Peripherals Edit. 32"+ monitor suggestions £500 or less budget.

I have been pretty happy with my Dell Ultrasharp U2011 but for a while I have an urge for a bigger monitor.

What I wanted was an affordable 32" G-Sync monitor but prices are way over what I could afford. So decided to look at something a little smaller.

Have my eye on this, Acer Predator 28", which is about my price point though would probably step up to £500 at a pinch.

Are there others out there to consider?

Edit: Just noticed that this is a 4K so not sure if my 980 will be up for the job?

 

I was also after a new screen, as you already know, Glenn.
I was after 32", but ended up falling in love with 40" and I finally got it yesterday.

I played whole night and I'm even more in love
As I mentioned here, this is amazing, incredible, extraordinary. Sitting in front of 40" is a delight.

40" is NOT too big - at first, when was unboxing it, I was shocked how huge this thing is, but when hang it on my wall and played first few minutes of MGS5 or Witcher, I found out that 40" is perfect size! Exactly was I wanted! It's really not too big, it's like perfect size - to remind, distance between my eyes and screen surface is about 50cm.
Fact is that I need to turn my head to look at corners, but that's only when I open lots of windows - doesn't really happen to be honest. I keep my firefox window in the middle of the screen when browsing internet or windows explorer. When playing games or watching movies, I run it full screen, so no issues there. The biggest advantage is the immersion - now I believe that if I would go with 32" I wouldn't be able to feel the same, maybe even disappointed - difference between 27" and 32" is not that big - that's what I think now. Difference between 27" and 40" isn't that much either! It's like proper upgrade, seriously.

Anyway, I don't think I will ever come back to smaller screen. 40" defines pc gaming for me. Period.

 

I read the thread Mike so yes I was aware that you had bought a Phillips but could not see a link to the particular one. Was it this one? http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...2340!&ef_id=ViugfwAAAMUlRRMj:20151028105452:s

Not sure that my single 980 would do it justice and I could not afford or do I want to go SLI, I prefer a single card.

 

I have that Acer and yeah, as you've worked out a single 980 would not be powerful enough. I initially bought it because I had a pair of Titan Black, which IIRC are about 5% slower than the 980 and even with two some games were unplayable (mostly due to Nvidia derping the 7xx series though).

A 980ti or Fury X is sort of like the 4k entry level, with SLI or CFX allowing you to raise the settings.

 

Thanks, as I said I have no intention or indeed have the money to SLI my 980 for 4K. So will need to keep on looking.

 

Ideal resolution would be 1440p but as you probably know the Swift is a bit pricey. IIRC Acer do a Predator that runs at that resolution but it also isn't cheap.

If you're happy to stick at 1080p Acer do a Gsync Predator that runs at 144hz for £250 or so? IIRC.

 

I am just wondering if by getting the above Predator I linked to whether things will still look good with my 980 and hopefully when I upgrade my GPU in the future then I will be able to enjoy full 4K, if that makes sense, and I am not sure it does?

 

You can run it at lower resolutions you know man? like 1440p..

I can vouch for the Acer. It's an awesome monitor with plenty of future potential.

If you like I will try mine at 1440p later and tell you if it looks like ass or not? TBH I've not tried that yet.

 

That would be very helpful, thank you kind sir.

 

To be honest, if I was going to pay £450 for that Predator, I would add a hundred an buy 40" 4K.
I know, 980 non-Ti is not enough for full 4K on full details, but you can always change the res to ultra wide 34" which should be fine for your 980. Or lower details in games to run 4K. Or change res to 1440p - opened MGS5 last night after I installed this monitor and didn't notice it was set on old res 1440p from my 27" monitor, till I got to settings menu. So 1440p looks really good on 4K 40".
Then, like you mentioned, you will be upgrading your GPU some point in the future. Maybe next year, when new nvidia cards come out, then 980Ti will drop on price, definitely. I paid £460 for my 980Ti, but know that it will cost half of that next year

You have 27" screen already right? So I wouldn't buy 28" just for 4K G-sync and pay £450.
My 40" doesn't have g-sync or that amd version of that feature, but I don't care about it, I have vsync on in games.
Plus, 4K on 28" is gonna kill your eyes, Glenn, but that's my opinion.
This 40" has same ppi as our 27" 1440p screens, so I didn't have to do any scaling, just left it all at 100%.
I've read that people say 27-28" at 4K is too small.

