Help me Choose a Gaming/General Workstation Monitor

KingRoomba · October 27, 2018

I'm from Australia and have just bought my PC parts and are now looking to buy a monitor. The problem is I know zilch about monitors and don't know which one to buy, so I'm asking for suggestions. I'll put any necessary PC specs at the bottom.

My budget is $300-400 and I predominantly intend to play games, occasionally doing work and using applications like Photoshop etc. Pixel wise, I'm looking at 1080p or 1440p; whilst I'd love a 1440p monitor, they're generally more expensive and if it comes down to it, I'd still be fine using 1080p. I don't know much about refresh rates; 144hz would be cool but I probably won't be able to run any games at 144hz with the GPU I have and it'd likely be out of my budget. If I can get 144hz then it'd be great but anything 60hz or above would make the cut. In regards to panel types, I know that TN is cheaper, faster but has worse colour and IPS is more expensive, a bit slower but has superior colour; I knows very little about VA. I don't know the speed difference between TN and IPS monitors so if anyone knows what difference it makes in-game, please tell me. For the most part, I'd like a IPS monitor due to the superior colour but I'm aware I can re-calibrate the colours of a TN panel to make them more realistic; however, I've never done it before so it'd be a bit of a hassle. Furthermore, I don't need g-sync but it'd be cool if it's available. Lastly, I've got a black and red build so I'd like a monitor with a similar colour pallet but I can still make do with one that doesn't.

Even though my preferences are listed above, I really want to know what your monitor recommendations are; I can be convinced otherwise. The only thing I've got set in stone is my budget.

Thanks!

Specs:

CPU: AMD ryzen 5 2600

GPU: MSI gtx 1070 ti gaming (DisplayPort x 3 (Version 1.4) / HDMI 2.0b / DL-DVI-D)

RAM: G.skill 2x8 (16gb) DDR4 3200 kit

MOBO: MSI b450 mortar

Case: NZXT h500 black/red

PSU: Corsair TXM550w

akialwayz · October 27, 2018

Well idk about pricing in australia for monitors but I suggest you look for benq monitors,most of its monitors are 100% of sRGB and IPS and they are really good.

Cereal5 · October 27, 2018

Look used. I've bought all of my monitors used. It's pretty hard to mess up a monitor. Any damage is likely to be visible. You can get a 1440p 144Hz g-sync panel for a total steal (mine was $320, new was ~$600). I would go with an IPS panel if you're even thinking of doing any photo or video work. I'm a fan of Asus monitors, but Acer, BenQ, Dell, and LG all make good stuff as well.