Learn Me: Gaming Monitors
 

So I've been using the shit out of my ~20" Samsung monitor for years and I figure it's time for me to upgrade. I'm looking at getting a 24" monitor, and I want one that's good for gaming. I imagine some BF3 in my near future, as well as the iRacing I currently partake in.

So, what 24" monitor would you recommend in the ~$200 price range.

So far I've found two that are highly recommended but each seem to have minor issues. Both are $199.



Some people have had problems with the Viewsonic when using ATI graphics card, which I have (Radeon 5850).

For the ASUS, some people complain that the backlighting is really uneven from side to side.

Doing some more searching I found this deal:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo

After an initial glance it seems to have similar properties as the other two, it just happens to be $50 cheaper and comes with a keyboard and a mouse. It also has some widget crap that I couldn't care less about.

So should I be cheap and get the $150 that "seems" as good as the others?

Any of you guys have experience with these brands? I've had a Samsung for many years and have zero issues. My wife has an ASUS eePC and I suppose it's done alright.

Will it be easier for me to pwn bishes in BF3 with a 24" monitor?

*

Personally I would not go larger than 24" for a gaming monitor.

The two things I look at are response and contrast (after I find the resolution I like, and one with a DVI connection).

It's been a long time since I researched monitors so I forgot what all the GTG and other types of measurement are for response and all the marketing terms used for contrast ratio.

Honestly you want to save up a little more and get a 24" that is 1920x1200. The extra 180 pixels are well worth the price difference.

Hmmm...that gives me something to think about Shuiend.

What if my GPU isn't powerful enough to play the games I want to play (BF3 perhaps) at decent settings at 1920x1200? If I'm relegated to running at 1080 then I'll just have wasted the money on the monitor, that is until I bomb $300 on a GPU upgrade...

gpu alone wont do it, have to have a ok package over all.

I dropped ~900 in feb on a new pc. i run high beta settings and get 40+fps outdoors and +60 indoors. Most games i run at extreme with nothing under 40 fps

ZALMAN CNPS10X Performa 120mm Long life CPU Cooler
Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers
AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDX945WFGMBOX
HIS IceQ X Turbo H695QNT2G2M Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Jeff-man, do you like your ASUS monitor? I guess I'm leaning toward the 24" ASUS as of right now.

My system is:

ASRock H61M/U3S3 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX MB
Intel i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz dual core
Samsung F3 1TB HDD
Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
Upgrading to 8GB DDR3 1333Mhz RAM (currently 4GB of the same)

I would guess our computers would perform pretty comparibly other than the GPU, your 2GB 6950 is probably quite a bit better than my 1GB 5850.

I assume I'll be able to play the game on decent settings at 1080 resolution. I'm not super worried about having all of the graphics maxed out.

I looked at the prices for the 24" 1920x1200 monitors and it seems like the price increase is not worth the resolution to me. The best deal I could find was a Samsung that was $300, but had lower contrast and 5ms response time. I think I'd rather have the much higher contrast and 2ms response time of the ASUS. To get the same contrast and response time in a 1920x1200 monitor would be big bucks. I think that money would be better spent upgrading my video card or getting a 2nd HDD so I could do a RAID 0 set up, or buy a SDD.

So many ways to spend money...

Honestly make sure you do a bit of research. That ASUS you posted before doesn't seem that great.

Response Time --- 2ms (GTG)

That's gray to gray. Which is the marketing way to make it sound good. For colors and it will be much higher.

The dynamic contrast ratio of the ASUS monitors piss me off as well. Depending on the amount of black it will dim the screen to give you a darker black. So the darks look darker because the screen is dim, but the colors and brights also look darker. So their 1000000000000000000:1 contrast ratio is basically BS.

The ASUS and ACER monitors have good reviews because they are mostly bought by people that either don't know what they are talking about. Or are giving them a good bang for their buck rating. I have two, because I needed them for my non gaming computers. But my gaming monitor is a very nice HP. You get what you pay for, there is a reason those monitors are so cheap.

I like this one personally:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824113024

CHEAP if you get it today. Reviews and specs seem good. No experience with them, but they are rated well by gamers.

I have this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...k=acer%20g235h

It works.

2 HD 6950s in crossfire
i7 3.5ghz
16gb ram
blah blah blah


Get a SSD. I wish I did that instead of another HDD for raid 0.


Edit: Actually, it seems that mine is no longer available, but that is the closest thing to it for the same price.

all this talk makes me want to build a new PC.

Do eet! Sandy Bridge is baller.

/thread

fuck you bra, my Asus is bad ass :giggle:

I really like it for gaming. As for 23" vs 24" there is really no difference. Get a screen that matches your play stile and location. 23" covers most of my field of view from where i sit but bigger i would need a deeper desk.

Bad idea. Have you ever measured the input lag of that thing? I guarantee it is terrible terrible.

