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Best "Value" 1440p monitor?

Z

Zardnok

Senior member
I had a post last year about what would be needed to run three 1440p monitors across in 7680 X 1440 mode. Well the time is finally here and I will be picking up the extra two monitors soon. My current monitor is a Shimian Achieva 1440p and I need to pick up two additional monitors to flank it. My thoughts are to try for a slim bezel style to minimize the overlap, but am open to anything. I would prefer to keep this upgrade as inexpensive as possible as whatever I do not spend on the monitors will likely be rolled into additional video cards to run them. If I go back with the el-cheapo ebay Korean models with only DVI-D inputs, I would then need some form of Display Port adapter?? I may even need one any ways depending on what outputs are available from my Asus GTX 670. If there is a more expensive model that is worth the cost, I don't mind paying more if it is worth it.

I plan on getting the monitors and stand first and just turning down settings on my 670 to run them. If that is not enough, then score another 670 used for $200ish for SLI, then hopefully once the coin craze crashes, there will be a flood of 290s and I can scoop a pair of them to run this monitor trio.

So, what monitors are recommended to flank my current Shimian? Any slim bezel designs? Do I need a Display Port adapter and which one?
 
I have an Auria 27" 1440p monitor from Microcenter, which I really like for the $400 I paid for it. It's now being sold for $320. The monitor does have HDMI, DVI, and DP. These are in store pick up only, not sure if you're close to one.

I don't have multi-monitor experience so I can't offer much there.
 
I am ordering online since the closest Microcenter is 4 hours away. I just ordered an Ergotech Stand with telescoping wings for my 3 monitors, so no turning back now!
 
46andtool said:
http://www.amazon.com/QNIX-QX2710-Ev.../dp/B00BUI44US

I've got my eye on this one myself, it uses a Samsung PLS panel. Great monitor from what I've read and it even overclocks to 120hz. Not a slim bezel however
Click to expand...

I got one of these last year off ebay. Probably the best computer component upgrade I've ever made in terms of perceivable quality increase and cost. It's such a good monitor you'd be outright silly to chose any alternatives IMO.

Good review here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EMmNmvFcAA
 
I think people should hold out on 1440p, the rise of 4k monitors at an affordable price will drive 1440p monitors to lower there prices to be more competitive.
 
JumBie said:
I think people should hold out on 1440p, the rise of 4k monitors at an affordable price will drive 1440p monitors to lower there prices to be more competitive.
Click to expand...

Meh. 1440p at 28" is practically retina resolution already, and the hardware isn't really powerful enough for 4k yet. And I doubt 1440p panels can go much lower than the ~$300 they are at today.
 
JumBie said:
I think people should hold out on 1440p, the rise of 4k monitors at an affordable price will drive 1440p monitors to lower there prices to be more competitive.
Click to expand...

The only 4k monitors at an affordable price are garbage. Specifically, all of the sub 1000$ 4k panels are 30hz and are therefore not usable to anyone serious about gaming. The IZGO panels are significantly better, but you get what you pay for. If you want a good 4k panel, it is certainly going to cost a pretty penny. The cheap ones just aren't worth buying as a gamer right now. If that situation changes in the next year, i'll revisit that statement but that's how things are right now. You get what you pay for with a sub 1000$ 4k panel, and that isn't a good thing.
 
JumBie said:
I think people should hold out on 1440p, the rise of 4k monitors at an affordable price will drive 1440p monitors to lower there prices to be more competitive.
Click to expand...

The only 4k monitors at an affordable price are garbage. Specifically, all of the sub 1000$ 4k panels are 30hz and are therefore not usable to anyone serious about gaming. The IZGO panels are significantly better, but you get what you pay for. If you want a good 4k panel, it is certainly going to cost a pretty penny. The cheap ones just aren't worth buying as a gamer right now. If that situation changes in the next year, i'll revisit that statement but that's how things are right now. You get what you pay for with a sub 1000$ 4k panel, and that isn't a good thing.

On the other hand, 1440p panels are *very* affordable and very usable for gaming. That's a stark contrast to the 30hz limited 4k panels which in my opinion are pretty horrible for gaming.

To answer the OP: I'm not a fan of the Korean panels for many reasons - Consider Dell, you can find incredible sales on their 1440p screens if you keep an eye on slickdeals. Now Dell screens aren't always perfect but I would argue their CS is pretty darn close to perfect. If you get a defect on a screen, Dell will go the absolute extra mile to fix i t for you. Their CS really is great. Also, one of the best "affordable" screens i've seen is the Viewsonic VP2770. I've seen it on sale here and there for around 600$, which is of course more than the Korean screens. But you get a full warranty and guarantee with long-term peace of mind. That isn't always the case with the Korean screens, although i'm not sure if the warranty (if any) situation on those have changed at all in the past few months. The best 1440p panel i've seen was hands down the Samsung S27B970D - but that is a fairly expensive screen to say the least.
 
