Suggestions for new gaming screen(s)

[Tarien]

Hi all

Just upgraded my PC, i5 3570k @ 4.5Ghz, 16GB DDR3, 512GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD, and a pair of GTX 780's. It's a beast and eats everything alive.

But now I need screens, and my questions is, what do I go for? I play mostly BF3 (and soon 4) and Skyrim, which I mod the ever living shit out of. I am kind of torn between these options:

Single 27" IPS/PLS 1440p 60hz screen, lots of pixels and good colour reproduction to make Skyrim even more epic looking.
Triple 27" 1080p 120Hz capable screens for FPS/MMO gaming with lot's of peripheral vision.

I'd get triple 1440p screens if I could, but if I do get multiple screens, thin bezels is an absolute must.

So, suggestions? Money is not an issue, I can afford just about anything and obviously I have the rig to support the screens.

What would you buy, and why?

EDIT: Just noticed my sig needs an update...

[Toffie]

No one in their right mind would play with 3x120Hz and have a decent experience unless they wanna show off.

Faster refresh rate is for the people that don't care about graphics and will lower settings to achieve 100+ fps at all times. Now 3 monitors is gonna make you turn your neck around to get a better vision hindering your true objective of getting a faster monitor, which is faster awareness. Also more than a single monitor is gonna make you lower your settings to medium settings to get 100+ fps with sli 780 in BF4, is that worth it though?

My suggestion would be to get a 1600p monitor or a single 144Hz depending on what games you play.
Ofcourse fps games would benefit from the single 144Hz monitor while also being able to mostly play games like BF3 / BF4 on medium/high/ultra.
If you want all settings cranked up and is fine with 60Hz then a 1600p will allow most games out there to run on maxed settings.

[Tarien]

If you want all settings cranked up and is fine with 60Hz then a 1600p will allow most games out there to run on maxed settings.

To be honest the only reason I am remotely interested in 120Hz is that people say that it is smoother than 60Hz, especially where FPS games are concerned. I don't want to sacrifice graphical performance though, if it isn't going to be possible to maintain at least 60fps at all times in all games at the highest achievable settings, forget it, I'd rather stick with 60Hz. Definitely not interested in 3D gaming at this time.

1600p sounds nice, but what size screen am I looking at? I'd like to stick to 27" if possible. Got any recommendations for 1600p screens?

[Sorphius]

I purchased an ASUS PB278Q a couple of months ago and LOVE the clarity and depth of color.

I will say, though, that in MMOs, player names get a little blurry when moving laterally across the screen. I'm not sure if it's due to the 60hz refresh rate or the 5ms response time, but if you're looking to play a lot of FPS titles you may want to go for a 120 or 144mhz monitor.

[Tarien]

I purchased an ASUS PB278Q a couple of months ago and LOVE the clarity and depth of color.

This is one of the screens that I am seriously considering. In fact, I am considering three of them.

I will say, though, that in MMOs, player names get a little blurry when moving laterally across the screen. I'm not sure if it's due to the 60hz refresh rate or the 5ms response time, but if you're looking to play a lot of FPS titles you may want to go for a 120 or 144mhz monitor.

This is my concern, though I am on a pair of Benq G2420HDBL's at the moment which are only 60hz and I don't see any significant blurring or ghosting, but then, I am not sure I'd know what the hell I am looking for.

[Sorphius]

This is my concern, though I am on a pair of Benq G2420HDBL's at the moment which are only 60hz and I don't see any significant blurring or ghosting, but then, I am not sure I'd know what the hell I am looking for.

TBH I may not have ever noticed it if I hadn't upgraded to the 278Q from a 2ms/120mhz 1080p screen. Overall I'm still very happy with the purchase, but I think I just got spoiled on the uber-fast refresh on my old monitor.

At the end of the day I think it comes down to a matter of which trade-off you want to make: Better clarity at the expense of image quality, or better image quality at the expense of clarity.

Since I almost exclusively play MMOs and RTS and was tired of Orgrimmar looking like a crayola factory exploded on my monitor, I opted for image quality over clarity. I can't say I'm unhappy with my decision because I'm not, but it's definitely something I've noticed.

Edit: Skyrim is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G on the 278Q. For the record.

[Tarien]

TBH I may not have ever noticed it if I hadn't upgraded to the 278Q from a 2ms/120mhz 1080p screen. Overall I'm still very happy with the purchase, but I think I just got spoiled on the uber-fast refresh on my old monitor.

Hmm, see I have never had a refresh above 60Hz. Not since the days of CRTs anyway. Are there really no 1440p screens with a response time under 5ms (which I believe is what the PB278Q is)?

Edit: Skyrim is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G on the 278Q. For the record.

