Help Me Choose a 1440p Monitor

Griswold

Hey all,

I'm looking to tap into the knowledge of forumers who own/have used 1440p monitors.

For the last 3 1/2 years, I've been using an ASUS VH236H, which has served me flawlessly. It's a 23" 1080p monitor with a TN panel, 60Hz refresh rate.

I game on my PC quite a lot. FPS, RTS, MMO, MOBA, building/survival, you name it. My current graphics card is a 2GB MSi GTX 670.

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Some things I've heard:

1) IPS panels have much sexier (read: more accurate) color representation than TN panels. This isn't a thing I've ever noticed with my current monitor, and I don't really do any Photoshop or design-type work, but it's something to consider.

2) From a twitch gaming standpoint, some people have alleged that 120Hz refresh rates confer a substantial advantage over 60Hz. A number of FPS players claim that games flow more smoothly, allowing for more accurate aim and faster reaction times. FPS gamers are also frequently stupid (myself included) and I expect them to say all sorts of bullshit to justify purchases they've already made. Grain of salt.

3) 1440p is so much more beautiful than 1080p. I doubt anyone will argue this point, as I've heard there's really no comparison. Assumption #3 is the whole reason I'm considering this upgrade in the first place.

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Some considerations:

1) Currently, there's no such thing as a 1440p/120Hz/IPS panel. Earlier this month at CES, ASUS announced a Q2 release of their ROG SWIFT PG278Q, a 1440p/120Hz monitor. Somewhat regrettably, it's a TN panel, but I haven't been unhappy with my current TN panel.

2) There are a variety of 1440p/60Hz/IPS panels out there now, including a number of well-reviewed "pixel-perfect" Korean models in the $400 range. I know almost nothing about viewing angles/backlight bleed/build quality for these monitors.

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Some questions to those in the know:

1) Can anyone weigh in on 60Hz vs. 120Hz? Is it a substantial difference, is it bullshit, or is it something in between (a fpoon)?
2) How about TN vs. IPS?
3) Do I have the graphics power and VRAM to drive a 1440p monitor? I've looked at some game benchmarks and suspect I'll generally be ok, but I'm nervous about getting choppy framerates down the road. I'd like to keep my current graphics card through at least one more generation, maybe two (replacing it with either a GTX 8xx series or 9xx series).
4) Can anyone with a 1440p monitor they like make a recommendation?
5) Gaming in 4K is far enough down the road that an interim upgrade to 1440p is worthwhile, right?

MrDelish

I have a 7950 and a 1440p monitor and I rarely go over 60 FPS, so a 120Hz monitor would do nothing for you if your card can't handle it. I bought this monitor several months ago and I'm extremely happy with it except for maybe the power button which doesn't work very well but that's a tiny detail. For perspective, I program and play BF4, Arma 3, SC2, and other games on it without noticeable issue with latency.

edit: note that the monitor I linked requires a dual-link DVI connection. It doesn't have HDMI.

Donovan Puppyfucker

My Samsung monitor does 120 hz, and it's smooth as butter. I also have an overclocked GTX680, so I can push 1080p framerates above 60 in quite a few games.

Your best bet for a 1440p monitor from a price/performance position is to get one of the better Korean monitors that use the LG IPS panel. I think they're 60 fps screens, but unless you upgrade your videocard to something like a 780Ti, you won't be bumping up against the refresh rate too often in new games at 1440p Ultra settings.

a5ehren

I have the HP ZR2740w and it's been good to me so far. Runs $450 or so.

Sonork

I bought one of the Korean monitors

http://www.amazon.com/QNIX-QX2710-Evolution-LED-Monitor/dp/B00BUI44US/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

It shipped to my place in 3 days and is great. No missing pixels great colour/contrast and I've over-clocked the refresh rate to 90mhz (atm, can go higher). Only 1 input slot though (Dual DVI-D). Been really happy with it. A friend of mine recently picked up the same one (though he ordered pixel perfect) and is enjoying it as well. I honestly don't know too much about monitors, but the price was right and the reviews on the page won me over.

Griswold

After extensive research I think I'm going to go with the HP ZR2740w, from Microcenter:

-I can get it for $450, which is only slightly more expensive than many of the Korean monitors
-It's going to be a while before I have the graphics power to drive a 1440p display at more than 60 FPS
-IPS colors are sexy
-The ZR2740w doesn't have an internal scaler, which means that despite its relatively high response time (12ms), it ends up having very low input lag, which is important to me for the faster-twitch games I play.

Thanks for the recommendations and input, ya'll.