Looking for a new monitor

[Dirty Hipsters]

I'm looking to spend my $600 "stimulus" on a new monitor. My old monitor had an unfortunate accident last year when my grass desk shattered and the monitor took a swan-dive onto the floor. It still works but has scratches all over the screen and a few other issues so I'd like to replace it.

I'm looking to get a 32" (or more) 1440p 144hz monitor.

I'm considering getting an ultrawide 34" since it would be useful for work and we're currently stuck working from home for an indeterminate amount of time, but I don't have much experience with ultrawides, and feel like it might be awkward for competitive games.

Any suggestions?

 

[Gordon_4]

I’m running an Acer Predator 34” ultra wide at home right now. It’s an older model so only goes to 3440x1440@100Hz but it’s a joy to play on with most games though sadly I can’t speak to competitive spaces.

In the price bracket you’re looking at, AOC’s CU34G2X is the same size and resolution as the Predator but clocks in at 144Hz and is like $780AUD so adjust for local pricing. For clarity, the newest Acer is $3000AUD

Gigabyte also make the G34WQC with similar specs for $750AUD but I’ve never used their screens so no clue if it’s any good.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I’m running an Acer Predator 34” ultra wide at home right now. It’s an older model so only goes to 3440x1440@100Hz but it’s a joy to play on with most games though sadly I can’t speak to competitive spaces.

In the price bracket you’re looking at, AOC’s CU34G2X is the same size and resolution as the Predator but clocks in at 144Hz and is like $780AUD so adjust for local pricing. For clarity, the newest Acer is $3000AUD

Gigabyte also make the G34WQC with similar specs for $750AUD but I’ve never used their screens so no clue if it’s any good.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I was looking at this monitor: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...34wqc_sa_34_ultrawide_3440x1440p_monitor.html

Seems to have good reviews. https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/gigabyte/g34wqc

I've never actually seen a gigabyte monitor though.

 

[Gordon_4]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I was looking at this monitor: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...34wqc_sa_34_ultrawide_3440x1440p_monitor.html

Seems to have good reviews. https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/gigabyte/g34wqc

I've never actually seen a gigabyte monitor though.

Nor have I, but they have a good enough name in PC hardware from video cards and motherboards that if I had to buy one I’d feel there’s a better than average chance it would be good.

Compare Acer EI342CKR vs Gigabyte G34WQC-SA vs Acer XV340CK

Compare Acer EI342CKR vs Gigabyte G34WQC-SA vs Acer XV340CK

www.bhphotovideo.com

That’s a comparison between the Gigabyte and a pair of Acers in the same price bracket so you can see the features.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Nor have I, but they have a good enough name in PC hardware from video cards and motherboards that if I had to buy one I’d feel there’s a better than average chance it would be good.

Compare Acer EI342CKR vs Gigabyte G34WQC-SA vs Acer XV340CK

Compare Acer EI342CKR vs Gigabyte G34WQC-SA vs Acer XV340CK

www.bhphotovideo.com

That’s a comparison between the Gigabyte and a pair of Acers in the same price bracket so you can see the features.

Ended up buying one of these:

MSI Optix MAG342CQR 34" 3440 x 1440 (2K) Gaming Monitor - Newegg.com

Buy MSI Optix MAG342CQR 34" UWQHD 3440 x 1440 (2K) 1ms (MPRT) 144 Hz 2 x HDMI, DisplayPort AMD FreeSync Curved Gaming Monitor with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

Just set it up and I'll be playing some overwatch and cyberpunk on it tonight to test it out.

 

[Gordon_4]

Ended up buying one of these:

MSI Optix MAG342CQR 34" 3440 x 1440 (2K) Gaming Monitor - Newegg.com

Buy MSI Optix MAG342CQR 34" UWQHD 3440 x 1440 (2K) 1ms (MPRT) 144 Hz 2 x HDMI, DisplayPort AMD FreeSync Curved Gaming Monitor with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

Just set it up and I'll be playing some overwatch and cyberpunk on it tonight to test it out.

Specs sound impressive, I hope it’s everything you wanted in a monitor

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

For some reason my work laptop won't output to this monitor at a higher resolution than 2560x1440, and this monitor's native resolution is 3440x1440, so working on it from my laptop looks hazy.

I suspect that my laptop may not have HDMI 2.0, meaning that it can't push that resolution. I can try buying a USB-C to Display Port cable and see if that allows me to use the max resolution.

Looks and feels great with my desktop, but I'm still working on adjusting the colors to my liking. I haven't quite been able to get them to where I'm really happy.

 

[Ravinoff]

Okay, I must be weird or something, how do you use a 32"+ screen as a PC monitor? That's a TV to my mind, unless you're doing that thing where you run your PC, TV/streaming and whatever consoles all off one screen while sitting across the room somewhere. I actually just got through upgrading from a 21.5"/60Hz to a 24.5"/144Hz on a desktop and find that's more than enough (both 1920x1080).

