New monitor

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Sat Oct 27, 2018 2:41 am

I've been running a triple monitor system for a few years, and tonight one of my monitors stopped working.
It turns on, and shows the desktop briefly for 1 second or so before going black. Turning it off and on produces the same issue.
Seems from what little I've read, that the monitor needs work.

I'm weighing my options and appreciate any input:

I have 2 working 24" HP LA2405wg monitors with a 16:10 ratio, 1920x1200 resolution, and 5ms refresh (the 3rd is the same model).
Since I would like to keep the two working 24" monitors, does anyone have any suggestions as to which monitor to purchase in replacement that will work with these two monitors?
I dont mind going with a larger middle monitor, sandwiched between these two 24" displays, just not sure what options are available.

Thank you for any input and links!

RM

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sat Oct 27, 2018 5:42 am

What type of usage do you use the monitor for? Productivity/gaming/media/programming/etc? If you use it for gaming what is your video card and do you use all three monitors in a surround mode?

Do you want another 16:10 aspect which are increasingly rare and haven't kept up with modern features, or would you be willing to settle for a 16:9 aspect? (Note, you don't have to give up vertical space in 16:9 if for instance you get a monitor with 2560x1440 resolution instead.)

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Sat Oct 27, 2018 11:19 am

Great questions.
I work for myself now, working from home half the time.
I dabbled in triple monitor gaming, but found that I preferred one monitor (the center one) for gaming, while having my browser open on on side, and email/documents open on the other.
So I'm primarily looking for a monitor that I can pair with these 2 24" monitors, maybe a new center monitor? I can turn the 2 that I have vertically as opposed to horizontally also.

I can use the new monitor in the center for gaming, and the 2 sides for production.

I have a GTX 1070, with 8gb of RAM.

I'm not married to the 16:10, but will mixing/matching monitors make the resolution and/or desktop look mismatched?

Not sure how resolution works when there are different monitor setups....which is why I opted for 3 of the same monitor when I set the system up.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sat Oct 27, 2018 1:10 pm

I have a 16:9/1920x1080 right next to a 16:10/1920x1200 and it works just fine. Both are about 24", the older 1200p one is just a little taller than the newer 1080p one. Basically the only thing you don't want to do is mix monitors with significantly different pixel sizes/density together in one setup. So for instance if you did get a 2560x1440 monitor and want to put it between your existing 24"/1920x1200 monitors, you would want it to be something around 30-32" (1.3 times the size for 1.3 times the number of pixels). Putting a 27" 2560x1440 monitor next to a 24" 1920x1200 monitor on the other hand would cause issues because everything would be noticeably smaller on the 27" than on the 24" (text/windows/images/etc). A 24-25" 1920x1080 monitor will have almost identical pixel sizes to your existing monitors so it would blend in fine though.

A GTX 1070 is a pretty good card, I have a GTX 1080 myself that is pretty close so depending on your CPU you could go either for high refresh 1920x1080, or aim for the middle ground at 2560x1440. One thing to consider if you have the budget for it is getting a gsync monitor, my primary monitor is an Asus PG258Q, its 24.5" 1920x1080 with gsync and operates at up to 240 Hz refresh rate. I'll warn you though, gsync at high refresh rates is one of those things like multi-monitor setups where once you use one it is basically impossible to ever go back. My secondary monitor is a much older Dell U2412M that is 1920x1200/60 Hz, its a fine screen with good contrast (actually better than my primary display), but basically the only reason I can stomach using it at all is because I only ever have static text/images on it. Even scrolling a web page on it almost makes me sick seeing how choppy 60 Hz is compared to my primary that always runs at 240 Hz on the windows desktop. Gaming at 140+ FPS without any tearing is so fluid looking you wouldn't believe it, but it requires more than just a good video card, it stresses the CPU just as much in a lot of games. The big marketing thing these days is "4k" (3840x2160) monitors but even $1200 video cards are struggling just to get close to 60 fps at that resolution. 1920x1080@240 Hz like my monitor is just as hard on the video card as "4k"/60 Hz (same number of pixels/second[497,664,000]), but is also 4 times harder for the CPU and the rest of the system to keep up.

