Indecision: 1440/1080

[Eradan]

I sold my three Dell U2412s because I want to move up to a 27" display. I'm really torn on which resolution to go with. Maybe some of you can offer some suggestions based on your own experiences. Here are my usage needs:

Gaming: WoW, Hearthstone, Tomb Raider, FTL, RPGs (Might and Magic X, Wasteland 2). I know Witcher 3 is coming. I wonder how well my system will handle that game at 1440. It SEEMS like the additional resolution at 1440, however, would be nice for RPGs. I rarely FPS. A little Skyrim here and there.

Work: I do a lot of remote work from home. It's nice to have a few RDP sessions open along with email and a browser. Three monitors has been a blessing for this kind of work. If I go 1440, cost is going to limit me to one display now and a second one later this year. I don't know if I would ever want to buy a third. The 1080p displays are priced such that I can buy two immediately and another relatively soon.

Other: I write. I program a little. Lots of browsing. As a table-top RPG nerd, I have a lot of books in PDF format that I usually have open.

I'm presently using a 42" LG on my PC at 1080p. This thing is way too big and text is a little chunky. I did look at 1080p 27" displays at Micro Center yesterday and I have one client that uses one. I checked it out last Thursday and found that most of the complaints I've read about 1080p at 27" don't really apply to me. I think I could live with this resolution.

I also looked at a few 1440 displays (Micro Center had a Dell, Asus, and an HP) yesterday and think they're very nice. The Apple Cinema displays I've installed for clients are amazing (but way beyond my budget). I worry about my single GTX 670's ability to drive a 1440p display with all the dials turned up to 10. It also bugs me that I'll be stuck with only one monitor for awhile (but I can probably fit MORE content on it).

I have $600 to work with. Hoping the get something quickly. Micro Center has the HP ZR2740w for $399. I love the Dell U2713HM but it's $600-$700. The Asus is $549 but not in stock. Ugh.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else went down a similar path and if so, what did you decide on, and do you regret it?

Thank you.

 

[Quartz-1]

If you can boost your budget a little, then Lenovo are supposed to be releasing a 4K monitor for US$799 in a month or so.

 

[Eradan]

If you can boost your budget a little, then Lenovo are supposed to be releasing a 4K monitor for US$799 in a month or so.

Would almost certainly require a video card upgrade as well.

 

[austinpike]

IMHO the productivity gains w/ 1440 are so worth it. I would think downsampling to 1080 if you need to for gaming would still look decent enough. The HP is a good choice with great warranty, the Dell/Asus have more flexibility on inputs, but only DP and DVI would drive full res anyway, so I don't think you're giving up much. Microcenter has a such a liberal return policy, you really don't have anything to lose by trying the HP, take it back if it's not working for you.

 

[1186]

I was in a similar situation a few months ago. I was upgrading from a dual Dell 2407w setup to a single 27 inch monitor. My video card at the time was also a GTX670.

After doing a lot of research here is what I ended up doing:
1. Purchased a HP 2740W for around $400 - while not perfect it's still a good monitor for my needs which are similar to yours with the exception that I play a lot of FPS. I decided not to spend a lot of money on a 27inch 1440p monitor knowing that in a couple of years I might be upgrading to a 4k monitor. I also ruled out a 27inch 1080p monitor because it didn't offer enough screen real-estate.

2. Upgrade to a GTX 780 - Tried to use my GTX 670 for a couple of days but it became apparent to me, based on the games I like to play, that it wasn't a powerful enough card. Unfortunately given how powerful the 670 still is, I didn't have a lot of options to up grade to. One option I considered was an AMD 290/290x but they are selling at insane prices. That left either the 780 or 770. The 770 wasn't enough of an upgrade so I decided on the 780. Note that the 780 TI wasn't yet available but it would have been outside of my budget anyways.

I must say that I am very happy with my decision and wish I had done it sooner. The setup is not perfect but it is really great for my needs at home. I also work on a 27 inch Apple monitor at work so I have a constant reminder about what a really expensive 1440p monitor looks like. Even then I have no regrets about buying the HP 2740w.

 

[Mokkat]

im gonna suggest the obvious before someone else does: Qnix qx2710 / X-star dp2710. Basically the same panel from the expensive 1440p monitors in a lackcluster casing, for 300$. Only 1 input but overclocking of the refreshrate possible

I havent tried one myself but I've been close to buying one on occasion. I wouldnt be shy about driving one with a single 670gtx - the 660ti might have trouble at that res but the 670 should be fine, especially if you dont play fps'. Buying a cheap secondhand one for SLI would also be possible

 

[Quartz-1]

Would almost certainly require a video card upgrade as well.

Not for the GPU light applications the OP is considering.