Just my 2 pennies

 

So can you link to the one you did get Mike?

 

The only problem for me with the 40" is that it's 40". That's one huge honker of a monster and it would not fit on my desk. I already had to downgrade my speakers to cope with this 28" monitor. The issue for me is I run a 24" on the wall on a bracket next to my monitor that's connected to my wife's PC. My wife likes to play Borderlands and so on but she tends to get confused sometimes and gets lost. So I set up the 24" so I can see where she is and go and find her etc lol.

Apparently HP are going to be doing a version of their 32" Spectre for £500 soon but I am beginning to think that it was a error in the article I read because the actual price is a cool grand. I could probably manage that but I would have to get rid of my speakers completely and put them on the wall behind it or something (not ideal).

Kronos.. I'm quite surprised I had not tried this before, but here is Witcher 3 running at 1440p on the Acer.



Now I was expecting it to look fuzzy and awful but I'm quite pleased at the result. There was no fuzziness to the graphics and they remained very sharp (apart from looking like ass because they're not running at 4k )

You may actually get away with some games at 4k on the 980. Mad Max, for example, runs quite a dated engine so on my Fury X I get a jammed 60 FPS.

And 4k on 28" does not kill the eyes. Windows automatically detects you're running 4k and will resize everything so you wouldn't even know you were running 4k and I've seen none of it in games.

I've had mine for about eight months and I've had no issues with squinting or headaches etc.

I would change it out for a 32" though but I just feel 40" for PC gaming is too big. If I wanted big I could use my 65" TV lol.

Edit. Also this.

You want Gsync. Trust me, as some one who used to run Gsync but now can't (because I went AMD Fury X) you do want it. I know those who haven't experienced it will say you don't but you do.

When you are running 4k you are tossing around an awful lot of graphics, which will see your min FPS plummet. This isn't something that happens rarely, it will happen a lot (especially in games like GTAV with large maps). When that happens Gsync will kick in and keep the experience smooth for you. I have two choices now, VSYNC (and suffer from issues like input lag) or VSYNC off and watch it tear.

Having experienced Gsync? I would not buy another monitor that was not Gsync, or Freesync now that I'm running AMD.

Do know though that you are paying around £150 for it. You can get pretty much the same Acer without it for much less.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/acer...led-monitor-black-um.pb6ee.009-mo-084-ac.html

Link replaced..

 

Appreciate it mate but I do feel that 28" is not a big enough upgrade from my current 27" and I do have the space for a 40"er, my desk is 1450cm x 850cm got it from a firm I worked for moons ago. Just put it up on castors as it was a real pain to move.

Back to the monitor. Both arguments are persuasive so more research and more thinking to be done. I suspect with Christmas so close that I will need to leave it's purchase until next year now.

 

So no freesync or G-sync, this one? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-BDM4065UC-40-Inch-Monitor-5000/dp/B00OO9YWR0

 

Gsync requires an Nvidia module to work. Freesync pretty much only needs a certain type of Displayport or HDMI2 to work (I could be wrong about HDMI2.)

Any way, AMD need to check the monitor over, then simply add it to their Freesync supported list. However, if Philips have not approached them then it won't be supported.

Having experienced Gsync and then losing it I can really vouch for it, especially at 4k. Losing it sucked. I could have got a 980ti but after the 970 debacle and tiny difference at 4k I decided to go AMD.

That Philips is only that price because it does not have either. Mind you, Freesync would be about as useful to you as a chocolate teapot because you have an Nvidia GPU.

I know you don't think the Acer is worth it because of size dude but trust me, 4k is a whole new thing. It's like going from dial up to broadband and the graphical differences can be massive. I came from an AOC 1080p 3D monitor and the two simply don't compare. At all.

I looked at the current 32" offerings but none really excited me. I like the HP Spectre (both the 1440p and 4k models) and they also come with Beats audio (which would help given I'd have to dump my speakers) but sadly neither are available in the UK any way.

