Dual Fury-X - Ideal Monitor?

[Madpacket]

Hi guys, I've been enjoying my Asus MG279Q (35-90Hz) FreeSync 1440P IPS monitor. Now that's I'm used to A/F-sync I can't go back. That being said I'm building a decent gaming box / workstation and usually prefer AMD cards over Nvidia so I just picked up two Radeon Fury X's for under $500 each (new). I like how dual Fury's scale compared to 980 Ti's and I saved at least $200.00 going AMD and I think they have a better chance with nailing the VR thing next year. I'm going complete water cooling for this new box so the Fury's saved me from having to buy dedicated water blocks etc. Anyways, enough justifying the video card purchases.

Few questions.

I kind of want to go 4K or higher resolution given the dual Fury's. Is there any non TN panel that has a good Freesync range? say 30-75hz? or are we still limited by displayport 1.2 bandwidth? I'm still after low latency but really eye candy and productivity is #1 priority with this setup. The MG279Q I have attached to another box is already fast enough for competitive gaming (which runs well with just one 390).

I understand there's now ultra wide screen monitors, and these seem attractive to me but I'm only seeing G-Sync displays with higher refresh rates and they're very expensive. Do you know if there's any good deals on ultra-wide 1440P Freesync monitors that are over 30"?

If possible I don't want to spend over 1000 USD.

I don't want a TN panel. I understand the 8 bit panels look good colour wise but I've compared them myself to IPS displays and to me there's still a large difference in the viewing angles where I just do't think TN is worth the trade off. It's just too distracting for me when the screen washes out. I'll take IPS glow over that any day of the week.

Any help here would be appreciated, rest of setup for reference:

Intel 5930K + Corsiar H105 CLC. Hoping to hit 4.4/4.5 Ghz.
MSI Raider X99A Motherboard
64GB G.Skill 3000Mhz RAM (Will create 48GB RAM drive for games)
500GB 950 PRO NVME SSD (Boot Drive + hold regular games to copy to RAM drive quickly)
960GB Raid 0 Array (AMD Radeon 480GB Drives) for remaining Steam / Origin library and regular VM's.
6TB Western Digital Red for Long Term Storage / VM's
Corsair Carbide Air 540 Case or Fractal Design Define S ATX Mid Tower (still deciding what would fit best given the hardware here)
1000W Platinum EVGA Power Supply. (EVGA 220-P2-1000-XR)

Thanks!

 

[3DVagabond]

4K screens are limited to 60Hz. Acer makes a 34" 1440 Freesync. It's limited to 75Hz.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0111MRT90?tag=pcpapi-20&pldnSite=1

HWC just recently reviewed it and really liked it.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...predator-xr341ck-freesync-monitor-review.html

 

[DigDog]

OP, would you consider doing a review on freesync? i'm dying to know what it plays like.

 

[4K_shmoorK]

Acer XR341CK Ultrawide is the best option available to you right now.

There are 32" 2K and 4K options available to you as well.

The BenQ BL3200PT, Samsung S32D850T, and BenQ BL3201PH if you're interested. The Sammy and 3200 use the same 32" VA 2560x1440 panel. The 3201 uses a 32" 3840x1440 IPS panel.

There is also the Philips 40" BDM4065UC 4K VA display.


EDIT:
The Acer XB271HK is the only 4K panel I've heard of that may support 75Hz over DP1.2. And that is a G-Sync panel. It will probably be another 8-14 months before we see any panels that support DP1.3 and thus 4K@60Hz+. I've also heard really good things about the BenQ BL3201PH, OP.

 

[tential]

Personally OP, I'd go with a larger display...

I'd go with a Wasabi Mango UHD420 for ~$700.
However I think this is the best deal:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...TR0.TRC0.H0.XUHD550.TRS0&_nkw=UHD550&_sacat=0

Find it onsale from Greensum for closer to $1k and you have a fun display to game on.

Otherwise, Ultrawide 32 or whatever panel works.

 

[Madpacket]

OP, would you consider doing a review on freesync? i'm dying to know what it plays like.

Theres's plenty of reviews on freesync already along with the benefits. What do you want to know about? If you have specific questions I can answer them.