The other problem though is that gsync monitors are expensive even for the common ones, a generic 24" 1080p/60 Hz monitor without gsync can be found for like $100 online, while this 24.5" 1080p 240 Hz gsync monitor of mine is well over $500. Considering you want to keep using the other two monitors, that pretty much locks you in to the 24" 1920x1080/1200 range. If you decide to go with a gsync monitor with your GTX 1070, getting something with 144 Hz refresh would be plenty, 165 Hz might be an option here and there but it isn't a deal breaker and 240 Hz is an unnecessary luxury item (though the 1070 can still get pretty close in older or really well optimized games).

Tunnelcat · Post by **Tunnelcat** » Sat Oct 27, 2018 4:31 pm

Good luck finding a 1920X1200 monitor anymore and there's no way you'll find one with gysnc on it. I've got a 27 inch PG279Q Asus monitor paired with a GTX 1070. I tried those higher refresh rates, but the card really labors at 2556X1440 and 165 Hz in the newer games. I've had to dial it back to 65 Hz just to keep a decent frame rate. The gsync does help with the tearing though. Plus, there is some backlight bleed issues with most of these IPS monitors. Mine's not too bad, but with a black screen, you notice it at the corners. Also, Microsoft updated the Desktop manager to version WDDM 2.4 last April and there's no fix coming from Asus. The Turbo button no longer shows the on-screen menu when you want to change the refresh rate, at least with my vintage monitor.

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Sun Oct 28, 2018 2:03 am

I'm still running the 3770k @3.50ghz with 16 GB RAM
Havent had to upgrade in quite some time (5 years, which is a record, thanks to Krom and Grendel and the DBB Tech forum all giving great component advice!)

I can spend $600 or so on a monitor.
The Asus PG258Q gsync is $547 on Amazon. Do you think my system will run it while gaming on a single monitor, and the other two with email/browser running?
I dont play fps much, but I have loaded up Overload a few times, which is probably the most graphic intensive game so far. Been playing Rimworld and SC2 mostly.

How about this alienwaire monitor for $329, which has the same specs as the asus, but doesnt appear to be gsync?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0733YCKM5/re ... B06WRP3F5S

or this samsung 32" 2560x1440?
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-WQHD-LED ... dpSrc=srch

Basically, if I'm reading your recommendations correctly, I should stick with 30-32" if I go with a 2560x1440 resolution,
or a 24-25" 1920x1080 monitor?
or a 24" 1080 gsync?
Would a 27" gsync monitor be too big for my current 2 monitors to pair with, like this Acer Predator 27"?
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-preda ... Id=6238705

and just for the sake of options, here's one at a local BestBuy for $399, a 24" gsync Asus, slightly different model than what you have, but the same specs?
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-s ... of=openbox

I'm open to suggestions on monitors that you think would be good for my system if you have any links.
I've got amazon prime, but I'm tempted to run down to bestbuy and costco to see what they have to offer.
Not sure if Black Friday will have any sales on the monitor type I'll want to buy, but I'm really thinking I'd like to go with the gsync!

Mahalo nui loa!

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sun Oct 28, 2018 6:30 am

While gaming, only the monitor(s) that have the game on them matter for performance. Actually the only problem you are likely to have (and have probably had all along) is that geforce cards don't idle down when more than 2 displays are connected to them. Meaning with 2 monitors my GTX 1080 idles down to 135 MHz core clock, if I connect a third it never drops below 1.2 GHz which consumes something like 5 times the power of the 135 MHz idle (5% TDP ---> 25% TDP).

And yes, your system would handle a PG258Q just fine, all you would need to do is plug it in and set your windows desktop to 240 Hz refresh rate. The Nvidia driver will pop up a notification about a gsync display being connected and you can choose between supporting it in full screen only, or in full screen and windowed mode (which is what I recommend). The 27" Acer Predator XB272 should be fine also, although being 3" bigger diagonally at 1080p would probably make text and images and stuff a little bit bigger than on the 24" monitors.

