New Monitor for New Rig!!

clartymarty · 20 Jan 2012 at 10:13

Hi, I have recently bought a new entry level gaming rid, only reason was because I am not a Hardcore gamer and didnt have a computer to upgrade had an M11x laptop which is not really great and the cost really was just for the name I think!!!

I currently using my HDTV which isnt great because 1 its a TV lol far to bulky for where I have it stationed.

I am on a tight budget but also want to have a decent experience when playing games.

ATM I am Playing Battlefield 3 and SWTOR. Not sure what size to go for or LCD/LED or anything - currently learning a lot about computers atm.

Edit: also will be looking at getting it next week is possible

Regards

MatsyLR · 20 Jan 2012 at 11:19

Erm...would be helpful you if specified the size you want and your budget.

clartymarty · 20 Jan 2012 at 11:22

Sorry, I am not sure what size to go for really.
I want a decent experience when playing games but like I said in the previous post that not clued up and still learning.

I think a budget would be around £100 mark. I know I am limiting my choices here but again im on a tight budget lol

cmndr_andi · 20 Jan 2012 at 11:36

Hi there,

For gaming monitors the standard sizes at the moment are 21.5-24in - by this I mean that these are the most popular and usually represent the best value for money as they are produced in such vast numbers. May I ask what budget you are looking at?

There are few different panel techologies currently used in consumer-grade monitors, these are TN, IPS and VA. IPS offers more accurate colours and better viewing angles than the rest, but the downsides are slower response times than TN (so more ghosting when there is a lot of motion) and higher prices. VA offer decent colours, decent viewing angles and really nice contrast/black levels - however they can show quite a bit of ghosting and are not recommended if you plan to mainly do gaming. Finally that leaves TN panels - these are the fastest panel type (so not much ghosting) and they also tend to be the cheapest. The downsides of TN panels are poor viewing angles (so if you look at it straight on and move your head the colours will shift) and not great colour accuracy.

Therefore if you mainly plan to play games and are on a budget (£100-150) then go for a 60Hz TN panel monitor (like this). If your budget is larger (~£200) then you have a choice between decent 60Hz IPS monitors (which do good in games) and a 120Hz TN panel monitor (which is excellent for fast-paced games).

As for LED/LCD - "LED" just refers to the backlight, these monitors/TVs still use standard LCD panels but their backlighting is produced by strips of white LEDs behind the LCD panel instead of a CCFL lamp (which is used on conventional "LCD" monitors/TVs). In reality, with the current edge-lit implementation of LED backlighting there really isn't any image quality benefit going for an "LED" monitor - however, there are benefits for power consumption, monitor thinness and turn-on time - though "LED" monitors often do cost more than comparable "LCD" models.

Edit: Seeing your budget is around £100 then the BenQ 21.5in I linked to above would be my suggestion. It is a decent monitor and a lot of people on these forums use if for gaming and it does it great.

clartymarty · 20 Jan 2012 at 11:46

Wow that was a lot of information to take in but thank you for an indepth response

I think I will be going with the 1 you mentioned

I the near future around the 1 year mark I will be looking to upgrade the rig for eyefinity. Would this be good for the main screen and having 2 other monitors for each side?

I have some old 19" that are going spare would it matter on different brands or do they all have to be the same?

cmndr_andi · 20 Jan 2012 at 12:00

Happy to help

The BenQ is a nice little screen to use for eyefinity - its a nice price, works well for gaming and is a standard size and resolution (21.5in 1920x1080) so it can be matched with many other screens.

Eyefinity requires monitors of the same vertical resolution, but brands and models don't matter - so you could get another two 1080p monitors from (say) Dell and they would pair fine with that BenQ in eyefinity. However, if the 19in monitor you mention doesn't have a vertical resolution of 1080 pixels then you won't be able to run it in eyefinity mode (ie. gaming accross multiple screens as if they were one big one), though it would work fine as a secondary monitor for non-gaming uses.