 

[Madpacket]

4K screens are limited to 60Hz. Acer makes a 34" 1440 Freesync. It's limited to 75Hz.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0111MRT90?tag=pcpapi-20&pldnSite=1

HWC just recently reviewed it and really liked it.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...predator-xr341ck-freesync-monitor-review.html

That looks like the perfect ultra widescreen monitor! Thank you.

 

[Madpacket]

Personally OP, I'd go with a larger display...

I'd go with a Wasabi Mango UHD420 for ~$700.
However I think this is the best deal:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...TR0.TRC0.H0.XUHD550.TRS0&_nkw=UHD550&_sacat=0

Find it onsale from Greensum for closer to $1k and you have a fun display to game on.

Otherwise, Ultrawide 32 or whatever panel works.

Those Wasabi monitors look like a great value and they have Freesync which is one of my requirements. I wonder if they support 4:4:4 Chroma? 60Hz sucks but depending on input latency it could still be a decent monitor for non competitive gaming. Need to look at these closer. Thanks for the suggestion.


PcPer did a review one of these units. Hmm. 42" at 3 feet with 4K would be pretty cool...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfcejpl0it4

 

[Madpacket]

Acer XR341CK Ultrawide is the best option available to you right now.

There are 32" 2K and 4K options available to you as well.

The BenQ BL3200PT, Samsung S32D850T, and BenQ BL3201PH if you're interested. The Sammy and 3200 use the same 32" VA 2560x1440 panel. The 3201 uses a 32" 3840x1440 IPS panel.

There is also the Philips 40" BDM4065UC 4K VA display.


EDIT:
The Acer XB271HK is the only 4K panel I've heard of that may support 75Hz over DP1.2. And that is a G-Sync panel. It will probably be another 8-14 months before we see any panels that support DP1.3 and thus 4K@60Hz+. I've also heard really good things about the BenQ BL3201PH, OP.

Hmm, I do have a Geforce 970 in my Osmi but it wouldn't be enough to drive 4K and I refuse to pay the G-Sync tax. Panel looks nice though albeit too small given I already have a 1440P 27".

 

[tential]

They do support 4:4:4

Also there are cheaper non freesync monitors from. Korea too with great reviews for 4k gaming...

Lol, I just want more people with big screens to keep me company!

If you're gaming below 30 inches I just feel bad if you're casually gaming. I can't wait to get the 55 inch model next year. I just wish amd had given me a reason to get fury x so I could justify it.

If you have a fast nvidia card I have other choices to recommend like the microboard monitor which is really pretty lol.

 

[Madpacket]

They do support 4:4:4

Also there are cheaper non freesync monitors from. Korea too with great reviews for 4k gaming...

Lol, I just want more people with big screens to keep me company!

If you're gaming below 30 inches I just feel bad if you're casually gaming. I can't wait to get the 55 inch model next year. I just wish amd had given me a reason to get fury x so I could justify it.

If you have a fast nvidia card I have other choices to recommend like the microboard monitor which is really pretty lol.

It's funny. Many years ago (in 2007) I bought a Westinghouse 37" 1080P monitor for around $800 CAD for similar reasons. I used it as my main monitor for a few years but it looked pretty awful for anything outside of gaming or watching movies. It still works great today but is a too slow for competitive gaming so I retired it to the basement for a future project. The difference though with 4K is a 48" LED LCD basically gives you the same pixel density 1080P 24" LED LCD so I would have no problems sitting a few feet away from that and even being productive with it provided 4:4:4 Chroma support.

Hmm, I wonder if they have curved 48" 4K FreeSync panels Now I'm getting ahead of myself.

I all seriousness I just want a more immersive gaming experience for casual gaming. I love my 27" Asus monitor for what it is but it's simply too small although perfect for the odd game of BF4/Quake Live etc. I think I've been spoiled with my cheap Vizio 65" TV that I use for peasant gaming and now agree bigger is better in many cases.

Although a little expensive, the Acer XR341CK is likely the most ideal monitor as it'll still fit my desk and should be a lot more immersive than my Asus MG279Q with the extra real-estate. The higher refresh rates of the XR341CK (75hz is a huge increase over 60 for immersion and freesync ranges) but I can't help but wonder if the cheaper 42" Wasabi Mango would be more immersive and enjoyable, it's also a few hundred bucks cheaper.

