27 in 1440p 144Hz G-sync IPS monitor - Too expensive - which spec do I drop?

finlaycm

Hi Guys,

In the market for a new monitor, it's gotta be about 27 inch.

I currently use a 1080p TN 60 Hz 24 in moniter and play a lot of Overwatch, TF2 and the grand open world single player games. I guess anything would be an upgrade at this stage. Have a 780 Ti with a 3570K.

I *want*

1440p
144 Hz
G-sync
IPS

But I can't afford that so, If you were to loose one of those specs what would it be? Anyone have experience on the trade off between TN and IPs would be great, I keep seeing articles on people being 100% for or against one or the other, but would like some practical knowledge.

TerrorFirmer

G-Sync is by far the biggest cost. A 1440P 144hz freesync monitor would be a massive chunk cheaper.

I'd sacrifice that before I'd sacrifice the resolution or refresh rate to be honest. I find TN fine, my own monitor is exactly the spec's you've laid out with a TN panel and I find it excellent.

The whole 'I wouldn't touch TN' thing is totally overblown and exaggerated.

finlaycm

I am coming from a TN, so I don't really know what a good IPS actually looks like. That said I was amazed by some OLED TV I saw recently but I have no idea how that applies to monitors.

One thing that always bugged me about gaming performance was not screen tearing per se but the stuttering effect I would get on certain titles like witcher 3, which I mostly had maxed at 60 FPS. I would never get them on TF2/Overwatch however.

I would hate to upgrade my monitor and not bump the resolution so I will look into Freesync.

gizmo

I'm in the same boat as you at the moment OP. From looking around, the next step down from the higher end Acer/Asus options with the specs you've listed seems to be the Dell S2716DG. For the ~£200 savings, you lose the IPS panel but as TerrorFirmer said, whether that'll really matter to you may depend.

I'm going to be coming from a dual Dell U2412 setup myself so while I may miss the IPS panel, I'm still not sure it's worth the extra money.

K.O.Kiki

finlaycm wrote: »

I am coming from a TN, so I don't really know what a good IPS actually looks like. That said I was amazed by some OLED TV I saw recently but I have no idea how that applies to monitors.

One thing that always bugged me about gaming performance was not screen tearing per se but the stuttering effect I would get on certain titles like witcher 3, which I mostly had maxed at 60 FPS. I would never get them on TF2/Overwatch however.

I would hate to upgrade my monitor and not bump the resolution so I will look into Freesync.

That's probably your GPU tbh

finlaycm

So if I did get a Freesync, does that mean I should change to AMD for my next upgrade? I assume you can just turn off Free sync and use a NVidia card.

I saw this, it seems to tick every box, IPS 1440p 144Hz (freesync), looks too good to be true?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAB714894154&cm_re=1440_144_ips-_-9SIAB714894154-_-Product

The advertised lag is 4 ms but usually this can be doubled in practice, or so I hear. Would I really notice an increase in input lag coming from a TN?

K.O.Kiki

I don't think you can "turn off" Free Sync, the monitor would just run at 144Hz at all times (with the game running at whatever FPS it can).

TerrorFirmer

Also there's no point buying from Newegg, once you are hit with customs and tax it'll end up costing you more/same as buying from from EU, and you'd effectively have zero warranty to boot.

ElNino

I ordered the Dell S2716DG from Overclockers today. I was looking at the 24" version originally but there was only a few quid in the difference. I would have liked to get an IPS panel but it wasn't worth the extra couple of hundred bucks plus it seems to be a crap shoot whether or not you get a good quality one.

Skerries

finlaycm wrote: »

I saw this, it seems to tick every box, IPS 1440p 144Hz (freesync), looks too good to be true?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAB714894154&cm_re=1440_144_ips-_-9SIAB714894154-_-Product

I was seriously looking at this myself a while ago as you said it ticked all the boxes
It's a premium panel in a cheap case with no bells or whistles, so no height adjustment or much outputs and a touch based settings

whereas I am now considering this panel but it is not in stock but was previously £389

Pugzilla

Anyone have first hand experience with the Asus ROG Swift series of 27" Monitors?

