G-Sync or Ultrawide?

wengole · 9 Jan 2015 at 13:26

Looking to upgrade graphics card and monitor in the coming months, but can't decide whether G-Sync or Ultrawide would be more of a useful feature. Seems you can't have both (at least not in my budget).

From what I've heard G-Sync would make high action games seem more smooth, but I feel the Ultrawide would give benefits to to games requiring a bit more immersion (i.e. Star Citizen & Elite: Dangerous)

I'm probably never going to afford a Oculus - and I've tried a DK2 and wouldn't use it as a daily tool; too much eye-strain

Anyone got any recommendations based on experience?

Martini1991 · 9 Jan 2015 at 13:29

I'd wait for the freesync compatible monitors to launch, there's some ultrawide ones. Then go AMD for GPU?

skuko · 9 Jan 2015 at 14:04

i currently have the swift, and i love having gsync and i feel like i couldn't play games without it anymore. lately though, i've been questioning myself, thinking if a 3440:1440 monitor would be better as i mainly game and watch movies at home.

suffice it to say, i will wait how this whole freesync thing turns out. my gpu at the moment it a gtx680 so i will be upgrading that as well this year and depending on how freesync turns out, i gonna either go AMD or stay with nvidia (and keep all the other goodies, like shadowplay).

with that said, if i was you, i would hold out at least until june/july to see how this whole situation works out.

wengole · 9 Jan 2015 at 14:12

Martini1991 said:
I'd wait for the freesync compatible monitors to launch, there's some ultrawide ones. Then go AMD for GPU?

Yeah, I'd just been reading up on all the FreeSync goodness. Sounds like a great idea, but Nvidia have said they won't support it, and I'm just not a fan of AMD graphics cards. Been burned twice with bad drivers - once not so long ago. I'm sure it's better now, but I'm weirdly pig-headed about this now.

I was however trying to see if there was a G-Sync monitor that was Display Port 1.2a, so that I could have the best of both worlds. Seems unlikely to happen.

andybird123 · 9 Jan 2015 at 14:15

I had the same choice to make and went with gsync
Having owned an Ips monitor for a number of years i wouldnt buy another 60hz one, as most games are quite dark ips glow got on my nerves, and having tried a 120hz+ monitor I now realise how bad the motion blur is on ips

Martini1991 · 9 Jan 2015 at 14:15

Nvidia haven't said anything on the subject, but Nvidia wouldn't be supporting Freesync regardless, that's just AMD's proprietary implementation.
Nvidia would make their own based on the adaptive sync standard (If they were to support it).

But it's highly unlikely it'd be available on any current end AMD cards.

So, it looks like there's no Gsync/Ultrawide monitors available then.

DJ_Switch · 9 Jan 2015 at 14:19

I was faced with the same decision recently as well. It is purely down to personal preference however I felt as if ultrawide screens added something new to the experience whereas gsync just improved an element of the experience that I wasn't too bothered about i.e. I don't play FPS to the level that I'd truly appreciate the difference compared to the benefits of ultrawide. There was also the fact that with the ultrawides you are getting a better looking screen so it was also a choice between IPS and TN. Since I'd be processing photos I felt like the IPS screen would be better. Ultimately what really sold me on the ultrawide is the aspect ratio. I've long used dual screens and this enabled me to replace them and also create a more immersive experience.

Unfortunately I am in the process of the building my new rig just now so can't test the new ultrawide (Dell u3415w) yet. What I can say is that with it now being on the desk and sitting in front of it I am extremely happy with the size and aspect ratio, even the curve which I was dubious about, and thoroughly looking forward to trying a few games. It is such a step up from a 24" 16:9.

wengole · 9 Jan 2015 at 14:23

skuko said:
i currently have the swift, and i love having gsync and i feel like i couldn't play games without it anymore. lately though, i've been questioning myself, thinking if a 3440:1440 monitor would be better as i mainly game and watch movies at home.

suffice it to say, i will wait how this whole freesync thing turns out. my gpu at the moment it a gtx680 so i will be upgrading that as well this year and depending on how freesync turns out, i gonna either go AMD or stay with nvidia (and keep all the other goodies, like shadowplay).

with that said, if i was you, i would hold out at least until june/july to see how this whole situation works out.