 

[Eradan]

IMHO the productivity gains w/ 1440 are so worth it. I would think downsampling to 1080 if you need to for gaming would still look decent enough. The HP is a good choice with great warranty, the Dell/Asus have more flexibility on inputs, but only DP and DVI would drive full res anyway, so I don't think you're giving up much. Microcenter has a such a liberal return policy, you really don't have anything to lose by trying the HP, take it back if it's not working for you.

The 1440p Asus is $150 more than the HP. Trying to figure out why that is. The Dell is even more expensive. Probably worth trying as you say.

I was in a similar situation a few months ago. I was upgrading from a dual Dell 2407w setup to a single 27 inch monitor. My video card at the time was also a GTX670.

After doing a lot of research here is what I ended up doing:
1. Purchased a HP 2740W for around $400 - while not perfect it's still a good monitor for my needs which are similar to yours with the exception that I play a lot of FPS. I decided not to spend a lot of money on a 27inch 1440p monitor knowing that in a couple of years I might be upgrading to a 4k monitor. I also ruled out a 27inch 1080p monitor because it didn't offer enough screen real-estate.

2. Upgrade to a GTX 780 - Tried to use my GTX 670 for a couple of days but it became apparent to me, based on the games I like to play, that it wasn't a powerful enough card. Unfortunately given how powerful the 670 still is, I didn't have a lot of options to up grade to. One option I considered was an AMD 290/290x but they are selling at insane prices. That left either the 780 or 770. The 770 wasn't enough of an upgrade so I decided on the 780. Note that the 780 TI wasn't yet available but it would have been outside of my budget anyways.

I must say that I am very happy with my decision and wish I had done it sooner. The setup is not perfect but it is really great for my needs at home. I also work on a 27 inch Apple monitor at work so I have a constant reminder about what a really expensive 1440p monitor looks like. Even then I have no regrets about buying the HP 2740w.

That's one of my major sources of hesitation...I don't want to feel like I need to upgrade my video card. Not just for financial reasons, but because I don't have much left in the tank for working on my gaming rig after working on IT crap all day long. I had planned on going down to Micro Center after work today but after 8+ hours working on a server migration, I just came home. I do need to find out when the next generation of cards is due from Nvidia. I could probably get excited about an 800 series card.

im gonna suggest the obvious before someone else does: Qnix qx2710 / X-star dp2710. Basically the same panel from the expensive 1440p monitors in a lackcluster casing, for 300$. Only 1 input but overclocking of the refreshrate possible

I havent tried one myself but I've been close to buying one on occasion. I wouldnt be shy about driving one with a single 670gtx - the 660ti might have trouble at that res but the 670 should be fine, especially if you dont play fps'. Buying a cheap secondhand one for SLI would also be possible

I'll be the guy that gets one of the defective Korean displays. Part of the reason I deal with Micro Center is because it's relatively painless to return unwanted or defective products. As far as SLI goes, see above. More than I care to mess with at home these days. I tend to lurk in the [H]ardware forums and get active every three or four years when it's time to upgrade. I've been doing this for so long, I just don't enjoy the journey like I used to. I just want a reasonably powerful and stable system for gaming.

Not for the GPU light applications the OP is considering.

Is Witcher 3 considered GPU light? I did finish Tomb Raider last year with everything cranked at 1200p (including TressFX). There are other game genres with demanding graphics beyond FPS.

I work south of town tomorrow and will be half way to Micro Center so I plan to go there on lunch and bring something home. Will continue to monitor this thread tonight and tomorrow morning and continue to do some research between bouts of Hearthstone. I literally just took 800mg of ibuprofen after dealing with this 42" LG today. Need to get something else pretty soon.

Thanks, everyone, for taking the time to read and respond. I really do appreciate it.

 

[austinpike]

The 1440p Asus is $150 more than the HP. Trying to figure out why that is. The Dell is even more expensive.

The ZR2740w was in that same $600-$700 range; probably dropped recently since the Z27i came out.

 

[Quartz-1]

Is Witcher 3 considered GPU light? I did finish Tomb Raider last year with everything cranked at 1200p (including TressFX). There are other game genres with demanding graphics beyond FPS.

Mea culpa - I got mixed up between FPS and MMO.

 

[temp9300]

What about desktop, browsing, office use with 27" at 1440?
Aren't the letters too small? Do you feel you have to stay closer to the screen or have you used some setting in windows to make the font larger?

 

[Eradan]

Mea culpa - I got mixed up between FPS and MMO.

No worries, sir.

What about desktop, browsing, office use with 27" at 1440?
Aren't the letters too small? Do you feel you have to stay closer to the screen or have you used some setting in windows to make the font larger?

I can't answer this. My longest exposure to 1440 is setting up Macs with Apple Cinemas displays for a few clients. I've never really worked or gamed at the resolution. The Apple displays look fantastic but the 27" 1080p displays I've seen aren't bad either.

