Dell S2716DG - Dells first G-sync

PCM2 · 26 Jul 2016 at 09:12

Dervious said:
Something I`ve noticed is that the image quality on my screen seems to have improved after a few day's use. I'm sure that's due to my eyes becoming accustomed to the new TN panel after using IPS for a couple of years.

Yes, you will notice that. There is always an adjustment period when using a new monitor with some different image characteristics to your previous one. If you were to now use a decent IPS panel you would likely find it quite different once more. The sort of weaknesses and differences there are highlighted quite nicely in this forum, for example - with the weakening saturation lower down the screen for the blue background colour. Far more consistent on IPS models and something you'd initially notice quite clearly when first moving to the TN model.

Dervious · 26 Jul 2016 at 09:26

Indeed. I knew I'd be noticing the colour shift on the TN (having used a TN before the IPS), but after a while you tend to forget about it.

Overall I'm very pleased with this monitor. The only slight negative is that the screen coating does seem to give the image a slight "graininess". This has been mentioned in a couple of owner's reviews. Again, if you don't look for the issue, it's not a problem.

se_vietboi · 26 Jul 2016 at 14:18

It's here! Gotta finish work first though aaarrrrrrgg.

infernox · 26 Jul 2016 at 15:18

I dropped £560 on my Classified 980Ti, why am I umming and arring over less for a monitor.... ARGGHH

BristolMethod · 26 Jul 2016 at 17:19

I'm thinking of moving to this from a U2412M. Probably keep the ultrasharp and use in portrait mode next to it as second screen. Anybody else use a 780Ti with it? Is it enough.

se_vietboi · 26 Jul 2016 at 17:27

Funny I also have a U2412M. Can't wait to compare!

Dervious · 26 Jul 2016 at 17:40

infernox said:
I dropped £560 on my Classified 980Ti, why am I umming and arring over less for a monitor.... ARGGHH

I'm wondering the same.

Do it. You'll probably get some of the money back (in a way) by delaying the need to replace your 980ti. G-Sync will keep games running smoothly when your GPU starts to struggle a bit. And in the meantime, you can crank up the settings a bit and not have to worry too much if the framerate dips below 60fps.

PCM2 · 26 Jul 2016 at 18:05

Dervious said:
I'm wondering the same.

Do it. You'll probably get some of the money back (in a way) by delaying the need to replace your 980ti. G-Sync will keep games running smoothly when your GPU starts to struggle a bit. And in the meantime, you can crank up the settings a bit and not have to worry too much if the framerate dips below 60fps.

Dips below 60fps... On a 144Hz monitor... Regardless of G-SYNC, such frame rates are horrendously sluggish in comparison to higher frame rates. G-SYNC certainly makes slight drops much more palatable and certainly helps even at relatively low frame rates. But low frame rates are still low frame rates, with a much less 'connected' feeling and far more perceived blur. Not at all where you want to be on a 144Hz monitor and certainly not where you should expect to be with a GTX 980 Ti!

Dervious · 26 Jul 2016 at 18:15

PCM2 said:
Dips below 60fps... On a 144Hz monitor... Regardless of G-SYNC, such frame rates are horrendously sluggish in comparison to higher frame rates. G-SYNC certainly makes slight drops much more palatable and certainly helps even at relatively low frame rates. But low frame rates are still low frame rates, with a much less 'connected' feeling and far more perceived blur. Not at all where you want to be on a 144Hz monitor and certainly not where you should expect to be with a GTX 980 Ti!

I would expect to be ~60fps with a 980ti in demanding games such as Witcher 3 with high settings.

My point is that in such a situation with a non G-Sync 60hz monitor, the dips below 60fps will cause stuttering unless V-Sync is disabled, in which case screen tear will be the issue. I`ve found that G-Sync is a very good feature with a "mid range" (GTX1070) GPU. Even when the framerate drops to ~50fps, the game still plays and looks great. OK, there may be a little lag, but unless I were playing a very fast first person shooter, I don't really notice.

I`ve not yet tested a less demanding game (Doom, which runs ~100fps) with G-Sync disabled on this monitor. I'm guessing that there will be some screen tear and possible stuttering as the framerate varies. I'll test that now.

Dervious · 26 Jul 2016 at 18:32

Interesting that with V-Sync and G-Sync disabled, playing Doom doesn't show any screen tear or stuttering. If the screen refresh rate is 144Hz, and the game is running ~100hz, I would have thought that I'd see some issues.

