Hi all,

I have been out of touch with the graphics card market and I am looking for your advice.

I am looking to upgrade from the following:

Asus PB278Q 27" Monitor - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...l-led-multimedia-monitor-black-mo-077-as.html

Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X OC WindForce 4096MB - https://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/gigabyte_radeon_r9_290x_windforce_3x_oc_review,1.html

Ideally I would like to play Arma 3, WoW, Overwatch and Division buttery smooth on a 2k monitor but this time I want Gsync (which I guess helps with the butter).

Budget for the combo is £800/£900

My initial research has led me to the following:

GeForce GTX 1070 AMP Extreme Spectra - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/zota...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-104-zt.html

S2716DG 27" 2560x1440 TN G-Sync 144Hz - S2716DG 27" 2560x1440 TN G-Sync 144Hz

Thanks in advance

What CPU do you have?

Going from a 290X to a 1070 is a decent upgrade, but not massive. You're looking at a 40-50% increase if you have no CPU bottleneck.

Also are you sure you want to get a TN panel (the cheap variety) on your monitor if you're looking to spend this much?

a £469 monitor is not exactly "the cheap variety". I have a TN as well and it's pretty great so I wouldn't worry about it.

It's got the right refresh rate, the right response time, great reviews so all things considered it looks pretty decent.

Zotac cards do really well this time around. I don't have a 1070 but I have the 1080 Amp Extreme variety and it's a beast of a card with crazy factory overclocks. I read a lot of good things about the 1070 one as well.

You'll do great with such a combo. Just don't forget to activate the extended warranty on Zotac's website, think you have 4 weeks after you buy the card to do that.

Griffildur said:

a £469 monitor is not exactly "the cheap variety".

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I'm referring to the panel type, not the price the manufacturer decided to set. It's only that expensive because of Gsync tax.

TN is the cheapest variety with the lowest image quality. And I wouldn't be happy to pay £469 for a TN panel personally.

IPS has significantly better image quality, so I'd be looking for IPS (or VA) in that price range.

Thanks for the fast replies.

My CPU is an Intel Core i5-4690K 3.50GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150. Overclocked to 4ghz.

Is there an IPS monitor you could suggest with similar specs and price? My viewing angle should be optimal for a TN panel. Are there any other limitations to a TN panel?

AllBodies said:

I'm referring to the panel type, not the price the manufacturer decided to set. It's only that expensive because of Gsync tax.

TN is the cheapest variety with the lowest image quality. And I wouldn't be happy to pay £469 for a TN panel personally.

IPS has significantly better image quality, so I'd be looking for IPS (or VA) in that price range.

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But you won't find the same features available on an IPS panel in the same price range

OP might as well keep his current IPS panel if he didn't want the extra bells and whistles a TN panel can offer on that price range.

To OP: if you want 1440p/Gsync/144Hz/IPS, theres the Asus PG279Q and it's Acer counterpart, both at ~£650 though so around £200 extra.

Thanks Jony27. It does give me something to think about. Perhaps I'll grab the card first and check the performance on my current monitor. Save up the extra couple hundred and review your suggested monitors then.

Is the difference in quality between IPS and TN that noticeble?

there's no issue with the TN quality, wouldn't worry about it tbh.

2k =/= 1440p fyi

there are several decent 1440p / 144Hz / G-SYNC TN monitors on the market atm, but they are all ~£500 since Brexit when a couple were £400 (sale price) a few weeks before.

IPS costs an extra £100-200 more, for gaming personally I prefer less motion blur from a TN panel.

Monitor prices might go up a bit more still since most stock was already in UK and paid for but when that gets sold expect a 10% mark-up from Brexit. Still I expect there will be some decent deals around black friday / xmas time.

That Dell one is at an ok price right now. It's been as low as £400 before, but it was £500 since Brexit so £469 is probably about as good as it's going to get at the moment..

Griffildur said:

a £469 monitor is not exactly "the cheap variety". I have a TN as well and it's pretty great so I wouldn't worry about it.

Click to expand...

ShakeNBake said:

IPS costs an extra £100-200 more, for gaming personally I prefer less motion blur from a TN panel.

Click to expand...

I also have a TN monitor and I'm happy with it. I don't think you can just say one monitor is better than another just because IPS > TN, although that will often be the case.

If the monitor is well reviewed and praised for its image quality then you will probably be happy with it. It's an important decision though because you could keep the monitor for many years, probably more than most other PC hardware.

one thing to consider as well is the warranty and the dead pixels. One of the reasons I got mine was that OC guaranteed there will be no dead pixels. Not over 3 or over 5 or whatever. Even 1 dead pixel would warrant a replacement.

Sounds small but one dead pixel annoys me especially when the price is 600+ .

I agree about dead pixels - that's something that really annoys me. Luckily the two monitors I have at the moment don't have any, but I didn't bother to check what the policy on dead pixels was before I bought them.

Thanks for all your help peeps. I've read up on the Dell monitor and there are loads of good reviews, even from ex IPS owners. So looks like this may be the one.

Cheers again.

I have the Dell and it's s super monitor. Currently running it quite nicely at 1440p with a GTX 980, but just pulled the trigger on the 1070 on here for 360 quid. After selling my old card, should be a cheapish upgrade.

So I'll have that exact combo hopefully on Friday if me mum's home! I always get stuff delivered there as I'm always at work during the day.

Coincidence? I go to purchase this gear and the monitor has now gone up to £500. Think I'll give it a miss then.