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Started by Irish Kelly | | 9 answers
21:9 60hz IPS or 16:9 144hz TN monitor for gaming?
I'm looking for opinions and first hand experiences on this subject. I'm looking at monitors and have been debating over a 21:9 60hz, 5ms IPS or a 16:9 144hz, 1ms TN monitor (both in 1080p). I know IPS is known for better images whereas TNs have faster refresh/response rates. I'm coming from a 23" 5ms TN panel that is about 5 years old, so I'm sure anything would look fairly good to me with a new monitor, however, the 21:9 is quite intriguing to me.

For gaming on PC, I primarily stick to RPG, RTS, and other assorted open world, action-adventure and base-building games. I really only play FPS games on console as most of my friends game on that platform. The closest I usually come to a straight forward FPS, is third-person tactical shooters.

Games I'm looking forward to checking out in the future include: Mad Max, The Division, Star Citizen, Dying Light, Rust, and Watch Dogs. I think some of those would definitely benefit from the faster refresh/response rates, but I don't know if 60hz/5ms on a IPS would be so bad I wouldn't have fun and be distracted by lag/ghosting. Oh and games i still play and enjoy are TES: Skyrim, Fallout 3/NV, Assassin's Creed series, and Company of Heroes, as well as older RTS games like AOE.

So, when it comes to my gaming style, which monitor would suit me best in your opinion? And one last thing, I know not all games support 21:9, but I'm okay with black bars on the side of the monitor as long as the image isn't distorted as a result. Thanks for any opinions and advice.
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a b 4 Gaming
a c 135 C Monitor
September 29, 2014 8:36:05 AM

I've seen a few threads about 21:9, and while it can be nice occasionally, most games do not properly support it. 144hz is always useful as well as low motion blur and latency. Though to be clear, the 144hz TN display has reduced motion blur for certain, but latency is not tide to the display type. GtG numbers have no bearing on latency, that is all about motion blur.
September 29, 2014 6:40:23 AM

Also 21:9 monitors have a 14ms delay with a 5 ms gray to gray only delay.

Best solution chosen by ErAnkurPaul

a b 4 Gaming
a b C Monitor
May 15, 2014 1:35:59 PM

Irish Kelly said:
Kekoh said:
I personally recommend 144hz monitors. It's just such a better experience I can't bring myself to recommend a 60hz monitor. I've had my 144hz for awhile now, and whenever I play on a 60hz monitor it feels horrible... it really ruins the experience for me it feels choppy and sluggish.

Plus you can do 3D gaming with the appropriate 144hz monitors as long as you have a Nvidia GPU and buy the 3D glasses. Some games are really awesome in 3D.


The 16:9 144hz is Nvidia 3D Vision 2 Ready according to specs and i have a 780 ti SC GPU.


I have pretty much that exact setup, but instead of the BenQ monitor, I have the ASUS VG248QE.

All you would need is the 3D vision kit, which is around $150. I've always thought 3D stuff has been gimmicky, but playing Diablo 3 and a few other games in 3D is amazing.

Good thing you have the 780 Ti. Playing in 3D takes substantially more power to run, because it is essentially rendering double the amount of data. The 780 Ti will still be able to put out good framerates with 3D on. For example, while playing Diablo 3 in 3D, sometimes my fps drops to around 70 in hectic situations. Considering Diablo 3 is a fairly easy game for GPU's, that shows you how demanding 3D can be.
May 15, 2014 1:30:53 PM

Kekoh said:
I personally recommend 144hz monitors. It's just such a better experience I can't bring myself to recommend a 60hz monitor. I've had my 144hz for awhile now, and whenever I play on a 60hz monitor it feels horrible... it really ruins the experience for me it feels choppy and sluggish.

Plus you can do 3D gaming with the appropriate 144hz monitors as long as you have a Nvidia GPU and buy the 3D glasses. Some games are really awesome in 3D.


The 16:9 144hz is Nvidia 3D Vision 2 Ready according to specs and i have a 780 ti SC GPU.
a b 4 Gaming
a b C Monitor
May 15, 2014 1:04:09 PM

I personally recommend 144hz monitors. It's just such a better experience I can't bring myself to recommend a 60hz monitor. I've had my 144hz for awhile now, and whenever I play on a 60hz monitor it feels horrible... it really ruins the experience for me it feels choppy and sluggish.

Plus you can do 3D gaming with the appropriate 144hz monitors as long as you have a Nvidia GPU and buy the 3D glasses. Some games are really awesome in 3D.
May 15, 2014 12:38:17 PM

ChrisR83 said:
Do you have any monitors you are looking at, or are you just asking in general? I have not personally used a 21:9 monitor but I have read a few articles on them.

Most games are rendered at 16:9, you will have black bars on both sides of your screen if you are playing games that do not support 21:9.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1681460/gaming-m...


I've been debating between the BenQ XL2420Z 24-Inch and AOC Q2963PM 29-Inch.
a b 4 Gaming
a b C Monitor
May 15, 2014 11:15:45 AM

Do you have any monitors you are looking at, or are you just asking in general? I have not personally used a 21:9 monitor but I have read a few articles on them.

Most games are rendered at 16:9, you will have black bars on both sides of your screen if you are playing games that do not support 21:9.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1681460/gaming-m...
May 15, 2014 10:19:46 AM

ChrisR83 said:
I would say go with the 144hz TN. yes most people talk about shooters when they take about 144hz, but you will notice it on everything, from your desktop, to running through a cave on Skyrim. Your monitor is displaying more than twice as many images, at faster GTG times then IPS, The input lag will not affect you much with the games you play but it is still nice to have low input lag. I love my 144hz monitor and I will not consider anything less than 120hz from now on.

IPS does have better color reproduction and viewing angles but I think for gamming in general go with the 144hz. If you are a big movie buff or do allot of photo editing go with IPS. This is just my opinion I hope it helps.


I think the choice would be very easy if I was looking at two 16:9 monitors, but the 21:9 has thrown a wrench into it for me. Have you ever used a 21:9 monitor before? I haven't, but I'm wondering if the wider screen is a good trade-off for slower response and refresh rates.
a b 4 Gaming
a b C Monitor
May 15, 2014 10:13:42 AM

I would say go with the 144hz TN. yes most people talk about shooters when they take about 144hz, but you will notice it on everything, from your desktop, to running through a cave on Skyrim. Your monitor is displaying more than twice as many images, at faster GTG times then IPS, The input lag will not affect you much with the games you play but it is still nice to have low input lag. I love my 144hz monitor and I will not consider anything less than 120hz from now on.

IPS does have better color reproduction and viewing angles but I think for gamming in general go with the 144hz. If you are a big movie buff or do allot of photo editing go with IPS. This is just my opinion I hope it helps.

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