Project Reality Forums

So I'm putting together a new rig for PR BF2/ARMA2 and I've got almost all the details ironed out already (been a VERY long 5 weeks) but I still can't seem to come to a decision in regards to what kind of display I should get.

I'm looking for recommendations from community members on a 1920 x 1200 (possibly also 1920 x 1080) ~24" monitor that doesn't exceed 300 Euros. I'm planning on ordering everything through Amazon.de, so try and take that into consideration with your suggestions.

I've heard a lot of good things about Samsung's displays, but it seems that some of their displays have power bricks that make noises when the brightness gets turned down, which I don't want to have to worry about.

Dell has a decently priced entry level 24" IPS display, but the 60Hz limit has got me asking myself whether I would regret limiting myself with that.

So, I would appreciate any suggestions in regards to monitors that you guys in the community have and think are good.

Here are my upcoming system specs thrown in:

CPU: i5 2500k
MOBO: Gigabyte GAZ68XP-UD3
GPU: ASUS ATI EAH6950 2GB (unlockable to 6970(I quadruple checked on that))
SSD: Crucial CT128M4SSD2
HDD: WD Caviar Black 7.2k 64MB 750GB SATAIII
RAM: 8GB Corsair CL9 Vengeance DDR3 1866
PSU: Be Quiet BQT P9 Pro 750W
Cooler: Zalman CNPS 11X
Case: Antec 300
Disc drive: Asus DRW-24B3ST

Thanks in advance for any responses!

Dougalachi wrote: Dell has a decently priced entry level 24" IPS display, but the 60Hz limit has got me asking myself whether I would regret limiting myself with that.

60Hz would not be bad at all, considering that you can only notice a difference below around 30 FPS. Since your hardware will not limit you FPS wise, a higher than 60Hz monitor would be an overkill IMO. If you have to pay more for extra Hz, its probably a waste.

ASUS has some great monitors that fit well within you budget. In fact, it seems like ASUS is the best brand when it comes to monitors. Great price, excellent performance and reliability.

What do people think about 1920 x 1200 vs. 1920 x 1080? I've heard that the extra 120 pixels at the bottom are great when comparing things in windows side by side. Unfortunately, there are significantly fewer choices if I went the 1200 path, excluding the fact that they are often significantly more expensive. I've been looking at these monitors so far:

1080
Asus VH242H 59,9 cm Widescreen TFT-Monitor DVI-D, VGA: Amazon.de: Computer & Zubeh?r
Samsung SyncMaster T22A350 55,8 cm widescreen TFT: Amazon.de: Computer & Zubeh?r

1200
Dell UltraSharp U2412M 61 cm widescreen TFT Monitor: Amazon.de: Computer & Zubeh?r
Samsung SyncMaster 2443BW 60,9 cm widescreen TFT: Amazon.de: Computer & Zubeh?r

I have an ASUS at 1920x1080, and frankly it's pretty amazing on it's own. I suppose another 120 pixels would be nice, but I wouldn't pay much of a premium for it.

That's 100% opinion though, and I haven't ever gotten to use an x1200 screen.

I have a 23" Acer monitor at 1920x1080. Model is S232HL. I gotta say I really like this monitor. The price was $180 (which is pretty good, but not like super cheap).

The main selling point of this monitor is that it is extremely thin. Most of it is less than 1 cm thick throughout the monitor. The material around the edge of the screen is also less than 1 cm which makes the image look like it fills the screen more.

The response time is 2ms. I really don't know how two versus five makes a difference (I've never done research).

The best part is that the monitor comes with ALL the cables: VGA, DVI, HDMI, and power. Yes, included HDMI cable.

(personally I don't like the bulky look of ASUS monitors)

I would also highly recommend any Samsung monitor/TV. I have a new 40" LCD; just looks amazing.

Those Dell Ultrasharps are the number one thing to buy if you need a monitor. It's IPS panel which beats normal TN panels in everyway. IPS panels used to be only for high end users due to price, but it's coming down. I have IPS panel at work and it's so much better than my own crappy TN one at home.

