Best - 1080p/1440p/4K - 60Hz/120Hz/144Hz/240Hz - Monitor or TV for PC

[Matthew-san]

As you can tell from the title I'm having trouble choosing the type of display I'd like for my PC. I use my PC for pretty much everything but I spend most of my time on it gaming. I can't decide what would be best and at a limited budget. I have a $450 budget for the display. Any recommendations would be helpful!

 

[lhaygood1983]

If you play FPS games, or games where you want a super-smooth experience, get a 144hz monitor, the best you can afford. I am rocking the Benq xl2411z, and love it. Yeah, it's a TN panel, but the color accuracy is "good enough" and I don't use it for anything like photo editing, so I don't need IPS-level color accuracy.

If you don't play fast-paced games, then go for a good IPS panel.

ONLY go above 1080p if your GPU can handle it. If you're using something like a single 760 or a 280, I wouldn't recommend going above 1080p. If you've got a 780 ti or a 290, then go for a 1440p or 4k display.

 

[Matthew-san]

I have the EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Superclocked w/ACX Cooler GPU. I've done some research (youtube lol) and it looks like the 770 will run most games at 1440p or 4k resolutions with good fps. I don't mind turning down the AA or shadows in games to be able to play games like Watch Dogs or Crysis 3 at 30-40 fps. I'm confident that my system can handle the high resolution monitors and TV's, I'm just having trouble choosing the right one. I'll look into the BenQ monitor but would I be better off with the ASUS VG248QE?

 

[T3PShooter]

You won't have the horsepower for 4K but at 1440p you should be able to push decent framerates. The QNIX QX2710 Evolution II http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CAKD6LI is an excellent choice.

It's a 1440p IPS panel monitor monitor and can also be overclocked to 100+Hz for faster refresh rates.

 

[T3PShooter]

I have the EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Superclocked w/ACX Cooler GPU. I've done some research (youtube lol) and it looks like the 770 will run most games at 1440p or 4k resolutions with good fps. I don't mind turning down the AA or shadows in games to be able to play games like Watch Dogs or Crysis 3 at 30-40 fps. I'm confident that my system can handle the high resolution monitors and TV's, I'm just having trouble choosing the right one. I'll look into the BenQ monitor but would I be better off with the ASUS VG248QE?

I actually have the ASUS VG248QE http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B2HH7G0 and would highly recommend it. It's an extremely solid performing monitor with a pretty nice picture quality. I've actually got an nVidia 3D Vision 2 kit hooked up to it and playing in 3D is awesome!

 

[Matthew-san]

Thanks for the suggestion T3PShooter, it looks like a good monitor. How exactly would I overclock a monitor? I don't think I've heard about overclocking a monitor before. Also, if you know of any good 4K monitors/TV's under $450 please let me know because I had planned on adding another 770 in the near-future. Do you have the 24 in. or 27 in. ASUS VG248QE?

 

[T3PShooter]

Thanks for the suggestion T3PShooter, it looks like a good monitor. How exactly would I overclock a monitor? I don't think I've heard about overclocking a monitor before. Also, if you know of any good 4K monitors/TV's under $450 please let me know because I had planned on adding another 770 in the near-future. Do you have the 24 in. or 27 in. ASUS VG248QE?

Check out this link for more information on how to overclock the QNIX. http://www.overclock.net/t/1384767/official-the-qnix-x-star-1440p-monitor-club

As far as a cheap 4K TV, the http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DOPGO2G is a good option. Personally, I wouldn't touch anything 4K for another year or two until it's more mainstream and the technology has been better manufactured.

I have the VG248QE which is the 24". I love it, it's an amazing monitor for gaming and I highly recommend it. I considered the QNIX but don't regret going with the VG248QE.

 

[Matthew-san]

I had intended on buying the VG248QE and then I started thinking about 1440p and 4k. I'm using a 21.5 in. 1080p 60 Hz LG Flatron right now so any of your suggestions will be better than the monitor I have now lol. My monitor looks good but it wasn't meant for gaming, there's a lot of screen tearing and it's a really small size screen.

 

[Matthew-san]

I really like the QNIX you posted earlier. Do you know if there's much difference between 1080p and 1440p? I wasn't sure if 1440p looked that much better.

 

[lhaygood1983]

I have the EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Superclocked w/ACX Cooler GPU. I've done some research (youtube lol) and it looks like the 770 will run most games at 1440p or 4k resolutions with good fps. I don't mind turning down the AA or shadows in games to be able to play games like Watch Dogs or Crysis 3 at 30-40 fps. I'm confident that my system can handle the high resolution monitors and TV's, I'm just having trouble choosing the right one. I'll look into the BenQ monitor but would I be better off with the ASUS VG248QE?

You won't push good 4K rates with that GPU.

That's ok, though, as someone else mentioned we're a few years away from 4K being a realistic option.

