Hey I've been having a bit of a thought lately about upgrading my monitor. I just built a 4770k/780 rig around it so I would be able to play ultra in 1440p. Well the problem is with this monitor it's only 60hz! So I've been thinking of some ways to deal with this.
1. I've been told 1080p 120hz is better than 1440p 60hz. This is the deep main question I'm asking myself. So I'm wondering maybe look for a 1440p 120-144hz monitor if they make them.
2. I've also been thinking maybe downgrade my 27" 1440p to maybe 3 24" 1080p running eyefinity just for something different off my 780 would that work?
So I'm asking what would you do, your opinions. What monitor would you go with? Budget, I don't know maybe $400-500 but I can go $1000 or so for the eyefinity setup. Mainly what I'm looking for is a 120-144hz and whether or not I should upgrade now or wait for gsync and see what they come up with.
Some care about 120 hertz, some dont. Personally I dont care that much for it and would rather use downsampling/increase settings. Many games are limited by the CPU or the engine in a way that you wont get around 120 fps anyway, even with low settings. You also should consider that all regular 120 hertz monitors are tn panels while those sexy 1440p 27 inch monitors have ips panels.
There are also a few 2560x1440 monitors with boards you can overclock up to 120 hertz (though you might only get around 100), most notorious are these ones available in different models http://overlordcomputer.com/collections/27-displays/products/tempest-x270oc-glossy
I wouldnt recommend using 3 monitors for most games, with the bezels, the driver problems and game design issues many use the 3 monitors for multitasking rather than games (maybe some racing games).
As far as gsinc goes youd have to wait about half a year for a few compatible monitors to be released. Linus tested it and was impressed by the gained smoothness of games, but it seems it will only be implimented in the usual 1080p tn panel ``gaming Monitors´´ with a 50-100% markup.
Personally id just stick with the 1440p Monitor, a 780 is a beastly card but in 1440p or 3x1080p there wont be much room for over 60 fps in newer games anyway. If 60 fps is smooth enough for I dont really see a problem, people that are used to 60 hertz monitors often cant tell 80-120 fps apart from it anyway (even if they try to).
If your really going to ditch your 1440p monitor for something with a better refresh rate you should defenitely wait for gsinc though.
Thanks for the input, I feel as if I am mainly going for hertz but not sure if I want to downgrade to 1080p. I found a korean monitor on ebay that said it CAN overclock to 120hz but not out of the box, so I'm not going to risk that. One thing I thought of is if I did back down to 1080p the 780 should be able to do 120fps on newer titles, I play bf4 on 1440p ultra and it manages a steady 60 frames unless looking at fire or something the like.
I have a qnix myself and I can oc to 96hz with no issues. I CAN go to 120hz, but I get a few artifacts. For me its not worth the extra few hz. I would say though, if you are going with a 27'' monitor go for 1440p. After playing 1440p on a larger screen, I just cant go back. If you cant push 120fps on 1440p turn down the settings. Personally I prefer bf3 on medium at 1440p than on ultra at 1080p.
I used to have a Dell 2410, which is a high quality IPS 60hz monitor which has relatively low blur and at the sides I had 2 Samsung 2443BWs for a 3x 1920x1200 surround/eyefinity setup. I then switched to a Benq XL2411T (144hz/120hz lightboost) after being blurbusters and tftcentral look into the blur situation with modern monitors.
Eyefinity/Surround with 3 monitors - When I first got it I thought it was awesome. There were moments where I spotted enemy movement out of the corner of my eye and they did not spot me. So I have an advantage and I used it. However it takes a lot of performance to run that many pixels, not only were the GPUs insanely expensive but I regularly played at frame rates less than ideal. As time has gone on fewer and fewer games have supported it well and I would say the technology is dying out of neglect.
IPS/60hz monitors at higher resolutions - Higher density screens definitely improve visual fidelity. They reduce the amount of antialiasing you feel you need and they just look sharper. 4k resolution monitors are going to be fantastic once they hit typical 20-27" screens as well. 2560x1600/2560x1440 is a good step in the right direction but its not a massive improvement compared to 1080p, its mainly a bigger monitor with slightly better density rather than much higher density unfortunately.
120/144hz lightboost - The colour quality on my Benq XL2411T is rubbish, its TN but worse than that its got a strange line effect in the top right hand corner and the colours next to the Dell are just awful. But for gaming its amazing. The monitor has a significant reduction in blur running in 144hz mode that suddenly you can see in motion in a way you just couldn't on a 60hz monitor. But with lightboost hack turned on its almost CRT like in its responsiveness and this definitely helps me aim. I am a better game on this than any other setup.