 

[Vayra86]

I think you should do some more research about curved monitors. For many users, they have been disappointing after the novelty wears off. For monitor (and TV) makers and their marketing departments, they have not caught on or sold as well as they had hoped. In many circles, they are considered a gimmick.

Part of the problem is the "sweet viewing spot" is just one small spot a specific distance from the screen surface and precisely centered in front of the screen. Move your head just a few inches to the left or right, closer or further back and the ideal viewing angle is lost.

The Curved TV Gimmick Might Finally Be Dead

It is not where you are buying from that is the greatest concern, but the timing. Ideally, should buy all the components you need at same time and not spread the purchases out over several months.

Have you also had this experience with a monitor? To me it seems like a good match in that setting. Its not?

 

[Bill_Bright]

I never tried a curved monitor because I knew from the start with my own extensive experience using multi-monitor setups nearly 20 years that the optimal viewing position only happens when your head is equal distance from all the screens. The same holds true with a curved monitor.

I am NOT saying the images are not great, they are - if sitting front and center and the proper distance (think "triangulation"!) from the left, center and right.

Picture yourself sitting in front of a curved surface and move your chair over to the left a bit. Suddenly the viewing angle for the left side of the monitor is approaching 180° much more quickly than the angle to the right side of the screen. Also the distance between your head and the left side of the screen decreases while the right side increases on a curved screen. With a flat screen, the left side distance remains the same. This results in a more rapid change with a curved monitor. One side of the display washes out (from your perspective) to a greater extent and more quickly than the other side of the display. And this is what many users have found to be distracting.

This may not be an issue with you - especially if you stay planted at your keyboard directly in front of your monitor. But if you move around a bit, it might be an issue.

I am NOT trying to talk you out of a curved monitor. I am just wanting you to make sure that is what you really want. I have never heard of anyone saying they will never go back to flat!

 

[John Naylor]

1. 27" is simply too big for 1080p.

2. The best gaming experience available today, at any price, is with 165Hz, 1440p, IPS screens using AU Optonics panels/. These were selling for about $600 but w/ the delay of the 4k 144 Hz AU Opronics panel till 1Q 2018, demand has pushed prices up to mid to high $700s. If ya wait till January, and the new screens are about to drop, the price should return to your budget level
Asus PG279Q ROG Swift
Acer XB271HU bmiprz

3. If ya want wide and curved ... ya gonna spend more.

Acer Predator X34
Acer Predator Z35P
Asus ROG SWIFT PG348Q

The problem at 1080p is that folks just don't wanna spend more than $300 on a 23" screen. Getting hi refresh rate, G-Sync and IPS in there just creates too small of a price differential between that and the 1440p screens.

 

[Bo$$]

1. 27" is simply too big for 1080p.

No, It is just a waste of money to get less than a 2k display now. If you can find one cheap then they are quite a nice size. however you'll have to sit quite far back to benefit from it

 

[Bill_Bright]

Slightly (well, maybe "way") off-topic but if not sure if you want to jump into the deep end with 4K, at this price you can dip your toe in without hurting your wallet too much.

43" 4K for $270

 

[ERazer]

Y'all need to stop with curved monitor when its under 34

 

[Vayra86]

I never tried a curved monitor because I knew from the start with my own extensive experience using multi-monitor setups nearly 20 years that the optimal viewing position only happens when your head is equal distance from all the screens. The same holds true with a curved monitor.

I am NOT saying the images are not great, they are - if sitting front and center and the proper distance (think "triangulation"!) from the left, center and right.

Picture yourself sitting in front of a curved surface and move your chair over to the left a bit. Suddenly the viewing angle for the left side of the monitor is approaching 180° much more quickly than the angle to the right side of the screen. Also the distance between your head and the left side of the screen decreases while the right side increases on a curved screen. With a flat screen, the left side distance remains the same. This results in a more rapid change with a curved monitor. One side of the display washes out (from your perspective) to a greater extent and more quickly than the other side of the display. And this is what many users have found to be distracting.

This may not be an issue with you - especially if you stay planted at your keyboard directly in front of your monitor. But if you move around a bit, it might be an issue.

I am NOT trying to talk you out of a curved monitor. I am just wanting you to make sure that is what you really want. I have never heard of anyone saying they will never go back to flat!

I do have a habit of sitting smack dead center of my screen and if I'm off center a little bit, I notice and get annoyed and adjust. Another reason I do this is because that position also offers me a perfect stereo sweet spot So I guess for my use case it'll work, but thanks for the insight because this has been a concern of mine too... and I also agree with @ERazer you really do only go curved at very high display sizes, or the curvature is just too obvious as it screws with geometry.

Another point I think often missed with monitor size is the viewing distance versus PPI, the larger you go, the further you'll want to sit away from it, which reduces the PPI impact (slightly) of a lower res panel. The alternative is crawling right in there but for usability and eye strain that really is a bad, bad idea. And for gaming too - I play noticeably worse when I have to move my head to view corners of the screen. Any curved panel that is too small, will push you into 'sitting closer' which is in fact counterproductive.

About the HDTV route for a monitor... be wary. Especially (cheap) 4K HDTVs suffer tremendous input lag.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Another reason I do this is because that position also offers me a perfect stereo sweet spot

I hear you (no pun intended!) on that. I even have surround rears (wired under the floor through the basement ceiling joists) mounted on the wall behind me that are centered where my chair/head is positioned in front of my primary monitor.

About the HDTV route for a monitor... be wary. Especially (cheap) 4K HDTVs suffer tremendous input lag.

Yeah, I sure would not recommend one for gaming. But viewing 4K movies and videos should not be a problem.