It looks like the difference between 1080 and 1440 with my video card is around 20fps. Most of the benchmarks I looked at showed the 670 dipping down into the 40s for games Witcher 2. I don't know what to do.

I still plan to go to Micro Center on lunch today. Here's what I'm considering:

Asus MX279H (1080p)
Dell P2714H (1080p)
HP ZR2740w (1440p)

The Asus and Dell are around $325 and the HP is $400. If I go with either of the 1080p displays, I was going to try it out until the weekend and either return it if I'm unhappy or buy a second one if I good to go.

 

[austinpike]

What about desktop, browsing, office use with 27" at 1440?
Aren't the letters too small? Do you feel you have to stay closer to the screen or have you used some setting in windows to make the font larger?

Nope. I love it.

 

[NCX]

Google some reviews and use the thread search function. There are plenty of related threads in the first page of the Display Section.

The MX279H, PB278Q and P27414H use LED PWM Dimming (Side Effects) and the 1080p monitors use grainier matte coatings compared to the good 1440p monitors. The ZR2740W is the best name brand 1440p monitor along with the BenQ BL2710PT under 600$ (PS my essentially perfect, calibrated BenQ is for sale [H]ere). The U2713HM suffers from revision performance variance (some revisions suffer from very obvious overshoot ghosting which shows up during normal use: scrolling text slowly, moving the mouse and windows) and 'extra' quality control issues (cross-hatching, yellow light bleeding and image retention along with regular pixel and light bleeding issues). The good 1440p Korean monitors are 'safer' purchases over the U2713HM, and arguably better monitors.

 

[Eradan]

Google some reviews and use the thread search function. There are plenty of related threads in the first page of the Display Section.

The MX279H, PB278Q and P27414H use LED PWM Dimming (Side Effects) and the 1080p monitors use grainier matte coatings compared to the good 1440p monitors. The ZR2740W is the best name brand 1440p monitor along with the BenQ BL2710PT under 600$ (PS my essentially perfect, calibrated BenQ is for sale [H]ere). The U2713HM suffers from revision performance variance (some revisions suffer from very obvious overshoot ghosting which shows up during normal use: scrolling text slowly, moving the mouse and windows) and 'extra' quality control issues (cross-hatching, yellow light bleeding and image retention along with regular pixel and light bleeding issues). The good 1440p Korean monitors are 'safer' purchases over the U2713HM, and arguably better monitors.

Thank you for responding. I have seen mention of the PWM issue but haven't looked at it closely. I just sold my three Dell U2412m displays which were criticized for their AG coatings and PWM and neither bothered me.

I looked at the HP ZR2740w again today at Micro Center and was left feeling underwhelmed. No doubt it has to do with the environment in which I observed it. And my general disdain for HP after years of dealing with many of their product (an attitude which I realize is probably unreasonable).

I did purchase an Asus MX279h. I'm going to take it for a spin for the rest of the week and see how I feel on Saturday. I can swap it for something else. I should have grabbed one of the HPs while I was there as well to compare.

 

[NCX]

If the MX279H was set to Scenery or Theater mode I can see it being impressive, but the colors are over-saturated and inaccurate when using those modes. The HP should look more vibrant while still being accurate and obviously sharper (higher resolution+clearer matte coating) than the Asus's Standard mode which has the most accurate colors.

 

[Eradan]

If the MX279H was set to Scenery or Theater mode I can see it being impressive, but the colors are over-saturated and inaccurate when using those modes. The HP should look more vibrant while still being accurate and obviously sharper (higher resolution+clearer matte coating) than the Asus's Standard mode which has the most accurate colors.

The demo model today was in Game mode. I have mine setup at home now and, man, Scenery and Theater modes will melt your face. The saturation is over the top. I am currently operating in Standard mode.

Enjoying the display so far. The size of resolution of the panel are comfortable and I like the bezel design. I didn't think I would care about the speakers because I wear headphones 99% of the time at the PC. Occasionally the wife and I will watch movie trailers or a YouTube video at the PC so the speakers are a welcome addition, even if they won't get much use. I'm also glad for the HDMI inputs. I'm going to connect my PS3 and see how it looks.

As far as color accuracy, I'm ashamed to admit that I'm one of the legion of simpletons doesn't appreciate a properly calibrated display. Granted I've had my home theater displays calibrated for years, I don't hold gaming in the same regard as movie-watching. My first years with a home computer were spent parked in front a VIC-20 and a godawful 13" Zenith color TV. So I look at this Asus, even if it isn't the ideal display, and marvel.

Having said all that, I haven't removed any of the plastic wrap from this thing and kept the box tidy as I unpacked. We'll see how I feel come Saturday. Now I just need to find a game to play on this thing.