Gaming (& general use) monitor recommendation

[MysteriousRJC]

I upgraded a few months ago to a pretty high end system... my vid card is AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 GHz Edition .

My current monitor is I believe a 19-20 samsung synch master... one of those wider wide screen types. Its nice but I find the colour and picture a bit dark lately... its like 5-6 years old... I'm not sure if its going or my eyes are... I'm a tech geek so I'm starting at a pc 40hrs a week and then I go home and often game in the evening. Currently addicted to World Of Tanks with a half dozen new games on the pile to play over the winter. So thinking bigger will be easier on my eyes, plus with my new vid card I can do an HDMI output right?

I'm not brand loyal. Budget, say $500? What I'd like is something with a very good overall picture... crisp, good colour, handles moving images well with no blur etc... you know, a good gaming monitor. Size... I'm thinking may 24?

Looking for suggestions... its been awhile since I bought one and I'm not up-to-date with the latest tech like lighboost etc.

Thx

 

[MysteriousRJC]

No one with an opinion? I'd buy "BLANK"

Or a link to a trusted recent review listing would be good too.

 

[bystander36]

This question always brings out a bit of a war. Some IPS owners will feel that is the only choice any person should ever choose. Some 120hz/144hz gamers will feel that is the only choice a gamer should use. While other people who recognize that this is a personal preference.

I realize that there will be people flaming me for having an opinion, I'll go ahead and give you mine.

I'd rather game on a 120hz/144hz monitor that has Lightboost, and the option to use 3D Vision.

I like the added smoothness and responsiveness of gaming with high FPS and a monitor that can display those frames. When in 1st person view games, regardless of the speed of the game, I prefer to have the responsiveness of high frames and refresh rates, as it feels like my mouse movements are more connected to what I see. For myself, I get nauseated when this responsiveness is lost (lower FPS, higher input latency and low hz).

I'd personally wait until early next year to see what G-sync monitors are available, but if I had to buy now, I'd get the Asus VG248QE, as it has been mentioned it will have an upgrade kit to make G-sync available. This is a new Nvidia tech to make refreshes happen when the GPU finishes creating a frame, maximizing frame delivery with out added latency or tearing that traditional monitors allow.

As a subjective subject, you will hear a lot of different answers. Try to steer clear of the absolute answers.

 

[BrightCandle]

You can't have it all. You either get the good accurate colours with a decent IPS monitor or you get the low/no blur of a 144 hz monitor. Which you choose really depends on what you value most.

What I would recommend is spending some good time on tftcentral.co.uk as they do the best monitor reviews out there, and they only review the best monitors. On the TN low blur camp they have a review of a lightboost monitor (http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/benq_xl2420t.htm) although not the Asus VG248QE unfortunately. They also review all the best IPS monitors as well from Dell and others. They show you what the blur looks like, they list accurate pixel switch and input delay for the monitors and frankly no one else does reviews of monitors like they do. I am certain given enough time on their site you'll understand the trade offs a lot better and be able to choose the right monitor for you.

 

[Zardnok]

No one with an opinion? I'd buy "BLANK"

Or a link to a trusted recent review listing would be good too.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7415/monoprice-ipsglass-panel-pro-27-lcd-monitor

 

[MysteriousRJC]

So if I'm correct and what I'm hearing here, within IPS monitor you get better quality color and sharpness but with 120 or 144 MHz monitor you get better refresh rates and that's better performance With games that have a lot of movement and frames per second, is that correct? So I guess if you're leaning towards something that is generally better for games he would shy away from the IPS given that the refresh rates are generally around six or 8 ms, whereas the other are near 2 ms, Correct?

 

[bystander36]

So if I'm correct and what I'm hearing here, within IPS monitor you get better quality color and sharpness but with 120 or 144 MHz monitor you get better refresh rates and that's better performance With games that have a lot of movement and frames per second, is that correct? So I guess if you're leaning towards something that is generally better for games he would shy away from the IPS given that the refresh rates are generally around six or 8 ms, whereas the other are near 2 ms, Correct?

Not quite. You are confusing refresh with response times, which is also another advantage of the TN monitors.

IPS Pros - Better colors, no color shift, higher resolution options.
IPS Cons - Higher response times which results in motion blur/ghosting, lacks high refresh options

120/144hz TN Pros - Better response times resulting in less motion blur, higher refresh rates resulting in smoother game play if you have good FPS, and Lightboost option to further reduce motion blur to almost 0.
TN Cons - Poorer colors, color shifts (if you look at different angles, the colors changes a little).

 

[MysteriousRJC]

Thank you for the replies everyone. You give me some good information. Guess it's time to go make a decision. I think I will probably lean away from IPS just given the issues with motion. Seems like the other way is a better way for gaming currently. Thanks again everyone

 

[DigDog]

for gaming, you should look at this AT thread here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2330173

for gaming, there is no comparison between a lightboost (or g-synch) enabled 120Hz (or even 144Hz) monitor, and your classic 60Hz monitor. frames are smoother, you can see what's happening even at very high speeds.

 

[MrK6]

IPS had issues with ghosting a decade ago, now they're just blown out of proportion by 120Hz "gaming monitor" fanboys who drank the marketing koolaid and are trying to justify their purchase. I'm not saying ghosting doesn't exist or that 120Hz is useless, but just that you should see the monitors for yourself to see if it's really as big an issue as some people make it out to be. Almost every time I find people are more impressed by the color accuracy, gamut, and quality of an IPS monitor.

Also note that with monitors, it's pretty much what you spend is what you get, save for deals here and there. Personally, I think if you invested a bunch in a gaming rig, it's a complete injustice to not spend a comparable amount or more on a quality monitor, since that is what's defining your user experience.