Quick check on 32" 1440p monitor + mid-range GPU choice choice before purchase

[v0id]

Hello all,

I recently have purchased components to build a pretty nice PC to replace my very long in the tooth existing PC (AMD Phenom II x3 720!), which dates back to 2009 and is now 10 years old. I will be putting it together in the next couple days, and the components include a Radeon Ryzen 5 2600, an MSI B450 Tomahawk motherboard, 16gb DDR4 3000 MHz Gskill Ram, a 1TB HP920 NVME SSD, NZXT H500 case, 550W EVGA G2 PSU, etc. In the next month or two, I will also be purchasing a new GPU and monitor, to replace the existing GTX 680 2GB GPU and NEC MultiSync 20WMGX2 20.1" 1680x1050 IPS LCD that I've had for many years. The NEC monitor was very nice for its time, but dates all the way back to 2007 and is now well in need of replacement. It is now not only kind of small and low-res, but also has developed a weird and unfortunate light purple-ish "stain" along the top of the display. Probably to be expected after using an LCD for 12 years.

Anyway, while I would like to keep costs down to the extent possible, I would like to go big with a new monitor and am considering the 31.5" AOC Q3279VWFD8. I definitely want at least a 27" QHD monitor, but I like the idea of an even bigger 31.5" display. I also would prefer to go with IPS and I don't particularly care about super high refresh rates - while I do occasionally play games, they are mostly single player and I have absolutely no interest in competitive/pro gaming or maintaining 100fps at max quality at all times. Otherwise, I mostly browse the web, watch Netflix etc., and use office apps. In my case, I feel like a decent monitor with a 75Hz refresh rate for $250 is hard to beat. I guess the other relatively low cost choice here is the Pixio PX329 VA panel LCD for ~$350. I have also looked at the 32" LG monitors, the FreeSync version of which is currently being sold by Costco for $400, but I'm not sure I need to go that fancy. Any other suggestions are appreciated.

I also am a bit concerned about whether a 31.5" display would be too big for my desk or for my viewing distance, so any input here would be appreciated. I have an older desk from Ikea that's about 26" deep. My current distance from my 20" NEC LCD is about 34"-35". I think I can make a 32" class display work with my current setup.

Finally, I am debating whether to pick up one of the new NVidia GTX 1660 TI cards for $279, go all the way down to a Radeon RX 580 8GB card for $179, or wait for the coming release of the the regular GTX 1660 and 1650, and see what happens with RX 580 and 590 prices. Again, I am not a "gamer", I would prefer to keep costs down, and don't care that much about super high frame rates as long as new AAA games are reasonably playable. I also will probably not upgrade again for several years. The very most I would be willing to spend is probably the $279 for a new 1660 TI, but if I can make things work with a cheaper GPU that would be great.

Please tell me if this all looks good and if it's what you would recommend! This is all very confusing to me, especially the monitor stuff. Thanks in advance!

 

[tamz_msc]

Since you're going to keep the card for a few years, going with the 1660 Ti seems like a no-brainer. Though the RX 580 can do 1440p with high(not ultra) settings, there are a few games where it struggles with holding 60 FPS.

 

[Arkaign]

I got an XFX 8GB 580 XXX or whatever special OC edition for my nephew to go with a 27" 1440p display I gifted him, and it was .. not great. Newer games really put a hurting on the 580 at 1440p, I consider it a strictly 1080p card for 2019+.

1660ti, or a great deal on a Vega 56/64, or used 1070ti/1080, whatever you can find 200-300, all of those options are quite good.

570/580/480/590, all of these, even in 4GB guise, are still totally fine 1080p cards, but in my experience were incredibly borderline at 1440p (especially BFV, the whole reason I went with all of these upgrades).

Submitted before completing lol.

If you only do extremely mild gaming, even a 1050 non-ti, RX560/570, etc, will be a pretty nice combo for 1440p.

'Reasonably playable' for upcoming and current flagship AAA titles, is another story. Either pony up for a 1660/Vega56 or better, or you're probably going to be hurting at 1440p. For indie and less demanding stuff, even past AAA games that are beautiful and not so demanding, a 580 is still fine.

 

[v0id]

This is a really helpful comment - thanks a lot for the info. It more or less confirms my suspicion that I'm going to have to pony up for a 1660ti or a Vega 56 if another good deal comes along - I just missed the $250 after MIR Vega 56 (including 3 free games) deal from Reddit. I am pretty curious how the upcoming 1660 non-ti version compares, which apparently will be released on March 15 for $229 MSRP. However, considering I probably won't buy another GPU for at least another five years, I should probably err on the side of caution and go with the 1660ti. I'll wait to see what the reviews say in a couple of weeks before making a decision.

I got an XFX 8GB 580 XXX or whatever special OC edition for my nephew to go with a 27" 1440p display I gifted him, and it was .. not great. Newer games really put a hurting on the 580 at 1440p, I consider it a strictly 1080p card for 2019+.

1660ti, or a great deal on a Vega 56/64, or used 1070ti/1080, whatever you can find 200-300, all of those options are quite good.

570/580/480/590, all of these, even in 4GB guise, are still totally fine 1080p cards, but in my experience were incredibly borderline at 1440p (especially BFV, the whole reason I went with all of these upgrades).

Submitted before completing lol.

If you only do extremely mild gaming, even a 1050 non-ti, RX560/570, etc, will be a pretty nice combo for 1440p.

'Reasonably playable' for upcoming and current flagship AAA titles, is another story. Either pony up for a 1660/Vega56 or better, or you're probably going to be hurting at 1440p. For indie and less demanding stuff, even past AAA games that are beautiful and not so demanding, a 580 is still fine.

