New Monitor...

It really depends what the monitor would be used for and the machine driving it.

Yes a 120Hz monitor is utterly brilliant for gaming but you need a pretty monster setup to run 120Hz without getting any massive frame drops. It also depends on budget..I would say TN panels are better for gaming but that's personal preference.

Right now one of the better monitors would be the ASUS VG248QE, utterly brilliant monitor but crazy over priced in this country.
You could probably import it for half the cost of what they go for locally.

http://www.asus.com/Monitors_Projectors/VG248QE/

There are guys claiming they run 120Hz on a 2560x1600 panel which is possible but to push that rez and refresh rate you need minimum 780 sli or a 7990 to get playable frame rates.

I would say stick to 1080P and get a good 120Hz monitor.
 
LOL. That is my worry, price for the monitor and price to perform at that speeds. It is all good and well to think back to CRT and 100fps+, but nowadays you need SLI or TriSLI for same thing. Well from what I gather.

Don't think the minister of finances is going to approve a 6K screen *just* to game on :D
 
been wondering about those Ebay monitors for a while... very eager to get a nice, big, very high res monitor for a while, but am a sceptic about those Asian sellers...
 
They charge what they feel like, its never the exact amount.
I've paid R400 on a R5000 item and R750 on a R3000 item.
It changes daily lol
Maybe someone need to fund a visit to the KFC that day.

Bit surprised you say TN is better for gaming. I was under the impression that IPS is better in all respects except price. Not really in the loop on this stuff though.
 
How do you find gaming on a TN, IPS, 60HZ, 120HZ and 144HZ ?

I play on an overclocked TN monitor at 74Hz, a limitation due to my DVI cable and GPU. If I had a better GPU and cable I could easily go to 75, perhaps 85Hz without dropping any frames. Even though it's only 14Hz over the standard 60, it feels so much better and smoother.

There are guys claiming they run 120Hz on a 2560x1600 panel which is possible but to push that rez and refresh rate you need minimum 780 sli or a 7990 to get playable frame rates.

I've been following the progress on the [H]ardforums and even on the overclocked 1440p Korean monitors there are issues with the scalers dropping frames, sometimes mismatching them, etc. Without going to a high-end professional monitor, the only way we're going to reliably see 120 or 144Hz gaming is with a GSync monitor, because it'll be guaranteed so long as you have a powerful enough GPU.

Nvidia really hit it out of the ballpark with that one. I'm very hopeful I'll see it in action some day. Maybe a lightboost monitor as well.

Bit surprised you say TN is better for gaming. I was under the impression that IPS is better in all respects except price.

Although it depends on the panel and the scaler inside, TN is better for twitch gaming and fast framerates than most IPS panels. Even AMVA panels are a better fit so long as you buy the ones that are a decent quality. And even then, there's issues like backlight bleed, IPS glow, flicker from the PWM-controlled backlights and those bloody annoying matte filters every brand likes to stick onto their products.

I'm actually glad I haven't been spoiled by a good monitor yet. I'm quite happy with my BenQ for now, although it'll need replacing at some point.
 
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Although it depends on the panel and the scaler inside, TN is better for twitch gaming and fast framerates than most IPS panels. Even AMVA panels are a better fit so long as you buy the ones that are a decent quality. And even then, there's issues like backlight bleed, IPS glow, flicker from the PWM-controlled backlights and those bloody annoying matte filters every brand likes to stick onto their products.

I'm actually glad I haven't been spoiled by a good monitor yet. I'm quite happy with my BenQ for now, although it'll need replacing at some point.
Matte filters as in screen finish...gloss vs matte? Can't stand gloss tbh. One can't LAN for sht with those. There is always some arb thing reflecting. Maybe its my fake OCD showing but I can't deal with not being able to see anything on one part of the screen.

I hear you on not being spoiled. I'm still rocking a 1680x1050...despite gear that can easily push 1080 and beyond. I just can't bring myself to replace a perfectly good screen for such a minor jump.
 
Maybe someone need to fund a visit to the KFC that day.

Bit surprised you say TN is better for gaming. I was under the impression that IPS is better in all respects except price. Not really in the loop on this stuff though.

Well I prefer TN panels for fast paced shooters and IPS for games with vivid colors and gorgeous back drops and so on.
It all comes down to personal preference in the end.

