I need a cheap but descent monitor/video card setup for a computer I want to use to work from home. I'm sure anything made within the last 5/6 years would be more than enough. I have dual monitors at work but I'm not sure if I have space for dual monitors at home. What would you guys recommend for a video card (mb has PCIe slots) and maybe a 30" monitor or 2 smaller monitors? Can't some TVs be used as computer monitors also?
![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
Need advice on a work from home setup
- Thread starter Bird222
- Start date
sinisterDei
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2004
- Messages
- 1,591
Yes, but not all of them are ideal.
Unless your budget is extremely limited, a pair of dedicated monitors would probably be better. 27" is what I consider the 'sweet spot' of price/size ratio, so dual 27" is easily achievable for under $300-$400. Dual 24" is also fine if you have a smaller desk but you won't save much money.
As for a video card, assuming you are not gaming almost any basic GPU will handle it. I would recommend a Geforce GT 710, which should be $50 or less.
Any recommendations on monitors?
sinisterDei
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2004
- Messages
- 1,591
There are a lot of factors going into the monitor purchase decision that aren't strictly technical in nature. Size of your desk, budget, whether you'll be gaming with it or not (high refresh rate / variable refresh rate support), whether color accuracy is important in your line of work, etc.
Recently I built an arcade machine, and for it I bought a Philips 276E9QDSB, which is a 27" 75hz 1080p IPS display with Freesync support. I wanted an IPS monitor for the viewing angles, freesync support @ 75 Hz because some arcade games have funky refresh rates, 27" was the size I was targeting and that monitor has a VESA mount, which I needed to attach it to the cabinet frame. At the time it was $130, but that was pre-coronavirus. Your requirements will likely be completely different.
In general, I would target a non-TN display (IPS or VA). For dual monitors for just doing work, I would probably go with 2x 24" if you're targeting 1080p, unless you have bad eyesight and want the bigger pixels of running a 27" at 1080p. Something like the LG 24BK430H-B seems OK from its spec sheet and it's $130. I would recommend the monitor I purchased, or its 24" brother the 246E9QDSB, but they both seem to be out of stock everywhere.
Recently I built an arcade machine, and for it I bought a Philips 276E9QDSB, which is a 27" 75hz 1080p IPS display with Freesync support. I wanted an IPS monitor for the viewing angles, freesync support @ 75 Hz because some arcade games have funky refresh rates, 27" was the size I was targeting and that monitor has a VESA mount, which I needed to attach it to the cabinet frame. At the time it was $130, but that was pre-coronavirus. Your requirements will likely be completely different.
In general, I would target a non-TN display (IPS or VA). For dual monitors for just doing work, I would probably go with 2x 24" if you're targeting 1080p, unless you have bad eyesight and want the bigger pixels of running a 27" at 1080p. Something like the LG 24BK430H-B seems OK from its spec sheet and it's $130. I would recommend the monitor I purchased, or its 24" brother the 246E9QDSB, but they both seem to be out of stock everywhere.
DoubleTap
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2010
- Messages
- 2,990
I've been WFH for about 10 years. It would help to hear a basic description of how you will use the monitors - email/web/documents? big spreadsheets? CAD? coding?
Some people have jobs where they are often looking at 2-3 documents at a time or have other basic workflow issues that could be impacted by monitor choice.
I'm an outlier because most of my colleagues just use what the company gives them - a small laptop and if you push, maybe a 24" monitor.
In my opinion, it's worth investing in your comfort and your workspace by getting good furniture and good equipment (especially monitors, mounts and keyboards)
I definitely don't need gaming. Mainly I would have Outlook on one monitor and Excel on the other. Also, I am wondering if I could be satisfied with one monitor. Like I said I'm trying to keep this relatively cheap. Also, what is 'non-TN display', 'IPS', and 'VA'?
sinisterDei
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2004
- Messages
- 1,591
These are types of LCD panels. If you go to Newegg and look at their LCD monitor selection, one of the filter criteria is the panel type. TN is the cheapest and can be the fastest, but has the worst viewing angles and generally poor color reproduction; if you've ever looked at a LCD screen from the sides or top and seen the colors go wonky, that was a TN panel. IPS has the best viewing angles and better color accuracy generally, but they tend to be a bit slower response time than TN panels, which would only matter for gaming. VA/PVA/MVA panels are an alternative to either of these, with their performance being closer to IPS panels than TN generally speaking.