So are you thinking ultrawide would be better than gsync for gaming? I'm only "having" to upgrade as they're pretty old and VGA only and most modern graphics cards seem to only have DVI-D, display port and HDMI these days. Which is fine.

Kinda got my heart set on a Nvidia 970 at the moment, but not sure which one. I was so close to buying as well ... I'd rather not wait, but then again don't want buyers remorse

wengole · 9 Jan 2015 at 14:28

DJ_Switch said:
I was faced with the same decision recently as well. It is purely down to personal preference however I felt as if ultrawide screens added something new to the experience whereas gsync just improved an element of the experience that I wasn't too bothered about i.e. I don't play FPS to the level that I'd truly appreciate the difference compared to the benefits of ultrawide. There was also the fact that with the ultrawides you are getting a better looking screen so it was also a choice between IPS and TN. Since I'd be processing photos I felt like the IPS screen would be better. Ultimately what really sold me on the ultrawide is the aspect ratio. I've long used dual screens and this enabled me to replace them and also create a more immersive experience.

Unfortunately I am in the process of the building my new rig just now so can't test the new ultrawide (Dell u3415w) yet. What I can say is that with it now being on the desk and sitting in front of it I am extremely happy with the size and aspect ratio, even the curve which I was dubious about, and thoroughly looking forward to trying a few games. It is such a step up from a 24" 16:9.

Thanks, you've got a good point. As it stands I get tearing as my gfx card is old and slow (560 GTX) on modern games, but I put up with it. So ultrawide would, as you say, give me something new....

easyrider · 9 Jan 2015 at 17:14

skuko said:
i currently have the swift, and i love having gsync and i feel like i couldn't play games without it anymore. lately though, i've been questioning myself, thinking if a 3440:1440 monitor would be better as i mainly game and watch movies at home.

suffice it to say, i will wait how this whole freesync thing turns out. my gpu at the moment it a gtx680 so i will be upgrading that as well this year and depending on how freesync turns out, i gonna either go AMD or stay with nvidia (and keep all the other goodies, like shadowplay).

with that said, if i was you, i would hold out at least until june/july to see how this whole situation works out.

GTX 680 and a swift? :eek:

lawrence281 · 9 Jan 2015 at 20:50

wengole said:
Yeah, I'd just been reading up on all the FreeSync goodness. Sounds like a great idea, but Nvidia have said they won't support it, and I'm just not a fan of AMD graphics cards. Been burned twice with bad drivers - once not so long ago. I'm sure it's better now, but I'm weirdly pig-headed about this now.

I was however trying to see if there was a G-Sync monitor that was Display Port 1.2a, so that I could have the best of both worlds. Seems unlikely to happen.

My first computer built was with a HD Radeon that I bought off OC and it burnt out in like a week of playing BF4, got a replacement to nvidia, defiantly the better brand from my experience haha

Phixsator · 9 Jan 2015 at 23:29

wengole said:
Yeah, I'd just been reading up on all the FreeSync goodness. Sounds like a great idea, but Nvidia have said they won't support it, and I'm just not a fan of AMD graphics cards. Been burned twice with bad drivers - once not so long ago. I'm sure it's better now, but I'm weirdly pig-headed about this now.

I was however trying to see if there was a G-Sync monitor that was Display Port 1.2a, so that I could have the best of both worlds. Seems unlikely to happen.