There really is no need to buy cheap TN panel anymore.

Th3Exiled wrote:How about another 230,400 pixels then? (another 120 rows of 1920)

well played sir

Anazuke wrote:Those Dell Ultrasharps are the number one thing to buy if you need a monitor. It's IPS panel which beats normal TN panels in everyway. IPS panels used to be only for high end users due to price, but it's coming down. I have IPS panel at work and it's so much better than my own crappy TN one at home.

There really is no need to buy cheap TN panel anymore.

Price?

[R-MOD]BloodBane611 wrote: Price?

Well for OP, hes living in Germany so he can get 24" Ultrasharp from Mindfactory for 300 euros.
I know it's little bit more expensive than the cheapest ones but you are paying for superior quality.

I'm starting to lean heavily in the ASUS direction. I found a website that compares the real ghosting characteristics of many monitor models and it seems that the Dell IPS model I was looking at doesnt do too great in the tests.

Anazuke wrote:Those Dell Ultrasharps are the number one thing to buy if you need a monitor. It's IPS panel which beats normal TN panels in everyway. IPS panels used to be only for high end users due to price, but it's coming down. I have IPS panel at work and it's so much better than my own crappy TN one at home.

There really is no need to buy cheap TN panel anymore.

Agreed, as this is what I'd personaly care for more than couple extra pixels.Crispy color and proper deep blacks is what would justify its (slightly) higher price.

Dougalachi wrote:I'm starting to lean heavily in the ASUS direction. I found a website that compares the real ghosting characteristics of many monitor models and it seems that the Dell IPS model I was looking at doesnt do too great in the tests.

Well only the cheaper 24" does seem slow but is it notable while gaming? The 23" ones seem to do well. Just get some IPS one.

I've went ahead and finally decided on my monitor, based on the product reviews and input here. I went with an ASUS VE248H 24" 1920 x 1080 res display. I was let down by the high prices of the 1920 x 1200 displays, FPS concerns, or the problems with their associated power supplys. There seems to be many better choices in the 1080 area right now. Hopefully that will have changed by the time I buy another monitor.

Final specs of the new system:

i5 2500k cpu + Zalman cooler
ASUS EAH6970 gfx
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 mobo
8GB DDR3 1600
128GB Crucial M4 SSD
1TB WD Caviar Black 64MB cache 7,200RPM
750W Be Quiet 80+ Gold PSU
Antec 300

Thanks for the input everyone

Just a short update to my system . All the parts except motherboard and processor have arrived. Man is it annoying to have almost all the except for a few. I'm expecting both to arrive by Wednesday. On a side note, I hate UPS.

Also, I've plugged in the VE248H yesterday and it looks very nice I am a tad put off by the perceived flimsiness of the monitor stand, but we'll see if it gets better with time :/

Mobo arrived today, just waiting on the damn processor to get here!

I'll be putting up pics of the build process in the next few days once I've got everything up and running.

I use a 23" Acer monitor. 1920x1080 and the picture quality seems great to me.

Price is about $200 USD, so it's less than what you're looking for.

It's the Acer S232HL.

I've got everything up and running so far. I'm having some trouble getting my Windows 7 upgrade installed onto my computer, but other than that, everything seems to be going okay. Pics to follow.

In regards to the monitor from ASUS, it was well packed and came with a DVI and a VGA cable, which is nice. No dead pixels, no weird colors that I can tell.

Browsing the internet is sometimes a pain as not all websites are optimized for 16:9 displays, and that leaves lots of empty space on the sides when browsing fullscreen. I wish I had found a better quality 16:10 monitor to buy, but for now, this monitor will do.

Finally got some pics up from my build Things have gone pretty well since then. I'm having problems getting PR ARMA 2 working and can't get my United Operations mods working either. Also, I recently read an article from Tom's where it said that the PSU should not be mounted like I have it currently, so I might unscrew it and flip it over for better cooling :/

ImageShack Album - 12 images

Only if I could get such rig...