And what kind of hardware do you have to run those kinds of resolutions at 144Hz? I've noticed my RTX2080 is...well, not struggling, but the fans are spinning noticeably faster now when I've got a game running.

 

[Gordon_4]

Okay, I must be weird or something, how do you use a 32"+ screen as a PC monitor? That's a TV to my mind, unless you're doing that thing where you run your PC, TV/streaming and whatever consoles all off one screen while sitting across the room somewhere. I actually just got through upgrading from a 21.5"/60Hz to a 24.5"/144Hz on a desktop and find that's more than enough (both 1920x1080).

And what kind of hardware do you have to run those kinds of resolutions at 144Hz? I've noticed my RTX2080 is...well, not struggling, but the fans are spinning noticeably faster now when I've got a game running.

I don't have any trouble, and I'm gaming on one as we speak. Admittedly though WOW is not the most demanding of games but when I play Control I have no issues taking everything in. They're also a little shorter, most of their size is along the horizontal plane compared to a television.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Okay, I must be weird or something, how do you use a 32"+ screen as a PC monitor? That's a TV to my mind, unless you're doing that thing where you run your PC, TV/streaming and whatever consoles all off one screen while sitting across the room somewhere. I actually just got through upgrading from a 21.5"/60Hz to a 24.5"/144Hz on a desktop and find that's more than enough (both 1920x1080).

And what kind of hardware do you have to run those kinds of resolutions at 144Hz? I've noticed my RTX2080 is...well, not struggling, but the fans are spinning noticeably faster now when I've got a game running.

Some people use a dual monitor set-up. I prefer a single really big monitor instead. My desk is pretty big, and I also use a keyboard tray, so I'm sitting about 2.5 to 3 feet from my monitor (depending on what I'm doing), so it's not like the monitor covers my full peripheral vision or anything.

I'm currently running a 5700xt, so your RTX2080 is a significantly better card, but I actually only really need to hit 144fps to take advantage of the 144hz when I'm playing e-sports titles like CSGO or Overwatch, which I can easily break 200fps at on the highest settings at 1440p. Most games I'm quite happy running at 60fps.

 

[Gordon_4]

So a bit of thread necromancy since a new one would be redundant. I’m thinking of retiring my two 24inch side monitors and replacing them with a pair of these:

https://www.pccasegear.com/products/53363/viewsonic-vx3276-2k-mhd-qhd-75hz-ips-32in-monitor

Important stats are: 32inch, 2560x1440, 75Hz. Neither are gonna be used for gaming - just video watching and web browsing. They clock in at just $300AUD a pop. So given my prescribed use, you reckon they’ll do okay?

 

[Worgen]

So a bit of thread necromancy since a new one would be redundant. I’m thinking of retiring my two 24inch side monitors and replacing them with a pair of these:

https://www.pccasegear.com/products/53363/viewsonic-vx3276-2k-mhd-qhd-75hz-ips-32in-monitor

Important stats are: 32inch, 2560x1440, 75Hz. Neither are gonna be used for gaming - just video watching and web browsing. They clock in at just $300AUD a pop. So given my prescribed use, you reckon they’ll do okay?

I think they would be more then fine for just basic computer usage. I'm not sure how Viewsonic color is out of the box, I've had issues getting the color right on my asus monitor and gigabyte monitors before. But those look like good basic monitors that you could use for gaming if you wanted.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

So a bit of thread necromancy since a new one would be redundant. I’m thinking of retiring my two 24inch side monitors and replacing them with a pair of these:

https://www.pccasegear.com/products/53363/viewsonic-vx3276-2k-mhd-qhd-75hz-ips-32in-monitor

Important stats are: 32inch, 2560x1440, 75Hz. Neither are gonna be used for gaming - just video watching and web browsing. They clock in at just $300AUD a pop. So given my prescribed use, you reckon they’ll do okay?

For me personally I think 2 32" monitors is too big. The sweet spot is somewhere around 27" for a double monitor set up unless you're going to be doing a lot of things like video editing which really can effectively use the extra screen space.

 

[Gordon_4]

For me personally I think 2 32" monitors is too big. The sweet spot is somewhere around 27" for a double monitor set up unless you're going to be doing a lot of things like video editing which really can effectively use the extra screen space.

It’s a triple setup. I currently have a 32inch Acer Predator as the main monitor because it’s got the higher refresh rate. These monitors will flank it either side. They’re actually cheaper than 27 inch units which I find mind boggling but there’s likely important technical reasons.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

It’s a triple setup. I currently have a 32inch Acer Predator as the main monitor because it’s got the higher refresh rate. These monitors will flank it either side. They’re actually cheaper than 27 inch units which I find mind boggling but there’s likely important technical reasons.

 

[Gordon_4]

View attachment 3694

I won’t lie, there a very juvenile part of me that is excited about this. The part of me that’s still 16 and showing off a sweet setup as if it’s gonna end up in a PC Gaming magazine.

The less dumb reason is that the perspective change from 1440p to 1080p when I move thing a between each screen is doing my head in andI want more off side productivity space.