Monitor recommendation for gaming and audio-production

[ScottishGr33n]

Hey folks,

 

First time posting on the forum. Hope everyone here is doing well!

 

Was wondering if I could get some help picking out a new monitor. As the title suggests I’m looking for a new monitor that will suit me both for gaming whilst having enough real-estate for some audio post production work. At the moment I’ve got a LG 29WK600 (2560x1080 75hz IPS Ultrawide) which has fit my needs perfectly over the last few years. Although I initially used it for my old GTX 970 rig, I mostly now game on an  Xbox Series S which I’m hoping to upgrade to a Series X within the coming months along with my M1 MacBook Air for work. 

I know this might be a little bit of a weird pair, however I came across the AOC CU34G2X (3440x1440 144hz VA Ultrawide) and was wondering if anyone has had any experience with it. I’m not really a big fan of having multiple monitors anymore, and having a capable 120hz screen that is 1440p for the Xbox whilst having the extra width if I choose to do some editing work seems very appealing. I do understand however that it would technically be a downgrade with the VA Panel. 
 

There’s also the option of going for a 27 inch 1440p 144hz IPS display. This was originally my first choice in getting a new monitor as I know there are plenty of sub £300 versions that go on sale often. However after seeing the above ultrawide for about £250, I was just wondering what people think would be the better option. Would a VA really be that much of a downgrade compared to my current monitor? 
 

Cheers everyone!

[bmx6454]

1 hour ago, ScottishGr33n said:

however I came across the AOC CU34G2X (3440x1440 144hz VA Ultrawide) and was wondering if anyone has had any experience with it

this is my main monitor for my pc. i would recommend it at the right price for sure. it's held up well over the 2 years I've had it, color looks decent, haven't had issues yet(fingers crossed). for your use though, might be a bad idea going with 21:9. if you plan on using your xbox with it, the series x/s doesn't support 21:9 sadly, so it will cut off the sides of the screen with black bars.

edit: to clarify, it will work fine with the xbox, but it won't use the entire screen, so i personally just use my 4k tv for the xbox instead.

[ScottishGr33n]

11 hours ago, bmx6454 said:

this is my main monitor for my pc. i would recommend it at the right price for sure. it's held up well over the 2 years I've had it, color looks decent, haven't had issues yet(fingers crossed). for your use though, might be a bad idea going with 21:9. if you plan on using your xbox with it, the series x/s doesn't support 21:9 sadly, so it will cut off the sides of the screen with black bars.

edit: to clarify, it will work fine with the xbox, but it won't use the entire screen, so i personally just use my 4k tv for the xbox instead.

Cheers man! Yeh I also have a 4K TV a couple of feet away from my desk so I’m hoping to just switch between that for more casual games and the monitor for competitive shooters. I’ve been used to the black bars on my current ultrawide for a while now and it doesn’t really bother me. 

[bmx6454]

6 hours ago, ScottishGr33n said:

Cheers man! Yeh I also have a 4K TV a couple of feet away from my desk so I’m hoping to just switch between that for more casual games and the monitor for competitive shooters. I’ve been used to the black bars on my current ultrawide for a while now and it doesn’t really bother me. 

Then it should be a good monitor. I have no issues with fps games, and I’m running a nvidia card with it. The software for the screen is junk/nonexistent, so pretty much all settings have to be done through the screen menu. Not a big deal, but might matter to you. What price are you currently seeing it at?

[ScottishGr33n]

1 hour ago, bmx6454 said:

Then it should be a good monitor. I have no issues with fps games, and I’m running a nvidia card with it. The software for the screen is junk/nonexistent, so pretty much all settings have to be done through the screen menu. Not a big deal, but might matter to you. What price are you currently seeing it at?

I believe it’s expired now, but saw it earlier for £259 on Amazon for that silly gaming week thing. I’m in no rush to get a new monitor, was just wanting to check to see what I could get for around the £250 mark. And yeh the menu stuff isn’t a bother, I noticed people complaining about that in some reviews but after it’s setup it should be no bother. 

[bmx6454]

4 hours ago, ScottishGr33n said:

I believe it’s expired now, but saw it earlier for £259 on Amazon for that silly gaming week thing. I’m in no rush to get a new monitor, was just wanting to check to see what I could get for around the £250 mark. And yeh the menu stuff isn’t a bother, I noticed people complaining about that in some reviews but after it’s setup it should be no bother. 

not bad, considering when i got it like 2+ years ago, it was for 460$(370£)

[e22big]

Using it with Xbox and Mac could be problematic though, not every PC monitor can play well with Mac and Xbox don't support a Ultrawide aspect ratio. 

 

I think looking for a small TV or other 42-43 inches monitor might answer your needs better. 42-43 inches are pretty much Ultrawide with more vertical spaces. It's great for productivity (especially video and audio editing when you often have to work with layers upon layers of timeline), and also play nice with consoles.  

 

Obviously not OLED if you're looking to use it for work. I actually can recommend Gigabyte FV43U, which I used previously (before jumping to LG C2 because I no longer wfh.) Not only it's 43 inches 16:9, it also has USB-C display output and can run at 120hz on MacOS (which is a major advantage over TV, which can limit you to just 60.) rting mentioned that it was on-sale for 600 bucks at the latest. 

 

It's a traditional VA with some smearing and viewing angles issues but that shouldn't be a limitation to your use case. It also has one of the most impressive colour in any monitor and come with limited but very usable HDR for console gaming. Not a perfect by any mean but almost ideal for your use case specifically.