If you want a big screen for gaming, look at Panasonic. Their new plasmas are excellent for gaming after you run break-in slides for 100 hours. Great contrast ratios and good bang for the buck. Their LCD tvs mostly use S-IPS panels which have excellent response times compared to the majority of the other manufacturers.

OP, what kind of mouse do you have? You'll notice a bigger difference response with a gaming mouse vs a marginally faster monitor.

I run a Dynex 37" 720p TV for my gaming monitor, as well as my 360 monitor and bedroom TV. I also have a couple of 20" ACERs that I got on sale at Best Buy's black friday sale a couple of years ago. I run them wall mounted, one over the other to the left of my main monitor for max gross productivity. By that, I really mean that I can play Black Ops and still see my iTunes and email, lol.

Hard to go wrong with Newegg reviews. Seems like ASUS really has some decent 24" monitors in the $200 price range. I was actually going to get three of these for a nice wrap around setup, but I couldn't source enough spare cash to do it when I wanted it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236153

I currently have a 24" Samsung LCD, but it's closer to $500, so out of the price range. It has amazing color, contrast and sharpness. Response is a bit slow, but not too bad to really notice. I think my next monitor will be a 27" though. Always need bigger.

I have some crappy HP one that I got at Wal-mart after my dell one stopped working. So basically, I have a shit mouse.

What gaming one would you recommend?


All of these replies and now I'm less certain than I've ever been. I don't mind spending a bit more than $200 but I can't drop $500 on a monitor.

The last ASUS linked by NA6C does have good Newegg reviews. I guess I trust Newegg reviews more than Amazon...

Anyway, thanks for all of the replies.

Mouse pad
Razer Nage wireless

I like the naga so i can have butt load of thumb buttons. If you want a 3 months old inthe box wired one for $60 shipped i'll let it go

Anything more in my price range? That is I'm a casual gamer, I'm not looking to spend that much but I don't mind buying nice things...

Whoa, you don't need a mouse in that price range.

$40

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826104577

I was going to recommend the MX518, which I have used for probably 5 years without any problems. The best mouse I have ever used, but the G400 looks like a replacement. Has the same shape, buttons and features, just a different color. Unless you are looking for a wireless mouse, then I cannot help you. Wireless mice may have come a ways since I last used one, but I still prefer wired for gaming. As little lag as you can get.

That's more along the price range I was expecting. I don't mind spending that much on a mouse if it's worth it.

8 buttons though, not sure what I would do with all of those buttons...

I used a Logitech laser wireless mouse for years and thought the saw way. Then i used a friends and was sold. A $35 razer pad makes a $5 mouse feel like a $50 mouse. razer mouse on razer pad is peace in the middle east good.

Holy fuck I put together a nice post, list why the ASUS and ACER get good reviews even though they are shit for gaming, and yet we are still confused?

I even gave you a link to a good monitor, in your price range and nothing? FUck this enjoy your shitty monitor.

Not sure why you are getting all butt hurt. I appreciate your post and I understand your points. Obviously it's hard to trust consumer reviews because, like you said most consumers are idiots and easy to please.

On the other hand I'm having trouble understanding how the Gateway monitor you linked is so much better than the ASUS linked by NA6C. The specs are very similar (I understand ASUS fudges the numbers a bit). And even though half of the reviews of the ASUS might be bogus there are still a lot of really good reviews. So learn me some more why I should get the Gateway instead of the ASUS.

I myself use a Logitech G500. My brother uses a Logitech G9X. We both swear by the 10$ Steel series QCK mouse pad. The difference in response between a wireless and wired mouse is tangible. This 35$ G500 is a world of difference for gaming compared to my 100$ Performance mouse MX. The MX is a cadillac whereas the G500 is a Miata.

No love for my Acer?

Actually Bryce, now that I have to spend $120 on a mouse and $60 on a mouse pad your Acer is looking better and better

8 buttons, but they aren't in the way or anything. The two standard top buttond, two of them are for adjusting your DPI settings on the fly (handy as fuck!), two on the side for forward and back, in viewing pictures, web pages, ect., click in on the wheel is a button apparently, and the 8th button is something I don't know what it's for. So it's not that many buttons really.

You should get it, I assure you, you won't regret it!

So I ended up buying this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001388

which for those of you too lazy to click is a 24" Samsung. I've loved every Samsung product I've ever owned including my current monitor so I figured for just a few more bucks I was better off buying a brand I'm comfortable with. The 24" ASUS was on sale for $170 yesterday, so the Samsung ended up being a full $50 more but oh well. Since I was arbitrarily setting a $200 price range, $220 seemed very reasonable for a 24" Samsung.

I also bought the Logitech G400 which unfortunately wasn't on sale and ended up being a bit more than I wanted to spend, again, oh well. Finally I also bought the mousepad Bryce mentioned.

I'll report back in after spending a few days with the new toys.