The PG248Q listed on best buy is very similar, but doesn't support 240 Hz, it only goes up to 180 Hz and needs overclocking support to get there, which as TC mentioned frequently doesn't work properly. The PG258Q and XB272 run 240 Hz natively without the need for overclocking so they "just work" as the saying goes.

One word of caution, the 3770k is fine for 60 Hz gaming still, but I eventually replaced mine when I got a GTX 1080 and a 144 Hz display. As I said above, higher refresh rates add additional burden on the CPU. It varies by game though, most of my games hit some limit before I reach the full 240 Hz on my display, usually the GPU limit, but a couple (Far Cry 5 for instance) stall out on the CPU even on my 7700k @ 4.5 GHz all core turbo. You can still get away with it for a couple more years and probably get into the 100+ FPS range in a lot of games, but beware that systems with the same GPU and a stronger CPU may outpace yours a little. On the upside, if you do hit a CPU limit in a game, just turn up the AA modes and other GPU intensive settings because you can probably get most of them free of any significant performance penalty. Also basically 100% of 3770k CPUs can hit 4.0 GHz at stock voltage all core turbo (mine didn't even blink at it), so definitely go into your BIOS and turn on your multi-core enhancement/sync all cores settings and set the turbo multiplier to 40, leaving all other voltages and timings at auto, its free extra performance.

Also TC, just set your windows desktop to 120 Hz and forget the overclocking on your monitor, assuming you have gsync set up it should just work across the entire non-overclocked range of your monitor (which should be 24-144 Hz) outside of a few games that will cap off at the 120 Hz windows refresh rate (Doom 2016 does that among others). Instead of capping at 65, just let it run full bore at whatever framerate you get, gsync will fix up the rest up to your refresh limit. There are a lot of games that will probably run in the 70-100 FPS range that you can totally get out of your configuration. Even in newer or more demanding games I usually don't drop under 70 worst case and spend a lot of time in the 100-120 FPS range on my system, there's no jitter or stutter because that is the other major thing gsync is there to address beyond just tearing. And for older games like half-life 2 and what not, my system just caps off at 240 Hz and stays there forever, on your system it would do the same thing just at 144 Hz (assuming you keep "vsync" enabled which tells gsync to avoid tearing by not letting the game exceed the refresh rate limit of the display).

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Sun Oct 28, 2018 11:50 am

Thanks Krom!

I'm ready to go monitor hunting.
Either a 30-32"with a 2560x1440 resolution,
or a 24-25" 1920x1080 gsync monitor that hits 240 Hz

(Is the extra 60 Hz from 180 Hz to 240 Hz worthwhile in your opinion for the extra $150 (I'm not going to overclock it)?

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sun Oct 28, 2018 12:37 pm

ReadyMan wrote: ↑Sun Oct 28, 2018 11:50 am (Is the extra 60 Hz from 180 Hz to 240 Hz worthwhile in your opinion for the extra $150 (I'm not going to overclock it)?

The difference between 60 and 144 is huge while the difference between 144 and 240 is noticeable but much less significant. I made the switch from a 144 Hz to a 240 Hz monitor less for the frame rate and more because my Asus PG258Q has a 960:1 static contrast ratio where my previous 144 Hz monitor (BenQ XL2420G) only managed 730:1 which looked pretty mediocre next to the 1100:1 Dell U2412M that is my secondary monitor. The Asus monitor matches up a lot closer to the Dell, where the BenQ looked somewhat washed out. And these are the actual numbers for my units because I have an x-rite i1 display pro that I use to calibrate all my monitors to the same brightness and white point. I don't know what panel the other monitors are using, but I know that the panel used in the Asus PG258Q is objectively the best 1080p TN on the market. The only thing that would be better is a 144+ Hz IPS panel, but nobody makes one currently, although one company has announced plans to make one if you are willing to wait upwards of 1-2 years for it to hit the market...

