Author Topic: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.  (Read 18246 times)

Bobbias

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Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.
« Reply #15 on: November 17, 2018, 05:22:43 AM »
Problem is that if you buy it on .com, you could be hit with import tariffs. I got hit with an import tariff on my keyboard, which was something like $80 for what was a $200 USD keyboard. With the tariff and exchange rates the damn thing ended up costing me damn near $400 CAD by the end of things, so be careful about ordering anything from a US site if it's available in from a canadian site too (I actually looked for my KB on canadian sites but couldn't find any ones with MX Red switches, which is why I ended up ordering from an american site :/ fuckers)

That said, I have a predator monitor myself, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Mine's 23.8 inch 1440p, 144hz, gsync.

Gsync means that your monitor and graphics card synchronize updates, so your monitor only updates the image when the GPU is finished rendering a frame. This completely eliminates screen tearing during fast movement. It's a neat feature, really, but it's only really effective if you can't drive a game at whatever framerate you've set the monitor to. It means if you dip below whatever your framerate is, there's no chance that your monitor will get a half finished frame, and the monitor will instead wait for the GPU to render the screen before it updates. If you can hit whatever framerate and hold steady, vsync is perfectly fine.

I don't even take advantage of gsync when I'm playing Osu!, because it's best to keep the game's framerate uncapped because it processes input only when it draws a frame, meaning the more frames it can render, the more accurate it will be at timing your inputs. But on something like say, borderlands 2, which I'm actually running at 3620x2036 and downsampling, it's nice, because I don't hit 144hz at that resolution (usually somewhere around 80-90 fps when running around, not sure what I get in combat, but it's still probably keeping over 60). Only shit thing is that I get the dumb physx color glitch at the bottom of the screen, which seems to be related to resolution from the really quick googling I've done.
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NewF

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Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.
« Reply #16 on: November 18, 2018, 10:56:32 PM »
It's weird, because I have never once in my life experienced screen tearing.
Also....If I get a 144hz monitor...Does that mean I need to have my game running at at least 144FPS or something?

Bobbias

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Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.
« Reply #17 on: November 19, 2018, 01:56:48 AM »
I mean, there's no requirement that you absolutely have to hit the refresh rate of your monitor. Like I said, I only hit like maybe 70-90 fps despite my screen being set to 165hz. If you have a stable refresh rate at or above 144hz that means you'll be getting the most out of the monitor since it'll have a new frame to display every single refresh cycle, making movement as smooth as possible, but anything above 60fps will be an improvement over a 60hz screen.
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Spectere

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Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.
« Reply #18 on: November 19, 2018, 09:02:34 AM »
It's a neat feature, really, but it's only really effective if you can't drive a game at whatever framerate you've set the monitor to.

I disagree. Tearing can happen at higher framerates as well if the framerate isn't somehow capped. It's the same principle, except that instead of the game drawing, say, two thirds of a frame, it draws, say, 1.25 frames during a refresh cycle. It drives me nuts.

You could get around this with standard Vsync, sure, but then if you drop a single frame below your target, you're suddenly dealing with a halved refresh rate for that given period of time.

It's weird, because I have never once in my life experienced screen tearing.

You might have been running with Vsync on, or the games you play have good limiters. Generally speaking, letting a game run uncapped will lead to tearing. The exact degree of it depends on the game in question.

The worst part about it is that the second you notice it once you can never unsee it.
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NewF

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Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.
« Reply #19 on: November 19, 2018, 10:07:26 PM »
Weird that you say that too, because I have literally *never* turn on v-sync. I hated it. Always turned it off and received much better smoothness in all my games. Hahahah.

NewF

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Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.
« Reply #20 on: November 19, 2018, 11:08:21 PM »
Double post........ I have chosen.......

https://caen-store.acer.com/27-predator-xb1-gaming-monitor-xb271hu-abmiprz

Best of both worlds. 27", WQHD, gsync, TN display. (I read up on IPS, but I think TN would be better for gaming, considering the faster response time.
What you guys think. Good choice and price or wha?

Bobbias

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Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.
« Reply #21 on: November 20, 2018, 02:15:48 AM »
The spectere correction hits again. I'm always forgetting details like that whenever I start talking tech lol.

Looks good newf. I'm enjoying the hell out of mine.
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Spectere

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Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.
« Reply #22 on: November 20, 2018, 08:28:05 AM »
The spectere correction hits again. I'm always forgetting details like that whenever I start talking tech lol.

8)

It's mostly just because I have to deal with that annoying tightrope walk constantly, really. I use a 4K 60hz non-GSync TV attached to a 1080 Ti, and trying to reduce tearing from both being over and under target has morphed me into a bitter, cantankerous asshat.

That said, at least it's not as irritable as an SLI setup. Whew.

I am planning to jump back to a more traditional setup so that I can better take advantage of my hardware (still trying to decide between 1440p/144hz and 4K/60hz, since 4K/144hz is just too goddamn expensive right now) but I have to shuffle a lot of things around to be able to start building my ideal setup.

https://caen-store.acer.com/27-predator-xb1-gaming-monitor-xb271hu-abmiprz

Best of both worlds. 27", WQHD, gsync, TN display. (I read up on IPS, but I think TN would be better for gaming, considering the faster response time.
What you guys think. Good choice and price or wha?

Lookin' good!

As far as TN vs IPS, I always choose the latter. It's true that TN does have a slightly faster pixel response, but IPS is more than good enough for gaming and has the advantage of having a ludicrously good viewing angle. The only real artifact with IPS displays is that you can see the backlight ("IPS Glow") if you view dark scenes at an extreme angle, but you generally have to try to see this effect. With TN panels, the colors will wash out, even with fairly minor adjustments in your vertical viewing angle. This is generally far more noticeable with laptops than a properly configured desktop, but I still notice it on my system at work (I have one TN panel and two IPS panels, because consistency is overrated I guess). It might just be me being picky and pedantic, but I can very quickly spot even a modern TN panel due to how the color shifts when I simply bob my head up and down even very slightly.