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Just scored another Shimian like mine locally with a spare circuit board, so now I just need one more. I might look into that Planar monitor. It makes sense to have the slim bezel nicer monitor in the center with the two wider bezels tucked behind.

What sort of Display Port adapter will I need to run this monitor if it needs a DVI-D input? I know these can get expensive, I just want to make sure to get one that will work. Any of them that support Display Port to Dual DVI-D outputs since I am getting a third monitor and if I could get a DVI-D only monitor it would save money.
 
Zardnok said:
Just scored another Shimian like mine locally with a spare circuit board, so now I just need one more. I might look into that Planar monitor. It makes sense to have the slim bezel nicer monitor in the center with the two wider bezels tucked behind.

What sort of Display Port adapter will I need to run this monitor if it needs a DVI-D input? I know these can get expensive, I just want to make sure to get one that will work. Any of them that support Display Port to Dual DVI-D outputs since I am getting a third monitor and if I could get a DVI-D only monitor it would save money.
Click to expand...

You just need a DP1.2 compliant, active adapter. I think monoprice sells good DP adapters, may be worth checking them out. Make sure it is dual link as well.
 
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46andtool said:
http://www.amazon.com/QNIX-QX2710-Ev.../dp/B00BUI44US

I've got my eye on this one myself, it uses a Samsung PLS panel. Great monitor from what I've read and it even overclocks to 120hz. Not a slim bezel however
Click to expand...

A friend of mine just bought this one. It uses the Apple Cinema Display reject PLS panels from Samsung like you said which no one can tell the difference but don't pass Apple Quality Control for some reason.

Considering those retail for $1000 this is a great buy.
 
QuantumPion said:
Meh. 1440p at 28" is practically retina resolution already, and the hardware isn't really powerful enough for 4k yet.
Click to expand...

A 2560x1440 monitor at 27" (the usual size) is about 109 DPI. "Retina" resolution is usually considered to be 200 DPI or higher.

Regarding GPU power, your statement is true if you care primarily about "AAA" 3D gaming. For photo editing, coding, office tasks, web browsing, etc., there should be no problem. If you're a hardcore gamer, 4K probably isn't much use now, but plenty of PC users want it for other reasons.

blackened23 said:
The only 4k monitors at an affordable price are garbage. Specifically, all of the sub 1000$ 4k panels are 30hz and are therefore not usable to anyone serious about gaming.
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I consider 30Hz to be useless for almost any purpose - even basic stuff like the Aero animations and the mouse movement looks much worse than on a standard 60Hz display, not to mention that you can't watch videos without dropping frames.

But your statement, while true at this particular moment, is probably not going to be true for much longer. In late Q1 or early Q2 we should see some decent 4K monitors that do support 60Hz at a reasonable price. Asus has a 28" 4K monitor with 60Hz support in the pipeline - it's supposed to retail for $799. Philips and Samsung have similar products coming.
 
Zardnok said:
Just scored another Shimian like mine locally with a spare circuit board, so now I just need one more. I might look into that Planar monitor. It makes sense to have the slim bezel nicer monitor in the center with the two wider bezels tucked behind.

What sort of Display Port adapter will I need to run this monitor if it needs a DVI-D input? I know these can get expensive, I just want to make sure to get one that will work. Any of them that support Display Port to Dual DVI-D outputs since I am getting a third monitor and if I could get a DVI-D only monitor it would save money.
Click to expand...

I bought a Startech active displayport that had a USB power support and was pleased with it. I ran both Eyefinity and surround with 3 24" 1920 x 1080 monitors. The displayport I bought (nearly $100) was advertised as supporting a 2560 x 1440 monitor so I was satisfied. BTW, I LOVE my Achieva Shimian Lite monitor. I can only imagine what 3 of them in Eyefinity or surround would look like.
 
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I got one of the Monoprice Glass Panel Pro's for $460. It actually is really nice, no dead pixels or backlight bleed, and the uniformity is pretty much perfect. They list it as having a grade A-1 panel with zero defects/anomalies. My roommate has a UH2711 that has uniformity issues as well as noticeable back-light bleed, and I feel that mine is the better monitor, I think they're also based on the same panel. It won't overclock though, so if that's what you're looking for, then this isn't your monitor.

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=113&cp_id=11307&cs_id=1130703&p_id=10489&seq=1&format=2
 
blackened23 said:
The only 4k monitors at an affordable price are garbage. Specifically, all of the sub 1000$ 4k panels are 30hz and are therefore not usable to anyone serious about gaming. The IZGO panels are significantly better, but you get what you pay for. If you want a good 4k panel, it is certainly going to cost a pretty penny. The cheap ones just aren't worth buying as a gamer right now. If that situation changes in the next year, i'll revisit that statement but that's how things are right now. You get what you pay for with a sub 1000$ 4k panel, and that isn't a good thing.

