the state of 3440x1440

[Ian_Wright]

Ever since Linus published his 21:9 manifesto back at the old office I've been waiting for 3440x1440 to be relatively affordable. this week on ebay there have been several large buy it now posts for such panels at the $500, and if these hold were at half of what they were two years ago. I'm not ready to pull the trigger quite yet, but we are getting much closer. I'm curious how many out there have bout a 1440p ultrawide, and how many are still holding out. how low is low enough?

[Chaos_Sorcerer]

I currently have a 25UM58-P, if I'm not mistaken. It's a 25" 2560 x 1080 monitor. Yeah, it's small, but it's good enough for what I do with it...although I definitely plan to upgrade to a 34" Ultrawide in the future. Maybe even as early as next year. 

 

If you have the money for that Ultrawide, I'd say it's good to go for it now. Well...it depends...what do you use currently?

[NoRomanBatmansAllowed]

6 minutes ago, Ian_Wright said:

how low is low enough?

Really depends on your budget and what counts as "low". For me, low means a $50 monitor, but for you it could be ~$200. Low is really an opinionated thing. So the real question is do you want to spend that much on a monitor.

[Ian_Wright]

1 minute ago, Chaos_Sorcerer said:

I currently have a 25UM58-P, if I'm not mistaken. It's a 25" 2560 x 1080 monitor. Yeah, it's small, but it's good enough for what I do with it...although I definitely plan to upgrade to a 34" Ultrawide in the future. Maybe even as early as next year. 

 

If you have the money for that Ultrawide, I'd say it's good to go for it now. Well...it depends...what do you use currently?

i currently have a 1080p acer moniter, 60 hz, Va panel. I definitely could use more space 

[Domination Gaming]

I have been holding off because I want 1440x3440 curved with at least 75 hz refresh rate with IPS display as a must.

 

this without g-sync is 780 right now from acer. With g-sync and overclockable to 100hz is the Predator X34 also from acer. It is 1,200 dollars...

[Ian_Wright]

2 minutes ago, bob51zhang said:

Really depends on your budget and what counts as "low". For me, low means a $50 monitor, but for you it could be ~$200. Low is really an opinionated thing. So the real question is do you want to spend that much on a monitor.

when they his $400 im really gonna have to think about getting one. 

[Chaos_Sorcerer]

Just now, Ian_Wright said:

i currently have a 1080p acer moniter, 60 hz, Va panel. I definitely could use more space 

That's what I probably should've gotten instead of a tiny Ultrawide...

 

Yeah...go for it, if you have the money and the hardware to run it. It's a gorgeous panel. 

[Ian_Wright]

4 minutes ago, Chaos_Sorcerer said:

That's what I probably should've gotten instead of a tiny Ultrawide...

 

Yeah...go for it, if you have the money and the hardware to run it. It's a gorgeous panel. 

my 290x probs wont make for any high framerate gaming for modern titles, but i can always keep my current monitor

[Chaos_Sorcerer]

3 minutes ago, Ian_Wright said:

my 290x probs wont make for any high framerate gaming for modern titles, but i can always keep my current monitor

No...a 290X is just about enough for most games at that resolution, as long as you know what you're doing. 

[Ian_Wright]

1 minute ago, Chaos_Sorcerer said:

No...a 290X is just about enough for most games at that resolution, as long as you know what you're doing. 

lower the setting etc? Recent graphics card release benchmarks have excluded the 290x, and I haven't gone looking for benchmarks at that resolution

[Chaos_Sorcerer]

Just now, Ian_Wright said:

lower the setting etc? Recent graphics card release benchmarks have excluded the 290x, and I haven't gone looking for benchmarks at that resolution

It all depends on your perspective. Some people think an R7 260X is good enough for 1080p. It really is for the average person, as long as they keep their settings low. Some people think a 980 Ti is overkill for 1080p...it is in most people's eyes, but even that card can't maintain a solid 60 FPS in every game at 1080p. 3440 x 1440 is right in between 1440p and 4K. 

 

http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2312-ultrawide-gpu-gaming-benchmark-fps-performance

 

In most games, it seems to be getting a 40 FPS average at Ultra settings. You should get a fairly enjoyable experience as long as you run games at Medium/High, or you could max them out at the cost of FPS. 

 

I'd say you should upgrade your monitor before your graphics card. It's not like you're going to buy a 1080 and keep your 1080p display (unless you're that kind of guy). My advice would be to get it if it's in your budget, and upgrade your video card if things aren't going too well a few years down the line.