Om nom nom I can't wait. Currently running about a hundred mods with the UnrealVision ENB, glorious it is

[Sorphius]

If you've never played on a 120 and don't have any complaints about the appearance of your current screen, you probably won't notice a difference. I just got spoiled after using a super-fast refresh rate for two years, and have had to re-adjust to the 60mhz refresh.

If image quality and depth of color is what you're going after, by all means do the 278Q. It's a great purchase. Colors are a little wonky out of the box, but there are great color profiles available at TFT Central that will give you amazing color depth and clarity.

- - - Updated - - -

Are there really no 1440p screens with a response time under 5ms (which I believe is what the PB278Q is)?

I don't recall every finding any. IIRC it has to do with the technology itself and that the IPS/PLS panels that they're making in 1440p simply can't go that fast.

One thing you *may* consider (I thought about it but got scared off at the last minute) is looking into the Korean 1440p monitors from companies like QNIX and X-STAR. They have a very vocal and devoted following among the crowd at overclock.net. Apparently they're factory rejects from companies like Samsung and LG that have been repackaged and rebranded. They're significantly cheaper than their name-brand equivalents, but it looks like you're rolling the dice as far as quality. From looking at the overclock forum there seem to be a lot of people who don't have any problems at all, while others have horrible back-light bleeding and dead pixels. They seem to overclock very well, though, which I suppose is a plus if you're looking to do it.

Comes down to your comfort level, though. For my money, I decided I'd rather pay a couple hundred dollars more for the piece-of-mind I got from owning a brand I know and trust from a vendor I know will provide good customer service.

[Tarien]

I don't recall every finding any. IIRC it has to do with the technology itself and that the IPS/PLS panels that they're making in 1440p simply can't go that fast.

One thing you *may* consider (I thought about it but got scared off at the last minute) is looking into the Korean 1440p monitors from companies like QNIX and X-STAR. They have a very vocal and devoted following among the crowd at overclock.net. Apparently they're factory rejects from companies like Samsung and LG that have been repackaged and rebranded. They're significantly cheaper than their name-brand equivalents, but it looks like you're rolling the dice as far as quality. From looking at the overclock forum there seem to be a lot of people who don't have any problems at all, while others have horrible back-light bleeding and dead pixels. They seem to overclock very well, though, which I suppose is a plus if you're looking to do it.

Comes down to your comfort level, though. For my money, I decided I'd rather pay a couple hundred dollars more for the piece-of-mind I got from owning a brand I know and trust from a vendor I know will provide good customer service.

Yeah I have seen the Korean screens, and without guarantee's for refresh rate, lack of dead pixels and light bleed, I'm not keen. If I could find a seller that guaranteed those things, I'd be interested.

[Deleted]

Just another option to consider for a 1440p screen, Dell Ultrasharp 2713HM.

I love mine, and picked it over the asus one because it was a bit cheaper (at the time, not sure how pricing is now) and it is a dell --> good build quality and factory calibration

But I think you cant go wrong with either of them

[ocis]

Well if money is no object then just get a 4K screen - insane pixel density and it'll push your SLI GTX 780's to their limits.

[Tarien]

Well if money is no object then just get a 4K screen - insane pixel density and it'll push your SLI GTX 780's to their limits.

Haha, I actually could if I wanted to just about afford one of those Asus 4k screens, but it's too much money for what I would be getting, and I accept that realistically we're a couple of generations of graphics cards at least from running those on max settings.

Else I definitely, definitely would. I often think that maybe we're closer than we realise, as with those kind of resolutions we'd likely not need Anti Aliasing features, which are big resource hogs.

[Afrospinach]

Yeah I have seen the Korean screens, and without guarantee's for refresh rate, lack of dead pixels and light bleed, I'm not keen. If I could find a seller that guaranteed those things, I'd be interested.

They do have perfect pixel on ebay but don't be fooled, it is mostly a scam to get 30$ out of you. I have an xstar with 2 dead pixels stacked on one another which was sold as a perfect pixel. It did make me eligible for a 5$ refund per pixel but it is just not worth it. For 280$ shipped to zambia I am completely satisfied with it regardless, luckily those pixels are only intrusive on white backgrounds.

[Tarien]

I think I am going to get a 144hz 27" 1080p Asus VG278HR, and a 1440p 27" PLS Asus PB278Q (probably grab this one first, see how I feel about it and if it seems slow get the other). I'm a bit wary of different resolutions at different rates, but my google fu tells me it shouldn't be an issue, especially when I have two cards and use display port cables for both.

[Deleted]

http://www.amazon.com/Seiki-Digital-.../dp/B00BXF7I9M

;-)

I'm not too serious about that, though, since that is for example limited to 30fps...

[Mister K]

IPS over 120FPS anyday of the week. If you aren't utilizing 120FPS then it's pointless tbh.