Any advice on a new gaming monitor?

[Clashback]

Like 1000+ other people, I'm also in the market for a new monitor. I've read several posts here and done a bit of research already, but I'm no monitor expert by any means, so any advice would be much appreciated.

Current setup:

• Ryzen 5 2600
• ASRock B450M Pro4
• Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8 Gb
• MSI GeForce RTX 2060 Ventus 6G OC (probably upgrading somewhere in the next 12-16 months; no preference for AMD or NVIDIA)
• Current monitor: iiyama ProLite E2473 HDS 1920x1080 (around 9 yrs old)

Goals:

• Preferably QHD 27 inch; 2560x1440 pixels. It's time to say goodbye to 1920x1080, no?
• 60 fps would be nice, but not lower than 30 fps
• Preferably pretty settings
• No competitive gaming
• Next to no multiplayer (I mostly play singleplayer games)
• Games like RDR2, Cyberpunk 2077 (when its finally there), Dying Light 2 (when its finally there); so overall pretty demanding titles I reckon

Budget: 300 to 350 euro (= 360 to 420 USD). I live in the Netherlands.

Monitors I'm considering at the moment:

• LG 27GL850 (~520 USD)
• MSI Optix MAG272CQR curved (~420 USD)
• MSI Optix G27CQ4 curved (~410 USD)
• Gigabyte G27QC curved (~380 USD)

I'm inclined to go with the MSI Optix G27CQ4: it has Freesync and I read that, although not officially, its G Sync compatible. But I never had a curved screen and I have doubts about that; it sounds a bit counter intuitive; I worry that everything looks a bit warped? The LG is out of my price range, but I've read very good reviews so I'm willing to consider it (or at least willing to wait until its a bit cheaper perhaps).

Any advice or experience with those monitors would be much appreciated! Or perhaps you would advice a monitor I haven't considered yet? And are my doubts about a curved screen justified?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Hi!

I dont often check this section, so sorry if I'm too late. I actually have the LG27GL850 and I love it. But what I dont have is any experience to compare it with other 27 inch 2560x1440 high refresh monitors.

Theres a collection here of reviews from Display Ninja of 2020 gaming monitors. I suggest checking out IPS vs VA vs TN type screens. All of them have slightly different properties that also vary from screen to screen and you might find you have a preference there.

Some people dislike IPS because the contrast is not good so the blacks are not deep and the screen 'glows' when its dark. VA screens can have slightly slower response times which can cause colour smearing during fast gameplay but have excellent contrast. TN screens do not have the best colour reproduction and viewing angles are bad compared to IPS but the response times are fastest and often cheaper. All this also varies from model to model somewhat.

Also some people love curved screens and others dont like it at all, you'd need to at least look at one in a shop first. I also heard that tyhe curve can cause extra backlight bleed on IPS displays, which effects some more then others.

So theres something of a primer. You should definitely get a 144hz screen for your money, and I'd say its worth trying to get something Gsync compatible, or at least Google around to find people who own the same model and check it works well with Gsync before buying, if it doesnt have the official label.

Hopefully theres somethign there for you

 

[Clashback]

Hi! Thanks for your reply!

Yeah, I figured it is probably best to check some screens out in the store. So I guess it's better to hold of for now and check some screens out in the store once covid goes down a bit (hopefully somewhere in Q1 🤞).

Whichever I choose, I reckon I can't really go wrong with any of screens I researched. It all comes down to money and preference.

Thanks for the tips! Very helpful!

Cheers.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

No problem, I think monitors depend lot on personal preferences and what your use case is so its best to learn to fish a little. Good luck, let us know what you end up getting and give a mini review if you feel like it!

 

[Cowboy Curtis]

Thinking of ascending to 1440p as well. Finding a decently priced (i.e. under a grand) curved 34" ultrawide with G-sync is easier said than done, though. Anyone have any recommendations?

 

[Clashback]

So, it's been a while. And for anyone still interested, I finally pulled the trigger on a monitor: I've bought the Gigabyte M27Q and it's awesome (Hardware Unboxed review:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNIqwxAZ-MQ
). But coming from a 10 year old 75hz 1080p TN panel, that was to be expected.

Everything looks just awesome and smooth. But tbh I can only eyeball it, I'm not by any means an expert and I couldn't tell you a lot about the technical stuff. There are probably better or equally good monitors out there, but I reckon this screen hits the sweet spot for budget and quality (I got it in the Netherlands for 349 euro; about 420 dollar). As far as I can tell, this one is highly recommended if you're looking for a good budget 1440p monitor. It also has Freesync and, although not officially, it also is G Sync Compatible.