Exactly how have you been burned in the past by AMD drivers? Im just curious

lawrence281 said:
My first computer built was with a HD Radeon that I bought off OC and it burnt out in like a week of playing BF4, got a replacement to nvidia, defiantly the better brand from my experience haha

So 1 dead card and the judgement is that the better brand is the green team? Im sorry you feel that way and i strongly disagree with that way of thinking. Ive had more issues with the green team myself than red yet my current GPU is green due to it being the best option at the time of purchase. The best card i ever had was a 5850 from AMD, that thing just kept on going, unlike a fresh pair of gigabyte 560 ti's that both was unstable@stock. I have seen nVidia gpus fry thanks to poor vrm design on reference models. Does Fermi ring a bell? Still it shouldnt affect your opinion to much as both companies will always try to improve because if they dont it will cost them sales (perhaps not nVidia as much as AMD since some people just seems to buy them blindfolded without questions)

silvagti · 10 Jan 2015 at 10:57

Yeah, it's a bit of a tough call deciding between the two. I've gone for one of the 34" 1440p 21:9 panels over Gsync personally. As other posters have mentioned I think a large 21:9 monitor would be an effective replacement for my existing dual monitor setup. (1x24" 1080p 16:9 and 1 20" 1680x1050 16:10). I had a triple monitor setup briefly (1x24" and 2x12") but felt it was too wide to comfortably sit in front of and use so reverted back to just a dual monitor setup. I thought about buying a 27" Gsync model but it would mean still having to keep my old 24" monitor (or buying 2 27" monitors) as I don't feel that any single 16:9 setup could replace the functionality of a multi-monitor setup like a 21:9 can.

Also, for gaming, having used a 120Hz monitor I personally didn't feel it made much of a difference whereas I immediately noticed the drop in contrast and colour reproduction of the TN panel compared to my previous IPS one. That's another reason I was very keen for my next monitor to be an IPS one and the current Gsync monitors are all TN though I believe IPS ones are in the pipeline. That and I'm looking forward to trying out the 21:9 aspect with games like Elite Dangerous, Skyrim and FarCry4. Should be pretty cool given the more natural wider field of view ultrawide gives you. This does of course lead onto the issue that not all games support 21:9 so you might end up running some games on it at 16:9 with black borders down each side.

You're going to get a variety of opinions on the subject and I don't think there's really a right or wrong answer. It really depends on your own opinion. I'd say if you use your PC primarily for gaming then a 16:9 Gsync monitor is probably the better option whereas if you do a lot of productivity work with a bit of gaming thrown in and rely on a multi-monitor setup then I feel ultrawide is a more effective replacement.

wengole · 10 Jan 2015 at 20:54

Phixsator said:
Exactly how have you been burned in the past by AMD drivers? Im just curious

Well it was a loooong time ago and it was ATI and not AMD (if that actually makes a difference now - I don't know).

I had a Radeon All In Wonder 9800 which at the time was supposed to be a pretty good card. But it never worked out that way. I had issues with drivers all the time to the extent even installing windows was a pain. Regardless, gaming was never as good as I'd hoped it had be.

Add to this the fact I could *never* get the tuner working properly, I gave up completely after 6 months and replaced it with a budget Nvidia card. This continued for years with my prejudice against ATI/AMD until DX:HR came out and refused to run on day 1 on my NV 9800 GTS. This is the first time I ever had driver issues with Nvidia, and it annoyed me. My whole reason for being loyal to them is they almost always end up with their drivers with having better game support at launch, and they failed me for a game I was pretty excited to play.

I did a slightly cheeky thing and swapped my card with the one in my work PC (which was ridiculously over-speced anyway) - a HD 6850. Now that I don't *need* the AMD card, I've got a 560 GTX and the 6850 resides in my girlfriend's gaming PC.

So I guess I'm prejudiced against AMD (although only for graphics - I'm a loyal AMD CPU fan, but that's a whole 'nother story) and probably unjustifiably so these days, but I do like what Nvidia are doing, and I do like their tools and supporting technologies. I really like the GeForce Experience app for example.

Panos · 11 Jan 2015 at 00:56

wengole said:
Well it was a loooong time ago and it was ATI and not AMD (if that actually makes a difference now - I don't know).
...............
but I do like what Nvidia are doing, and I do like their tools and supporting technologies. I really like the GeForce Experience app for example.

a) Apples and cars comparison..... Nor even oranges because they can be classed a fruit both.... of 11 years ago!!!!!!!

