Replace Samsung 226BW with 1080P?

Relentless81 · 13 Oct 2010 at 15:38

Hey

I'm looking to replace my Samsung 226BW with a larger monitor for 1080P gaming, it will also be used for films which is very important as I watch a lot of films on my PC

I have £500 to spend on a monitor and GPU, I obviously want to get the best GPU I can so if I can find a monitor for around £200 and leave £300 for a GPU that would be awesome

The Samsung monitor has been amazing and i'm only upgrading to go 1080P I do not want to lose any quality and I am willing to up the budget slightly if for example there is a much better monitor for £230 and its worth spending the extra but ideally £200 would be nice.

Any ideas please? I've noticed the BenQ one on special but it seems so cheap?

cmndr_andi · 13 Oct 2010 at 15:47

This is a nice monitor - and the price is good too.

However, if you want a big step up in quality - this is the one to go for (this review shows what you are getting). It may seem expensive but you would still have £235 left to buy yourself a very nice graphics card.

As for GPU's, if you can wait a month then I suggest you do - as the AMD HD 6000 series is supposedly coming out next month.

Relentless81 · 13 Oct 2010 at 15:55

The Samsung is ok thanks i'd be hard pushed to decide between the LED BenQ and the LCD Samsung, however I am willing to spend me a little more if it gets me something better if it doesnt then great I can spend less....

I dont understand why the Dell 23" would be any good for gaming, office work, photoshop, films maybe then yeah I could understand it but the response time is surely too high for gaming

PCM2 · 13 Oct 2010 at 16:00

You aren't the only one to have good experiences with Samsung - the B2430 is an outstanding monitor for the price. If you can't extend your budget to the U2311H (which, as Andi pointed out, is a real step up in quality from your previous monitor) the B2430 is certainly a good choice. Waiting for the 6xxx series that should be launched very shortly is also a good idea, if you possibly can.

You really should read this thread here and follow all the links (the last link of my first post is excellent advice on my own forums). It may take you a good 20 minutes of solid reading but you'll be much better informed about your choices afterwards - especially regarding LED backlighting which doesn't make a monitor 'not LCD' and the on-paper response time misconceptions surrounding IPS.

Relentless81 · 13 Oct 2010 at 16:12

Thanks for the link, is there any confirmation anywhere that the L is the same screen as the H apart from HDMI? I dont need HDMI

A monitor for £150 opens up my GPU options by a lot

PCM2 · 13 Oct 2010 at 16:42

I can confirm having used the B2430L and B2430H that the image is exactly the same on both (and very good at that). Now granted I used them about a month apart (the B2430H last month and the B2430L more recently) but I am confident of this. Also if you look at the physical dimensions of the monitor they are exactly the same - and if memory served me correctly there was nothing at all to distinguish them apart from price and inputs.

psychas · 13 Oct 2010 at 18:04

should wait a bit and check how BenQ XL2410 120Hz 3D LED will be ?

i have 226bw there seem nothing worthwhile upgrading atm seems like monitors development is lacking behind compared to all other hardware