[Ian_Wright]

10 minutes ago, Chaos_Sorcerer said:

It all depends on your perspective. Some people think an R7 260X is good enough for 1080p. It really is for the average person, as long as they keep their settings low. Some people think a 980 Ti is overkill for 1080p...it is in most people's eyes, but even that card can't maintain a solid 60 FPS in every game at 1080p. 3440 x 1440 is right in between 1440p and 4K. 

 

http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2312-ultrawide-gpu-gaming-benchmark-fps-performance

 

In most games, it seems to be getting a 40 FPS average at Ultra settings. You should get a fairly enjoyable experience as long as you run games at Medium/High, or you could max them out at the cost of FPS. 

 

I'd say you should upgrade your monitor before your graphics card. It's not like you're going to buy a 1080 and keep your 1080p display (unless you're that kind of guy). My advice would be to get it if it's in your budget, and upgrade your video card if things aren't going too well a few years down the line.

that's roughly my plain, monitor is top of the list in rig upgrades. id likely keep my current one when I do as an auxiliary, be useful for my wii u

[Chaos_Sorcerer]

19 minutes ago, Ian_Wright said:

that's roughly my plain, monitor is top of the list in rig upgrades. id likely keep my current one when I do as an auxiliary, be useful for my wii u

So are you getting it? You're a lucky guy...

[Ian_Wright]

1 hour ago, Chaos_Sorcerer said:

So are you getting it? You're a lucky guy...

not yet, maybe when they hit $400. ill be sure to drop back on the forums when I do

[GamerDude]

FYI, I have two UW monitors, one is a 29" 2560x1080 while the other is a 34" 3440x1440, the former is only 60Hz and does not have Freesync or Gsync while the latter is a Freesync model. I have it at 75Hz with Freesync enabled, but honestly, when I play games on either, I don't see any screen tearing. Maybe I'm easier to please since I've always been using (and have gotten quite used to) 60Hz monitors and the only times I see screen tearing are when there's strobing effect (like multiple explosions,  flashing lights). 

 

I have my Acer XR341CK hooked up to two rigs, one with 2x R9 290X and the other with just one HD7970. Even the HD7970 (similar to R9 280X) rig can managed games quite well....I've played Dead Space 2 maxed out, BFBC2 and even Doom (Vulkan) maxed out. Yes, for Doom, framerate did drop below 50fps for the HD7970 but it was silky smooth (the wonders of a modern and good API). So, for 3440x1440 gaming, an R9 290 (or RX480) or GTX780 (or GTX1060) would be better, it goes without saying that the better the GPU, the better it is for gaming @ 3440x1440.

 

Another great use for such monitors is when you like to watch movies like me, especially WS movies. Using VLC player, I can crop such movies to fit the entire screen, no black bars at all!

[MxZeal]

I'm like you man, checking the prices out every week and still trying my best to hold off!

[mbryant]

I have an LG UC87C-B which came out to about $750 back in December. I am very happy with it. I also have a 27" 1080p display which I don't use unless I'm gaming on the LG since the ultrawide is so big. I would suggest keeping a 16:9 display alongside an ultra wide as watching youtube videos and other 16:9 content becomes mildly annoying.

 

Also like Linus said (or I believe he said) I wouldn't suggest an ultra wide unless you need the additional real estate  OR you don't want a surround setup for gaming. I also wouldn't suggest a UW display that wasn't 3440x1440. 

[Acquire]

I have the Acer x34.  I upgraded to it from the original rog swift.  I got the itch to upgrade after seeing the glowing reviews for it.  I also will not buy a non g-sync monitor for gaming anymore.  It's an amazing technology.  Up until this monitor I'd ignored the idea of buying an ultra wide because of the lack of g-sync monitors available.

 

 A friend of mine luckily had already bought the Acer x34, so I had a chance to try it out.  I had a dual monitor setup for productivity, but found that I doubt I'd really need the second monitor if my primary monitor was an ultra wide.  Gaming was great with it as well.  The slight curve and extra width were awesome for immersion.  Many games now support that aspect ratio as well, so I went with it.

 

I've now had it for a few months and won't be going back to 16:9 anytime soon.  Ultra wide, g-sync, and ips, are a great feature set.  I highly recommend it to those that can fit it in their budget.