Monitor shopping! Calling all monitor gurus!

[Espria]

Looking for a little bit of advice for what I should be looking for when monitor shopping. For me the aim is optimal gaming performance. I don't do a ton of work on my desktop and I don't watch movies on here. Mostly I'm looking to optimize how my WoW looks, but if other games look prettier as well I'll be pleased.

Right now I'm running a reasonably powerful computer with a 5-6 year old LG monitor that has held up extremely well... But I think I could get more out of my set-up with a better monitor. I would like to buy LG again simply due to the fact that this monitor has lasted as well as it has, but it's not a requirement. I'm mostly just looking for the most bang for my buck here.

General questions:

• What should I be more concerned with? Refresh rate vs. response time? In the context of WoW, which is more important to me? Or is there something else I should be concerned with more?
• Is the colour display on a cheaper IPS worth the low response times? I've seen a few cheap ones with 14ms response times and was curious if I should turn my nose up at that immediately or consider it.

Any advice on what I should be looking for would be greatly appreciated. Particular recommendations would also be helpful. I'm looking to spend anywhere under $250 (but for the right monitor I might consider going to $300). I'm looking for at least 23 inches, LED backlight and HDMI ready. If any of those things are poor choices, feel free to point out why as well

Thanks all!

[Drunkenvalley]

I wouldn't be concerned over refresh rate or response time unless it's unusual. More than that, I'd be more concerned with finding reviews for the monitor. This may be tricky with the bajillion models out there, but some monitors have pretty bad overdrive trails and similar.

My personal preference for a while has been the U2312HM. However, there are a number of other models out there. Flatpanelshd.com have a pretty nifty list here.

[Orlong]

I too am looking for a new monitor but I dont want a measly 23 or 24 inch one. I want a 27 inch one but there are so many choices, I dont know what to go with. I of course want the best bang for the buck but dont want to spend $1000 on a Dell Ultrasharp or Apple Cinema display. I could go as high as $500 or so. Any recommendations?

[SpaceDuck]

if your PC can easily go above 60 fps in most situations you may wish to consider a 120hz monitor, as you wont see a performance increase with a new monitor, but frames above 60 will appear smoothing with camera movement (despite popular belief the human eye can see above 60 fps especially in high mobility gameplay)

contrast ratio should be a good number, 1:10000 is fine, i think anything above is pointless anyway :P

latency should be as low as possible, although you probably wont notice the difference but it all adds up!

anything LED

im using a LG FLATRON E2281 LED, its only 60hz and half an inch smaller (1080p) but it makes things pretty

[Drunkenvalley]

Orlong, there is a new 27" Dell Ultrasharp coming, which is from what I understand going to be cheaper. It's listed in a fair few of Dell's sites so far, but US doesn't appear to be one lol.

[Espria]

Thanks guys, very helpful.

[BraiNSlobbeR]

Check this monitor out. http://www.overclock.net/t/1215866/r...d-catleap-q270

Also check this one out.
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?...ghlight=EQ276W

From what I understand they are pretty much top of the line panels with not all the bells and whistles extra as the other high end displays which is how the prices are lower.

[Espria]

My personal preference for a while has been the U2312HM. However, there are a number of other models out there. Flatpanelshd.com have a pretty nifty list here.

Re-reading the thread, looked up the U2312HM. Thank you! That's the one I'll be getting. That's actually the monitor I used to have at my old workplace. Great monitors. The 360 is nice to for programming. Thanks!