A decent all-round monitor for gaming and photo editing...

[Eden 1337]

Hi there,

I've just bought a new rig with i5 7600 @ 4.7ghz, 16GB DDR4, nvidia 1070. I now need a new monitor for around £350 which needs to be fast enough for gaming, but also have good enough colors for editing in photoshop. I'm leaning towards the below BenQ IPS monitor which is 1440p at 4ms, 60 hz. Will this be good enough for gaming? A lot of people in the reviews seem to think so. I believe this model is a couple of years old so wonder if there's anything else I should look at?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00M913DVG/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza

Thanks,
Tom

 

[frostedtim]

That monitor will do the job, sure. For gaming I would try to get a monitor with a higher refresh rate than the 60hz, but that will add to the cost.

I tend to tell people to go into a store and look at the monitors so they can get a better idea of what they want, as sometimes, no matter how good the reviews are, they may not fit what your needs are. Ordering monitors like this online makes that tough. But Im not sure what is in your area, so that also could be a problem.

BenQ is decent. I do like Asus monitors, and Dell makes some good ones too that should fit your needs in a similar price range.

 

[Eden 1337]

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately most of the tech stores in my city don't stock a great range of monitors. From what I can tell, if you want 100hz in an IPS panel, the cost literally doubles, which is a tad annoying! I think I'm more or less settled on the BenQ, it seems like the obvious choice for this price point.

One other question - can I achieve 1440p 60hz with a HDMI cable? I've seen lots of people saying you need displayport. Or does it vary from monitor to monitor?

 

[frostedtim]

HDMI cable should be fine for 1440p. Just make sure the cable you get is compliant with the latest HDMI specifications. You should likely get a cable with the monitor, which will make this easy. If you do have to buy a cable though, if it says it is "4K ready!" or something similar, then that will do.