But I had 9500np, 9800 Pro and X1950XT. No issue what so ever. (the 9500NP with Omega drivers to soft mod as 9700Pro)

b) And AMD has Evolve.

----------------------------------------------
@Topic.

Get the monitor that is most suited to your needs. Personally looking forward to the ultrawide freesync (curved) ones. And regarding LG IPS "glow", "bleed", having the Benq 2410T for 4 years now, any other monitor is much much better.

silvagti · 11 Jan 2015 at 01:22

Panos said:
And regarding LG IPS "glow", "bleed", having the Benq 2410T for 4 years now, any other monitor is much much better.

I'm hoping it wont be too much of a problem. My current 20" IPS monitor (Dell 2007WFP) is 9 years old and my 24" TN panel 120Hz monitor (Alienware AW2310) is 5 years old so given 5+ years old technological advances I'd expect that a modern 34" IPS will look better than my existing displays.

I've never found blacklight bleed/glow to be a problem on my existing IPS monitor so surely a newer one would be better compared to it? Oddly my 24" TN monitor is worse on dark scenes/movies as it has a weird kind of white glow. The IPS panel has more of an orange tint which isn't anywhere near as noticeable unless you start taking photos of it with a camera which seems to show it up worse than in real life.

Sega Mega Dave · 11 Jan 2015 at 11:39

Currently have an ultra wide monitor and a gsync monitor. I love ultra wide but it's not always supported and after trying gsync i couldn't go back, it's just so smooth.

andybird123 · 11 Jan 2015 at 12:20

Hi

silvagti said:
I'm hoping it wont be too much of a problem. My current 20" IPS monitor (Dell 2007WFP) is 9 years old and my 24" TN panel 120Hz monitor (Alienware AW2310) is 5 years old so given 5+ years old technological advances I'd expect that a modern 34" IPS will look better than my existing displays.

I've never found blacklight bleed/glow to be a problem on my existing IPS monitor so surely a newer one would be better compared to it? Oddly my 24" TN monitor is worse on dark scenes/movies as it has a weird kind of white glow. The IPS panel has more of an orange tint which isn't anywhere near as noticeable unless you start taking photos of it with a camera which seems to show it up worse than in real life.

Washed out Tn can be helped (a lot) by a gob of negative gamma in the gpu control panel

There have been quite a lot of reports of the LG widescreens having bad ips glow due to ill fitting bezels, you can either return them till you get a good one or attempt to modify the casing yourself

All monitors are a compromise, it is just a case of deciding what feature you want the most and then finding workarounds to minimise the bad points if you can
I could never find a solution for the ips glow on my ips though, it wasnt even particulalry bad, but it was always there on dark scenes

With the rog swift a tiny touch of lowering the gamma sorts it out a treat

Nexus18 · 11 Jan 2015 at 13:38

Whilst lowering the gamma will give you much more pleasing vivid pop out colours, it isn't really ideal as you are then losing detail etc. in the darker areas/shadows, I have done it with my 29um65 to get that pop out look but ended up going back the the standard value as I found it much harder to see people in dark maps on bf4

@op

I would say wait a bit longer until an ultrawide sync screen comes out as both ultrawide and sync tech. are game changers:

- 21.9 makes gaming far more immersive than 16.9 and if you do any film watching, it is fantastic not having any black bars
- sync tech. makes gaming buttery smooth with no screen tear and very little to no input lag

Although as mentioned you might need to make the move back to AMD if you want both

andybird123 · 11 Jan 2015 at 15:58

NOT for IPS matey, for TN

On the rog swift as you crank up the brightness to get vivid colours you start getting washed out blacks, with a tiny tiny gamma adjustment you (from say 1.0 to 0.9) you keep the colours and get back deep blacks without losing any of the detail, it is like a completely different monitor

There is no cure for ips glow unfortuneatley which is why i moved away from them for gaming

I dont know who all these people are watching movies on their PC, surely that is what the 65" in the living room is for?