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Sun Oct 28, 2018 1:12 pm

heh! Waiting is not an option. Hard to believe that having 3 monitors has become a necessity, but I really feel crippled with just the 2 working right now.

I think I'm just going to bypass the 30" option and go for the gsync 240 Hz Asus PG258Q. I can get it for $550 from bestbuy online, so if it shows up with a dead pixel, I can return it to the brick and mortar store.

Thank you for the insight!
Now just have to decide whether to wait till black friday to see if it goes on sale....

Tunnelcat · Post by **Tunnelcat** » Sun Oct 28, 2018 9:32 pm

Krom wrote: ↑Sun Oct 28, 2018 6:30 amAlso TC, just set your windows desktop to 120 Hz and forget the overclocking on your monitor, assuming you have gsync set up it should just work across the entire non-overclocked range of your monitor (which should be 24-144 Hz) outside of a few games that will cap off at the 120 Hz windows refresh rate (Doom 2016 does that among others). Instead of capping at 65, just let it run full bore at whatever framerate you get, gsync will fix up the rest up to your refresh limit. There are a lot of games that will probably run in the 70-100 FPS range that you can totally get out of your configuration. Even in newer or more demanding games I usually don't drop under 70 worst case and spend a lot of time in the 100-120 FPS range on my system, there's no jitter or stutter because that is the other major thing gsync is there to address beyond just tearing. And for older games like half-life 2 and what not, my system just caps off at 240 Hz and stays there forever, on your system it would do the same thing just at 144 Hz (assuming you keep "vsync" enabled which tells gsync to avoid tearing by not letting the game exceed the refresh rate limit of the display).

So set the desktop (monitor) to 120Hz? I gather that I need to also set the adapter (GPU) to 120Hz as well while I'm at it? I'll give it a try. How much will that increase the load on the GPU? I'm also still sporting an old Bloomfield Intel CPU in my case right now.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 3:21 pm

Tunnelcat wrote: ↑Sun Oct 28, 2018 9:32 pmSo set the desktop (monitor) to 120Hz? I gather that I need to also set the adapter (GPU) to 120Hz as well while I'm at it? I'll give it a try. How much will that increase the load on the GPU? I'm also still sporting an old Bloomfield Intel CPU in my case right now.

Just the windows/desktop refresh rate in the monitor tab of advanced display settings, the list all modes adapter setting changes the same thing. Your monitor *should* support 120 and 144 natively without the need for overclocking. They should simply be available in the drop down like this:

: snap.png (10.49 KiB) Viewed 14420 times

If they aren't available make sure you are using the plug and play monitor or the driver specific to your monitor.

The load on your GPU will probably change to 100% when gaming, since gsync is similar to running without a cap or vsync (up until you hit 120 or 144 where it would cap out again, so it would depend on the game.

Tunnelcat · Post by **Tunnelcat** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 10:59 pm

Ok, just the monitor settings then. I'll give it a whirl. Makes me mad that Microsoft pretty much disabled my Turbo button menu. It made it so easy to change the refresh rate on a whim.

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Tue Nov 06, 2018 10:26 pm

Krom, the monitor arrived today. Any advice on setting it up?

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Wed Nov 07, 2018 5:47 am

Plug it in with a display port cable, set the refresh rate to 240 Hz, enable gsync on full screen and windowed mode, and that's all folks.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Wed Nov 07, 2018 5:43 pm

For what its worth, the settings I needed to dial mine to were quite close to the settings on the tom's hardware review of the PG258Q: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/as ... 019-2.html

Mine reached D65 white @ 200 cd/m2 in racing mode as measured on my x-rite i1 display pro with the following:
Brightness: 33
Contrast: 41
Gamma: 2.2
Red: 95
Green: 96
Blue: 100
Dark Boost: None

Every panel/back light is different, but not too different, so yours is likely to be somewhere near these settings but probably not exactly the same.

