Need help in buying a new monitor.....

[vikrant1982]

Friends, I never knew that finding a new monitor for my needs could give me a headache. I have never had such a tough time with computer hardware. Now, that I know the shortcomings of TN, IPS and VA panels after hours of reading, I am even more perplexed. I am writing this on a 15 years old Samsung syncmaster 750s CRT, which is slowly becoming hazy with time and hurting my eyes.

The bigger problem is that I am on a tight budget of around $250. It might sound like ok to some but, please note that PC hardware is very expensive in my country. What we get here at $250, would be a lot cheaper in the US.

My usage is primarily coding, reading, surfing, watching videos and some gaming as well. I am looking for a 23-24 inch monitor. I am not gaming a lot because I have yet to add a GPU to my new build, probably something like a GTX 1050ti or 1060. My system specs are as below: -

Core i5 6600k
Asus z170 pro gaming
Kingston hyperx fury DDR4 - 8GB
Samsung evo 850 ssd
Seasonic S12II 520 watts

I have tried to find the best possible IPS models and have come across Samsung curved LC24F390FHWXXL and LG 23MP68VQ. These two are inexpensive and have free sync up to 75Hz but the problem is that the Samsung model has just 1 HDMI and 1 VGA port. The LG monitor seems like it is made of cheap glossy plastic all around which would be a perfect dust magnet where I live. I am also not sure about their quality and durability. I have looked at tons of Asus and Dell models but don't know what is really good. I liked Dell P2417H which is again not so expensive and has good connectivity and height adjustment but is fixed 60Hz.

 

[bjornl]

these guys do a decent job of ranking lots of gaming monitors.
http://www.144hzmonitors.com/best-gaming-monitor/

You talk about free-sync and an NVidia graphics card. Many freesync monitors are only 60hz monitors on NVidia graphics cards. You'll have to check this monitor by Monitor as there is no hard and fast rule.

I think gaming on a 60hz is "ok". Some good resources would be pcmonitors.info. The blogger has a forum and is very good to personally answer every post. tftcentral.co.uk is also very valuable.

If your budget is very tight, I would suggest you also keep your eye on the used market. People upgrade all the time and a model that is in good shape and 2-3 years old might got for 1/2 the price of new.

 

[PhotoshopLOL]

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/rkphP6/asus-monitor-vg248qe

Beast of a monitor.


http://pcpartpicker.com/product/Nbbp99/acer-monitor-umvh6aa003

Sleek but cheeky.


http://pcpartpicker.com/product/LJrG3C/asus-monitor-vs247hp

Chunky but funky.


BenQ RL2455HM 24.0" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor (₹14298.00 @ Amazon India)


After the monitor, i HIGHLY suggest you invest in a GRAPHICS CARD since your motherboard and cpu might not handle gaming in 1080

 

[vikrant1982]

these guys do a decent job of ranking lots of gaming monitors.
http://www.144hzmonitors.com/best-gaming-monitor/

You talk about free-sync and an NVidia graphics card. Many freesync monitors are only 60hz monitors on NVidia graphics cards. You'll have to check this monitor by Monitor as there is no hard and fast rule.

I think gaming on a 60hz is "ok". Some good resources would be pcmonitors.info. The blogger has a forum and is very good to personally answer every post. tftcentral.co.uk is also very valuable.

If your budget is very tight, I would suggest you also keep your eye on the used market. People upgrade all the time and a model that is in good shape and 2-3 years old might got for 1/2 the price of new.

Sorry, my bad. I almost forgot to mention this. If I buy a free sync monitor, I'll pair it with an RX480-470 instead of nvidia

 

[vikrant1982]

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/rkphP6/asus-monitor-vg248qe

Beast of a monitor.


http://pcpartpicker.com/product/Nbbp99/acer-monitor-umvh6aa003

Sleek but cheeky.


http://pcpartpicker.com/product/LJrG3C/asus-monitor-vs247hp

Chunky but funky.


BenQ RL2455HM 24.0" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor (₹14298.00 @ Amazon India)


After the monitor, i HIGHLY suggest you invest in a GRAPHICS CARD since your motherboard and cpu might not handle gaming in 1080

Thanks for those suggestions. Actually, the vg248qe is quite pricey here. Acer is like non existent in my country. I like that vs247h-p. Its listed here on Amazon but, it says 5ms response time. The link that you sent above says 2ms. There is some confusion. I hear a lot of complaints about Benq's durability, I am not sure if its a good idea to buy one.