 

[Shamrock]

Absolutely, positively do NOT buy the Pixio PX329. I had one and had to return it. While it had 0 dead pixels, the ghosting and overshoot was SOO bad, it made me have headaches and nausea. Even my old Age of Empires II game had an 1/8" trail behind the workers walking. Anything fast and it got even worse.

I also suggest getting a Vega 56 or better grade card for 1440p.

 

[v0id]

Thanks for the heads up. While I did look into the PX329, unless I hear otherwise soon, I'm pretty set on purchasing the AOC Q3279VWFD8 31.5" display for around $250. From what I can tell reading and watching several reviews online, it really is a great value large display, even if it can only do 75 Hz. As an IPS panel, apparently the ghosting isn't nearly the issue it would be for a VA panel, and apparently the response time is pretty decent for its class. Again, the important thing to remember for me is that I'm not a competitive gamer, and I'm going from a 1680x1050 20.1" IPS "professional" class panel released in 2006. I'm hopeful almost anything I purchase will be a significant improvement.

Absolutely, positively do NOT buy the Pixio PX329. I had one and had to return it. While it had 0 dead pixels, the ghosting and overshoot was SOO bad, it made me have headaches and nausea. Even my old Age of Empires II game had an 1/8" trail behind the workers walking. Anything fast and it got even worse.

I also suggest getting a Vega 56 or better grade card for 1440p.

 

[v0id]

FWIW, I ended up purchasing both of these items - the base level EVGA GTX 1660TI for $279 and the AOC Q3279VWFD8 for $250 - and have now installed and played around with them a little bit. The AOC display looks great! No dead pixels, great colors, and only some very minor IPS glow in the bottom right corner. I'm running it at 75Hz refresh rate right now, which is the max for this display. That said, from what I understand software G-Sync does actually work on this monitor, even though it's obviously not certified from NVIDIA. I haven't tried this yet, but it will obviously be very useful for me, having just purchased a GTX 1660TI. I changed the display settings to those suggested here, and think they look very nice without frying my eyes too much from excessive brightness: https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/aoc-q3279vwfd8/#Calibration. The one other thing I'd mention may be obvious but, man, is this thing big! I'm coming from an old 20.1" display, so it's taking me a little while to adjust, but I like it a lot so far. I think I made the right choice by going with a 32" class display over a 27" display.

I'm not a big FPS guy so the only one I've tried so far has been the 2016 Doom reboot, but I can confirm it looks absolutely fantastic and runs very smoothly. 1440p60 nature videos on YouTube look awesome, as well.

The only very minor complaints I have are are as follows: (i) The display only comes with a VGA and an HDMI cable, not a DisplayPort cable, which I've been told I will need for G-Sync. So, budget a bit more for a DP cable if you don't already have one. (ii) While I think the stand looks nice with a minimalist brushed aluminum effect, it is pretty bare-bones and only features tilt adjustment - you can't change the height at all. (iii) The OSD is not the easiest to navigate as it lacks the "joystick" control found on many other monitors of this sort. However, I changed the display settings once and don't intend to mess with them again for the foreseeable future, so this isn't a big deal.

For the $250 price, though, I can't complain about this display at all. I would recommend this monitor for anyone looking for very nice-looking *large* 2560x1440 display, as long as you don't require 144+ Hz refresh rates. If you're OK with 75Hz refresh/FreeSync/unofficial G-Sync, I don't think you can do much better.

 

[Arkaign]

That's so cool lol, I literally just ordered this monitor for $199 (+$18 tax, free shipping). Going to upgrade someone from 27" 1440p/60 to 31.5 1440p/75/freesync

 

[v0id]

Where did you find this for $200? I had heard it's gone that low previously, but don't see it anywhere at that price currently.

 

[Arkaign]

Where did you find this for $200? I had heard it's gone that low previously, but don't see it anywhere at that price currently.

I had been scouring things all day, Micro Center visit, Craigslist Crawl, searching eBay for freesync, for '2k', for '1440p', etc, and kept finding ok deals but nothing amazing. Finally while on like the tenth page of an Amazon search I saw this thing listed, 2 items left, $199. I double and triple checked as fast as possible to make sure it was the right item and decently reviewed and bammo, ordered. Now when I press the link I saved, it goes to a page that shows a 31.5" 1080p for $228, which is weird, but the actual order receipt and shipping notification show the correct item and price.

I'll update when it arrives.

 

[v0id]

Good luck! For peace of mind purposes, I purchased mine from B&H Photo, as they (i) have a pretty good reputation and return policy, unlike Newegg, and (ii) are located in NY rather than CA (where I live), which will allow me to *cough* happily and accurately report my unpaid use tax to the federal and state governments next year. I hope you actually get what you wanted, and that it works well and survives shipping! From what I could tell, the display was pretty well-packed in protective styrofoam, but FedEx and UPS can destroy anything in transit if they try hard enough.

I had been scouring things all day, Micro Center visit, Craigslist Crawl, searching eBay for freesync, for '2k', for '1440p', etc, and kept finding ok deals but nothing amazing. Finally while on like the tenth page of an Amazon search I saw this thing listed, 2 items left, $199. I double and triple checked as fast as possible to make sure it was the right item and decently reviewed and bammo, ordered. Now when I press the link I saved, it goes to a page that shows a 31.5" 1080p for $228, which is weird, but the actual order receipt and shipping notification show the correct item and price.

I'll update when it arrives.