Future proofing a monitor purchase

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So, I finally have the funds to build a new pc and am looking at I5/I7 / Z270 and probably a 1070 (cant quite justify cost of 1080 for perf gains) and selecting a monitor has been the biggest headache so far...

From much reading, I believe a 27" / IPS / 1440 / 144Hz screen is the way to go (due to games I play and a shallow desk so anything larger will probably be too big). However the number of monitors and variety of price for these criteria is almost overwhelming...

The cheapest I can see are screens like the BenQ GW2765HT or the Acer 27" H277HU both at £300. Then you have screens like the DELL UltraSharp UP2716D at £480 but I can't see what you get for the extra price? The cheapest G-Sync I can find is the AOC AGON AG271QG at £570 - £270 more for G-Sync?

My last monitor has lasted me 8+ years and I really want my next purchase to last a similar amount of time - will probably be that long until I can afford to spend this much money on a new build again... Will G-Sync benefit a 1070? Will it add longevity to the monitor? Is it worth the premium for the PC specs?

The main game I am waiting for is Star Citizen (yes, could be a long time lol) but will be playing ME Andromeda, finally getting round to Witcher 3 etc in the meantime. Any thoughts or suggestions? Any other monitors you would recommend? I really didn't want to spend more than approx £450 but will stretch if G-Sync will benefit me and make the monitor last longer.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

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snip

Thanks Baddass, appreciate the confirmation. I have been lurking here for months but wanted to ensure I was making the right decision.

Do you think a 1070 will be powerful enough to drive the AOC at max settings? With games like Andromeda / Witcher 3 / Star Citizen etc?

I was also holding out for new CES17 monitors, but a 1070 is never going to drive a 4k HDR quantum dot screen anyway lol. Hopefully something like the AOC will see me through until the next generation of screen tech and GPU's powerful enough to drive them, are within my budget!
Cheers!

 

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Oh yeah, read about hairworks and MSAA? (which i mixed up with MSRA initially, that was a confusing google search...) I just generally mean running games in all their glory, I'm not a graphics whore at all. In fact, i'm coming from a 8 year old tn panel with a 1Mb 560Ti, so think i'm going to see a reasonable improvement without maxing all settings

 

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Jesus..It's a different game with Gsync though.

Worth the uplift?

I presume that as future games become more demanding and the relative performance of the 1070 declines, G-sync will prolong the life of the monitor and GPU? Does it work like that?

 

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It's a game changer mate.I'm finding myself replaying titles that I had completed before I bought my panel just to experience them with Gsync.Amazing.

Aye, that's what i'm thinking too, so many games I have had to turn down all the gfx settings to get it to run on a 560ti... sounds positive!

In the end, a lot of quite cool and innovative technologies are being added to monitors coming out in the next few quarters. Meaning that if you intended to buy a monitor now for it to last a long time, I would wait until then to take advantage of these new offerings.

This is the crux of what concerns me the most, I know tech in general always has this issue that there is something better coming round the corner, but with monitors i'm struggling to understand what, when and whether is will be anywhere close to my budget. I'll be gutted to spend £570 on a monitor to have something new come out 3 months later for a little more money...

Is quantum dot realistically going to be anywhere close to £600ish?

 

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Thanks for thoughts and feedback chaps and for taking the time to do that testing geordiejc. Spending £300 on a monitor I could upgrade again in 2-3 years, spending on £600 would have to last me 5-6 years, so that's why I'm struggling to decide whether gsync is worth that premium over new tech on an earlier refresh...

But then, if single gpu's can't drive new tech (hdr) maybe I'm better off sticking with a 1070 and gsynch monitor and seeing where we are with 12series of cards...

I would happily give my money to AMD, but with no contender to 1070 card, sadly freesync is pointless I think. Maybe I can see where they are in 4-5 years.