You will be happy with the Samsung. I have been using Samsung LCD's for the past 6 years and have been happy with the 2 I have had. I currently use a Syncmaster T240HD as my main monitor and it just looks amazing. It working as a TV is also a big plus.

Just wanna put this in here

http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/d...8w4!1426134810


I have the 2710m (old model) and it is great. Best monitor you can get for under $600 in my opinion (was like ~$350). Great colors, REALLY BRIGHT. It does have a glossy screen, which I like (others may not).

I would never get any less than that. Anything under 27" sorta sucks. Also, I wouldn't go any larger than 28" without bumping to a 2560x1600 resolution.

This is what I want my next monitor to be:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...n&sku=224-9949

While I have nothing but love for my 24'' Samsung monitor... FUCK Samsung! I'll never buy another Samsung product if I can help it. After my DLP problems and losing out on that much money, I can't forgive or forget. My Samsung wall unit a/c is also falling apart, after only 2 summer seasons. My Samsung phone is decent, but I'm falling out of love with it over time. Really my monitor is the only thing I am pleased with.

Congrats on the buy though. I'm sure you'll be happy, as long as you don't have a stuck pixel like mine. Damn blue dot in the center right of the screen. Not covered by warranty unless you have a ridiculous amount of stuck pixels in the center of the screen. One flaw in a product is apparently acceptable, you are required to have several flaws before they give a fuck.

Speaking from the perspective of someone who works for a huge corporation with product lines ranging from military satellites to broadcast transmitters to tools for telephone installers, I can pretty much guarantee you that the departments within Samsung which deal with televisions, air conditioners, computer monitors and telephones have absolutely nothing at all to do with one another.

So then they all suck by themselves, they stand alone. I like when a company makes a good product, and stands behind their products... in my experience, Samsung really doesn't deliver on either of those fronts. I've never dealt with a company that is less willing to help out a long time customer than Samsung. I've basically been told to fuck off several times over the phone and by email when contacting them about a faulty product.

My TV for one, was not an isolated incident. Just from what I saw on the internet, there had to have been at least thousands, if not tens of thousands of other people with the same TV model, with the same problem, and Samsung refused to issue anything to deal with us. So I'm stuck with a $1600 TV, and $400 of parts where I tried to fix it myself. I'm sure I'm not alone, since Samsung wouldn't even offer to have the TV's shipped in to be looked at and possibly fixed.

At least I have the pleasure of saying that I have two big TV's on one TV stand, stacked one in front of the other. So ballin' I put a 55" LCD in front of a 56" DLP. The DLP is just back there for ambient lighting.

Just got the sprint Samsung Galaxy S2, love the phone. Also, Their TVs kick ass in my experience.

I hear all these horror stores about modern TV sets...

My TV is an eleven year old 55" Toshiba (triple CRT) that still works every bit as well as the day I bought it. It's big & heavy, which is a pain as I've moved across the country three times with it, and I keep hoping it'll die so I can have an excuse to buy something newer and lighter, but the ole' girl just keeps on rockin'.

I'd rock an old TV if it weren't for the fact that I need HD.

Mine is HD. Doesn't have a tuner, but it accepts hi-def input via component.

Remember that LCD and Plasma took a long time to become economically viable in large sizes, and even DLPs took a while to mature, so for several years early on, rear-projection CRTs dominated the landscape for large-format HD.

Isn't that limited to 1080i? I do need to find a 4:3 format TV for playing my PS2 games. Anything not current generation gaming console looks like total shit on a 16:9 HD TV.

Is your Toshiba 4:3 or wide?

Go take a look at one of these, it may change your mind:

http://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/UN55D8000YFXZA

The blacks make it look like a plasma, but it weighs much less and does well in bright light. Amazing TV.

No.

Mine's a 4:3. At the time I bought it, 4:3 sets were still a lot more common, and since most of the actual content at the time was 4:3, it made sense.

I'm sure it's awesome, but $3,500 is a tad steep.

If I were to buy a new set today, it's probably be a plasma. The picture quality on these, in general, has improved a lot over the past decade. What I'd really prefer is a DLP, but it seems like there are just too many horror stories. The LED-based ones seemed promising, not sure why they sort of vanished.

I have had basically zero problems with my Samsung products. I have a 40" Samsung LCD, that was a cheaper model 2.5 years ago and it works like a champ, and it looks great (to me...). My wife and I both have Samsung phones, my Galaxy S is super nice (to me...).

Hoping for no dead pixels on arrival...

I have a 56" RCA CRT triple projector that looks like crap. It refuses to hold a decent convergence, so whites always look really fuzzy, especially near the edge of the screen (like where the HUD text is on COD). It's so unbelievably irritating that I just use the 37" Dynex I mentioned earlier in my bed room.

I'm hoping this will be on my doorstep when I get home. It should be here today, maybe tomorrow...