Help me choose a strategy for upgrading from a nice 32'' 1440p 75Hz IPS monitor?

[NewbieOne]

I lucked out with my AOC Q3279VWFD8. It was the cheapest non-TN 1440p monitor several years ago in my country. The reason I got 32'' and not 27'' was simply because the cheapest 27'' was much more expensive. What I got in the package was (still is) good colour gamut, acceptable delta, 1:1100-ish or even 1:1200-ish contrast depending on the settings, 75Hz (rather than the usual budget 60) OC'able to 80, and good uniformity, as well as really nice blacks for daytime, and nice minimum brightness (important for working at night). Even motion handling is more than acceptable for the class. The monitor is easily on par with much more expensive units in terms of parameters, and perhaps I drew a golden sample in the lottery. Also, no bad pixels or any other panel defacts until now. I really can't complain.

 

I found that what looks particularly nice with this monitor in most (not all) games is DLDSR 4K or 5K, probably looking better because of the larger screen size. This is surprisingly good for making old games look much more detailed and generally nice, once I got an RTX 3070 (paired with i5-9600KF). There are some downsides of 1440p at 32'' rather than the preferred 27'' for this resolution, and DLDSR to 4/5K deals away with them very nicely.

 

However, I'm feeling the upgrade itch because of how affordable fast 1440p monitors and budget 4K monitors. It would almost feel wasteful not to buy one of those (for about half the rent I pay every month) and sell mine on or even keep it as backup. However, if you double the price (at least here, M32Q or Odyssey G7 costs almost double the price of a really nice budget unit), anxiety kicks in, especially in the event I get a poor draw in the lottery and fail to notice that within the 14-day window for returns. I could afford an M32Q, but can't afford another one if the first one develops bad pixels after half a year of use as so many of them do; same goes for the G7's various quirks. I'd rather buy something safe, or if I'm going to play lottery, then in a lower price bracket.

 

I've become attached to the 32'' size (from a yard's distance), coming back to it from an Eizo EV2736 at some point; the problem is that 32'' is not only more expensive, it's also much more limiting. Whereas decent 32'' options are scarce, great 27'' options abound and cost far less money on top of that. I'm not really looking forward to 60Hz (75 does seem to make a difference), though I guess lower GTG response times can mitigate the problem. My default strategy has so far been to stick with highest-contrast IPS panels (my laptops appear almost VA-like in this regard), but I'm intrigued by modern, higher-quality VA panels with more vibrant colour reproduction than there used to be but with even better cinematic contrast. (Outside of OLED, mini-LED, Quantum Dot, etc., it's really hard to beat my mother's age-old Sony Bravia VA with perfectly natural image without any saturation deficiency, which is like the best SDR has to offer.)

 

What's making things really complicated for me is that even the largest brick-and-mortar stores in my country have very poor monitor exhibitions — everything has shifted to online sales, and I'm not going to order 5 monitors to return 4 of them, Rtings covers only some of the most popular models, so I'm largely in the dark with some of the options available, even in terms of theoretical data, forget any opportunity for first-hand experience.

 

I don't care for USB or LED, brightness sensors and fancy software; I'd rather skip that to focus on the best panel for the money.

 

So… I'm torn between (1) 4K60 vs fast 1440p; (2) VA vs IPS; (3) sticking with 32'' vs making the sacrifice of going down to 27–28'' for the sake of better bang for the buck.

 

27'' 1440p hi-refresh options inclue M27Q Rev. 2.0; MSI G272CQP; the new Dell G2724D; Philips Momentum. The LG 27'' Nano-IPS line (GN/GP 800/850) was very cheap for a moment but is expensive now. For 32'', this will include Dell S3222DGM and ASROCK Phantom Gaming PG32QF2B. HP Omens seem to somewhat abundant and not very expensive. Also plenty of all sorts of TUF.

