1440p 32" VA Monitor Advice

PieEater · 20 Nov 2018 at 09:32

For my personal requirements I need a 32" 1440p screen, I use my PC primarily for gaming (75%) but also photo editing (10%) and general web browsing etc (15%) I have a 1070 graphics card. My budget is ~£350 which limits me to VA panels without GSync, I understand the benefits / limitations of VA technology and am happy to accept these if I can find the best monitor for reduced input and gaming lag.

I think I have narrowed it down to the following 144Hz options;
Samsung C32JG50 (no adaptive sync, reports of poor build quaility)
Hannspree HG324QJB (adaptive sync but don't like the red, not many reviews)
AOC Agon AG322QC4 (Freesync - is this the same adaptive sync on the Hannspree?).

These are all curved monitors which I wasn't really looking for but I will get used to, I assume that they all use the same panel. Any advice on which one I should get or alternatives to consider?

/Edit: I see that NVidia doesn't support adaptive sync but it might still be useful to have as I may go AMD at some point.

PieEater · 20 Nov 2018 at 17:30

Well after a day spent doing more research and speaking with a friend I re-evaluated what I was looking for in a monitor;
32" 1440p = must have.
Curved = preferably not due to photo editing.
IPS / TN / VA = preferably IPS for better colour reproduction and viewing angles in photo editing, and potentially less lag and ghosting in games over VA.
Refresh rate = higher would be good but not essential I am used to 60Hz and prefer image quality over frame rates.
Adaptive sync = nice to have but I dont have a budget for GSync and am not planning on changing my GPU for 12-24 months.

I have ordered an AOC Q3279VWFD8 for £200, I can't believe the reviews of this monitor given the price or that it seems to fit my requirements exactly.

Adam123 · 24 Nov 2018 at 13:31

How are you getting on with this monitor? Seems like an amazing price

Dempsey22 · 24 Nov 2018 at 18:36

PieEater said:
I have ordered an AOC Q3279VWFD8 for £200, I can't believe the reviews of this monitor given the price or that it seems to fit my requirements exactly.

Adam123 said:
How are you getting on with this monitor? Seems like an amazing price

Theres an owners thread on here somewhere. I had to send mine back after 7 months as it developed a fault. Others have reported the same fault.

PieEater · 24 Nov 2018 at 19:02

It looks like I lucked out on the panel lottery as the one I received has too much backlight bleed / IPS glow in one corner. For £199 I'm not expecting perfection and am willing to put up with some glow on totally black backgrounds but this is noticeable and irritating when gaming and watching films so I'm looking at returning it. I'm more than happy to swap it out in the hopes that the next one is better as otherwise I think it's a decent monitor.

Funky-Melon · 25 Nov 2018 at 11:58

Slightly off topic but how does the 1070 fair with 1440p? Some say well others disagree but I expect half of them probably don't own either.

I'm on 1080p at the moment and games runs very smoothly, just wondering how much worse off I'll be performance wise by upgrading to a 1440p ultrawide?

Thanks

PieEater · 25 Nov 2018 at 12:42

Funky-Melon said:
Slightly off topic but how does the 1070 fair with 1440p? Some say well others disagree but I expect half of them probably don't own either.

I'm on 1080p at the moment and games runs very smoothly, just wondering how much worse off I'll be performance wise by upgrading to a 1440p ultrawide?

Thanks

It really depends on your requirements, I imagine those that say a 1070 isn't good enough for 1440p are expecting 144 FPS with settings maxed out which is unrealistic. My personal preference due to the games I play is image quality over frame rates and so I run my games pretty much maxed out whilst maintaining ~60 FPS without any real issues which is all I need. 1440p ultrawide will be a bit more taxing than 16:9 though as there are more pixels to push at that resolution so it might be worthwhile asking someone who runs the type of monitor you are looking at.

Adam123 · 26 Nov 2018 at 00:51

I've just upgraded from a 980 with 1080p 144hz to a 1070 with a Dell S2716DG and I'm happy so far.

I've only played BF3 / BF4 so far but for me I'm hitting the 140fps mark (low settings GPU us). Personally I like high frame rates on these types of games and I am more than happy to drop everything to low to achieve them.

At 1440p on BF3 with everything on low - I'm hitting 144fps for most of the game with CPU at 91% max and CPU @ 59% max load). CPU is next to upgrade.

PieEater · 9 Dec 2018 at 11:18

Bit of an update for those that might be interested. I received a replacement Q3279VWFD8 which had very similar levels of backlight issues if not slightly worse it also had some trapped dirt under the screen. Looking at the seals on the boxes both the original and replacement had been previously opened and then resealed so I have a feeling that they might have been previously rejected on quality grounds and shipped out to me (this was not from OCUK). However I have also read a couple of reviews that have stated that they also had similar issues with backlight showing through on the bottom left of the screen so it does seem to be a common problem. I requested a 3rd screen which again arrived with the original seal broken so this was rejected at the doorstep and sent back. Having lost confidence in the panel and suppliers ability to send me a non returned monitor I a decided to give the BenQ EW3270ZL a try. I was skeptical about a VA panels colour reproduction for photo editing but actually it has some good reviews in that area and in fact I am very impressed, the contrast difference between this and the IPS panel is incredible making images almost come to life. The AOC had a refresh rate of 75Hz which I was enjoying over the 60Hz I was running before but I noticed that the Panel on the BenQ had an operating range of up to 75Hz so I thought I would try to up the clock speed and found that 70Hz is achievable with no frame skipping so I haven't lost out too much on that front. As for gaming it seems fine, there are 2 levels of overdrive to increase response rate and I don't notice any issues running at the higher setting but my eyes aren't the best so YMMV. Backlight issues apart viewing angles are not noticeably different to the IPS panel, sat an arms length away there is some lightening towards the sides / corners which was evident on both screens, they are both rated the same for viewing angles and I would say that is the case. The only down side so far is that the non height adjustable stand is too low and there are no VESA mounts so I will have to cobble together a riser for it. The BenQ is still sat with the tags and plastic film on in case I want to send it back but my only other options are 144Hz+ curved VA Freesync gaming screens which are considerably more expensive and not really what I need.

StevieP · 9 Dec 2018 at 11:21

I've recently got my hands on the 32" Hannspree screen and it's great so far!

I know you said preferably not curved but it is a cracking screen for the money!

I was a bit unsure about the red myself but it actually doesn't stand out as much as you'd think it would and in my opinion looks far better than the dull black surround you usually get!

PieEater · 9 Dec 2018 at 15:35

StevieP said:
I've recently got my hands on the 32" Hannspree screen and it's great so far!

It does tick a lot of boxes but for me it would be difficult to justify the extra £100 as my 1070 isn't capable of running much higher than 60FPS with the quality settings where I want them and I'm not sure the curved screen would be as good for photo editing compared to a flat panel.

StevieP · 9 Dec 2018 at 15:54

My 970 is doing an admirable job but I must admit I've got a Vega 56 landing this week with any luck so I can experience all the bells and whistles!