Yay for PC upgrade time!

[Ashasx]

Yes I suppose that's fair. Didn't see that the Acer was 27 inches.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Yes I suppose that's fair. Didn't see that the Acer was 27 inches.

Yeah there's an Acer Predator 24" with a TN that's $630 @ NewEgg which is probably the most comparable to the Dell.

If I was going to settle for a 24" TN I'd probably get the Dell too.

[jaginla]

What do you mainly use your computer for?

[jaginla]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Yeah there's an Acer Predator 24" with a TN that's $630 @ NewEgg which is probably the most comparable to the Dell.

If I was going to settle for a 24" TN I'd probably get the Dell too.

I also +1 for going IPS over TN. The difference is very noticeable.

[photon]

The 4K HDR gaming monitors from ASUS and Acer are delayed until 2018, and who knows how much they'll be, that 27" for $850 is really appealing.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by jaginla

What do you mainly use your computer for?

It's my gaming rig. Don't do any vid editing or anything like that.

[spuzzum]

I need a new gaming rig as well. My desktop is approaching being 6 years old. I'll get a new monitor as well. Is it best to build everything on a site and then have it delivered or go to a local computer shop?

If anyone has a good list of components and monitor to put together, I'd appreciate it. 1440p gaming. SSD. Great video card. Multi-tasking. No video editing. Just gaming. Built to last and up gradable. Budget with monitor say $2000 - $2250.

[photon]

I usually price everything out online, using shopbot.ca and checking the usual suspects (NCIX, DirectCanada, Canada Direct, newegg, Dell, etc), then I go to Memory Express and get them to pricematch and buy it locally. Makes it easier to deal with returns if necessary. Can get some really good deals if you happen to find somewhere with a really good price, MemEx will give a percentage of the difference.

Only downside is I often want things that MemEx doesn't carry so sometimes end up ordering online anyway.

Motherboard and CPU I'll always get locally to get them to mount it.

[jaginla]

Originally Posted by spuzzum

I need a new gaming rig as well. My desktop is approaching being 6 years old. I'll get a new monitor as well. Is it best to build everything on a site and then have it delivered or go to a local computer shop?

If anyone has a good list of components and monitor to put together, I'd appreciate it. 1440p gaming. SSD. Great video card. Multi-tasking. No video editing. Just gaming. Built to last and up gradable. Budget with monitor say $2000 - $2250.

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/nXW69W

It's over your budget but this list was really quick. Some areas you can save -

1600 over 1600x, same Chip but the x guarantees a better overclock.

Ram - you want highest clock speed you can get. I picked the RGB one but Ram is fairly expensive these days

M.2 - nice to have but you can live off a regular SSD

GPU/Monitor - 1080/Rx56 is what you want for 1440. The ti is probably overkill. G-sync does add about 200 dollars on top, but it's hard to buy a Rx56 these days at MSRP. It's up to you.

Case & cpu cooler is personal pref. I think if you get the 1600, it comes with an ok cooler that works if you don't overclock.

[GoinAllTheWay]

So after some reading up on upgrades suggested in here, what is the norm these days for connecting monitors to video cards? Display port or HDMI? I don't have any intention of using the speakers in the monitor, not sure why it has any to begin with tbh.

[jaginla]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

So after some reading up on upgrades suggested in here, what is the norm these days for connecting monitors to video cards? Display port or HDMI? I don't have any intention of using the speakers in the monitor, not sure why it has any to begin with tbh.

For higher than 60hz, you should be using display port or dvid for sure. HDMI only does up to 60hz I think.

[PsYcNeT]

Specifically, G-Sync uses DisplayPort 1.3/1.4. There are actually a couple 4K models in the pipe using 2x 1.4 connectors.

100% of monitors will come with a minimum 3 ft DP cable in the correct standard, but note that if you require a longer cable, DP is insanely standardized and there are a lot of bogus cables out there.

[Coys1882]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Get a GSync 1440p monitor

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX59699 - $850 on sale right now

I want this so bad.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by Coys1882

I want this so bad.

