144hz gaming monitor - should I?

Dohnjoe

I am thinking of picking up a Benq 144 hz gaming monitor

http://www.amazon.co.uk/BenQ-XL2430T-Gaming-Monitor-Response/dp/B00MCX4Q2G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455146039&sr=8-1&keywords=benq+xl2430t

The main questions I have are.. if I switch to 120 hz mode, does the game I am running need to be running at 120 fps?

If it runs at 60 fps, will it still be "smoother" looking than the standard monitor I have now?

What if I am playing a game that varies between 60 and 120 fps? (the main game I play varies between these rates)

I have an AMD card so I am not going to get a G SYNC monitor and the card I have (280x) is not compatible with AMD's free sync..

Just wondering if I will notice any benefits

thanks

wotzgoingon

I don't think that card would push games to high frame rates with graphics on high/ultra.

Digital Solitude

60fps is 60fps whatever monitor its on.

If you were jumping from 60-90 or 90-120 you'd notice that a lot I think

Redfox25

Whats the game?
There is no freesync on that monitor btw. A 280x is a nice card nut it might not push 120fps without lowering graphics. Depends on the game ofc Whats your budget?.

Some folks cant see a difference between 60 and 90 too. Know anyone with a 144hz monitor?

Zillah

I got a 144hz monitor recently and I love it. I've been using it for CSGO a lot, which is obviously optimised to hell so keeping up the fps isn't much of a problem. I turned on vsync so it's locked at 144fps the whole time - gorgeously smooth compared to the 60hz monitor I was on.

If I were you, I would consider setting the monitor to 90hz, or whatever fps you can reliably maintain, and turn on vsync, so you get a smoother experience. Keeping a stable framerate is generally more important than peak framerate.

If you can't reliably keep your fps above 60 then a 144hz monitor is going to do you little good.

scamalert

Had similar topic page back,but seems no replies,can anyone recommend decent monitor for 200~300 to be picked up locally currys,pcworld etc since not much saving to be made seems buying from uk with price comparison.
Mostly for photoshop and long hours work,since was looking at either curved samsung or IPS-since behind all the numbers and meaning thus not sure if its my old gpu 560Ti but cant seem to get decent images as in watching hd videos always get black lines at top and bottom,since have resolution at 1280x1024 at 60hz,if playing games its smooth at max resolution thou,but if i tweak ip up to recommended 1920x1080 at 60hz,its pure eye strain and it cant go above 60hz in general.Thus a bit of lost,also sorry for jumping OPs thread.

Zillah

I'd be careful about photoshop. I got the ASUS VG248QE from Komplett for 312. It's an awesome gaming monitor with 1ms input time and 144hz but the colour bit depth is lower than most monitors. Which doesn't matter much for gaming, but I have my much more accurate Dell Ultrasharp for photoshop/video grading etc, because there's no way in hell I can trust the colours on the Asus for that sort of thing.

144hz monitors tend to be aimed at gamers rather than media, so tend to emphasize performance over image accuracy.

(I'm really confused about your post though - it sounds like your monitor is 4:3 ratio? You'll always get bars on 16:9 video with something like that. Is it capable of putting out 1920x1080? If so, why on Earth is your resolution so low now? 1920 shouldn't be any more of a strain on your eyes, refresh rate shouldn't be dropping. You shouldn't be getting eye strain on 60hz anyway so I'm not what to tell you)

MarkAnthony

Monitors are a very personal thing. Firstly refresh won't affect eye strain as it did on the old CRTs. They don't work in the same way. The next thing is you need frame rates to be near to or more than the refresh to get a tangible benefit, which means tearign unless you go free/g sync.

I'm completely ignorant to these higher refresh monitors as I simply can't tell the difference over 40FPS, it's just the way my eyes work. I was the big strong monkey shagging all the lady monkeys back in the day whereas CS:GO players where the little runty monkeys trying not to be eaten by saber toothed tigers. That's just they way it works.

Living on the Northside several hundred thousand years later I reflect on how evolution doesn't seem to have moved on much.

Hank Scorpio

Zillah wrote: »

I got a 144hz monitor recently and I love it. I've been using it for CSGO a lot, which is obviously optimised to hell so keeping up the fps isn't much of a problem. I turned on vsync so it's locked at 144fps the whole time - gorgeously smooth compared to the 60hz monitor I was on.

You shouldn't use vsync it adds a lot of input lag. If you want to limit the frames edit the config files or use an external program. Most people don't bother capping as even at 300 fps it still reduces input latency compared to 144.

Dcully

I bought a 144hz Gsync 1080 monitor a few months back, already had a 2560x1080 and a 2560x1440 both 60hz.
I now game with the 144hz Gsync 100% of the time, once you play @ 144hz at a steady 144fps you will never go back to 60hz that includes 1440 @60hz.
The difference between 60hz -144hz is much bigger than 1080-1440 in my experience.
When you try 144hz for the first time you will be shocked how anything can be so smooth, Gsync also helps ofcourse.

Dcully

I bought a 144hz Gsync 1080 monitor a few months back, already had a 2560x1080 and a 2560x1440 both 60hz.
I now game with the 144hz Gsync 100% of the time, once you play @ 144hz at a steady 144fps you will never go back to 60hz that includes 1440 @60hz.
The difference between 60hz -144hz is much bigger than 1080-1440 in my experience.
When you try 144hz for the first time you will be shocked how anything can be so smooth, Gsync also helps ofcourse.

