I need a new gaming monitor

minirhyder

I couldn't find a general monitor thread, so here we go.

I'm in the market for a new monitor, ~24-27" for MMO gaming (mostly World of Tanks and The Division; I do all my single player gaming through my Steam Link on my TV). My budget is ~$300.

I've been out of the monitor game for a while so I'm not sure what to even look for. I'm really just looking to get a new one (my current one is oooolldd), and up the immersion a little bit if possible.

Are 4K worth it? I have a GTX 760, and based on what I read I'd need to upgrade that too?
What about curved monitors? I've read that it makes things a tinge more immersive, but I've also read that they're just technology for the sake of technology and don't really offer any benefits.
Should I just buy the best rated flat 1080 monitor in my price range?

DarkPrimus

Based on an article on RPS, I got a BenQ GW2765HT which is a 27" 1440 screen and is really fantastic.

Like you I've got a GTX 760 and while I can't quite run XCOM 2 on max settings (and so presumably not all the brand-new brand-new stuff as well) the vast majority of games are running just peachy.

ShinyRedKnight

I've been recently testing different monitors, so I thought I would give some good suggestions.

On 4K, I would completely ignore it. The amount of power it demands is exponentially high. For example, short of the newest Titan X you won't be seeing steady, high frame rates in modern games. While you may not care about the dips below 60 fps, as more intensive games come out even the latest hardware will more quickly lag behind at 4K. Additionally, some games still don't properly support 4K. Not many have that issue, but they're out there.

For $300, you can get a very nice 1080p monitor with an excellent panel as well, such as IPS. I recommend something from Dell or Samsung. If you want to go cutting edge, take a look at Samsung's 24 inch quantum dot gaming monitor. I am unsure if it's out yet, just make sure to pay attention to reviews as it is new tech.

BlindZenDriver

I just wanna put in a few words for an alternative you may not have considered. Check out the 40" 4K monitors!

A year and a half ago I moved from a 27" 1440p to a 40" 2160p and I love it. For gaming it just makes things so much more immersive and for anything else it is preferable to a traditional two monitor setup(the lack of bezels getting in the way gives so much freedom). Also since a 4K 40" brings pretty much the same DPI as a 27" 1440 it means there is no issue with GUI elements being too small.

My 40" 4K is a Philips and I think they were pretty much to offer a monitor like that, but there are alternatives as well just don't be fooled and buy a TV as most/all of those brings drawbacks for computer use.

Synthesis

I've switched completely over to 4K (Windows 10 scales excellent with it, and programs that don't have scalable have a variety of solutions from configuration editing to running them at a lower resolution). A far greater issue are games that are CPU dependent than GPU dependent in my experience.

However, I have to imagine a GTX 760 would have some serious issues with it--I'm running a GTX 1080, so I can consistently get 60 FPS at 4K at graphical settings I like with no trouble (and when I can't, it's usually a CPU problem), but with a GTX 760 you'll probably encounter issues at 1440p on the highest graphical settings, much less 150% that vertically and horizontally. 1440p will have the same scaling issues, but less severe (expect to do a a bunch of squinting with older games though unless you use the above solutions). Given your GPU, you may be better off getting the best 1080p monitor in your budget.

I also really don't think with a GTX 760 you're going to get the sort of framerates to actually take full advantage of a 144hz refresh rate without making some serious concessions in your detail settings.

I'm a fan of IPS, but it does apparently have worse response times--I can't tell, but on the other hand, there are people for whom the better color and blacks in IPS aren't noticeable versus TN. For $300 at 1080p, you do have a lot of different options on Amazon.