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Fri Nov 09, 2018 6:58 pm

Krom wrote: ↑Sun Oct 28, 2018 6:30 am Also basically 100% of 3770k CPUs can hit 4.0 GHz at stock voltage all core turbo (mine didn't even blink at it), so definitely go into your BIOS and turn on your multi-core enhancement/sync all cores settings and set the turbo multiplier to 40, leaving all other voltages and timings at auto, its free extra performance.

Got the monitor up and running. It's about 1 1/2 inches smaller than the two side monitors, but you were right. It's very close.
The image is UNREAL! You were right again....this monitor is a must have. The other monitors seem so...drab in comparison. I upped the brightness to 100 on them to give them a bit more vibrancy, but it didnt do much.

I have the monitor set for RTS/RPG mode, which is mostly what I play atm. Not sure if racing or the other settings makes a difference?

As to setting the cpu higher, I clicked on the AI Suite 2 and it has a "CPU Level Up" option, where I can click the button to automate the overclocking.
It has 3 settings, 4,200, 4,400, and 4,600ghz (which is recommended in the option box).
Should I use this, or go into "manual mode" of the AI Suite 2 and up the cpu ratio from 39 to 4 for each of the cores?
Been so long since I messed with this, that I dont remember a thing.

Thanks for your help!

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Fri Nov 09, 2018 7:56 pm

The one click CPU overclock automation functions on motherboards are universally terrible, don't use them. Like I tried out the one on mine once just to see what it would do, and it didn't get much of a clock improvement but cranked my core voltage to something over 1.4v, which is just plain dangerous and would probably burn out the CPU in a few months to a year if I kept it that way even with my massive water cooler. Just change your target turbo ratios to 40 and leave your voltage alone. Sync all cores/multi-core enhancement is usually an option somewhere in the AI Suite, that's the one you want. Once you turn that on, all 4 cores should start revving up to 4 GHz when you are gaming, which should get you like 10-15 extra FPS in otherwise CPU limited games and should be perfectly stable.

And yeah, the other monitors being older are probably going to have a very hard time keeping up with that PG258Q, which at 100% brightness can go over 400cd/m2, outside of HDR monitors it is one of the brightest on the market. Racing mode (the default) is just where the monitor performs the best for colors/response/contrast and with the recommended settings is the closest to D65 (SRGB @ 6500K white) which is the target colors/contrast/gamma for basically everything you see online and every video game for the last 30 years. Basically set it to that and that is pretty close to what artists and professionals wanted you to see when they set up the colors in a video game or web page or digital photograph.

Also for a little bit of fun, head over to testufo.com and look at the default 3 ufo test which compares 240 Hz to 120 Hz and 60 Hz (though be warned, getting it to sync at 240 Hz is incredibly difficult, fullscreen in chrome works best for me, firefox stutters too much, and edge/IE don't even support it). Once you get used to it, you can never go back to how blurry 60 Hz is.

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Fri Nov 09, 2018 9:03 pm

I upgraded the AI suite to the current v2.00.15 version, but I didnt see an option to change turbo ratios.
but if I click on "tool", then "TurboV EVO", choose "manual mode" and click the "group tuning" button, I can up the MHz from 39 to 40.
That bumps the CPU frequency to 4000.
I think that's what you are describing, but wanted to make sure. I cant tell if any voltage was changed...

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sat Nov 10, 2018 8:35 am

I had a look at the user manual for your maximus v gene, the specific settings you want to have set in your bios are in the extreme tweaker menu of advanced mode.
AI Overclock Tuner needs to be set to X.M.P. (Going over the old threads, you should be there already).
Turbo Ratio needs to be set to Manual, and once it is set an additional item "Ratio Synchronizing Control" appears, set that to "disabled". Then set the 1-Core ratio limit to 40, which should also apply to all cores. An alternative is to leave it enabled, but set the ratio to 40 for each one. The only limitation is each ratio limit needs to be equal to or less than the one before it. So if you set the 1-core limit to 40, then 2/3/4 core limits can't be more than 40.