On the other hand, 1440p panels are *very* affordable and very usable for gaming. That's a stark contrast to the 30hz limited 4k panels which in my opinion are pretty horrible for gaming.

To answer the OP: I'm not a fan of the Korean panels for many reasons - Consider Dell, you can find incredible sales on their 1440p screens if you keep an eye on slickdeals. Now Dell screens aren't always perfect but I would argue their CS is pretty darn close to perfect. If you get a defect on a screen, Dell will go the absolute extra mile to fix i t for you. Their CS really is great. Also, one of the best "affordable" screens i've seen is the Viewsonic VP2770. I've seen it on sale here and there for around 600$, which is of course more than the Korean screens. But you get a full warranty and guarantee with long-term peace of mind. That isn't always the case with the Korean screens, although i'm not sure if the warranty (if any) situation on those have changed at all in the past few months. The best 1440p panel i've seen was hands down the Samsung S27B970D - but that is a fairly expensive screen to say the least.
Click to expand...

4k tv/monitors are coming out and some are on the market already at sub $900 price point. The seiki is at $499, some of these models will get 4k at 60hz with a firmware update so its not really a big deal.
 
JumBie said:
4k tv/monitors are coming out and some are on the market already at sub $900 price point. The seiki is at $499, some of these models will get 4k at 60hz with a firmware update so its not really a big deal.
Click to expand...

Like I said, the only cheap 4k panels are garbage. Also, citation and proof of your statement please. I'm nearly 100% sure that isn't true. These are HDMI 1.4a 4k panels and thus cannot support 4k @ 60hz, especially with a firmware update. But if you have a citation from Seiki by all means share it. Sounds like complete non factual information to me, personally.
 
horza said:
I'm very happy with my QNIX QX2710, I also own an HP ZR2440w which is a sturdier design but it terms of picture quality the QNIX imho is superior. It also runs 120Hz with no discernible issues. 1440p @120Hz for around $300 USD seems to like good value.

Edit: Doing something like this and using a VESA mount would be pretty sweet if you are looking for the thinnest bezel. Might be more tinkering than you are keen on.
Click to expand...

Happy with mine too, but most people purchasing these will notice BLB. I have two dead pixels but I never notice them when using my PC. The BLB is the biggest issue with these monitors though. It can be fixed, but you usaully need to take the monitor apart to do so. I will say there is very little to no input lag, which makes FPS more enjoyable and the abiltity to go up to 96Hz is very nice. Many, if not most of these models hit 96Hz, although 120Hz is harder to hit. Lowering the pixel clock and buying a heavy gauge DVI cable seem to help.
 
nenforcer said:
A friend of mine just bought this one. It uses the Apple Cinema Display reject PLS panels from Samsung like you said which no one can tell the difference but don't pass Apple Quality Control for some reason.

Considering those retail for $1000 this is a great buy.
Click to expand...


Same with the Crossover I just purchased, beautiful picture no BLB on mine either. Don't see any dead pixels either.
 
Rvenger said:
Same with the Crossover I just purchased, beautiful picture no BLB on mine either. Don't see any dead pixels either.
Click to expand...

Nice, any luck with overclocking? Going from 60Hz to 96Hz is a big difference even when you are just tooling around on your desktop.
 
blackened23 said:
Like I said, the only cheap 4k panels are garbage. Also, citation and proof of your statement please. I'm nearly 100% sure that isn't true. These are HDMI 1.4a 4k panels and thus cannot support 4k @ 60hz, especially with a firmware update. But if you have a citation from Seiki by all means share it. Sounds like complete non factual information to me, personally.
Click to expand...

The 39" VA panel itself is just fine. It is capable of handling 60Hz refresh. There is no such thing as a "HDMI 1.4a panel" - the input electronics are separate components. It's no more an inherent limit of the panel than is the fact that some Korean 1440p monitors can only take DL-DVI. The problem is that Seiki did not include a DP 1.2 MST input on their 39" 4K TV, so there is no way of getting a 3840x2160@60Hz signal to the panel.

I agree it's unlikely this could be fixed by a firmware update. The only way that could happen is if it could upgrade the HDMI 1.4a port to a HDMI 2.0 port - questionable at best. Even then, you'd need a video card that supports HDMI 2.0 (or that can itself be flashed to support it). But Seiki could fairly easily release a version of their 39" TV that had 60Hz 4K support through DisplayPort, and I believe they have made some statements on social media to the effect that they plan on doing this. Perhaps it is these statements that were misinterpreted.
 
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