monitor recomendation?

[OCNewbee]

I am looking for a new monitor.

I have a i9 9900ks + 3080 strix

I mostly play games. ZERO professional photo work so I do not need any fancy monitors for photographers.

My budget is $1500 but lower the better.

 

I am looking for 1440p monitor or maybe 1080p. Currently, I am gaming at 2580x1080 75fps.

Here are some of the things I am looking for

 

1) 4k or 1440p (doesn't really matter)

2) Ultrawide maybe?

3) gsync or gysnc ultimate (if you can present why gsync compatible is just as good, please tell me why. I would love to hear it)

4) HDR (I don't know if it is important)

5) refresh rate 120hz+ (I do not need 360hz because my rig can only pull 160fps at max with exceptions to a few titles)

 

So the models I am looking at are:

-LG34gp950g (not available yet)

-AW3420D (still really pricey. I can get one for around $1100)

 

My question is

1) Am I wasting my money with gysnc ultimate?

2) Do I really need a HDR monitor? Is it worth it?

3) which is better? VA or nano IPS?

4) should I wait for the LG34GP950G?

 

The alternatives are

-used LG34gk950g (~$700/ no warranty/ refurbished)

-Acer x34s (~$550)

 

Just one more thing, I heard some monitors are noisy. I can stand noise so I need a monitor that is silent as possible.

With windows 11 supporting Android apps, I have a feeling ultrawides may be better. Tell me if I am wrong.

Any other recommendations or any comments will be helpful. Thanks.

 

 

[Stahlmann]

First off, sorry for the wall of text. But there is a lot to monitors that should be at least mentioned:

 

2 hours ago, OCNewbee said:

My question is

1) Am I wasting my money with gysnc ultimate?

Depends. G-Sync ultimate basically was the branding that stood for "true" HDR monitors. Like for example the Asus PG35VQ and PG32UQX. Nowadays because Nvidia made it much easier to get the ultimate certifications it's nothing to really look out for. As a matter of fact "native" G-Sync is not even that important. Any good FreeSync monitor will deliver the same VRR experience as a "native" G-Sync one. And most of them work flawlessly on NVidia GPUs. I'd just look out for at least monitors that are "G-Sync compatible" certified.

2 hours ago, OCNewbee said:

2) Do I really need a HDR monitor? Is it worth it?

Imo, yes. But currently the "financial threshhold" for true HDR monitors is very high. You'll have to spend >$1500 for a monitor that is really capable of HDR. Most monitors that fall under the HDR400 and HDR 600 certification are not at all HDR capable. Even some HDR1000 monitors are affected. The most important thing on HDR monitors is that they use a FALD (Full-Array-Local-Dimming) backlight, that can dim individual parts of the screen. Many HDR certified monitors only have edge-lit local dimming though, which will not help with enhancing the contrast in 99% of cases, thus failing to deliver a "high dynamic range". I could go on with this forever. But if you have a good FALD HDR monitor, like my Asus PG35VQ for example, it's completely worth it and games that support it will just look a whole lot more realistic.

 

2 hours ago, OCNewbee said:

3) which is better? VA or nano IPS?

It depends. IPS are better allrounders. High-End VA's are better when image quality comes above all else. Typically VA sacrifices a bit of responsiveness for this. But as long as you're no competitive player, this shouldn't matter, as it's not THAT huge of a difference.

 

Coming back ot HDR again: VA's typically perform a lot better here, because the higher native contrast helps deal with the artifacting known as "blooming".

 

But in the end there are VA monitors that are faster than even the best IPS ones. So it comes down to the particular models you have in mind.

2 hours ago, OCNewbee said:

4) should I wait for the LG34GP950G?

If you're set on going the 21:9 IPS route, then you can also go for the LG 34GP83A-B. It's basically the same monitor, but lacking the "HDR600" features and available now. But the 35GP950-G only got throught the HDR600 certification because it has a edge-lit local dimming backlight. And like i wrote above, that's pretty much worthless anyway.

2 hours ago, OCNewbee said:

Just one more thing, I heard some monitors are noisy. I can stand noise so I need a monitor that is silent as possible.

Any monitor with a native G-Sync module will also have a fan. Typically these small fans can be heard in silent evironments. Also, any true HDR monitor will produce so much heat that cooling with a fan is pretty much required. So going high-end might make a fan in your monitor unavoidable.