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 1:23 am

Hi Krom,

Congrats on your Tesla! very cool, and a super purchase.

Right when Covid hit, I purchased a new system:

ASUS - ROG Strix GL12CX Gaming Desktop
- Intel Core i9 - 9900K
- 32GB Memory
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti

I got a premade Asus system from BestBuy.

I'm still using my Asus 24" PG258Q as my primary monitor, and the 2 HP compaq LA2405wg side monitors.

Finished a large job and was thinking of upgrading my monitor.
Wanted a ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q 27", but cant find one in stock that will ship (still in hawaii).

I thought I might try to get another 24" Asus and use it with the one I have as side monitors, and get a better center monitor.
(not doing triple monitor gaming, just using the center panel for games, and the 2 wing panels for business aps/email etc.

Do you have a recommendation of a primary gaming monitor to go with this system?
(cant seem to find another PG25Bq to pair with my existing 24", so any thoughts on what to do with my triple monitor setup?)

Thanks Krom!

-RM

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 5:52 am

I just upgraded my monitor actually, I got a Dell AW2721D:

Still 240 Hz, but this time its a 27"/1440p/IPS and pretty pricey (Although presently it is selling for way over MSRP, I got it for $800).

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 5:22 pm

Why the Del AW2721D? (I notice Alienware sells this same monitor with its logo for $1000)

Do you think it's worth going for the 4k monitor with my system?

Can you give me some ideas for how to set up my triple monitor system, keeping my Asus 24" PG258Q?

I'm not opposed to getting 3 new monitors, but the central monitor is the gaming focus. So was thinking of another 24" to match the Asus.
(my 2 HP LA2405wg monitors just dont compare to the asus pg25bq, so I'm ready to move on from them)

Thanks!

RM

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 8:29 pm

I've been meaning to upgrade to 1440p for quite some time, but no 27"/1440p monitor ever measured up to the PG258Q until the AW2721D came along. Though it is brutal on my GTX 1080, I'm hoping to eventually get a 3080 or better to feed this hungry beast of a monitor.

4k is still a long ways off from being useful (and basically never will be at 24" sizes), and since you are adjusted to a 240 Hz/1080p gsync monitor it would be a terrible idea. This 27"/1440p pixel pitch is significantly smaller than 24"/1080p even, I'm contemplating turning my default web page zoom from 150 to 200% because of it actually (meaning it behaves like a really clear and crisp 720p monitor for text).

24"/1080p monitors are basically commodity items these days, especially if you are only looking for a peripheral monitor that would be fine even at 60 Hz (though no reason not to grab 144 Hz if its available). Or at least they would be if the pandemic wasn't messing up supply chains and causing a huge spike in "I now work from home and need a whole computer now!" demand. The problem is there are so many different makes out there that none of them are getting decent reviews. But basically any recent IPS type panel should be able to match up or even beat the PG258Q for static image quality and brightness, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. The PG258Q is really good at what it does and reasonably accurate, but it is still a TN so it isn't any particular challenge to match its image quality with any modern IPS or VA panel. Odds are you will have to dial any new IPS or VA type monitor back a little bit to match the PG258Q even. (This AW2721D has a much larger color gamut and as a result almost painfully oversaturates deep reds and greens, where the PG258Q just flat out can't go that high on saturation and is more technically accurate to the sRGB/D65 standard because of it.)

I'm actually going to have to replace my secondary screen soon as well, I've been using my now quite old Dell U2412M but its kind of glaringly obvious text is smaller and sharper on the new AW2721D compared to it and it is kind of annoying. It is definitely wise to keep secondary screens to as close as possible to the same PPI as the primary. But first I have to pay off the new monitor and we just overhauled the bathroom which is another pile of cash gone.

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 8:52 pm

Good tips. Thank you!

I was just doing some reading on curved monitors. Some of the Samsung's are quite excellent from what I can tell.