 

[Eymar]

How much does the 42" Wasabi go for as the Acer XR341CK is $825 at amazon right now: http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Curved-34-inch-UltraWide-Display/dp/B0111MRT90. The Acer is an excellent monitor and really have no complaints. It does have IPS glow on top corners, but really not an issue for me. You'll find that single Fury-X is enough to drive most games at native resoultion with 75fps.

 

[Despoiler]

I wouldn't bother with a new monitor until DP 1.3 with HDR monitors hit the market this year.

 

[Madpacket]

Hey guys just an update. Tential got it in my head so I did end up ordering the 49" Wasabi Mango 4K Freesync monitor from NewEgg yesterday.

I had a ton of store credit and with CAD dropping like a stone I wanted to spend it before prices really start to get out of line with US prices.

Anyway here's the product link:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA9EH3EC8052&_ga=1.219450650.244891434.1445311243

It only cost me $120 CAD after existing credit applied and I'm selling my old Westinghouse 37" next week for $100.00 to make up most of that difference.

I did look hard at the 34/35" ultra wide-screen monitors and almost pulled the trigger but for the price they're simply not as good a value and I don't think they'll give the immersive gaming experience the 49" Mango will.

I do expect a few defects as these are not perfect pixel (and even those have issues) but at 49" and at 2-3 feet away I should be able to run Windows without any scaling issues which is awesome.

I'm excited for DP 1.3 and HDR gaming but the entire chain (Graphics card, Driver, Game, Monitor) need it enabled to support it properly. Given this reality I suspect it'll be a few years before this is commonplace so that's another reason why I jumped on the Wasabi now.

I also really want to put my Dual Fury X's to work NOW - before next fall when the new Polaris cards are supposed to be released. I upgrade constantly as this is a real hobby (I'll sell of my Fury X's and 390 before Polaris hit) for me so no big deal really.

Can't wait to see what TW3, GTAV and Fallout 4 look like at 4K (these are the main games I'm currently playing).

Thanks again all for the advice. I'll report back my experiences with the Wasabi after a few weeks of gaming. Fingers crossed I get a good one.

 

[Madpacket]

***Update***

So the Wasabi Mango UHD490 4K arrived a few days ago. Snapped a few pics while on the bench for testing. Works great. Freesync tested and works 60Hz down to 42Hz no issues. One red stuck pixel unfortunately but unnoticeable unless specifically looking for it, especially while gaming. No issues with IPS glow or uneven brightness, great viewing angles. Contrast seems very high (higher than my MG279Q which is over 1000:1) but I haven't even played with the image settings yet. Input lag is very good and not much blurring or overshoot issues but 60Hz is obviously not great for fast paced games, however I was able to play a few rounds of BF4 and TF2 without too much trouble.

Anyways this is a keeper, perfectly suited for casual gaming and considering the price pretty amazing.

Here's a few pics. This is what it looks like out of the box. Only thing I did was enable Freesync.

http://imgur.com/a/JxZ3F

Pictures taken with my Note 4 camera in poorly lit basement. Keep that in mind. The last picture is a black screen and you should see the red stuck pixel (just one from what I can tell). I didn't buy a perfect pixel so this was expected and luckily isn't a problem.

Thanks again Tential for putting me on to this monitor.

Love it! I'll have no problem using this monitor until HDR OLED become affordable.

 

[3DVagabond]

***Update***

So the Wasabi Mango UHD490 4K arrived a few days ago. Snapped a few pics while on the bench for testing. Works great. Freesync tested and works 60Hz down to 42Hz no issues. One red stuck pixel unfortunately but unnoticeable unless specifically looking for it, especially while gaming. No issues with IPS glow or uneven brightness, great viewing angles. Contrast seems very high (higher than my MG279Q which is over 1000:1) but I haven't even played with the image settings yet. Input lag is very good and not much blurring or overshoot issues but 60Hz is obviously not great for fast paced games, however I was able to play a few rounds of BF4 and TF2 without too much trouble.

Anyways this is a keeper, perfectly suited for casual gaming and considering the price pretty amazing.

Here's a few pics. This is what it looks like out of the box. Only thing I did was enable Freesync.

http://imgur.com/a/JxZ3F

Pictures taken with my Note 4 camera in poorly lit basement. Keep that in mind. The last picture is a black screen and you should see the red stuck pixel (just one from what I can tell). I didn't buy a perfect pixel so this was expected and luckily isn't a problem.

