Building Mid-Range Gaming Rig

[Sleepingforest]

Yea but he gets a thunderbolt port on the ASUS model, this could be useful in future for him

Not on the P8Z77-V Pro, he doesn't. That board merely supports the $200 Asus PCI-e Thunderbolt card. A more cost effective Asus board which also allows for the PCI-e card is the P8Z77-V LK.

 

[mfenn]

That's something to keep in mind. Anyone knows how current games look on 16:10? Just as good as old 16:9?

Actually, 16:10 is the old standby and 16:9 is the upstart newcomer. I play on a 16:10 monitor and have never run into an issue with games supporting that resolution. Everything looks as it should. Pre-rendered cutscenes and such will usually have a small amount of letterboxing, but that's about it.

 

[Shanliang]

Actually, 16:10 is the old standby and 16:9 is the upstart newcomer. I play on a 16:10 monitor and have never run into an issue with games supporting that resolution. Everything looks as it should. Pre-rendered cutscenes and such will usually have a small amount of letterboxing, but that's about it.

I'm sorry I didn't post before. It's been a crazy week, as I'm already buying the parts, and buying from the US and shipping to my country is kind of difficult task.

I've already bought most of the parts, and some are just one click away on Amazon to be bought.

Thanks mfenn for your opinion on 16:9 and 16:10 related to gaming. I've read as well that 16:10 is perfectly fine, just as 16:9 is for that purpose. So, no problem there.

Now, my final decision to complete my long-waited machine is about the monitor. One thing that is bothering me a lot is the warranty, because I've read many reviews complaining about dead or stuck pixels, or other issues on the displays. For me is quite difficult and expensive to make use of the warranty in the US living in my country. That's why I've decided to buy it locally, in order to get up to three-year warranties. To have that, I'm limited to Dell monitors, which end up being cheaper to get in comparison with bringing them from the US, and adding the bonus of local warranty it becomes a no-brainer.

Dell is doing great regarding IPS panels, which are the ones I'm definitely interested in. I want to experience that, coming from a TN panel fro a long time.

I've selected two models that I find quite interesting and with many positive reviews (with some cons, of course).

• Dell UltraSharp U2412M
• Dell S2740L

It's worth mentioning that in my country, the 27"-inch is around $90 more expensive than the U2412M.

I'd appreciate some guidance to select the best option.

Some reminders: I'll use it for gaming (hoping to get the best experience here), web surfing, movies and TV shows and web design.

Thanks for your help. ^_^

 

[Sleepingforest]

Since the larger screen is also IPS, I would probably go with the S2740L. The extra screen size is really great for productivity and multitasking. It's a glossy (rather than matte) screen, but the glare shouldn't matter too much.

 

[mfenn]

Lucky for you! If you have to be limited to one monitor brand, Dell is a great one to be limited to. They make some really great monitors.

Between those two, I would personally go with the U2412M. Why? It uses a higher grade of IPS panel than the S2740L and has a higher resolution. You might not thing that 120 extra vertical pixels sounds like much, but it makes a noticeable difference in productivity workloads.

I also find that the pixels are big enough to be distracting on a 27" 1920x1080 monitor like the S2740L. YMMV of course.

 

[Shanliang]

Since the larger screen is also IPS, I would probably go with the S2740L. The extra screen size is really great for productivity and multitasking. It's a glossy (rather than matte) screen, but the glare shouldn't matter too much.

Definitely the 27" is quite appealing. And from what I've read, the cons people mention are the very, very reflective, mirror-like glass, a not very good stand and that it isn't 1980x1200. I think I can be ok with two of them. My room is not very light, that would help minimize the reflections on the screen. But I haven't owned a 16:9 screen, so I don't know how different the experience is.

Lucky for you! If you have to be limited to one monitor brand, Dell is a great one to be limited to. They make some really great monitors.

Between those two, I would personally go with the U2412M. Why? It uses a higher grade of IPS panel than the S2740L and has a higher resolution. You might not thing that 120 extra vertical pixels sounds like much, but it makes a noticeable difference in productivity workloads.

I also find that the pixels are big enough to be distracting on a 27" 1920x1080 monitor like the S2740L. YMMV of course.

I'm a complete newbie regarding IPS panels. I think I've never seen one , so I'm pretty much in the dark. The few stores that sell IPS panels in my city keep them in boxes and never show them in action. :\ I have to make a leap of faith here between those two, and base my buy on people's reviews.

The idea of a 27-inch IPS panel is very appealing to me. I like them big (that doesn't sound alright):awe:. And from what I've read, the crisp image and vivid colors of that monitor make unnoticeable the low pixel density that is expected from a 27-inch 1080p display. I mean, I wouldn't complain at all, knowing that my previous screen was a cheap 1680x1050 22-inch LG monitor.

What keeps me from buying the 27" is what you mention, mfenn, the better IPS panel, higher pixel density on the U2412M and the extra 120px. Do these pros outweigh the benefit of gaming immersion provided by 3" of more screen size, considering that both panels offer low input latency and almost non-existent ghosting (perhaps some overshoot due to overdrive, but I'm not a pro gamer, so...).

I'm sorry for the long post, hehe. It's just that this buy matters to me so much, as it's the part of my comp that I'll be watching all day. :biggrin:

Appreciate any additional input to help me decide, specially from owners of any of those two displays. ^_^

 

[mfenn]

It's really a personal choice, they both have their advantages and disadvantages. For me, I'd rather have the 2412M, but somebody else wouldn't be wrong for preferring the other.

 

[Shanliang]

It's really a personal choice, they both have their advantages and disadvantages. For me, I'd rather have the 2412M, but somebody else wouldn't be wrong for preferring the other.

Thanks mfenn for your valuable input. I finally decided and today I bought the U2412M And I feel quite pleased with the decision, although I have to wait about two weeks to receive it. I get local warranty but it still needs to be shipped from the US. Not that hard to wait for so long, as other parts are gonna take just as long to arrive as well.

I think the rig will be complete in two-three weeks. So, I'll be reporting my experiences once it's built and tested.

I must thank a lot to everyone who has contributed in this thread. It's been very valuable and has had a huge impact on what I have bought so far. I know I've been advised from people that know a lot about this stuff, so I'm confident that I'll enjoy my new PC. :biggrin:

 

[mfenn]

You're welcome. Let us know how it goes!