Do you have an opinion on curved monitors? (I'm thinking I might just get one for my primary monitor, and use the Asus as the 2nd monitor, and one of the 24" HPs as my 3rd (basically email only).

The lack of monitors is frustrating, but understandable. (kinda suprised the Asus RoG has given way to the cheaper TuF models).

Again, any input is appreciated.

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 2:29 pm

Did some research last night and this morning and I see what you are saying about the AW2721D monitor.
1ms response, IPS, 1440, 240 refresh

That's a hard set of specs to equal, which shows why the PG258Q is so outstanding.

From what I can tell, there's no other monitors out there that have the 1ms response and 240 refresh.

This ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q 27” has 170hz for $900 (Newegg has it for $1200 for some reason)
https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-XG279Q-Comp ... uage=en_US

This curved Samsung 32" has 1ms but is 144hz for $700
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XT6WQCJ?ref=emc_p_m_5_i

This Pixio Px277 27" is cheap at $329, has 1ms and is 165hz
https://www.amazon.com/Pixio-Display-Fr ... 5843200-20

This curved 32" Samsung Odyssey G7 seems to meet the criteria, as it has 240hz and 1ms but is "g-sync compatible". It's $849 but isnt released to the middle of this month.
https://www.newegg.com/samsung-odyssey- ... klink=true

Not sure where to go from here, other than the same monitor you chose, or to wait for more monitors to hit the market.
I think it'd be hard to go backwards from my 240hz 1ms Asus. And no real reason to, other than more size. What are your thoughts on this?

I'm really leaning towards the AW2721D monitor $1100 at Dell's site.

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 4:01 pm

My LG is sweet. 144hz is nice. 27" 1440P. Paid 800$ CDN. Also GSync. I think the model number is in my signature

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 4:14 pm

Thanks Merlin. I think I'm going to stick with 240hz, as that's what I have now.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 4:30 pm

Yeah, the AW2721D is awesome, but also not easy to obtain right now. I lucked out and snapped up one of the first ones shipping to Amazon for $816+tax. When it was in stock I've seen it go as low as $733 on Amazon so I'd suggest not paying the Dell direct $1100 for it. It is a great monitor, nearly unrivaled in its class (if it had a large back light array with local dimming and >1000 nits peak it would be pretty much untouchable outside of OLEDs, but that feature is huge $$$$ on top of what is already an expensive monitor).

Just a warning, both curved monitors you linked are VA type panels, which are known to have response times that can reach or occasionally exceed 30 MS, 240 Hz VA panels are kind of a joke because of it. Also the reason they are curved is because VAs do poorly on viewing angles and need the curve to not get bad contrast shifting.

Also never buy a monitor from Newegg if you can at all avoid it, their monitor return policy sucks and if there is a problem you are likely to get stuck with it.

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 5:26 pm

Thanks Krom. Appreciate the info on curved panels.

I'll watch for Amazon to restock the AW2721D.

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 10:12 pm

Happened to hit refresh on my screen and saw that Amazon had just posted as some in stock.
Bought it (well visa did), and should have it by the 13th.
Thanks Krom!

Any need for additional cables?

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sat Dec 05, 2020 6:12 am

So far the displayport cable that came with it has been working fine for me. It also comes with a mini-displayport to displayport cable and a USB3 type A to type B cable for its built in USB hub.

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Sat Dec 05, 2020 12:46 pm

They had 11 in stock when I refreshed the page yesterday, then 8 left when my purchase was finalized, and this morning they are out again. Wow!
Paid $727 + tax. Thanks for saving me $400 Krom!

I'm going to move my Asus 24" PG258Q to be my right screen, and perhaps adjust it to vertical to match the size of the 27".
Still not sure what to do about my left screen. the 6:10 ratio on the 24" is going to be odd.
Wish I could find another Asus 24" PG258Q to bookend the new monitor....

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sat Dec 05, 2020 1:31 pm

Fair warning: 27"/1440p is significantly sharper/finer than 24"/1080p. You will see the difference immediately, text/windows/etc on the new screen will be a fair bit smaller than on the old screens.