As for the korean monitors, some of them are really bad but I have used quite a few and apart from the stands being crap, the panels themselves are damn good quality, samsung and lg panels mostly.
For the price its unbeatable considering what monitors cost locally.
 
Well I prefer TN panels for fast paced shooters and IPS for games with vivid colors and gorgeous back drops and so on.
It all comes down to personal preference in the end.

As for the korean monitors, some of them are really bad but I have used quite a few and apart from the stands being crap, the panels themselves are damn good quality, samsung and lg panels mostly.
For the price its unbeatable considering what monitors cost locally.

What would you recommend for a 27" 2560x1440 IPS display? Should I import or buy locally?

I saw this one locally: http://www.wootware.co.za/qnix-qx27...1440-qhd-pls-panel-matte-desktop-monitor.html

And the one you linked earlier: http://www.ebay.com/itm/CROSSOVER-N...ponents_Monitors&hash=item19e1a561b9#shpCntId

I don't like that silver strip on the bottom though...
 
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Seems like many of the cheaper panels suffer from a high refresh rate. Average of 5-7ms but I saw some with 14ms refresh rates, I have not seen that since LCD screen's had just come out.
 
Matte filters as in screen finish...gloss vs matte? Can't stand gloss tbh. One can't LAN for sht with those. There is always some arb thing reflecting. Maybe its my fake OCD showing but I can't deal with not being able to see anything on one part of the screen.

Some manufacturers produce a really grainy matte overlay and it distorts the image, the perceived brightness, the sharpness of the screen and can give your eyes a workout as well. When I have enough time and money to replace them should things go wrong, I'm removing the matte filters on both my monitors to get glossy, clearer and sharper images with better colours. When I compare my monitor to a good TN with a glossy panel, the difference is really noticeable.

I hear you on not being spoiled. I'm still rocking a 1680x1050...despite gear that can easily push 1080 and beyond. I just can't bring myself to replace a perfectly good screen for such a minor jump.

Yep, that's pretty much my boat too. Plus, my monitor stand I bought today pretty much stops at one 22" and one 19" screen. I can't go any bigger than that combination, so I'm stuck with things as they are for now. But eh, R400 for a dual monitor stand was a steal.


I think that would be a good bet. This 35 page-long thread on it should tell you everything you need to know. Seems it overclocks to 96Hz as well without dropping frames.
 
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There's a fine line between performance and the price you pay for that performance vs value and actual noticeable performance. I've been bogged down by FPS and benchmark stats for years and that influenced my decision on which hardware to buy for many years. Then I realised that I was chasing after stat and not really thinking about what I will actually need. Yes, you want the beast card or monitor but what do you really need and will it really be worth it to fork out that extra R1000 for a Ti behind the product name while it'll only add 2-5 frames to your performance? Is the performance really worth the price you are paying?

Just thought to add this to the thread as I have fallen in this trap and it cost me in the long run as I bought the expensive hardware just to realise that the newer tech is anyway included in the mid-high end card that cost R1000 less than my beast that it now 6 months old and doesn't support certain cutting edge tech.

Just a
 
There's a fine line between performance and the price you pay for that performance vs value and actual noticeable performance. I've been bogged down by FPS and benchmark stats for years and that influenced my decision on which hardware to buy for many years. Then I realised that I was chasing after stat and not really thinking about what I will actually need. Yes, you want the beast card or monitor but what do you really need and will it really be worth it to fork out that extra R1000 for a Ti behind the product name while it'll only add 2-5 frames to your performance? Is the performance really worth the price you are paying?

Your post is the reason why people now include graphics like the one below in their reviews, and why people very often skip right to the conclusion to see this type of graph and read the final score:

value-fps.gif


Some people just aren't concerned about the benchmarks or individual game performance, they want an overall value. In the end, only you can decide what's the right fit for you, and whether the hardware will actually show some benefit.
 
I bought my first non-Sammy monitor today... The ASUS VG278HE.

I wanted an IPS... but I also wanted to see what a 144Mhz refresh-rate would be like...

So, I went with performance.

Should arrive on Tuesday :)
 
Seems like many of the cheaper panels suffer from a high refresh rate. Average of 5-7ms but I saw some with 14ms refresh rates, I have not seen that since LCD screen's had just come out.

I think you mean response times. Refresh rate is like "60Hz"
 
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