Upgrade from 20" NEC GX2?

seang · 21 Apr 2012 at 14:10

Contemplating a larger screen but in a quandary over what to get. I mostly use it for FPS gaming. (iPad for browsing almost exclusively nowadays). Some photo use but not much. My NEC screen has acquired some marks to the glossy coating and getting back to FPS gaming now that work has calmed down. Options....

24" IPS at 1920x1200 = Dell (AG coating may be hard to take after the glossy NEC). Can get the 2412 for £220

24" TN = Benq 120hz = poorer picture quality than I have now. £280

27" IPS = dell (see above) or hazro. 1440p needing a top end gfx card. £400

27" TN = new iiyama 120hz = large pixel pitch, only 1080p, contrast shift £320

I currently have a q6600 with a GTX460 but also considering IB and GTX680. That would be an expensive upgrade to get a larger screen and decent frame rates in MW3 and BF3 over what I have now but within my budget nonetheless.

Thoughts from anyone who's upgraded from the great NEC would be appreciated. Thx.

Sean

Combat Fighter · 21 Apr 2012 at 16:12

I've used to have a NEC GX2 years ago, then upgraded to a 24wmgx3, now I have a Hazro (with glass, no dust issues) and have to say it's a great monitor for the price.

Not sure what your budget is but you can't go wrong with a Hazro for the money if you like IPS screens, plus coming from a 20" it will seem huge! lol

EasterEEL · 21 Apr 2012 at 18:25

My old NEC 20WGX2Pro eventually got a few specs of dust behind the glass (after four years) so I purchased a Hazro 27" WA

I'm not sure how similar the GX2 is, but the 20WGX2Pro was 1680x1050 IPS glossy screen and is still an outstanding monitor, I use it with a 2nd system.

You will find it difficult to go back to matt coating, I use a HP 24" IPS at work and hate the AG filter.

The Hazro 27" WA is a fantastic monitor the 2560x1440 makes a huge difference. The colours are not as vibrant as the NEC, my understanding this is mainly because the WA uses white LED backlight.

If you are only going to use with a PC then the Hazro WC might be a good option as it is £100 cheaper than the Hazro WD. The WC is factory calibrated but note it does not come with a scaler (hence fast response times) and the graphics card will need to do this. Also colour correction etc would need to be via a color ICC/ICM profile which neither nVidia or AMD graphics drivers pass on to games. You will need a new graphics card for the higher resolution and if you can't stretch to the GTX680, I've seen the GTX580 as low as £286 and I can confirm it handles 2560x1440 for all the games I play. Active sync is a great new feature with new 301.24 drivers and works on the GTX580 as well.

kamz · 21 Apr 2012 at 21:01

Tbh you should try to hunt down a fw900 if you have the space and table to take the weight, awesome monitor for fps shooters

seang · 22 Apr 2012 at 21:23

Thanks all. Mine is glossy.

No 120hz love then? Size matters, they say. People also say they get used to larger screens. Did the jump from 20 to 27 take some getting used to?

EasterEEL · 23 Apr 2012 at 13:37

It didn't take me much time to adapt at all. The high res screen fo the Hazro does make text very clear. All I had to do was change browser and MS Office view settings to make the text larger. Some of my older games with max res for instance of 1600x1200 do not stretch to full screen, but actually displaying with the correct conformation is no bad thing.

seang · 29 Apr 2012 at 18:38

OK - so I'm part way through ordering my PC upgrade. Still undecided on the monitor. Went to see an Apple cinema display at 27" today and couldn't believe the size - freakin' huge! Massively detailed and gorgeous display but very worried that for gaming it will be too much of a step (especially at LAN parties where there will be limited desk space).

Still so unsure. Looking at prices, there are:

BENQ 24" 120hz for £280ish
Dell U2412M for £220ish
Hazro WC 27" for £400
Asus PA246Q for £360ish
Samsung 23" 120hz panel £160 after VAT reclaim

Two TN panels, three IPS panels. Coming from a good IPS panel I don't want to notice much poorer colour quality or lag compared to what I have but it seems I won't have much choice (IPS panels don't exist at larger sizes (at reasonable cost) in AS-IPS like my NEC, so lag may be more noticeable, and TN panels, renowned for poorer colours, have better lag).

Confused smiley...