Advice on new monitor for gaming (144Hz+ 1440p+)

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Hey all,

Sorry to post another help request (this forum seems to get a lot of them), but I've been looking for a new monitor to purchase for a little while now with no luck. I've purchased one, but it was completely unusable for my situation so I had to return it - more on that later. My current relevant spec is this:
  • GPU: MSI RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio OC
  • CPU: Ryzen 9 5900X (not sure this matters)
  • Current Monitors: 2x Acer GN246HL (24" - TN Panels - 1920x1080 - 144Hz)
I'll list the minimum specs I was looking for at the end, but I figure I'd first explain my use case in detail and why I've been having so much trouble finding a good monitor.


Use Cases + Previously Bought Problems
I play a very mixed bag of games - from FPS to immersive horror, so having both a very responsive monitor and clearly viewable darks are both a must. "Immersive" is also quite an important point, in that I'd like to be able to use this in a pretty dark room as playing horror with lights blazing everywhere kind of defeats the point. This "dark" thing in general is something I've been really struggling to find as I can't find anything that is both fast and has actual functional dark colours in it.

The main reason I ask for help is the whole TN vs VA vs IPS thing. Just about everyone recommended an IPS panel display. After reading up on all the options, I purchased a Dell AW2721D - IPS panels, 1440p, 240Hz, good response time, good colours. But when I tried it in a darker game (multiplayer survival horror), I cannot overstate how utterly horrible it was (even after I turned of its whacky glowy HDR mode). ALL corners of my screen were single-colour blobs of grey thanks to all the glow. I couldn't see anything at all there, to the point where it made the game quite literally unplayable. Now, making my darker games unplayable is obviously not something I want from my gaming monitor. I've returned this one and cancelled my order on the second.

But I've no idea what is and isn't a good purchase anymore, and I've run out of obvious places to read up on this stuff. The monitor I tried was the recommended panel type (IPS) and not one of the cheapest ones out there (£600 on sale, £700 normally) and one I've seen recommended in a bunch of places by name, and that just did not work for my use cases at all. On the other hand, I've heard over and over again that VA panels suffer from bad blur of darker scenes, which causes different but still very bad issues with dark environments. I figured maybe someone here could help me if I explain my specific use case.


Minimum Spec
I know it's a very long post, hopefully someone had the time and patience to crunch through it. In short, I need something with at least these specs:
  • ~27" (Not curved - will be getting two of these for work as well. Programming and graphic design)
  • 2560×1440+ (not sure if 4K would do much at 27", or if my single GPU could even handle it)
  • 144Hz+
  • Fast response time for FPS
  • Good blacks/contrast (an absolute MUST for some games I play)
  • As nice a color range as possible - I hear HDR isn't really possible with these specs just yet, so I'll take as good as I can get.
  • Don't really mind what panel type, but I'm a little iffy towards IPS - their glow seems to make some games I play unplayable, which is a definite deal breaker. Still, I've heard that VA panels are also quite bad with dark scenes, and I've seen some video examples which appear to prove that. At a complete loss here.
Of course having a specific model to purchase (or a few to compare) would be ideal, but I'd seriously appreciate any and all help towards finding a good monitor.

Thanks a lot to anyone who stuck through this essay!
 
Last edited:
You could take a look at Samsung's 240Hz VA panels such as this one, quite curved though but from the reviews it does not seem to suffer from black smear. Some in here might have a better idea as monitors can be a bit of a minefield.
 
+1 on Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
if you need fast monitor with good contrast, thats pretty much the only option right now.
 
Thanks for all the answers!
Damn, I need something I could get 2 of and use for work as well, I don't think I could get used to the curve while working. I've seen this screen recommended in a few places, but unfortunately the curve makes it unsuitable for this (at least from my experience trying to use a curved screen).

Is there no flat equivalent out yet?
 
Not as far as I know, a shame because there is surely a market for them. You could also opt for a single 48" LG C1/CX OLED but that might be too big and the fear of burn in though probably unbeatable for dark room gaming performance :)
 
Hey all,

Sorry to post another help request (this forum seems to get a lot of them), but I've been looking for a new monitor to purchase for a little while now with no luck. I've purchased one, but it was completely unusable for my situation so I had to return it - more on that later. My current relevant spec is this:
  • GPU: MSI RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio OC
  • CPU: Ryzen 9 5900X (not sure this matters)
  • Current Monitors: 2x Acer GN246HL (24" - TN Panels - 1920x1080 - 144Hz)
I'll list the minimum specs I was looking for at the end, but I figure I'd first explain my use case in detail and why I've been having so much trouble finding a good monitor.


Use Cases + Previously Bought Problems
I play a very mixed bag of games - from FPS to immersive horror, so having both a very responsive monitor and clearly viewable darks are both a must. "Immersive" is also quite an important point, in that I'd like to be able to use this in a pretty dark room as playing horror with lights blazing everywhere kind of defeats the point. This "dark" thing in general is something I've been really struggling to find as I can't find anything that is both fast and has actual functional dark colours in it.

The main reason I ask for help is the whole TN vs VA vs IPS thing. Just about everyone recommended an IPS panel display. After reading up on all the options, I purchased a Dell AW2721D - IPS panels, 1440p, 240Hz, good response time, good colours. But when I tried it in a darker game (multiplayer survival horror), I cannot overstate how utterly horrible it was (even after I turned of its whacky glowy HDR mode). ALL corners of my screen were single-colour blobs of grey thanks to all the glow. I couldn't see anything at all there, to the point where it made the game quite literally unplayable. Now, making my darker games unplayable is obviously not something I want from my gaming monitor. I've returned this one and cancelled my order on the second.

But I've no idea what is and isn't a good purchase anymore, and I've run out of obvious places to read up on this stuff. The monitor I tried was the recommended panel type (IPS) and not one of the cheapest ones out there (£600 on sale, £700 normally) and one I've seen recommended in a bunch of places by name, and that just did not work for my use cases at all. On the other hand, I've heard over and over again that VA panels suffer from bad blur of darker scenes, which causes different but still very bad issues with dark environments. I figured maybe someone here could help me if I explain my specific use case.


Minimum Spec
I know it's a very long post, hopefully someone had the time and patience to crunch through it. In short, I need something with at least these specs:
  • ~27" (Not curved - will be getting two of these for work as well. Programming and graphic design)
  • 2560×1440+ (not sure if 4K would do much at 27", or if my single GPU could even handle it)
  • 144Hz+
  • Fast response time for FPS
  • Good blacks/contrast (an absolute MUST for some games I play)
  • As nice a color range as possible - I hear HDR isn't really possible with these specs just yet, so I'll take as good as I can get.
  • Don't really mind what panel type, but I'm a little iffy towards IPS - their glow seems to make some games I play unplayable, which is a definite deal breaker. Still, I've heard that VA panels are also quite bad with dark scenes, and I've seen some video examples which appear to prove that. At a complete loss here.
Of course having a specific model to purchase (or a few to compare) would be ideal, but I'd seriously appreciate any and all help towards finding a good monitor.

Thanks a lot to anyone who stuck through this essay!

I would still go for the AW2721D - It's a panel lottery sometimes and you hit a bad one - VA is just not worth is vs IPS IMO.
 
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