Spec me a pair of monitors :)

Randall8686 · 26 Dec 2017 at 21:56

Firstly Happy Xmas everyone,

So I have just changed my entire setup, I now have a home office due to taking a new job working from home.

I need a pair of monitors I can work on all day and also game. They will be driven by a 980ti.

I would like 27” ish.
1440p ideally definitely not 1080p open to 4K but will game at 1440 most the time.
A high ish refresh rate 100hz+

I had a dell 27 with gsync before and it was great but is gsync still the way forward? Seems it makes the monitors mighty expensive.

I will be honest it’s going to see a lot more work than gaming. (Just general office work)

Now budget. I don’t really have one. In an ideal world £600 for a pair but will go to £800 a pair if worth it. I can spend more but would just rather not unless there is a really good reason too.

Thanks in advance

Randall8686 · 27 Dec 2017 at 19:04

Or ultrawide? just been looking at these. Whats the disadvantages?

NirK · 27 Dec 2017 at 19:45

Well 2 monitors you have a big black line down the middle because of the bezels, so yes I would get ultrawide instead of 2 monitors. A 34" UW is same vertical size (slightly taller) as 27" 16:9. Its also good for using 2 windows on 1 screen.

hornetstinger · 27 Dec 2017 at 21:11

Randall8686 said:
Or ultrawide? just been looking at these. Whats the disadvantages?

Much higher resolution- more demanding on GPU's
Great for widescreen movies, not so with 4:3 TV shows and 16:9 TV shows, as you'll get black borders on L/R
Huge- and will need to get a big screen. 29" UW is tiny, vertically.
May need curved because at that size, edges of the screen will be at a sharp angle, so a TN flat ultra wide 34" will be pretty bad on the sides with the colour shift. IPS and VA will help here, but curved will help, so even a TN 34" UW should be be good colour on the edges (if TN UW exist which I'm not sure they do)
Not all games support it, and older ones won't. May need to fiddle with config

Randall8686 · 27 Dec 2017 at 21:34

hornetstinger said:
Much higher resolution- more demanding on GPU's
Great for widescreen movies, not so with 4:3 TV shows and 16:9 TV shows, as you'll get black borders on L/R
Huge- and will need to get a big screen. 29" UW is tiny, vertically.
May need curved because at that size, edges of the screen will be at a sharp angle, so a TN flat ultra wide 34" will be pretty bad on the sides with the colour shift. IPS and VA will help here, but curved will help, so even a TN 34" UW should be be good colour on the edges (if TN UW exist which I'm not sure they do)
Not all games support it, and older ones won't. May need to fiddle with config

ok this sounds like it could get painful then, Maybe stick with a pair of 27" ish monitors.

hornetstinger · 27 Dec 2017 at 21:54

Also forgot if going 34" - to get decent vertical height if the screen, then you want 3440 * 1440, meaning you need high end gpu. Unless you play older games or no gaming at all.

2560 * 1080 34" will look pretty awful, too low ppi. Not good enough for desktop.

NirK · 28 Dec 2017 at 12:11

Randall8686 said:
ok this sounds like it could get painful then, Maybe stick with a pair of 27" ish monitors.

I would get ultrawide every time over a pair of 27" monitors, its much better. Unless it is 99% NOT gaming that you plan to use it for.

Randall8686 · 29 Dec 2017 at 00:46

NirK said:
I would get ultrawide every time over a pair of 27" monitors, its much better. Unless it is 99% NOT gaming that you plan to use it for.

80% work 20% gaming

Pocah · 1 Jan 2018 at 11:24

Well I think you are right to go for two monitors. In a work environment, two widescreens are better than a single ultra simply because there is a lot more workspace. You can get an ultra wide 3440x1440 for that money I think, but you get more workspace with two 2560x1440 monitors. So two 27" monitors at 2560x1440 each. I would keep them the same physical size and the same resolution, it's a lot easier moving stuff around the two screens. However you can have a central monitor and the secondary to the right, where the central on is your main work monitor and games monitor while the second is largely for dumping other stuff on. The central one can be the higher quality one, the games one, the secondary is less important. I would choose IPS for both but the primary would preferably have a higher refresh rate for games. Note that if you just play games on the primary then you won't need a new graphics card drive just one monitor! That leaves the second monitor free for communications to other players, checking youtube for guides and so on, lol. Anyway, that is going to cost about £650 if you get two the same, perhaps more if you lean towards a better primary monitor. Just do a search for 27" 2560x1440 IPS. There are a bunch of them from £330~£550. Acer seems to be the main choices there but I have to say I know little about Acer.

sreeve1993 · 1 Jan 2018 at 12:49

Ultrawide option sounds nice but in my opinion getting two monitors would be better.

You can use games for the one monitor and use other stuff with the second. Two monitors will also help with your work

Quartz · 1 Jan 2018 at 12:54

Whatever you do, make sure at least one can rotate. IME portrait mode is much better for text work. I would go with a high-refresh rate Gsync 1440p monitor - possibly ultra-wide - for your gaming and a Dell 24" 4K monitor in portrait mode for your work.