2560x1440 - best on 27" or 32" monitor?

ClassicRyu · 4 Dec 2016 at 09:58

Hello all.

Building a new PC soon, the new CPU will be a Core i5 6600 and the graphics card will be a Radeon RX 470 (just makes my budget). It will be used for some casual gaming and high settings of graphics do not matter that much.

One of the options I cannot seem to make my mind up on is the monitor size. I've decided on going for the 2560x1440 resolution. But I'm stuck between the choice of a 27" or 32" monitor size for it. The 27" is an IPS panel, and the 32" is a VA panel.

I've seen people say that 27" is too small for 2560x1440.

Can anyone offer any advice? Thanks in advance.

wrenaudrey · 4 Dec 2016 at 12:19

In my opinion 27" for 1440p is the perfect size.

32 or 27 is up to you and your preferences.

But i think you might be getting confused, i've seen a lot of people say that it's 4k at 27" is too small and i do agree with that statement.

Ste · 4 Dec 2016 at 22:41

27 is just right. I wouldn't want 32 for standard PC tasks as you'd have to sit a way back for the pixels not to be noticeable.

Minstadave · 4 Dec 2016 at 22:55

I find 25" great, 27" is perfectly fine, but 1440P on 32" I'm probably going to be wanting 4K.

27" is absolutely not too small for 1440P.

stuartharrison · 4 Dec 2016 at 22:57

27 I reckon.
32 for 4k.

1440 on a 27" isn't that big an image quality difference from a 4k at 27 (depending on your eyes I suppose)

jigger · 4 Dec 2016 at 23:39

The IPS will probably be a little sharper and the VA will better contrast. Both should be pretty good.

540media · 5 Dec 2016 at 15:59

wrenaudrey said:
In my opinion 27" for 1440p is the perfect size.

32 or 27 is up to you and your preferences.

But i think you might be getting confused, i've seen a lot of people say that it's 4k at 27" is too small and i do agree with that statement.

+1 on that

I had 2 4k 27" monitors... ended up selling them both
was using them for design work, not gaming tho... scaling in Adobe products is a shocking mess!!

In my opinion:
27" for 1440p
32" for anything bigger

marc2003 · 5 Dec 2016 at 16:16

Ste said:
27 is just right. I wouldn't want 32 for standard PC tasks as you'd have to sit a way back for the pixels not to be noticeable.

There is no problem with pixels - it's just the same as you get with 24"/1080p and not many complained for all the years it was the "high end" standard. You do have to sit back though - and that's to take it all in. It does take a few days to get used to the size. I love 1440p at 32".

mistersprinkles · 5 Dec 2016 at 22:48

Why dont you tell us which monitors you are looking at? If you are going AMD for GPU, get a Freesync display. It will increase gaming joy.

I'd also suggest you go to an RX480 rather than a 470.

DonPachi · 6 Dec 2016 at 15:42

I have the BenQ BL3200PT 32" 1440p monitor too, and it's a beautiful screen. I use it for design work primarily and games second. This was the monitor that took me back to a single screen after having dual monitors for years.

As mentioned the pixel density is by no means bad, equivalent to 1080p at 24". It takes some adjusting but I could never go back now!

eddiew · 6 Dec 2016 at 17:24

I find 32" @ 1440p to be a sweet spot; about the same pixel density as a 24" 1080p screen. If you've ever used a 15.6" HD laptop, that's about the density of a 32" 4k, and them pixels are pretty small for something that will be over an arm's length away.

That said, I don't HAVE a 32" QHD because I couldn't find one that was any good. Tried three, all had defects and got sent back. The internet is swamped with issues from similar units and I gave up. The panel lottery seems particularly biased towards crapness in this form factor.

Warbie · 6 Dec 2016 at 17:28

Me too - 32" and 1440p. Especially for gaming. Desktop use is still decent too. I have 34" 21:9 at the mo but plan to swap to this.

ClassicRyu · 6 Dec 2016 at 20:13

mistersprinkles said:
Why dont you tell us which monitors you are looking at? If you are going AMD for GPU, get a Freesync display. It will increase gaming joy.

The two monitors I am looking at are:

Asus 27" PB278QR

BenQ 32" BL3200PT

I am leaning more towards the BenQ.

I'd also suggest you go to an RX480 rather than a 470.

I might just do that, the pricing is not far off.

I also want to ask, in general if it's a mid to above-mid range cards, which is more preferred for gaming? Nvidia or AMD?

Seanspeed · 7 Dec 2016 at 14:14

ClassicRyu said:
I also want to ask, in general if it's a mid to above-mid range cards, which is more preferred for gaming? Nvidia or AMD?

Truthfully, I'd go elsewhere to find the answer to this question. Or better yet, do some research of your own.

Too many people here are heavily invested in their favored GPU manufacturer and will try and slant their comments in that direction.

Griffildur · 7 Dec 2016 at 19:16

I would say 27' for 1440p. That's the sweet spot for me.

ClassicRyu · 7 Dec 2016 at 20:54

Thanks for all the responses guys.

Well in the end, I went for the BenQ 32" BL3200PT, because right now at the current moment, it's going for an extremely good price for a monitor like this.

With all the reviews I read online of the monitor and also taking your views into consideration, I thought long and hard about it. I do prefer the bigger screen size over "quality of image". That's not to say that it hasn't got good quality image though, as all the reviews I read say that it has, and that it's very close to an IPS panel. Apparently it also betters IPS panels in some areas as well.

eddiew · 8 Dec 2016 at 23:50

Be interested to know how you get on with it. I tried one last year but it had nasty banding and had to go back :< But maybe newer stock is better?

ClassicRyu · 9 Dec 2016 at 18:19

eddiew said:
Be interested to know how you get on with it. I tried one last year but it had nasty banding and had to go back :< But maybe newer stock is better?

Got it and set it up, it looks excellent. Even at 1920x1080 the OS looks great close up.

But then again this is me upgrading from a Samsung 24" TN panel, which lasted me 6+ years.

So far it looks fine, no dead pixels either. How would I test for banding?

DrBombcrater · 9 Dec 2016 at 19:14

Show a screen full of solid colour, shades of grey tend to work well showing up banding issues but pale blue and magenta are sometimes better.

If you get banding on solid colours and can't live with it then return the monitor immediately. As I've found to my cost, no matter how bad it is BenQ do not consider vertical banding a defect and will point-blank refuse an RMA.

aatu · 9 Dec 2016 at 19:52

With regards to testing banding, go to http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/gradient.php

The gradient should be perfectly smooth, meaning you shouldn't be able differentiate any vertical bands.