They're pricey, but have all the key features for gaming.

According to amazon, there have been lots of problems with quality control like dead pixels on arrival. Kind of ridiculous considering the price.

Pugzilla

Anyone have first hand experience with the Asus ROG Swift series of 27" Monitors?

They're pricey, but have all the key features for gaming.

According to amazon, there have been lots of problems with quality control like dead pixels on arrival. Kind of ridiculous considering the price.

ElNino

Do a search in the monitors forum on Reddit. There are plenty of good and bad stories there.

wotzgoingon

Pugzilla wrote: »

Anyone have first hand experience with the Asus ROG Swift series of 27" Monitors?

They're pricey, but have all the key features for gaming.

According to amazon, there have been lots of problems with quality control like dead pixels on arrival. Kind of ridiculous considering the price.

I have a Asus Rog Dominator(Don't really know the difference between Swift and Dominator) and it is a excellent display 1440p and IPS no dead pixels and no light bleed.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus-mg279q-rog-dominator-27-2560x1440-ips-freesync-144hz-gaming-widescreen-led-slim-bezel-monitor-mo-083-as.html

SterlingArcher

Pugzilla wrote: »

Anyone have first hand experience with the Asus ROG Swift series of 27" Monitors?

They're pricey, but have all the key features for gaming.

According to amazon, there have been lots of problems with quality control like dead pixels on arrival. Kind of ridiculous considering the price.

I have a Rog swift 27. No dead pixels. Is pretty decent for gaming. That said I'd recommend the Dell s2716dg ahead of it.

Can be got for around 627 euro.

Vim Fuego

I have been researching this myself recently.

I didn't pull the trigger yet but this appears to be the best price going for a 27" 1440p 144hz IPS monitor with Freesync: https://www.scan.co.uk/products/27-acer-xf270hu-amd-freesync-wqhd-monitor-144hz-2560x1440-ips-4ms-speakers-adjustable-dp-hdmi-dvi-us?utm_source=pc%20part%20picker&utm_medium=referral

It's the Acer XF270HU. This is £390 on scan and £500+ on all the other UK retailers. The cheapest g-sync with equivalent spec is £564 for an AOC model.

Even though I have an Nvidia card, the "G-sync tax" is too much here and if I was to buy a new monitor with these specs, I would opt for the freesync Acer.

Woden

I dropped the g-sync, 144hz myself in the end and went for the IPS U2715H https://www.scan.co.uk/products/27-dell-u2715h-monitor-ips-panel-2560x1440-6ms-350cd-m-dp-mdp-hdmi-black

Was reading too much bad stuff about the Asus/Acer 27 inch ips g-sync.

I did almost go for the S2716DG can't recall now what swung it in the end but happy with my choice.

Vim Fuego

I am similar except I was taking a look at the U2515H. It's a tricky market at the minute. We would all be better off if the industry settled on one adaptive sync technology.

Pugzilla

Would a GTX1080 be wasted on a 1440p 60hz monitor?

wotzgoingon

Pugzilla wrote: »

Would a GTX1080 be wasted on a 1440p 60hz monitor?

Yes, massively. I can run a 1440p with a R9 290 on max settings and I get above 60Hz obviously it fluctuates higher and lower but average would be around 60Hz.

Noxin

Similar boat here on the price.

Running a 6700k with a 1080 Gaming x.
Monitor is a BenQ XL2430T 24 inch 144 Hz 1920x1080. In itself, it's a great monitor. But just wasted on my setup.
Was hoping for some sort of deal in the sales but sadly, not a thing appeared.

Guess I'm holding off until after xmas to see if something appears then.

finlaycm

@ Vim Feugo

That Acer 27" XF270HU 2K Looks just about perfect and a good price. 144hz, IPS, 27 incch 1440p. I am seriously considering getting that, must look up reviews.

Might be moving country soon though, I wonder whats the best way to ship a computer.