 

32'' 4K options include EW3270U (can find a really good discount on that), older Samsung U32 VA with Quantum Dot, plenty of newer Samsungs (M7, S7, etc.). I can also get an unknown model from a local manufacturer (Electrons F3201) touting 32'' 4K IPS 120% SRGB 1MS and a pivot stand, but gamut is given at 16.7M, which implies an 8bit panel (hopefully not 6+2) rather than 10 or 8+2. For one-third less money, there's HP U28 and Lenovo L28 u-30. 27'' 4K Dells and 27–28'' 4K Philips E-Lines can also be found, or 27'' Philips Moda, in the same bracket. TUFs are also abundant and affordable, Philips E-Lines a bit less so nowadays.

 

I'm probably going to skip Gigabyte because of the massive frequency of pixel problems, but I've even considered M28U, which is a bit less expensive than the M32Q here, and as long as I could accept going down from 32'' to 28'' and could avoid bad pixels, that 4K 144 unit would obviously last longer than my current and next platform and probably the next platform after that.

 

I'm not dismissive of ultrawide, but for some reason they all seem to have worse motion handling than 16:9. 21:9 would be better for work (no more horizontally squeezed windows), actually, and, apparently, additional width is easier for GPUs to render than additional height, making 21:9 1440p much(?) faster than 16:9 2160p, plus, they have 100Hz options, which is more realistic given my preference for high/ultra settings over max fps, due to playing exclusively single-player games.

Speaking of which, the games I play tend to be: (1) Witcher/Inquisition/RDR/Mass Effect-style cinematic RPGs; (2) Dirt/Forza-style cinematic rallies; (3) isometric RPG and map-based strategies. My work is text-based. I'm a translator, so I read and write, do research and use reference materials; this is similar to those coders who don't use white-on-black. Accordingly, I appreciate text clarity and low minimum brightness, and most of all the less eye fatigue from long use, the better (F.lux helps but panel differences matter).

 

The last option (4) is to stick with my existing monitor and upgrade the CPU instead (9600KF => 14600K/7800X3D) and play games with DLDSR at 75 fps/Hz. I can't really afford both a platform and a monitor upgrade. I'd rather not splurge on a new CPU + mobo + RAM at the present time but just get a nice budget monitor (or midrange if really good bang for the buck).

 

Thank you.

 

Oh, and if the whole topic is too big for you but you can comment on specific monitors I mentioned, especially to report deal-breaking issues or recommend an exceptionally good panel within its price bracket, then by all means, do offer a partial answer. I'll be grateful for any help I can get. Anything is better than having to crack this out without having the option of hands-on trying before buying.

[191x7]

The platform upgrade would greatly improve your gaming more than a monitor sidegrade.

 

32" 1440p pixels are about the same size as 24" 1080p. With 27" 1440p, the image would look sharper, but you'd probably sit closer to it.

To have a 4K screen with the same pixel size, it would have to be 48" to 50". 

You could aim for a higher refresh, but that would be useful to you only if you play competitive titles (shooters) and you'd have to get a stronger CPU to push a high framerate and keep it stable.

1440p is still good enough. 

[dizmo]

In the future, shorter posts are usually better. Most people aren't going to have the patience to read through all that, when you probably could have given the same information in half the length. Check out RTings for monitor reviews. They do them pretty well. So does Hardware Unboxed.

 

Your CPU is going to be a major bottleneck.

[Stahlmann]

First of all, I didn't read 100% of your post because it's way too long.

 

Last i checked the 9600KF isn't that bad of a CPU and should be plenty fast to fuel a 144Hz monitor.

 

I'd recommend to get a good mid-range 27" 1440p 144Hz monitor. If you don't want to go with Gigabyte, the LG 27GP850-B is a great alternative and often available around the same $300-ish price point.

 

To me personally the pixels get a tad too big with 32" 1440p so i'd recommend 27" for this resolution.

 

However, the M28U can also be a good deal. 4K is gonna take a lot more GPU power to drive though. At least a higher resolution will alleviate most the CPU bottleneck.