Help with Decision Paralysis When Choosing a Monitor

Lfatboyjim on 13/11/2020 - 11:39

So I'm in the process of sorting my 15 year olds birthday/Christmas present. He says he'd like a gaming monitor. Cool, should be easy right?!

Nope, honestly, all the Hz, wide, curved, IPS, 1080, 1440, g-sync, free sync specs has confused me big time and now I have decision paralysis and I've got no clue what to get.

Bit of background. Budget is max $800. He plays games like Grand theft auto, Teardown etc all online and with his friends. He has ryzen 5 3600 (not sure if this is relevant). His only request is that it has g-sync.

Any recommendations? If I can at least narrow down the model I should get, then, maybe I can keep an eye out for Black Friday specials.

Computing

Comments

  • MS Paint on 13/11/2020 - 11:59

    Which graphics card does he have?

    ryzen 5 3600 (not sure if this is relevant)

    Yes it is. Thanks

    Don probably knows which monitor he wants (or his friends will recommend one). Better to go with that to avoid disappointment and hassle of returning etc.

  • Guybrush57 on 13/11/2020 - 12:06

    2560 x 1440 is the resolution you'll be wanting assuming he has a mid-range GPU.

    Do you know what GPU he has?

    • fatboyjim on 13/11/2020 - 12:09

      I do, he has ryzen 5 3600

      • Guybrush57 on 13/11/2020 - 12:31

        That is the CPU. Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is the video card AKA graphics card.

        • fatboyjim on 13/11/2020 - 12:37

          oops yep he has Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER WINDFORCE OC 3X 8GB .

          • Guybrush57 on 13/11/2020 - 13:17
            +3

            @fatboyjim: Then a 2560 x 1440 144Hz monitor is your best bet. Unfortunately G-Sync adds a fair bit to the price with debatably small benefits.

          • Fergy1987 on 13/11/2020 - 15:04
            +1

            @fatboyjim: I have this exact setup, LG 27GL850 is what I use - Definitely need to be going 1440p

  • AustriaBargain on 13/11/2020 - 12:07
    -2

    Get a 4K monitor. 1440p games scale nicely to 4k anyway, plus you get 4k overlays in most games. I think there's 4k IPS screens these days. Curved and g-sync requirements probably kill that though. All the hz especially.

  • mizx on 13/11/2020 - 12:11

    144Hz IPS is an excellent starting point.

    Now it depends if he feels fine with his current monitor size/resolution (I'm assuming he's on a 1080p 22-24").

    R5 3600 is a solid CPU and will do fine on both 1080p and 1440p.

    What is his preference on flat vs. curved and on 24"/1080p vs 27"/1440p? Perhaps take him to a store and have him test it out.

    If you happen to decide on 27"/1440p, make sure you have at least a 2060 SUPER or equivalent.

    • fatboyjim on 13/11/2020 - 12:15

      He has Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER WINDFORCE OC 3X 8GB .
      Currently he is just using a cheap (the cheapest they had) $150 monitor from officeworks that we had lying around as a spare. I think he'll still use this as his second monitor.

      • mizx on 13/11/2020 - 13:04
        +2

        In addition to SnowDragon's suggestions, if are set on G-Sync the LG 27GL850-B is likely to hit under $700 during Black Friday / Cyber Monday.

  • SnowDragon on 13/11/2020 - 12:33
    +2

    He has a 3600 CPU and a 2070 GPU. Perfect for 1440p 144hz and maybe even 60hz 4k.

    He says he wants g-sync but his graphics card is compatible with the cheaper Freesync monitors. They basically do the same thing.

    If he's happy with 1080p, you can grab 144hz FHD monitors fairly cheap. Competitive gamers and streamers basically all use 24" 1080p setups with high refresh rates.

    If he wants to get the most use out of his card, then 1440p is the way to go. I'd suggest the S2721DGF - popular amongst the peeps here and is right in front of me.

  • Jolakot on 13/11/2020 - 13:22

    How big does he want the monitor to be? 24 inch, 27 inch, 32 inch, 34 inch etc

  • garetz on 13/11/2020 - 14:32

    get either the S2721DGF or LG 27GL850

  • fatboyjim on 13/11/2020 - 14:41
    +2

    Thank you everyone. Looks like I'll be keeping an eye out for these 2. S2721DGF or LG 27GL850.

  • abctoz on 13/11/2020 - 16:10

    if he isn't playing competitive seriously then anything will work really, a popular value option seems to be the xiaomi 34" wqhd

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