Thanks again Tential for putting me on to this monitor.

Love it! I'll have no problem using this monitor until HDR OLED become affordable.

Looks pretty awesome sitting there. Would be great for RTS gaming.

 

[PhonakV30]

here you go! :

LG 34UC98 , IPS , 4K and Freesync = $1199.99MSRP.
https://pcmonitors.info/lg/lg-34uc98-curved-freesync-ultrawide/

Acer XR431KC , IPS , 4K and Freesync = $1,100 MSRP.
http://www.technobuffalo.com/2015/07/04/acer-flaunts-34-inch-curved-qhd-monitor-with-amd-freesync/

damn I love Curved ultrawide Monitor.

Edit : Check this List of Freesync Monitors

http://wccftech.com/amd-freesync-ces2016/

 

[Madpacket]

Looks pretty awesome sitting there. Would be great for RTS gaming.

Thanks. Played a few more games last night (Fallout 4 and GTAV). A single Fury X card gets slaughtered when you crank up the details in these games at 4K. I'll add my second Fury soon and retest and I should be able to max out GTAV and keep within Freesync ranges. Unfortunately Fallout 4 has no Xfire support (yet). More testing to do but so far this monitor so far has exceeded my expectations.

ere you go! :

LG 34UC98 , IPS , 4K and Freesync = $1199.99MSRP.
https://pcmonitors.info/lg/lg-34uc98...ync-ultrawide/

Acer XR431KC , IPS , 4K and Freesync = $1,100 MSRP.
http://www.technobuffalo.com/2015/07...-amd-freesync/

damn I love Curved ultrawide Monitor.

Edit : Check this List of Freesync Monitors

http://wccftech.com/amd-freesync-ces2016/

Thanks for the suggestions but see above. I already bought a 4K 49" Korean FreeSync monitor which I think provides the best value ATM.

These 34" monitors are tiny in comparison and cost a good deal of more money. Also while curved is pretty cool it has a few tradeoff's (nothing's perfect) that I didn't care to deal with.

I agree FreeSync is obviously a no-brainer for manufactures to embrace. AMD did consumers a solid here. Gsync only exists because of Nvidia's marketshare, without it no one in their right mind would spend upwards of $300 more for a few more Hz.

 

[Headfoot]

3 x 1080p is also a good choice, very immersive. 4k FS should be excellent too though

 

[tential]

***Update***

So the Wasabi Mango UHD490 4K arrived a few days ago. Snapped a few pics while on the bench for testing. Works great. Freesync tested and works 60Hz down to 42Hz no issues. One red stuck pixel unfortunately but unnoticeable unless specifically looking for it, especially while gaming. No issues with IPS glow or uneven brightness, great viewing angles. Contrast seems very high (higher than my MG279Q which is over 1000:1) but I haven't even played with the image settings yet. Input lag is very good and not much blurring or overshoot issues but 60Hz is obviously not great for fast paced games, however I was able to play a few rounds of BF4 and TF2 without too much trouble.

Anyways this is a keeper, perfectly suited for casual gaming and considering the price pretty amazing.

Here's a few pics. This is what it looks like out of the box. Only thing I did was enable Freesync.

http://imgur.com/a/JxZ3F

Pictures taken with my Note 4 camera in poorly lit basement. Keep that in mind. The last picture is a black screen and you should see the red stuck pixel (just one from what I can tell). I didn't buy a perfect pixel so this was expected and luckily isn't a problem.

Thanks again Tential for putting me on to this monitor.

Love it! I'll have no problem using this monitor until HDR OLED become affordable.

I'm honestly so HAPPY for you lol. This is a monitor people deserve to get here.

The price/performance is an amazing ratio for 4K.

Ya, the 60hz is a bummer, but I wouldn't recommend this to a competitive gamer. I'd recommend it to anyone playing the tons of SP games, or a person who casually plays shooters.

Also, 120hz 1080p SHOULD be possible. Could you please test this out and let me know? I have seen it work on teksyndicate for many users. This could fix your fast paced gaming issues, although you'd be stuck at 1080p and probably not have access to freesync. But I mean, it'd be a different profile/setup for those games?

Could help?

Very happy to see you excited with this purchase though. Freesync is an absolute MUST for gamers(Gsync is in there too, but the premium pisses me off but if you're an Nvidia user and can afford Gsync... DO IT).

