Ultrawide vs 2 x 27" Monitors

secmac · 28 Sep 2022 at 11:08

I'm in the market for a new monitor(s) and I'm struggling to decide between going ultrawide or updating my existing twin 27"s.

My current main screen is an EG 27" 144Hz QHD. The second screen is an old ASUS HD 27" screen.

I've tolerated the mismatching for a while now with both the resolution and the look of them, but I've finally had enough!

Its been a while since I've looked a screens and ultrawide appears to have taken off quite a bit more than when I last looked and after doing a lot of searching, I don't seem to be much further forward.

During the day I use my screens for work 3/4 days a week, hooked up to a pretty generic laptop. They just get used for general office-based work, nothing too intensive - emails, documents, teams calls etc.. When not working they're used for gaming and some light video editing for YouTube channel I run. I've been used to using dual monitors for years and when gaming I've usually got Twitch or YouTube running on my second screen.

Does anyone have any advice on which way to go? Or perhaps have had a similar decision to make in the past?

The options as I see them at the moment are:

1. 34" Ultrawide centred on the desk with the EG 27" to the side as a 2nd screen
2. 2 x new 27" screens that match
3. 1 x new 27" that's good quality and will go alongside the EG 27"

Space isn't too much of an issue as I've got a 2m long desk.

Budget wise I guess I'm looking at between £400 -£600

My current PC Spec:
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 Core
Nvidia RTX 2080 Super
32GB 3200MHz RAM

Sinbad2000 · 28 Sep 2022 at 11:23

I just switched from 2x23" (1080p each) to a single 34" ultrawide (3440x1440). Slightly fewer pixels across, but lots more down. Mainly I use this for work, with powertoys providing a dual zone experience that mimics two monitors. Gaming on the ultrawide on games that support that resolution is epic. If you want to keep something else running while you're full screen gaming, then keeping the good 27" is not a bad shout

Spent £400 on this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B082VHT11B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 but it was a special offer, I see it's a bit more now
Best money I've spent in a while, IMHO

Fluffybob · 28 Sep 2022 at 11:30

Can you not source another EG 27" 144Hz ?

Haggisman · 28 Sep 2022 at 11:55

secmac said:
I'm in the market for a new monitor(s) and I'm struggling to decide between going ultrawide or updating my existing twin 27"s.

My current main screen is an EG 27" 144Hz QHD. The second screen is an old ASUS HD 27" screen.

I've tolerated the mismatching for a while now with both the resolution and the look of them, but I've finally had enough!

Its been a while since I've looked a screens and ultrawide appears to have taken off quite a bit more than when I last looked and after doing a lot of searching, I don't seem to be much further forward.

During the day I use my screens for work 3/4 days a week, hooked up to a pretty generic laptop. They just get used for general office-based work, nothing too intensive - emails, documents, teams calls etc.. When not working they're used for gaming and some light video editing for YouTube channel I run. I've been used to using dual monitors for years and when gaming I've usually got Twitch or YouTube running on my second screen.

Does anyone have any advice on which way to go? Or perhaps have had a similar decision to make in the past?

The options as I see them at the moment are:

1. 34" Ultrawide centred on the desk with the EG 27" to the side as a 2nd screen
2. 2 x new 27" screens that match
3. 1 x new 27" that's good quality and will go alongside the EG 27"

Space isn't too much of an issue as I've got a 2m long desk.

Budget wise I guess I'm looking at between £400 -£600

My current PC Spec:
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 Core
Nvidia RTX 2080 Super
32GB 3200MHz RAM

If you've got the space for it then option 1 is what I'd go for. Ultrawide is great for games and some productivity, but not quite as good as dual screens, however with the ultrawide and 27" together you get the best of both.