Starting to keep an eye on PC stuff a bit more closely, as I think I will be doing an upgrade in the next 6-12 months

PC still not dispatched. I sad

You're an actual scoundrel and I love it.

@Haak I completely misread your post but you've got me down the monitor rabbit hole again.

I'm thinking 60Hz will be fine for next gen stuff? How does free synch and Gsynch work on console shizzle? I just read that it depends on your video card so it must depend on what the consoles are using?

I'll probably save this for when the proper console specs are out and ask in the relevant thread at the time.

Cheers Tempo, I'll keep an eye out.

So in reality it would be a waste of money to buy a monitor that is capped at 60hz this late into the generation? Again considering this is mainly for PC use as well. I got up this morning and had a few hours to myself with the intention of playing some games and I spent 4 hours researching monitors. My head is done in. Afraid to pull the trigger on anything due to so many varying opinions. 

From what I can understand 4k isn't the be all and end all. So in some cases quad-hd is perfectly fine for the next few years. HDR, well I dunno -- it looked stunning in Sea of Thieves but I'm not really willing to throw money at a monitor just for this feature set. 

That BenQ EW3270U 32 Inch 4K HDR Monitor came on the top of a lot of lists which is why I was considering it but it's capped at 60hz so I'm thinking, mmm - maybe not such a wise purchase? The Dell got decent reviews with the only real negative being it a TN panel and no HDR, everything else looks great though. 

I dunno, it's actually painful trying to buy stuff these days. You would be afraid of your life you'd buy something and it would result in a bad purchase.

Yes, I've said it before but unfortunately monitor purchasing is the most complicated and difficult part about modern tech acquisition, the best you can do is learn a bit about the different technologies and terminologies, and read or watch as many reviews as you can find. It's particularly painful when you want to spend a bit more and get a really good one. There are so many odd factors, like there was a monitor review I saw recently that had the panel fitted upside down for reasons, this meant that subpixel rendering didn't work as it should and text was ever so slightly fuzzy... That kind of mental shit does your head in when researching something to buy.

If I could give better more solid advice I would, but I just don't have the time to keep track of this stuff, and there are just so many unknowns with it. There are some tech review outlets that do fantastic and detailed technical testing, Hardware Unboxed for example have started doing very in depth testing of some monitors, have a look at some of those videos to get an idea of what to look out for.

I would try and break down what you are really looking for in a monitor, your specific intended use case. 60Hz isn't a waste of money particularly, it's just that higher refresh rates offer a much nicer gaming and desktop experience for most people. Everyone has a different nervous system and different sensitivity to this stuff, for me after about 90-100Hz I can't tell that much difference, for others (particularly pro Quake players and the like) 240Hz is where it's at. I think that even when you can't exactly determine what frame rate something is at you can kind of feel when it's all running that much smoother at a subconscious level, really improves the immersion in my experience.

So if you like to play a lot of fast reflex based stuff, or competitive MP games, then a higher refresh rate will make things much easier and improve your results. If you play more laid back stuff then it's of less importance, though it's still always preferred if available.

TN vs IPS vs VA very roughly explained: TN panels have the fastest response, so good for twitch shooters and the like, but can have poor contrast, colours, and usually have bad viewing angles. IPS has good colours, decent(ish) contrast, slower response times, and usually great viewing angles. VA has the best contrast ratio, good colours, but slower response times and can be a bit smeary unless the monitor has a good overdrive setting.

I like my 1080P 144Hz VA monitor quite a bit, the colours are good, the contrast ratio is nice for darker or more cinematic content (much better than the IPS screen I had previously), and I've found the pixel response perfectly ok 90% of the time, the slight blur is a bit like a subtle motion blur effect, something I don't mind at all.

So as a general recommendation I would suggest a VA panel if you like darker or cinematic content, other panel types can have rather grey blacks which I find quite distracting and un-immersive. Different manufacturers have their own take on the various techs though, like Samsung has their Quantum Dot stuff which might be quite good. Worth looking into.

HDR stuff is a mess from my understanding, a number of different standards and varying qualities of implentation in games and display hardware. A good idea but will take some time for it to mature.

And some sort of adaptive sync is very highly recommended, if you're not sure about compatibility with your graphics card ask here and I can try to check, it's all becoming quite interoperable now though.

Paul the sparky wrote:

@Haak I completely misread your post but you've got me down the monitor rabbit hole again.

Tell me about it, all consuming...

It's why Scan are Gods

regmcfly wrote:

Blaaargh. Spoke to Chillblast today and my motherboard isn't in stock, which is why there's been a delay. Hopefully in tomorrow and then pc with me by weekend.

Have you not haggled for the 5% off?

Speedhaak wrote:

regmcfly wrote:

Blaaargh. Spoke to Chillblast today and my motherboard isn't in stock, which is why there's been a delay. Hopefully in tomorrow and then pc with me by weekend.

PC for the purposes of gaming or a a work PC? What are the specs, missed it in the thread

Gaming PC. No teacher needs what I need. I am hoping for some 4K with mostly 1440p gaming. No RTX as I couldn't shout the mad cost there. Will maybe add later.

Right then, after another day of research, reading and comparing reviews and weighing
 up the options available to me I have decided upon: https://www.dell.com/en-ie/shop/dell-32-curved-gaming-monitor-s3220dgf/apd/210-atvc/monitors-monitor-accessories?ref=p13n_ena_pdp_vv&c=ie&cs=iedhs1&l=en&s=dhs

Cor 165Hz, very nice. I assume you've checked out reviews and such, that looks like a fantastic monitor. Mine happens to be curved too, not sure how much that affects things, but I think if you get up to the right distance it can make things a wee bit more immersive. Curved has some downsides of course, like other people in a room won't get the benefit, and in some CAD/art instances where it can make edges and angles seem slightly off.

I think I'll be holding off until you can get specs like that in a 4K monitor for a reasonable price.

If you haven't experienced high refresh rates before you're in for a treat, just moving your mouse or windows around or scrolling should look so much smoother than your old one. With a high Hz comes lower input latency too, everything will feel snappier and just nicer.

Oh and a nice big 32" screen