Pugzilla

Why do all the Acer and Asus gaming monitors have ****e build quality?

Vim Fuego

finlaycm wrote: »

@ Vim Feugo

That Acer 27" XF270HU 2K Looks just about perfect and a good price. 144hz, IPS, 27 incch 1440p. I am seriously considering getting that, must look up reviews.

Might be moving country soon though, I wonder whats the best way to ship a computer.

I'll let you know. I ordered it (I am weak) but scan says it won't ship until the 9th.

Pugzilla

Vim Fuego wrote: »

I'll let you know. I ordered it (I am weak) but scan says it won't ship until the 9th.

They have no problems delivering to Ireland?

Vim Fuego

No and it's not expensive either - £10 with DPD. I was surprised.

TerrorFirmer

Pugzilla wrote: »

Would a GTX1080 be wasted on a 1440p 60hz monitor?

A GTX1070 would be ideal, the premium for the 1080 wouldn't be reflected at all beyond the framerate counter.

1080 is really for 4K or 1440p/144hz.

Skerries

finlaycm wrote: »

@ Vim Feugo

That Acer 27" XF270HU 2K Looks just about perfect and a good price. 144hz, IPS, 27 incch 1440p. I am seriously considering getting that, must look up reviews.

I actually mentioned it earlier in my post
but I'm not bitter

Pugzilla

Anyone ever used parcel motel to get monitors from amazon?

Some of the 'UK delivery only' retailers are significantly cheaper.

farna_boy

The other option is to keep an eye on the clearance section of overclockers.co.uk

Sometimes they have really good deals and last time they had a few 27" gsync Dell monitors I posted them here and I think a few people picked them up

XVII

Woden wrote: »

I dropped the g-sync, 144hz myself in the end and went for the IPS U2715H https://www.scan.co.uk/products/27-dell-u2715h-monitor-ips-panel-2560x1440-6ms-350cd-m-dp-mdp-hdmi-black

Was reading too much bad stuff about the Asus/Acer 27 inch ips g-sync.

I did almost go for the S2716DG can't recall now what swung it in the end but happy with my choice.

how is it for gaming?

XVII

Vim Fuego wrote: »

I have been researching this myself recently.

I didn't pull the trigger yet but this appears to be the best price going for a 27" 1440p 144hz IPS monitor with Freesync: https://www.scan.co.uk/products/27-acer-xf270hu-amd-freesync-wqhd-monitor-144hz-2560x1440-ips-4ms-speakers-adjustable-dp-hdmi-dvi-us?utm_source=pc%20part%20picker&utm_medium=referral

It's the Acer XF270HU. This is £390 on scan and £500+ on all the other UK retailers. The cheapest g-sync with equivalent spec is £564 for an AOC model.

Even though I have an Nvidia card, the "G-sync tax" is too much here and if I was to buy a new monitor with these specs, I would opt for the freesync Acer.

keep us posted on how it is please.

currently considering this vs U2715H

Pugzilla

I took a chance with the Acer Predator XB271HU, hopefully it won't be a dud.

Skittle

Pugzilla wrote: »

I took a chance with the Acer Predator XB271HU, hopefully it won't be a dud.

I bought one from Amazon.de there a month ago and I got one that had the firmware bug in it (this is where when alt tabbing between a game and the desktop a slice is taken out of the middle of the screen and shifted to the far right\left of the screen), this is very easy to avoid, just apply an overclock to the screen from the on screen menu, just to 150 is enough. Otherwise my panel was perfect.

Vim Fuego

I ordered the freesync monitor but it got delayed until mid January. So, I cracked and bought an Acer XB271HU instead - bloody g-sync got to me in the end:

http://imgur.com/a/hFbuB (sorry, can't embed it without pic being massive)

It's a beautiful monitor for sure but I'm not as blown away by 144hz + g-sync as I was expecting to be honest (so far at least). The main thing rocking my world is the increased screen size and resolution.

I've really enjoyed having a blast on BF1, Titanfall 2 and Witcher 3 so far though. I also seem to have received a good panel with (touch wood) no issues so far.