2 hours ago, OCNewbee said:

With windows 11 supporting Android apps, I have a feeling ultrawides may be better. Tell me if I am wrong.

I wouldn't know what your aspect ratio would have to do with this.

2 hours ago, OCNewbee said:

Any other recommendations or any comments will be helpful. Thanks.

 

As for specific recommendations:

 

The Asus PG279QM is a very nice 1440p 240Hz option if you want a very good image combined with a higher refresh rate when you want to also have 240Hz for competitive games. But no noteworthy HDR.

 

The LG 34GP83A-B is basically the gold-standard ultrawide that doesn't break the bank atm. No noteworthy HDR support tough.

 

The LG 27GN950-B is basically the gold-standard 4K 144Hz monitor that doesn't break the bank. And again, no noteworthy HDR.

 

And if you want a very nice ultrawide that also includes very impressive HDR, then the Asus PG35VQ and the Acer Predator X35 are great choices. But they have a MSRP of $2500. But maybe you can find a deal like i did and get one for $1500-$1700. The HDR is really worth it imo. And as much as i hate the word "futureproofing" it makes sense for monitors. They can last a long time and investing in something with really good HDR support will be something that will pay you back big time in the future. Nowadays every major AAA title and many indie games aswell support HDR.

[OCNewbee]

1 hour ago, Stahlmann said:

LG 34GP83A-B is basically the gold-standard ultrawide that doesn't break the bank atm. No noteworthy HDR support tough.

Thanks for ur awesome explanation. Now my question is when is the best time to buy a monitor. Afaik the 34gp950g is dropping in sept. Should i buy a monitor now or wait till sept since there will be a price drop for older monitors. It wouldnt be smart to buy a monitor at the end of its life cycle.

[Stahlmann]

3 hours ago, OCNewbee said:

Thanks for ur awesome explanation. Now my question is when is the best time to buy a monitor. Afaik the 34gp950g is dropping in sept. Should i buy a monitor now or wait till sept since there will be a price drop for older monitors. It wouldnt be smart to buy a monitor at the end of its life cycle.

With current monitors that's not that big of a problem because they have very small changes across generations. For example the LG 27GP850-B is basically the same as the LG 27GL850-B, which is 2 generations older. The only differences are so tiny that they deliver basically the exact same experience to the end user.

 

Like i said with the 34GP950G, the only advantage that i know if is the native G-Sync module (which can be a downside aswelle because it's guaranteed to have a fan because of that) and the HDR600 certification compared to the 34GP83A-B, which is FreeSync with certified G-Sync compatiblity and HDR400. But like i mentioned, both of these additional features don't really matter. A "G-Sync certified" FreeSync monitor will perform the same VRR wise. And HDR is essentially useless on both.

 

So i'd say you're fine if you go with the 34GP83A-B now. You could even go with the "last-gen" 34GN850-B, which again, is essentially the same monitor but might be easier or harder to find depending on your region.

 

In some ways monitors even went backwards again. If you look at HDR again: Current offerings like the PG32UQX are actually worse in many HDR scenes than the 2 year old PG35VQ and X35 while also being more expensive.

[OCNewbee]

1 hour ago, Stahlmann said:

With current monitors that's not that big of a problem because they have very small changes across generations. For example the LG 27GP850-B is basically the same as the LG 27GL850-B, which is 2 generations older. The only differences are so tiny that they deliver basically the exact same experience to the end user.

 

Like i said with the 34GP950G, the only advantage that i know if is the native G-Sync module (which can be a downside aswelle because it's guaranteed to have a fan because of that) and the HDR600 certification compared to the 34GP83A-B, which is FreeSync with certified G-Sync compatiblity and HDR400. But like i mentioned, both of these additional features don't really matter. A "G-Sync certified" FreeSync monitor will perform the same VRR wise. And HDR is essentially useless on both.

 

So i'd say you're fine if you go with the 34GP83A-B now. You could even go with the "last-gen" 34GN850-B, which again, is essentially the same monitor but might be easier or harder to find depending on your region.

 

In some ways monitors even went backwards again. If you look at HDR again: Current offerings like the PG32UQX are actually worse in many HDR scenes than the 2 year old PG35VQ and X35 while also being more expensive.

Thank you so much. You truly are the god of monitors!

[Stahlmann]

48 minutes ago, OCNewbee said:

Thank you so much. You truly are the god of monitors!

That's not what i'd call myself, but i'm glad to help!