TheVille

So now that I have my 6870 I'm continuing to look at a replacement monitor for my Acer AL1716 that is getting on its last legs. This means I have DisplayPort1.2, HDMI1.4a and a couple of other fun things to work with and I'd really like to make use of. Despite the fancy capabilities of the card, I have a very hard time spending more than $200 (before 13% sales tax) on a monitor.

I'm not looking to buy YET! Especially after spending so much money and the potential of a good monitor being on sale around boxing day. I don't feel comfortable settling into a new monitor for another month or two (possibly more) until other expenses have been dealt with.

Still, I don't think I have as good an understanding on what I should go for in a monitor, so I'm hoping folks can make suggestions.

Any takers?

To stay in that price range you're going to have to stick with a TN panel, as opposed to VA or IPS. However for gaming that is probably preferred. If you aren't doing anything where you need color accuracy there probably isn't much reason to spend the extra money for a higher quality panel.

Here is a nice little reference that explains the different panel types:
http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/lc ... -types.php

This article at CNET actually looks to be a pretty good read and covers all the basics well. It is over a year old but I don't think anything has changed too much since then.
http://reviews.cnet.com/monitor-buying-guide/

Just for reference, this is my primary monitor, an HP LP2475w. I personally don't notice any gaming issues with it despite being a "slower" H-IPS panel. Color accuracy was my primary concern for the purchase. My computer is a work machine first, gaming has to take a back seat.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824176104


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Sounds like me. Last year I bought a NEC EA231WMi IPS for the color (at a reasonable price, but if one wants to go crazy there's Eizo for $$$$), it makes no claims to being a games monitor, but it does pretty well.

How about this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824236100


or this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824236112

I have a 5850 with all the similar bells and whistles for output ports. I sure as hell did not want to pay alot for a monitor but I wanted to use the eyefinity option. Well, I got my three monitors but to use them I needed one to have a displayport input. Well, I worked my way around this by using this adapter.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

I see now that there is another adapter but I have no clue about this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

So, if you wanna use your displayport but want to cut costs, check this option out.

Checkm8 wrote:I have a 5850 with all the similar bells and whistles for output ports. I sure as hell did not want to pay alot for a monitor but I wanted to use the eyefinity option. Well, I got my three monitors but to use them I needed one to have a displayport input. Well, I worked my way around this by using this adapter.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

That's the one Checkm8 recommended to me (I've got a 5750 w/eyefinity running in all it's glory) and it worked like a champ! Thanks Check!

I think I like ASUS monitors...
newegg is pretty good as to where to get them. Maybe alizee can have some input on that, too?

Be sure to consider the refresh rates of your options. The difference between 60Hz and 75Hz is very noticeable. Last year, I went from 60Hz to 120Hz. The colors aren't as good, but the smoothness makes up for it many times over. TF2 felt like a whole new game, graphics wise. It'd be hard to tell the difference unless you view it in person, online videos will do high refresh rate monitors no justice. I hope I was of some assistance.

Dell has a decent 23" IPS monitor on sale this week for 250$. But it does not have an HDMI connection.

http://accessories.dell.com/sna/sna.asp ... s_monitors

I have one of their Ultrasharps, they're astounding. You can always use a DVI-HDMI adapter on the DVI port on the monitor if your card only has a HDMI output (which I'd be surprised at).

Fraulein Ärztin wrote:I think I like ASUS monitors...
newegg is pretty good as to where to get them. Maybe alizee can have some input on that, too?

I concur, I own an ASUS and they're good if you're looking for a quality budget monitor and don't care about perfect color accuracy. Mine seems to lean toward the cooler side of the color spectrum but I wouldn't have been able to tell without using a calibration DVD to test for it.

Prices being as flexible as they are, especially when major sales are involved, it hard to make an exact recommmendation until purchase time. That said, ASUS definitely has one of the better quality:price ratios out there right now, and with the help of a Boxing Day sale, you shouldn't have to settle for anything less than a solid 24" widescreen for 200 bucks at newegg.ca. If you get the opportunity to pick up a Samsung for the same price, I would take it, as Samsung simply makes the nicest monitors in my opinion, but they tend to have a premium price because of their reputation. I've never had one for home use (I'm using an Asus on this box), but my office had nothing else.

IIRC asus makes the only 8:5 24inch-class monitor with a TN panel. Samsung used to make them, but went down to piddly 16:9. If you do anything more than just movie watching, your eyes will thank you for getting an 8:5 monitor.

Clay Pigeon wrote:IIRC asus makes the only 8:5 24inch-class monitor with a TN panel. Samsung used to make them, but went down to piddly 16:9. If you do anything more than just movie watching, your eyes will thank you for getting an 8:5 monitor.

Isn't that more commonly known as 16:10? Just nitpicking, but I agree, my Ultrasharp is a 16:10 and is much better than my brother's 16:9 ASUS, I actually prefer the color on the ASUS but it's like watching a rectangle squeezed into another rectangle.

I'm using a slightly old Viewsonic VX2235vm with my Radeon 5870. It works for me!