What type of monitor would be best for me? (gaming)

I've come to the conclusion that my next upgrade needs to be a monitor upgrade. My 7950 is still plenty strong for my needs, but my monitor is a pretty terrible and has some problems that make it somewhat annoying to use. I'm currently on a 1920x1080p 60hz TN 23.6" monitor.

What type of set up do you guys think would be best for me? I'll play plenty of shooters, but I'll also play a fair number of strategy games. I'm not entirely certain on whether I'd prefer IPS or TN - I think I'd be ok with a TN panel, but I also think that if I'm going to grab a 60hz monitor I might as well get IPS.

I will, of course, be upgrading my GPU after I have a new monitor. So, as for 60hz vs 144hz, I'd just turn down settings to hit 144fps, or, perhaps, just lock my games to 60fps. Or something. But I'd get a new GPU - 390x, perhaps - to drive 144hz.

I'm also not certain on resolution. I don't particularly want to get another 16:9 1080p monitor. 16:10 is appealing, but they all seem to be pretty expensive. 21:9 could be nice, but I sort of think 29" is too small. The bigger ones all seem to be 3440x1440 and are way too expensive for me. 1440p is of course an option, but I'm not certain. 4k seems to be developing rather quickly, so I doubt I'd want to get a 4k monitor right now.

As for freesync and g-sync; while in theory they sound great, I don't think I want to commit to either right now. It would be nice, but I generally tweak settings to get a solid 60fps in my games (or 144fps if I had that refresh rate). Also, tearing usually doesn't bug me a ton. And I don't really want to be locked into AMD or nVidia yet (because, let's face it, it will be a while before nVidia supports adaptive sync, if ever). So unless someone can come up with a compelling case to get one of these monitors, I likely won't. This also brings up the problem of many of the 144hz 1440p monitors seem to use one of the two technologies - I'd be willing to pick up a monitor with freesync or g-sync in that case, but most likely freesync, assuming they're cheaper.

In terms of budget, I'm looking for monitors for less than $500. And, to be completely honest, I'm not looking to spend $500 either - Ideally, I'd like to spend $300 or less. But if there's something more expensive that's worth it, I'd be willing to spend the extra cash for it. I can't justify spending more than $500 though.

Thanks for any suggestions. I don't necessarily need specific monitor suggestions, general advice on what resolution/panel/refresh rate configuration to go for would be very helpful as well.

Edit: Forgot to mention that although I'd be willing to consider a triple monitor setup, it would be a bit cramped. It could still work though with 23.6" monitors.

go 27" 1440p right around your price range. Check out this page https://teksyndicate.com/news/2013/08/15/tek-syndicate-1440p-monitor-club I personally have the ASUS but the x-stars and shimians are good too.