Blazer

Vim Fuego wrote: »

I ordered the freesync monitor but it got delayed until mid January. So, I cracked and bought an Acer XB271HU instead - bloody g-sync got to me in the end:

http://imgur.com/a/hFbuB (sorry, can't embed it without pic being massive)

It's a beautiful monitor for sure but I'm not as blown away by 144hz + g-sync as I was expecting to be honest (so far at least). The main thing rocking my world is the increased screen size and resolution.

I've really enjoyed having a blast on BF1, Titanfall 2 and Witcher 3 so far though. I also seem to have received a good panel with (touch wood) no issues so far.

g-sync would really only stand out if you were using a previous 60hz monitor paired with a powerful video card..that way you would see the tearing on screen and know the difference it makes.
I went from a 27" ips 60hz with a 780gtx to a 27" tn 144hz g-sync paired to the same card and it was like night and day. The picture was completely smooth with no tearing whatsoever...really is fantastic technology.

Vim Fuego

I did go from a 21" 1080p 60hz monitor with my GTX 1070 to this one. I must be blind so :cool:

I need to test it with gsync disabled and see if I notice the difference.

Dcully

I went from 60hz 1440 to 144hz gsync 1080 and the difference was huge, never go near 60hz again, its unplayable for me now.

Refresh rate and gsync before resolution everytime for me, and that and gaming genre.

Hal1

Are TN panels that bad though? Do they look washed out, does the viewable angle make them difficult to identify objects (****ty colour balance). Just what I've read in reviews but would like to hear from people with real experience of them.

Pugzilla

You don't need IPS unless you're doing photography or video editing.

Majority of existing pc monitors are TN, the average person isn't going to appreciate the difference. When was the last time you heard any normal person complain about the colour of their computer screen?

IPS is bad for games or movies with lots of dark scenes, suffer from IPS glow and sometimes backlight bleed.

banduff12

This actually the dilemma of the century for me... All I want is a freesync 1440p 144 hz TN or IPS monitor for 400. Decisions are hard.

duckofdeath

I decided I wanted to upgrade to an adaptive sync monitor myself earlier this year. I had a Geforce GTX 960 so a Gsync would've been the natural choice. After looking around for a long time for a good and cheap display I realised that's an oxymoron when it comes to Gsync, as Nvidia charges something like €100 just for the capability in the display. I eventually decided to switch to "the red team". Since the Radeon RX 480 is so aggressively priced it sort of worked out nice for me. The display I got is a 29" 2560x1920 ultrawide LG 29UM68. It's a 40-75Hz IPS, so, a bit limited Freesync range but, with an RX 480 I really never near the bottom of its range even on ultra settings. I got the display for around £250 on Amazon and the GPU at a few quid below £200 at scan.co.uk.
I'm pretty pleased with switch "platform" as I got both a great looking IPS display and a pretty big GPU performance boost for less than €550.

grindle

duckofdeath wrote: »

It's a 40-75Hz IPS, so, a bit limited Freesync range

You can use CRU to widen the range to go from 33-ish to 80-ish.

K.O.Kiki

banduff12 wrote: »

This actually the dilemma of the century for me... All I want is a freesync 1440p 144 hz TN or IPS monitor for 400. Decisions are hard.

I got a 120Hz VA-panel for just under 400, but I have to send it back

duckofdeath

grindle wrote: »

You can use CRU to widen the range to go from 33-ish to 80-ish.

Yeah, I have looked into it. The day my GPU can't handle 40+FPS any more I will probably "extend" the range using that tool

banduff12

ips, freesync, 144hz and 1440p acer here on scan for about €470 delivered. https://www.scan.co.uk/products/27-acer-xf270hu-amd-freesync-wqhd-monitor-144hz-2560x1440-ips-4ms-speakers-adjustable-dp-hdmi-dvi-us

dreamers75

Have my heart set on The Predator X34A or whatever version is out when I can afford one next year.

I prefer single monitors for home.