Also the PG258Q is a TN panel, even though the mount supports rotating it into portrait mode, it may drive you crazy because each eye is going to see slightly different colors due to how TNs viewing angles work. Its fine in landscape mode because the color shift is top to bottom and both eyes see the same colors in the same places, but this is a well known limitation of TN screens that they perform poorly in portrait mode.

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 8:45 pm

The monitor arrived today. Got it all set up, and you were right! what a difference!
The Asus is great, but the Dell/AW is awesome!

Do you have any tips, or utilities to tweak the colors/brightness/contrast?
I basically set the Brightness to 75% and the Contrast to 70% on the monitor settings, then opened the nvidia panel and tweaked the contrast/brightness and digital vibrance using the picture of a parrot. Not definitive by any imagination, but got me up and running.

The oddness of the 3 different display sizes/ resolutions is disorienting.
Left monitor is 1920x1200 24" 6:10 display
Middle monitor is 2560x1440 27" 6/9 display
Right monitor is 1920x1080 24" 6:9 display

Might drive me crazy enough to save up for 2 more of these 27" panels....
any tips?

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 9:45 pm

You have it set way to bright unless its like direct sunlight in your room all the time and contrast should be left at the default 75% or you might be causing clipping. Given how insanely bright this display can reach (600 cd/m2), you are probably going to cause significant eye strain if you keep it at 75% brightness. I would also skip the nvidia digital settings, they can only reduce or compress/crush the range of the display and are likely to perform objectively worse than just leaving it alone.

I have brightness on mine set to 29%, contrast is at the default 75%, then its custom color: red 100%, green 97%, blue 90%. The result is a 6500k white point with 1020:1 static contrast at 160 cd/m2 brightness. Reasonably good for most lighting conditions in the room and only a loss of about 30:1 on the contrast (uncalibrated is about 1050:1), less eye strain than the defaults due to a warmer white point and lower overall brightness. A fair amount of guides actually recommend an even lower brightness target of 120 cd/m2 which is good for most office settings, but you can bump it up a little for gaming. Also IPS glow is a somewhat unavoidable artifact of edge lit screens (look at full black on the screen in a poorly lit room), but it can be significantly mitigated by using a sensible overall brightness and keeping the room well lit so you don't really want to go over 200 cd/m2 outside of HDR.

I have an X-Rite i1 Display Pro colorimeter which is why I know exactly where I'm at on my displays, but a colormunki is a bit cheaper and easier to use if one is so inclined. But honestly just turning the brightness down to a sensible level and aiming for a warmer white point by eye is good enough for most people if you can figure out a sensible "reference" light (a good quality warm (no higher than 7000k) / soft white light bulb for instance) and can be further helped by using a good guide on the screen ( http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/ ) . Basically bright and slightly blue tinted help sell displays on a wall in a store lit by florescent/LED lights, but when you actually sit down at one on the average office/room your eyes will be much less tired over time if you reign both of them in by a bit.

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Mon Dec 14, 2020 1:57 am

Thanks Krom!

Turning the brightness down enriched the colors 100 fold!

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 1:07 pm

Krom, do you have any suggestions for a 2nd/3rd monitor to match with this AW2721D?

The size disparity is annoying when moving the cursor between monitors.
I've got a 24" 6:10 to the left, and my 24.5" 6:9 asus to the right.
I *could* get another AW2721D, but seems like overkill since I'm not going to game on it, just work/email/web browse on the othe rmonitors.

Was thinking maybe to just match another 27" 6:9, with a lower refresh and same some cash.

Thanks for any suggestions!

RM

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 1:38 pm

This one was recommended to me as a good "text/spreadsheet/website" companion monitor for the AW2721D:

There are also some 144 Hz gaming displays that are about one step down from the AW2721D:

(These two use the same panel, the cheaper one doesn't have a USB hub.)

ReadyMan · Post by **ReadyMan** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 4:56 pm

Krom, can you repost the links?
Nothing shows up on my end for some reason...