Monitor Recommendations

[ManBearSquid]

Gentle folk of The Arms, I need some sage advice when it comes to purchasing a monitor for my relatively new PC.

My budget is about 200-250 and I'm really looking at 24" 1080p 144hz models, with FreeSync, which would be more than sufficient for my gaming needs. I'm currently using a TV as my display which, although it gets the job done, is not really ideal. My rig is somewhere above mid-range so I really don't need to aim for 4K or anything, and 24" seems like a good size for my leftover desk space.

I found this one and think that it looks decent:

https://www.box.co.uk/Samsung-LC24RG50F ... 46525.html

Any help is much appreciated.

[DjchunKfunK]

I'm betting that is an identical panel to my MSI 23" curved monitor as they use Samsung screens and I'm very happy with it.

[ManBearSquid]

It seems like a pretty good price for it too. It's my top runner for now unless anyone else comes along with something better.

[Hatredsheart]

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/Pbp ... or-24g2ubk

Have this myself, cracking monitor.

[Pew-Pew]

Why not 1440p/27 inch? I'd say it's the sweet spot for new gaming monitors nowadays, unless your rig is low end.

[Wrathbone]

Why not 1440p/27 inch? I'd say it's the sweet spot for new gaming monitors nowadays, unless your rig is low end.

I agree, but I don't know if 1440p/27" at 144hz is realistic with a £250 budget, and even if one was available at that price I'd be questioning where they've skimped to get the price down. At 60hz it definitely is feasible, though.

If the choice was between 1440p/27" at 60hz or 1080p/24" at 144hz, I'm honestly not sure which way I'd go. Probably the former, though it's incredibly hard to go back to 60hz once you've used a high refresh rate monitor for a while. They're so much nicer to use.

[Mantis]

If you're only running a mid-range PC then you may not get the most out of 1440p 144hz either. I'd rather get a better quality panel with some trade offs in size or refresh rate.

[ManBearSquid]

Yeah, that's basically been my line of thinking.

[DjchunKfunK]

Yeah 1440p at decent frame rates is going to be a struggle, I'd take high framerates at 1080p over better image quality at low frame rates.

[Pew-Pew]

Eh, it just seems worth it to me to save a little more money and buy a 1440p monitor that will still be relevant in a few years' time rather than 1080p which is already old hat. I'd rather turn down settings and run at 1440p, but each to their own.

I've had this monitor (1440p/144 Hz/27 inch) for 5 years now and it's still great. I had to go back to 1080p/24 inch when I was living abroad in the last couple of years and the difference is very noticeable.

[Drarok]

One of my friends insists on buying 27" monitors at 1080p. The pixels are huge!

[ManBearSquid]

As far as I've read, running games at 1080p on monitors that use that as their native resolution is better than scaling down from a higher res monitor, and since 60fps+ at 1080p with a high refresh rate is likely where my machine will sit more comfortably, it just makes more sense to me.

This is my first tower as I was on a laptop for years before it died back in January. Most of what I do is music based, gaming is a bit more of an aside - for now at least.

My next question would be: flat or curved? I'm leaning towards a curved screen.

[Mantis]

I think curved displays work best when you've got a big screen so that it surrounds you a little more and feels more immersive. I can imagine it's a bit more jarring on a smaller screen size where not as much of it is in your peripheral vision. Personally I would say flat screen if you're only going for 23".

[Alan]

When I had a curved UW 34 I hated it for pretty much everything except FPS games. The lack of any straight horizontal lines put me off for most other tasks and games. Lightroom and cubase especially. Probably just me but it bothered me enough to sell it.

[ManBearSquid]

That's a fair point about using DAWs and curved screens. I'll stick with a flat one. Going to order something this week.