Monitors! Bit of advice needed.

DoneADougalOnSofa · 30 Jan 2021 at 17:25

Evening all,

Imagine blowing four hundred quid you really shouldn't have blown on a new CPU, then a week later yer monitor conks out. Yeah, that...

It's an Acer XG270HU (27", 1440p 144Hz w/Freesync), and the OSD has suddenly decided it wants to keep popping up and flickering randomly. None of the buttons are stuck/damaged- they hadn't been touched for god knows how long- and it's never been dropped or clobbered. I've tried leaving it on the naughty step for a couple of days, even that didn't work.
Most of what I can Google seems to suggest it'll need a proper fixing.

In the meantime, I'm using a 1080p Samsung curved smart-telly thing, and it's like having grease all over my specs.

I may decide to upgrade, so what would folks recommend?

I'm looking lower-end of things, ideally around £350 for a 32" preferably curved screen at 1440p/144, although I'm toying with 4K as a new GPU will happen at some stage, but 60Hz puts me off.

What do you think?
Get the Acer fixed, new 1440p or new 4K?

Looking at OCUK's range, there's not much in stock to choose from. Decent looking Gigabyte model at £380 though... Seen a nice ViewSonic one elsewhere, but limited info available.

Anyone give me a nudge in the right direction please?

DoneADougalOnSofa · 30 Jan 2021 at 17:35

Journey said:
You have tried swapping the power cable, and the display cables, yes?

Yes. Currenly performing the 'leave it in a corner for an unspecified length of time and see if it works at some random point in the future' method of repair...

DoneADougalOnSofa · 30 Jan 2021 at 17:38

Junglist said:
If you didn't mind something second hand I'm toying with the idea of selling mine but it's probably not as good as yours that just went kaput, so it's probably terrible advice

Could always take a risk on those super cheap ones you can see on Alibaba (probably more terrible advice)

I've obviously owned cheapo monitors before, unfortunately they're one of those things that once you've had a decent one, there's no going back. Mate of mine has an MSI 32" 4k job up for grabs for a really good price, but it's low-end 4k- things have come on a lot since he bought it, so I'm toying with maybe grabbing it as a stopgap.

DoneADougalOnSofa · 30 Jan 2021 at 17:57

I'll look into repair- if that's the cost then perhaps I'll go that way!

It's a fine monitor to be fair, I'd be happy to keep using it.

DoneADougalOnSofa · 30 Jan 2021 at 18:09

@turbot1984 It'll be 6800 level, perhaps the next generation of cards though. I'm not the hugest gamer, and I can always run games at 1440p if 4k is too much for the trusty Vega.
Certainly can't afford a new card in the foreseeable future.

DoneADougalOnSofa · 30 Jan 2021 at 18:09

Journey said:
Part number is 55.T4TM3.003. Please keep in mind that it can also be the main board, which is more like £100, but having checked the voltages I was confident the issue was with the supply going to the board rather then the board itself.

Cheers! I'll log a ticket with Acer and see what they say.

DoneADougalOnSofa · 4 Feb 2021 at 15:27

Stuff it. Got a good price on a Samsung 32" 4K jobber.

I'll run me games at a lower res if my GPU can't hack it. GPU is next on the list anyway...

DoneADougalOnSofa · 4 Feb 2021 at 15:58

Speak of the devil, and thus ringeth the doorbell.

First impressions are good, bit gaudy but I've not done any form of calibration yet so it's a touch bright...

DoneADougalOnSofa · 4 Feb 2021 at 17:02

WELLLLLLLL it lasted five minutes, then died. Flashing screen with thick white bars down the middle.
Resetting makes no difference, happens as soon as power is switched on.

Back it goes. I guess that's karma for not buying from here...

DoneADougalOnSofa · 14 Feb 2021 at 07:57

So, around a week later, I finally have a working monitor! Went for an MSI MAG341CQ ultrawide 34" jobber.

And very nice it is too. GPU performing admirably despite the extra pixels