Retro89 · 26 Jul 2016 at 20:17

Going to send mine back, I love the 144hz and Gsync but i prefer the colour reproduction on my IPS monitor. I've tried different colour settings but they just don't come close.

PCM2 · 26 Jul 2016 at 20:47

Dervious said:
I would expect to be ~60fps with a 980ti in demanding games such as Witcher 3 with high settings.

My point is that in such a situation with a non G-Sync 60hz monitor, the dips below 60fps will cause stuttering unless V-Sync is disabled, in which case screen tear will be the issue. I`ve found that G-Sync is a very good feature with a "mid range" (GTX1070) GPU. Even when the framerate drops to ~50fps, the game still plays and looks great. OK, there may be a little lag, but unless I were playing a very fast first person shooter, I don't really notice.

I`ve not yet tested a less demanding game (Doom, which runs ~100fps) with G-Sync disabled on this monitor. I'm guessing that there will be some screen tear and possible stuttering as the framerate varies. I'll test that now.

Oh yes, it certainly depends on the game. For slower paced games or more atmospheric ones it's certainly fine to crank up settings and yes, things will be better even then than without G-SYNC. It's titles like Rise Of The Tomb Raider, Battlefield 4 and GTA V that I found a lot nicer with the balanced shifted more towards performance than image quality. Either way it frees you up to use higher settings than you otherwise would, which is very nice though!

One thing I always recommend to users of monitors with this sort of pixel density is to use 2x MSAA in the game and enable MFAA in Nvidia Control Panel. Much better performance and similar image quality to normal 4x MSAA.

se_vietboi · 26 Jul 2016 at 21:41

Alright, just got the monitor up and running with TFT's ICC profile and my god it is damn good. I certainly won't miss my 2 IPS panels.

Dicehunter · 26 Jul 2016 at 21:59

Retro89 said:
Got my monitor today, what colour settings are people using? The ones on TFT Central give it a greenish tint which I don't like.

Nevermind, I found a setting I like. Got a few dead pixels on mine They are in the corners though.

Don;t worry about them, I have had over 10 monitors in the last few years from Asus, BenQ, Dell and Samsung and I have yet to see a monitor that at some point doesn't get at least 1 dead/stuck pixel.

se_vietboi said:
Alright, just got the monitor up and running with TFT's ICC profile and my god it is damn good. I certainly won't miss my 2 IPS panels.

I said pretty much the same and I came from a 4K IPS Dell

GSXR Gaz Mc · 26 Jul 2016 at 22:03

Dicehunter said:
Don;t worry about them, I have had over 10 monitors in the last few years from Asus, BenQ, Dell and Samsung and I have yet to see a monitor that at some point doesn't get at least 1 dead/stuck pixel.

wow man u must have been really really unlucky coz all the monitors ive bought for myself and other people have never had 1 dead pixel

Dicehunter · 26 Jul 2016 at 22:37

GSXR Gaz Mc said:
wow man u must have been really really unlucky coz all the monitors ive bought for myself and other people have never had 1 dead pixel

Probably yeah

I'm curious, Has anyone ever cracked one of these open to see the G-Sync module inside ? Got a feeling some G-Sync monitors might actually be running off the Displayport standard

adger1971 · 27 Jul 2016 at 07:53

I'm looking at purchasing one of these Dell Gsync,s to go with my new 1080.
I've just gotta sell my U2715h 1st. Il miss her she's a beut.

RidingTheFlow · 27 Jul 2016 at 08:46

BristolMethod said:
I'm thinking of moving to this from a U2412M. Probably keep the ultrasharp and use in portrait mode next to it as second screen.

Staying with my U2412M for now. Can't really stomach massive gamma shift / almost image inversion when I just slump in my chair - this TN screen just too sensitive to vertical head movement.

I hope Dell will eventually make an IPS version.

se_vietboi · 27 Jul 2016 at 11:02

I just noticed a tiny crack in the top right corner bezel of this monitor ...

...

Gonna send back, ordered the PG279Q already. It's what I originally wanted but fear of QC made me opt for this lol.

Dervious · 27 Jul 2016 at 12:08

se_vietboi said:
I just noticed a tiny crack in the top right corner bezel of this monitor ...

...

Gonna send back, ordered the PG279Q already. It's what I originally wanted but fear of QC made me opt for this lol.

Dell's QC is supposed to be very good, so it seems you`ve been a bit unlucky.

From what I`ve read, you're going to need luck if you're buying the Asus. If you were happy with the Dell apart from the cracked bezel, why not get it replaced ?