1440p is better than 1080p in terms of resolution and detail. ASUS has the ROG Swift monitor that is 27", 1440p and 144hz.

I'm leery of telling you to get a gray market Korean monitor. Yes, it's a 27" IPS you can overclock, but refresh rate will still be higher than a TN panel and quality is spotty on those.

There's very little difference between the Asus model you mentioned and my BenQ. The difference is largely in which one you like the look of more. Personally, I like the picture on the BenQ more than any Asus monitor I've owned, and I've had several, but it's entirely subjective.

I don't think you will be unhappy with any 144hz monitor you choose.

 

[oxiide]

I have the EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Superclocked w/ACX Cooler GPU. I've done some research (youtube lol) and it looks like the 770 will run most games at 1440p or 4k resolutions with good fps. I don't mind turning down the AA or shadows in games to be able to play games like Watch Dogs or Crysis 3 at 30-40 fps. I'm confident that my system can handle the high resolution monitors and TV's, I'm just having trouble choosing the right one. I'll look into the BenQ monitor but would I be better off with the ASUS VG248QE?

If you're willing to cope with sub-60 framerates and kinda poor visuals, 4K on a GTX 770 might work, but I don't think it would be very enjoyable. If you want 60 FPS at 4K, you're looking at $1500+ just in video cards right now. I would personally steer most people away from it. I think we're a year or two more away from 4K being practical for gaming.

The 770 is indeed suitable for 1440p, though some games will need some tweaking to stay at 60 FPS or above. I think 1440p @ 120 Hz or 144 Hz is the way to go today, though you might want an R9 290 or so to get the most out of it.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pq321q-4k-gaming,3620.html
I think this article will give you a better idea of what it takes to game at 3840x2160. Note that that's two GTX 770's in SLI.

 

[Matthew-san]

From the benchmarks you showed me oxiidde it looks two 770's in SLI would be satisfactory for 4k gaming. The average for every game stayed above 30 fps except Crysis 3 which was 29.14 (close enough lol). Also, the reviewer talked about the 770 having spiked fps drops but said it was due to the lack of onboard memory; the 770's had 2 GB each, the 780's had 3GB, and the Titans had 6GB. That won't be a problem for me though since I purchased the 4GB version for this exact reason . I knew that games would someday soon utilize the VRAM on GPU's especially with the next-gen games on the horizon and if the games wouldn't use it then I knew I'd find a way to (like with a 4k monitor).

One last thought. That article was produced September of last year and 4k has had a little more time to develop properly. I heard the reviewer talking about driver issues and how he hoped it would be fixed as 4k became better developed. I now for fact that Nvidia has relatively recently released drives to improve performance when gaming at 4k resolutions. I just thought that I should try out 4k since in a year or two it could very easily be the standard for display technology. They even have 4k phones now! lol. One 4k phone, I can't remember what it's called though.

 

[lhaygood1983]

4K displays run at 30hz, which is fine for TV and movies, but you're going to miss that high refresh rate when you're gaming.

If you're bound and determined to go big, high-resolution, the ASUS ROG Swift is the only real option right now. Plus, it's G-sync enabled. Throw your SLI'd 770s at that and you'll have buttery smooth high-res gaming at your beck and call.

 

[Matthew-san]

Not all 4k monitors are 30 Hz anymore, they have 60 Hz as well. If you connect to them via HDMI then it'll be 30 Hz but if you use a Display port cable then on some monitors you can have 60 Hz.

This Phillips monitor for example is a 4k and 60Hz compatible (if you're using a display port): http://www.amazon.com/Philips-28-Inch-Monitor-resolution-288P6LJEB/dp/B00K15LQZM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1406394076&sr=8-2&keywords=4k+monitor+60hz

 

[T3PShooter]

I really like the QNIX you posted earlier. Do you know if there's much difference between 1080p and 1440p? I wasn't sure if 1440p looked that much better.

If this monitor is for first person shooter gaming then get the VG248QE if you really want better picture quality then get the QNIX. I will say that you won't notice much of a difference in the picture quality unless the monitors are side-by-side. I would lean toward getting the VG248QE since you will notice a huge upgrade from the picture on your current monitor and the performance increase will be drastic.

 

[Matthew-san]

I play all kinds of games. Shooters, open-world, rpg's, mmo's, strategy, and some of those mixed together. I'm trying to find the best monitor to give me the best experience. I'll probably end up going with the VG248QE or the 1440p monitor you showed me. Thanks for all the help!

 

[T3PShooter]

I play all kinds of games. Shooters, open-world, rpg's, mmo's, strategy, and some of those mixed together. I'm trying to find the best monitor to give me the best experience. I'll probably end up going with the VG248QE or the 1440p monitor you showed me. Thanks for all the help!

No problem, I don't think you could go wrong either way.