On a side note, this is honestly the reason I can't get an Nvidia card right now. I need flexibility in my monitor choices, and Gsync doesn't give it to me. Although of course, if you want to game on a smaller below 40 inch monitor Gsync rocks. But Freesync clearly will have an abundance of choices, and choices far above 40 inches, budget options, etc. So I'm pretty excited about Freesync. It's a shame Gsync isn't competing like that, but I hope they will.

I'm kind of jealous, I was going to get Dual Fury X. But I was so upset at the OC performance and single card performance. Although, CF performance vs SLi 980Ti performance... I probably should have just bit the bullet lol. Now I'm going to wait for Polaris.

 

[xthetenth]

The overall Freesync ecosystem seems a lot healthier than G-Sync, which is cool. It's nice having that as an option in any price range rather than having great choices for 27" 1440p 144Hz and a real weak ecosystem for everything else when some of the biggest benefits are with more marginal setups.

 

[Madpacket]

Also, 120hz 1080p SHOULD be possible. Could you please test this out and let me know? I have seen it work on teksyndicate for many users. This could fix your fast paced gaming issues, although you'd be stuck at 1080p and probably not have access to freesync. But I mean, it'd be a different profile/setup for those games?

Sorry just read your response. I'm still very happy with my purchase and hope other people find out about these gems. They're unbeatable for the price. That being said I don't think these panels can do proper 120hz even at lower resolutions but I'll give it a shot soon and let you know. Apparently they appear to work at 120hz but frameskip during the UFO test or something.

I also wanted dual 980 TI's but lucked out on getting Dual Fury X's for under $500 each so it just made sense to go the Fury route. Surprisingly the 4GB of HBM memory hasn't been a problem either at 4K. AMD really was telling the truth when they said they optimized the memory on these cards to handle 4K gaming. For comparison I have an 8GB 390 and played the same games to check memory usage. If the memory is there the games will generally pre-cache on the video card but both cards (even dual Fury X's) run out of speed at 4K resolutions where the extra memory wouldn't help. This could change with upcoming games but I tried Shadow of Mordor, GTAV and Witcher 3, none of them seemed to push past 4GB boundary of the Fury at 4K, they would get close (3.8GB or so) and then stop there. Also even in crossfire configurations some details still need to be dropped (reducing the need for extra memory) to be fully playable.

Ideally we really need next-gen cards like Polaris or Pascal to properly handle 4K if you're the type of person that likes to crank all details up (and I think most of us are when we spend $400+ on a video card).

So it's a weird situation. Memory intensive AA settings that generally impact the frame rates are the first things to disable at 4K to gain back speed as AA has a much smaller impact at 4K over say 1080P, and this in turn free's up VRAM making it [mostly] a non issue. The 4GB of memory of the FuryX was my biggest concern but so far has proven not to be an issue at all which was somewhat unexpected to be honest. I thought I would have to dial-back a lot more memory intensive settings to be honest.

I also agree about the FreeSync / Gsync dilemma. If in the position of needing to upgrade right now I would just look for a used 290 or new 390 and call it day. Freesync is obviously starting to win out (even a large handful of panels that support Freesync over HDMI have been announced and will be available soon) and I see the spread only widening. No OEM in their right mind would sell a gaming panel without it as it adds virtually no cost. Once the display controllers that support freesync over HDMI become common it's game over for Gsync regardless of Nvidia's marketshare. I give Nvidia kudos for kicking off the async idea but in typical Nvidia fashion, hoarding a technology and charging stupid prices for it is a bad long term strategy.

 

[xthetenth]

I think Gsync might have some real legs in the upper end market, just because they are still ahead of Freesync in a few features, but that lead will probably slowly erode.

 

[Madpacket]

I think Gsync might have some real legs in the upper end market, just because they are still ahead of Freesync in a few features, but that lead will probably slowly erode.

I agree, G-Sync still has legs and will for some time as it came out much sooner than Freesync. They still have momentum but it appears to be slowing.

The interesting thing to look at is is the value proposition over time.

Once Nvidia realizes they're losing actual GPU sales and marketshare to AMD due to people buying much cheaper async monitors with effectively the same features, Nvidia will likely cave and start supporting it both G-Sync + Freesync on their cards. Once this happens G-Sync will slowly die out. At least that's my prediction.