TerrorFirmer

The main problem is that a 280X hasn't a hope of driving 144fps in the latest games unless you're playing at low settings (or to be fair, playing older games like CSGO or something).

I'm constantly on the fence about G-Sync, looking at 1440p but the cost is just enormous. I'd love to be able to try one out somewhere.

SterlingArcher

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

The main problem is that a 280X hasn't a hope of driving 144fps in the latest games unless you're playing at low settings (or to be fair, playing older games like CSGO or something).

I'm constantly on the fence about G-Sync, looking at 1440p but the cost is just enormous. I'd love to be able to try one out somewhere.

If I was in Galway I'd gladly let ya borrow for a week. Just to get you hooked. like a drug dealer.

It's a tough one. Gaming is smoother and I'm not even talking at 144fps. I play arma3 mostly ultra, and its more 40-70fps. Screen tearing is gone.

I only got one because it was a good price. Even though I have one and like it. I'd still be reluctant like you. Keep your eye out.

Redfox25

Terror, would you consider freesync? Means changing out you gpu ofc. But its cheaper and works well.
I got a freesync 144hz 1440p screen and its great. Couldnt go back to a 60hz screen now.

Redfox25

Terror, would you consider freesync? Means changing out you gpu ofc. But its cheaper and works well.
I got a freesync 144hz 1440p screen and its great. Couldnt go back to a 60hz screen now.

Dohnjoe

Thanks very much for the replies

Without GSYNC or Freesync.. what will happen to a game that I cannot lock fps?

e.g. H1Z1 will vary from 40 fps to 140 fps, no amount of graphics adjustments will keep a solid framerate because the game is in alpha and in towns the framerate drops regardless of card

I want to know that if I get this monitor, set it at e.g. 120hz, but the framerate jumps from 40 to 140 fps.. will it act just like my normal 60hz monitor or will it be smoother?

TLDL if it's not possible to lock the fps at a certain rate, will the game still look smoother on a 144hz monitor (without gsync/freesync)?

TerrorFirmer

Redfox25 wrote: »

Terror, would you consider freesync? Means changing out you gpu ofc. But its cheaper and works well.
I got a freesync 144hz 1440p screen and its great. Couldnt go back to a 60hz screen now.

Yeah, if I could go back now, I'd probably pick up a Fury X and a Freesync. But I'm happy with the 980Ti and I have a 1440p monitor, to be fair pretty much all games run at 1440p ultra without any hassle at 60fps so it's not a big deal.

Redfox25

You would likely get away with the non x fury or even nano for 60hz ultra i reckon.
Soulds like a nice rig.
Wish i had more time to play mine.

Redfox25

You would likely get away with the non x fury or even nano for 60hz ultra i reckon.
Soulds like a nice rig.
Wish i had more time to play mine.

Zillah

Dohnjoe wrote: »

Thanks very much for the replies

Without GSYNC or Freesync.. what will happen to a game that I cannot lock fps?

e.g. H1Z1 will vary from 40 fps to 140 fps, no amount of graphics adjustments will keep a solid framerate because the game is in alpha and in towns the framerate drops regardless of card

I want to know that if I get this monitor, set it at e.g. 120hz, but the framerate jumps from 40 to 140 fps.. will it act just like my normal 60hz monitor or will it be smoother?

TLDL if it's not possible to lock the fps at a certain rate, will the game still look smoother on a 144hz monitor (without gsync/freesync)?

Any time the framerate goes above 60 it will look smoother than it did on the old monitor, yes. Jumping from 40-140 is a little jarring, but the difference is that with the new monitor you'd at least get the benefits of the higher fps occasions. 40fps situations will look the same on either monitor.

Blazer

Dcully wrote: »

I bought a 144hz Gsync 1080 monitor a few months back, already had a 2560x1080 and a 2560x1440 both 60hz.
I now game with the 144hz Gsync 100% of the time, once you play @ 144hz at a steady 144fps you will never go back to 60hz that includes 1440 @60hz.
The difference between 60hz -144hz is much bigger than 1080-1440 in my experience.
When you try 144hz for the first time you will be shocked how anything can be so smooth, Gsync also helps ofcourse.

which one did you get? The ROG or the Acer one?
I've been debating to get the Swift TN or go for the IPS version but that one has still a lot of QC issues.

Dcully

Blazer wrote: »

which one did you get? The ROG or the Acer one?
I've been debating to get the Swift TN or go for the IPS version but that one has still a lot of QC issues.

Didn't get either man, don't want to risk a dodgy one as the majority of them are dodgy with countless issues.

I went with the AOC G2460PG

If I was buying a 1440 Gsync id go for the Dell S2716DG

Blazer

Dcully wrote: »

Didn't get either man, don't want to risk a dodgy one as the majority of them are dodgy with countless issues.

I went with the AOC G2460PG

If I was buying a 1440 Gsync id go for the Dell S2716DG

I was temped by the dell one but it's a TN panel and they're charging 800 quid for it.
Ah nice it's down to €729.
Might talk to one of the mates and use his discount for it.

Dcully

£449 on OCUK tonight.

My 2560x1080 LG is an IPS and in all honesty IPS colours are only maybe 10% better than a good TN imo,i wouldn't let that stop me.
The performance of 144hz combined with gsync is a game changer for me, totally transforms gaming.

Dcully

£449 on OCUK tonight.

My 2560x1080 LG is an IPS and in all honesty IPS colours are only maybe 10% better than a good TN imo,i wouldn't let that stop me.
The performance of 144hz combined with gsync is a game changer for me, totally transforms gaming.