Good Monitors

[JDR13]

Here's one I like so far, but it's hard to find in stock due to its popularity.

GIGABYTE M27Q-PRO 27" 165Hz 1440P KVM Gaming Monitor, 2560 x 1440 SS IPS Display, 1ms (GTG) Response Time, 98% DCI-P3, 1x Display Port 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.0, 2x USB 3.0 Downstream, 1x USB Type-C - Newegg.com

Buy GIGABYTE M27Q-PRO 27" 165Hz 1440P KVM Gaming Monitor, 2560 x 1440 SS IPS Display, 1ms (GTG) Response Time, 98% DCI-P3, 1x Display Port 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.0, 3x USB 3.0, 1x USB Type-C with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

 

[Stingray]

Scaling it up means less room on your desktop though doesn't it? I tend to have a LOT of icons on my desktop, and I like to be able to see them all at once. It's not a dealbreaker though.

Going with the desktop icons example, your desktop on a 1080p monitor with no scaling, would contain the same # of icons as a 4K desktop with 200% scaling. (If you used 4K with no scaling, your desktop would have 4X as many icons and they'd all be very tiny...) At 1440p, to get the same number of desktop icons as those two, you'd set 133% scaling.

In reality what you want to do is tune the scaling # to your preferences, and that also depends on the physical size of the monitor. Like I mentioned earlier, I used 200% scaling on my 24" 4K monitor, and when I moved up to 32" 4K, I moved the scaling down to 150%. Desktop icons are still the same size on the physical screen, but a lot more of them can be on the screen now.

 

[JDR13]

After looking at some in person today, I think I might go with a 32" after all.

One thing I noticed is that, once you get up to 32" and higher, you start getting a lot of the models with curved screens. Any opinions on that feature? I found a Samsung that has most of the things I want except that it's curved. Since I've never gamed on a curved screen, I'm not sure if I would like it.

 

[Stingray]

Initially I thought I would hate curved monitors, but a couple years ago, I got a 43" superwide (32:10) monitor on another computer I use. It's curved, and I can see how necessary it is at that size. Without the curvature, the far left/right sides of the monitor would be very awkwardly located.

My 32" (the Dell G3223Q) isn't curved, but at that size, I can see how some curvature could be a benefit. The far corners start to seem just slightly "far away". It's manageable at 32", but if I was getting a monitor any larger than 32" I'd want some curvature for sure.

 

[largh]

As long as you don't mind that it's only 60Hz, it seems like an excellent screen at that price.

Thanks, a good point. I didn't notice the refresh rate. Probably why the monitor was so cheap. Didn't get it. Although I doubt that FPS on my devices will ever be >60 Hz...

 

[JDR13]

Initially I thought I would hate curved monitors, but a couple years ago, I got a 43" superwide (32:10) monitor on another computer I use.

Do you game on that one too? If so, what was it like at first? Did it take some getting used to?

I've seen some people claim they didn't like it because lines in the game appeared curved due to the screen, but that might just be hyperbole on their part.

 

[Stingray]

Do you game on that one too? If so, what was it like at first? Did it take some getting used to?

I've seen some people claim they didn't like it because lines in the game appeared curved due to the screen, but that might just be hyperbole on their part.

That’s a work computer that I don’t normally game on, but I did experiment with a bit of gaming on it and it was fine. The curve didn’t bother me and it didn’t take any getting used to for me.

 

[Drithius]

After looking at some in person today, I think I might go with a 32" after all.

One thing I noticed is that, once you get up to 32" and higher, you start getting a lot of the models with curved screens. Any opinions on that feature? I found a Samsung that has most of the things I want except that it's curved. Since I've never gamed on a curved screen, I'm not sure if I would like it.

For me, it would be harder to utilize multiple monitors with a curved screen - especially if not purchasing multiples of the same exact model.

Also, I prefer 27" for 1440p resolution; 32 would be pushing it for resolution/graininess/dot pitch to the point that you would feel pressed to go to a default 2160p resolution.

 

[Stingray]

For me, it would be harder to utilize multiple monitors with a curved screen - especially if not purchasing multiples of the same exact model.

At 32" and above, which is where you really see the benefit of a curve, not many people can actually fit more than one of those monitors on their desk anyway. I've got a 5' wide desk, it could just barely fit two 32"'s. If you feel the need for that big, and multiple, maybe get some kind of huge ultrawide instead.

I wouldn't want curvature on a monitor that's smaller than 32". Seems pointless, like a marketing gimmick.

Also, I prefer 27" for 1440p resolution; 32 would be pushing it for resolution/graininess/dot pitch to the point that you would feel pressed to go to a default 2160p resolution.

But with 27" 1440p, you'll have fonts etc that look almost just as terrible as 1080p fonts do at 24". I'd just go off your video card budget: if you can get a GPU that's good enough to push 4K at 60+ or so fps, then always get a 4K monitor regardless of the physical size. But if you can't, then you probably want a lower resolution monitor, because if you are forced into running your games in a lower (non-native) resolution on a 4K monitor, then things will always look a bit trashy as a result.

 

[JDR13]

I'd just go off your video card budget: if you can get a GPU that's good enough to push 4K at 60+ or so fps, then always get a 4K monitor regardless of the physical size. But if you can't, then you probably want a lower resolution monitor, because if you are forced into running your games in a lower (non-native) resolution on a 4K monitor, then things will always look a bit trashy as a result.

Not always. It depends what kind of gaming one does. For example, if you were a competitive FPS player who participates in deathmatch tournaments, you wouldn't want a 4K monitor.