Not to be an enabler, but do it dude. For you.

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Well the one I linked is IPS, which has amazing deep blacks and vivid colors. So upgrading from a TN panel from 2008 will be an instant visual upgrade even on stationary images.

The basic gist of "sync" is that the monitor has an embedded GPU-type chip which drives the monitors refresh rate. First some background on why this is necessary.

In the general sense, most PC monitors run at a 59 or 60 hertz cycle, which means they refresh the visual image at 60 frames a second. Better monitors run at 120/144/160hz cycles, which means they refresh much faster (like the “fake” 120/240 refresh rates some HD TVs have, but unless you pay 8k+ for a TV, this is “tweened” framing, which interpolates between existing frames and gives that weird soap-opera effect to non-sports or gaming).

Nearly all Gsync/Freesync monitors are 120 to 160 hz, with the exception of Gsync laptops, which usually run 75-100hz.

Now, some people will come in and say “ACKSHUALLY the human eye can only see at 22/24/30 frames a second so it’s useless to have higher refresh rates!” This of course means nothing, because the way the monitor displays the information bears more relevance than the eye’s ability to see it. It’s about smoothness of motion and proper movement between frames.

On all PCs you can enable a mode called “V-Sync” or, Vertical Sync. Non-sync enabled monitors (so, every monitor prior to 2014) and TVs drive their own refresh rate (eg they cycle at 60hz regardless of the input). So when you play a game on an older monitor, without V-Sync you might get what’s called “tearing” or “shearing”, especially in fast paced FPS or 3PS games. This happens because the video card is outputting frames at a lower speed than the monitor refreshes, eg. 42 frames to 60hz, so there are 18 “missing” frames. This doesn’t matter much for static images or slow pans, but fast movement or visually striking scenes often result in tearing. V-Sync forces the video card to run at 30 FPS or 60 FPS, but this can actually make your video card a bit crippled for various reasons (30 fps caps are pretty much what you see with lots of console games, 60 fps caps are much smoother).

Now a 144hz Gsync monitor, while it can output at 144hz at the top end, will have its imbedded chip driving its own framerate to match that of the video cards output. As a result, regardless of frames (generally if they stay above a 45 fps minimum) look realistically smooth with zero tearing and without additional “artificial” caps.

It has to be seen to be really appreciated. It’s an amazing tech.

Yes, but why male models?

[Coys1882]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Not to be an enabler, but do it dude. For you.

I'm all for it but I'm not sure if it's THAT much of an upgrade for me.

This is my current monitor

Would it really be that much better?

This is my current build - the dollars could probably do better elsewhere?

https://ibb.co/dbBTda

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by Coys1882

I'm all for it but I'm not sure if it's THAT much of an upgrade for me.

This is my current monitor

Would it really be that much better?

Hard to say. VAs are pretty solid and have minor contrast advatages over IPS, but IPS color and pixel transitions are much better. Additionally, gsync is the real selling point. I mean i use 2 27s for my setup, but the primary is gsync while the other is not. A good quality VA is a great second screen.

[Coys1882]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Hard to say. VAs are pretty solid and have minor contrast advatages over IPS, but IPS color and pixel transitions are much better. Additionally, gsync is the real selling point. I mean i use 2 27s for my setup, but the primary is gsync while the other is not. A good quality VA is a great second screen.

hmm it's intriguing.

Check my post again - I edited it and included my current build. Curious where you think I should apply $$$ first.

[PsYcNeT]

A 1070 would drive a 1440p gsync panel well, though the 2500k is getting a but long in tooth. Keep in mind that rach sucessive Intel cpu generation grants 5-7% scaling over previous, so thats probs 25% slower than the current 7xxx. Investing 850 into a 7xxx+mobo+RAM would at most scale gaming returns by 25%. Your call.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Going to ME @ lunch to pick up new parts! Ripped the top off my old desk last night to make room for a larger monitor. It's ridiculous how pumped I am to be getting a new monitor. Been a long time coming.

Just out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on the 32" predator panel that has the curved screen? Quite a bit more $ but it is certainly intriguing.