1440p vs ultrawide

[Geo2160]

I want to buy a new monitor and I don't really know what to do. I now have an old 23 inch 1080p acer TN LCD that I can either sell or keep. My use case includes mostly web browsing, watching TV series, playing indie and blizzard games and a movie once in a blue moon. I will also play an occasional AAA game if it gets really good reviews, but I generally don't bother with them any more. I guess I should also mention my GPU, a trusty old GTX 470 which I intend to upgrade further down the line.

 

I have three viable options in my budget:

 

1) LG 29UM57-P -> http://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-29UM57-P-ultrawide-led-monitor

 

This thing looks pretty amazing, but I can't find any good use for it other than web browsing. Most TV series are shot in 16:9, blizzard games don't support 21:9 since they give you a "competitive advantage" and I seldom watch any movies. Also, I will probably have to fidget with most indie games' settings to make them work correctly. On the other hand, even when it displays unsupported content it will be like a good 23 inch 16:9 monitor.

 

2) Acer G247HYU -> http://www.acer.co.uk/ac/en/GB/content/model/UM.QG7EE.005

 

This looks like a safer upgrade. Even if I'll have any scaling or performance issues, I can just dial it back to 1080p when I need to and be done with it. But i probably won't be able to enjoy the bigger resolution on anything but some youtube videos and heroes of the storm. Text is sharp enough for me on my old monitor.

 

3) Keep my old monitor, get a good 1080p IPS/VA panel with a nice stand and use them both in the future.

 

I don't have enough space on my desk to keep them both atm. But I would love a dual monitor setup. I should mention that the other two options would imply selling my old monitor to a friend.

[PlayStation 2]

You'd probably want the 1440p monitor if you're not doing any productivity.

[Grrizz]

For gaming I'd probably go ultra wide at that screen size, 1440p wont be a huge benefit at 24" IMO but for productivity 1440p could have benefits (same horizontal pixel count but more vertical just on a smaller overall screen), 1440p will also take more processing power to drive than the ultra wide and again at that size the power to fidelity gain probably wont be worth it unless you already have the power to spare.

[Geo2160]

For gaming I'd probably go ultra wide at that screen size, 1440p wont be a huge benefit at 24" IMO but for productivity 1440p could have benefits (same horizontal pixel count but more vertical just on a smaller overall screen), 1440p will also take more processing power to drive than the ultra wide and again at that size the power to fidelity gain probably wont be worth it unless you already have the power to spare.

 

Unfortunately, the games I play the most (heroes of the storm, sc2) don't support ultra-wide resolutions. On the other hand, my gtx 470 handled them fine at 1440p when I tried Nvidia's DSR.

[RuKiddin06]

You could grab the 1440p model, then if you want to go ultra wide, just run with black bars on the top and bottom, or in windowed mode.

[Molten]

the 29 inch ultrawides look strangely short due to it's wide nature, to get a good ultrawide experience you should go full 34 inch 3440x1440 but I don't think your GPU could handle it...

[EndlessOyster]

Unfortunately, the games I play the most (heroes of the storm, sc2) don't support ultra-wide resolutions. On the other hand, my gtx 470 handled them fine at 1440p when I tried Nvidia's DSR.

Why did you ask us you knew the answer.

[Geo2160]

Why did you ask us you knew the answer.

 

Because it's not an answer. Please read my OP. I wouldn't mind playing on 1080p with black bars. Actually, gaming on both of them will be done on 1080p most of the time. It's the other stuff that I'm not sure about. Ultrawide will ve better for movies and multi-tasking, 1440p will be better for youtube and web browsing.