Monitors 2015

nwgilbert

nwgilbert

nwgilbert

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14 May 2015
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162
I have the MSI R9 390 graphics card and looking at buying a new monitor to support this to the best capability possible..

Just a few quick questions -
Is the graphics card what defines the maximum resolution your monitor will work with?
Can you visually see any difference from a resolution of say.. 1920 x 1080 and 2560 x 1080
Are there any 27"+ monitors you recommend in the £200 region or less..

Many thanks in advance!
 
1) Yes and no.
Yes: It's usually not a problem of the GPU chip itself. But the choice of connectors can sometimes become the limiting factor.
No: All LCD monitors have fixed physical pixels, thus they have a "native resolution". You can't go above or below that without scaling or cropping. And usually it's indeed the monitor which becomes the bottle neck.
Extra note: Your R9 390 will probably have HDMI, DL-DVI and/or DisplayPort. Check your manual or some online reviews for the resolutions (and refresh rates) that your particular GPU supports.

2) Depends on your own viewing distance and eye sight. Or are you asking about the aspect ratio? Difference between 16:9 and 21:9 is VERY noticeable, as the 21:9 is very wide, indeed. But for what it matters, I'm using a 42" HDTV (1920x1080) from a 1m distance, and that's enough for me. On the other hand, some people think 1920x1080 is too limiting for 24", and would prefer 2560x1440 (for whatever distance they view it from).

3) 27" for £200 means you will have to compromise either on quality or resolution. With those attributes, I would recommend the BenQ GW2760HS for £170. Though there is probably also a successor for that model already, as that particular model is over two years old. But I have recommended it multiple times before, and I haven't heard anyone come back complaining.

Ps. Remember that your monitor is usually the longest lasting component in your system, and it will be the main component you'll be interacting with (looking at it ALL THE TIME). So if you're spending good money just on the graphics card, then please consider adjusting your monitor budget upwards, as well...
 
Thank you for your reply.

Here is my build listed below. I guess you can see that it is worth investing in a nice monitor. If I was going to go at a higher price do you know of any award winning monitors? Advice from all is much appreciated.

Please see below ;
  1. MSI Radeon R9 390 GAMING AMD Graphics Card 8GB
  2. Intel Quad-Core i7-4790K
  3. EVGA Super NOVA 850W PC Power Supply - Gold
  4. Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 Intel LGA1150 Z97 ATX Motherboard (4x DDR3, 6x USB3.0, 6x USB2.0, HDMI, DVI-I, DSUB)
  5. Crucial BX100 250 GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal Solid State Drive
  6. WD 1TB 3.5 inch Internal Hard Drive - Caviar Blue
  7. Alpenfhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler 120 mm
  8. NZXT H440 Mid Tower Case with Side Window and 4 Quiet Fans for PC - White/Black
  9. Team Group TLRED316G2400HC11CDC01 - TeamGroup Vulcan RED 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual
 
IS it for gaming? Work? Photography? Documents? Movies?

If mainly for gaming, what type of gamer are you? Do you play fast paced shooting games like counter strike or Battlefield? etc Are you a casual gamer?

What monitor do you have now?
 
Gaming and work (no video editing or photography.. mainly adobe illustrator and indesign.

Counter-Strike yes and possibly Battlefield, and other fps games like this.

I haven't brought my monitor yet. To really show off the graphics card and other hardware which monitor would you recommend and in what price range?

I am tempted to dampen my build with a few cheaper items but I feel that I would need to completely re-do the build if I was to change some parts. Do you have any recommendations that will allow me to just edit slightly but cheapen the total price.
 
nwgilbert said:
I have the MSI R9 390 graphics card and looking at buying a new monitor to support this to the best capability possible..

Just a few quick questions -
Is the graphics card what defines the maximum resolution your monitor will work with?
Can you visually see any difference from a resolution of say.. 1920 x 1080 and 2560 x 1080
Are there any 27"+ monitors you recommend in the £200 region or less..

Many thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Yes you can see the difference between 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 as 27".

Since you are going to keep the monitor and it will outlive the rest of your system, I would personally advice you to get the best you can, and tone down some of the other parts of your budget.

So either Gsync or Freesync monitor, with the relevant brand graphic card.
And then you build around that.
 
Straight up if you are doing professional colour work with the adobe products first and foremost get an IPS monitor and not a TN panel. Much much more accurate colours. I would never do work on a TN.
 
Just thinking about the thread title its been a bad year so far for monitors.

If you are using Indesign and Illustrator get the best CPU and most RAM you can afford. Not sure about the 390 as Adobe products support CUDA which is an Nvidia thing.
 
nwgilbert said:
It would be fine with a 390 though wouldn't it? Surely wouldn't make a difference
Click to expand...

Your computer build is fine. Monitor suggestions are going to be tougher as you want a 27 inch screen. I would suggest you spend a little bit more than £200, you might try a Dell U2515H, I know it's only 25 inch but it's a great monitor, good for gaming and photography. You can get it for around the £260 mark.
 
I would suggest you go and look at an IPS and TN in computer shop or something.

And if this is your first monitor, or first decent monitor, I think you will be blown away by any decent screen. That's why I mentioned the Dell, it's great for photography and great for gaming, fast response time and low input lag. And the other thing it's not too far outside your budget.

AOC are introducing two new freesync monitors sometime soon. They might be worth waiting for, they are going to be within budget too I think. I will find some details tomorrow and post it here.
 
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Thanks @melmec. Appreciate your help, I will await your information on the AOC. I don't know why but I am just not keen on the Dell brand.. silly I know since you say it is a great monitor. I don't mind waiting for the AOC release if it is not too long because I have an old monitor I can use meanwhile. If it is too long I might just go for this dell, I've read many good things about it.
 
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Thank you. Just had a look - how do you think it compares with the Dell U2515H?
It says the release is September 2015.. I found the Dell one for £240..

The OAC is suggested to be £279 27". I'm definately interested in the £39 more for 2 extra inches and if the monitor is better itself. Hard to say without real reviews.
 
Just noticed this OAC doesn't support 1440p does it?
But I noticed the much higher 144Hz. The dell is only 60hz, how will this effect performance?
 
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AOC are the letters you are looking for ;) No, neither of those monitors are 1440p and they are both TN monitors.

You are on a tight budget, 144hz means more money, IPS means more money, Bigger screen is more money.

The higher the Hz in a monitor the better it is for gaming as a higher refresh means less input lag. But it depends on you, I know some people who game and don't feel the difference between 60Hz and 120Hz. More people go to a higher refresh monitor and can't go back to 60Hz.

The Dell is the best monitor you can get at the moment for what you want to do. It has the best compromises all around. It is an IPS so good for photo work, It has low input lag so good for gaming. It also is 1440p so a lot of screen real estate.

So if you want a 144hz screen you are going to lose both IPS and 1440p at your price range. But in September you will get Freesync close to your price range but still only 1080p.

You are not going to get everything you want at your price.
 
Yeah AOC** lol :) I totally understand what you're saying. If I was to knock up my budget what would you recommend as the next best?

If I was going to choose between the AOC and Dell, the Dell U2515H has a lot more benefits for me then what the AOC does. I will be doing a lot of work my business on the computer, away from gaming, and for that reason alone.. im more pushed towards an IPS and higher resolution.

Can you tell me a little more about Freesync.. are the benefits purely for AMD Graphics with gaming or would it give any benefits for design software too?
 
If you've got the desk space, plan on two monitors - one for work (IPS) and one for play (TN). Obviously your budget does not stretch to getting both at once, so prioritise work or play and buy accordingly.
 
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