"Budget minded" 1440p?

[xblade]

Hello! I am looking at getting my first desktop sometime within the next week or two, the only part I need help picking is the monitor.

 

I will primarily be using the system for gaming. I play LoL, Borderlalnds, Insurgency, gw2, and I plan to be playing the Witcher series, and Fallout (once AMD fixes the driver issue I've heard about) with my new system.

 

Is it possible to find a 1440p monitor for around $300?

 

If not, can anyone provide suggestions for 1080p monitors? (either single or dual?)

 

Thanks in advance! 

If I'm missing information you need, let me know!

[Bazilias]

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/monitor/#r=256001440&X=0,30626

[michaelocarroll007]

monoprice has a IPS 2560x1440p for 299 the stand is cheap but that fits the Budet minded part 

[xblade]

Thanks for the fast response! I don't really know too much about monitors... does the 4ms make a noticeable difference? I am upgrading from a laptop... so I'm sure it will be an improvement either way.

 

Also, Am I correct that an IPS would be better if I also plan to watch movies?

[xblade]

At this price point, would it be better for me to get a name brand 1080p monitor from ASUS or benQ? and then upgrade to a 1440p when I have more of a budget?

[Falkentyne]

At this price point, would it be better for me to get a name brand 1080p monitor from ASUS or benQ? and then upgrade to a 1440p when I have more of a budget?

This is above your price point, but I suggest an XL2720Z Benq monitor.

 

You get the full benefits of blur reduction for league of legends (WORKS PERFECT--NO need for gsync or freesync) and other games, you don't have to worry about the current 1440p panel lotteries, plus there are a lot of tweaks you can do to improve the overdrive capability (which is really crappy by default).

 

And you can also get a sample of 1440p play because the XL2720Z is capable of running at 2560x1440 via display scaling.  It will be downsampled to 1920x1080 so you are basically using the monitor scaler to do low level supersampling AA, but it will definitely look better than 1920x1080.

 

But the performance hit is *massive*.  Going from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 is a 77% pixel size increase.

Get used to that performance hit and you will understand exactly why no one buys 1440p monitors unless they have gsync or freesync.  If they didn't, we would still be at 1080p's as framerates with people without multiple video cards would be too low.

 

http://www.amazon.com/BenQ-XL2720Z-Gaming-Monitor-Resolution/dp/B00GWFNMJS/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

 

I own one and I'm able to run 2560x1440@80hz (1498 vertical total), 2560x1440@100hz (1502 vertical total) and 2560x1440@115hz (2641 Horizontal total and 1497 vertical).  Any higher on the refresh rate or if I change any of the totals, I start getting shimmering pixel artifacts.  But usually I just run 1920x1080 with vertical total tweaks for blur reduction, anywhere between 85hz (custom resolution, VT 1501; all other VT's will frameskip at 85hz), to 125hz (VT 1497), and I usually prefer 100hz or 120hz most of the time.

[xblade]

Even though that monitor is only 1080, you can still achieve 1440 with it?

 

And you recommend staying away from 1440p until I can afford a monitor with gsync or freesync it sounds like?

[Falkentyne]

Even though that monitor is only 1080, you can still achieve 1440 with it?

 

And you recommend staying away from 1440p until I can afford a monitor with gsync or freesync it sounds like?

 

Yes but that isn't the native resolution so there will be some interpolation.

but unlike interpolation from running at a *lower* resolution, you're increasing screen data, which is basically the same thing as "Supersampling anti-aliasing."  It's not as crisp as 1:1 2560x1440, it's like you're using a small AA filter.  It does look better than 1920x1080 in *games* though; the increase in data samples makes up for the loss of sharpness from the downsampling.

 

And yes, don't upgrade to 1440p unless you intend to use gsync and freesync or unless you are running multiple video cards.  The framerate hit is just too big.  Gsync will help smooth out any loss of FPS by removing all stutters and hitches you would get from lower framerates.  but you can use the XL2720Z to see just what type of framerate hit you would be expecting.

(Note: you can do this with any 1080p monitor these days, with Nvidia DSR or AMD VSR, but they don't work with custom resolutions).

 

 

 

That's a crappy screenshot from mine, using display scaling.  Please ignore the horrible image quality...it looks FAR better than the noisy jpeg shows.  I was able to go up to 115hz at 2560x1440 without problems.  120hz works without frameskipping but is unusable because artifacts cover the entire screen (scaler limitations, similar to what happens on Qinx panels when they can't overclock to 120hz).

[xblade]

Thank you for your detailed responses! I think I'm going to get a 1080p monitor when I get my system, and then upgrade to 1440p down the road in a future upgrade.

 

With that being said... do you have suggestions for a good 1080p monitor within the price point?

[dave01978]

Thank you for your detailed responses! I think I'm going to get a 1080p monitor when I get my system, and then upgrade to 1440p down the road in a future upgrade.

With that being said... do you have suggestions for a good 1080p monitor within the price point?

What size?

[xblade]

What size?

Sorry for the late response. I would be looking around the 24-27 inch size ideally.