 

This one

EDIT:

As you see, there are different opinions, so please do not suggest on mine only, but please read those big threads about this 40" on Hardforum or OCUK which both cover everything about it, to see what it really is, how it works, people's experience etc.

This is huge decision, I don't know how about you, but for me spending £530 on a monitor is big thing, same as I spent on 980Ti - I was saving money for this for a long time.
I wanted to get 32" first, but then after reading loads of stuff about 4K and this 40" monitor I convinced myself that I will be fine with 980Ti - next year we will see new cards too, so I believe technology next year will catch up with 4K and it won't be an issue anymore. To be honest I believe now 4K isn't an issue for 980Ti - the most demanding game o far is Witcher 3 - but on Uber settings will ALL on, it goes down to 32fps for me (stock 4670K and 980Ti Super Jetstream factory OCed card, 8GB RAM). I was never a demanding gamer, never felt I need to have 144Hz screen, 100fps to get games smooth etc. For me anything that doesn't go under 25-30fps is fine. So Witcher 3 with vsync on (which as far as I understand is same as g-sync or freesync) works fine for me, no screen tearing etc.

Truth, I never experienced gsync or freesync - I don't know how it is to play with these on, but vsync in games fixes tearing for me, so happy days.
Only thing with 40" is to get used to the size - when I sit 50cm from it I see that corners of it are a bit darker - this is usual thing with VA panels, but when I sit back in my chair (going 60-70cm) I can see it all goes even. So simply I sit too close to it
My desk is 50x100cm, so this weekend I'm going to Ikea to get bigger top - 60x120cm. Should be easy to swap. This will keep me away from the screen by additional 10cm and also make space for my speakers and PC. I saw your desk I'm sure you will be fine with 40".
I'm just saying that for one inch more, 4K and gsync I wouldn't pay £450. Imagine you will probably get around £180-200 for your screen, so you're looking at adding >£250 - just for 1 inch more?! No way.. If it was 1 inch in length of my... "joystick", then hell yeah, but screen? Nope

Depends on your requirements, mine was simply size of the screen - immersion in games. VA blacks, colors and 4K was just a bonus. I finally found my perfect monitor size - 40". It's not too big, it's... perfect, simply exactly what I wanted. It's huge for normal use, like internet browsing, but thing is I keep my frefox window in 1/3 of the size and it's exactly same font and icons size as 27" 1440p.
Then rest of the stuff I do on my PC - watching youtube, movies, my photos and games - all this is amazing on 40". This is my second day of using it, but I can't stop smiling, I'm so happy I got it


OK, that's it. I stop now

 

I have come to the conclusion that 40" is far to big after trying a 32" TV in the monitor position and feeling that that is about right for my eyes.

So looking for some suggestions in that size range, I think £500 budget will still apply.

 

My TV is 40" and I wouldn't want to play having it 50cm from my eyes...
That said, you get used to all sizes.
My main PC at the moment is a 12" 1080 netbook, the second one a 10" netbook, after half a year or so on these two, my 24" monitor is huge again!

 

Just finished another long gaming session on my new 40" - now I'm 100% certain that 40" is not too big - it is exactly perfect for games.
I measured it and I sit and play in 65cm distance from the screen and it feels amazing - immersion is unbelievable! I just spent 6 hours playing Witcher 3 and now need to go to bed for my 3 hours sleep before i go to work, but I have to say I could sit here and play even longer.
This is the best purchase since 980Ti and SSD.

I know this is my opinion and I don't want to convince you Glenn to get 40" but check what distance you will sit from your screen and check the difference between your 27" and 32" TV - it may be not that much...
Plus as far as I read on internet, 32" monitors selection (BenQ, Acer, AOC, Samsung) have issues, like banding etc. This 40" Philips had a lot less issues thanthose with 32" VA panel.

OK, now I will stop. Decision is yours

 

I am about 12 feet or so from my 32" TV but less than two from my 27" monitor so some considerable difference. I may go and have a look at a 40" TV and see how comfortable it is close up.

What is banding by the way?