IPS also allows for more accurate color representation than TN, so bear that in mind if you plan to do anything artsy. As a result, they also make games look freaking gorgeous, particularly if they have a higher contrast art style (think Blizzard titles, Borderlands, etc).

That said, there is definitely a price premium if you jump up to IPS. I think it's worth it, personally, but YMMV.
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NewF

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Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.
« Reply #23 on: November 20, 2018, 05:13:14 PM »
Isn't this monitor IPS? It says IPS when you scroll down below....?
Also...When I look on Amazon here....The IPS monitor is cheaper than the TN....?
Im confused now.

https://www.amazon.ca/Acer-XB252Q-bmiprz-24-5-inch-1920x1080/dp/B06ZXZ3QBD?SubscriptionId=AKIAIPHVZTVH6LZ5BFZA&tag=hawk-future-ca-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B01N34Q6LF&ascsubtag=tomshardware-1426061090032854293-20&th=1

Click the WQHD, it's $870. Click the WQHD IPS, It's $749.99

But honestly...Would the IPS make THAT much of a difference for gaming and stuff?
Because I don't even see the IPS one available on the acer website. Even though the once I chose said TN, but down below it says IPS. so which is it? Agh!

NewF

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Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.
« Reply #24 on: November 20, 2018, 05:47:52 PM »
Double post -
Nevermind, found it.

https://caen-store.acer.com/27-predator-xb1-gaming-monitor-xb271hu-abmiprz - TN

https://caen-store.acer.com/27-predator-gaming-monitor-xb271hu-bmiprz - IPS

An extra $50 for the IPS. I'd be fine with that. As long as it's 100% guaranteed better and also perform as good with the response time and stuff, then hell yeah, I'll wait till Black Friday and get it.

Spectere

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Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.
« Reply #25 on: November 21, 2018, 10:15:46 AM »
Also...When I look on Amazon here....The IPS monitor is cheaper than the TN....?
Im confused now.

It's because the TN monitor is only available from a third-party seller (at a price closer to what I assume was its original MSRP). That's Amazon's fallback if their warehouses don't have any in stock.

But honestly...Would the IPS make THAT much of a difference for gaming and stuff?

Whether you can tolerate TN's shortcomings or not is kind of a subjective thing. That said, even before I used an IPS display I hated how little head movements would cause colors to shift drastically. While they've improved somewhat, even the modern TN panel that I use at work (and the one that was in my old ASUS ROG laptop) look terrible if it's not lined up nearly perfectly. The displays that I use at work aren't really anything special, either. They're just normal low-end business class Dell displays, yet even within the same class IPS looks significantly better than TN.

As far as response times are concerned, while I haven't used a 144hz display for any personal tasks, I've played fast-paced games on both my laptop (4K 60hz IPS panel) and iMac (1440p 60hz IPS panel) and there was no observable blurring or smearing even when I played stuff like Quake 3. Even with the cheap panels that I use at work, moving a black box along a white background (about the most intense stress test you can perform) produced fairly minimal smearing on the 8ms IPS display, and the 5ms response time of the TN panel (still higher than the Acer) made it even less noticeable. With 8ms it's noticeable, but when you start pushing 5ms and lower you get to the point where you have to specifically look for it to be able to spot it.

As far as the response times are concerned, the TN panel you linked has a 1ms response time and the IPS one is rated for 4ms, both measured for gray-to-gray transitions. 144hz translates to one frame every 6.94ms, so unless you're alternating between all-black and all-white frames at 144hz the IPS panel is going to be able to keep up with what it's getting fed. While technically the image is going to be "fully formed" a bit faster on the TN panel, I really dubious as to whether any would really be able to perceive a difference between the two, especially when you factor in fun little human qualities like persistence of vision (this is the phenomenon that causes you to see, for example, multiple copies of your cursor when you move it across the screen, even on CRT displays).

Really, modern LCD panels, especially ones intended for gaming, are so close that it's usually just becomes a spec race. If I were currently in the market for a display I would go IPS all the way for the sake of both quality and convenience.
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NewF

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Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.
« Reply #26 on: November 21, 2018, 10:41:54 AM »
Done. I'll get the IPS one. For an extra 50 bucks, why the hell not.
Hopefully it drops to a good price for Black Friday. *Fingers crossed*

Spectere

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Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.
« Reply #27 on: November 22, 2018, 01:19:43 AM »
Woo! Hope you like it (and can get a killer deal). ;D
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NewF

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Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.
« Reply #28 on: November 22, 2018, 08:58:10 PM »
Well....This is kinda fucked.
Was waiting for the black Friday sale...And now the monitor has gone UP in price from $749.99 to $899.99?
Why....?
https://caen-store.acer.com/27-predator-gaming-monitor-xb271hu-bmiprz

But now.....THIS one is on sale...How is THIS monitor?
UGH! I hate all this shopping around, lol.

https://caen-store.acer.com/offers/predator-z1-monitor-z271-tbmiphzx-27h

Edit 3 - FUCK IT! Went on Amazon and bought it. $855.40 after taxes n all that.Ugh. I hope this monitor is worth it.
« Last Edit: November 22, 2018, 09:51:31 PM by NewF »

Bobbias

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Re: Decided to splurge and get a new gaming PC.
« Reply #29 on: November 23, 2018, 03:53:29 AM »
Yeah, persistence of vision is a bitch for stuff like say, playing osu!mania, like I do.

The 165hz refresh is definitely noticeable compared to 60 when playing mania, but since it's a light note on black background (for highest contrast), there's still some pretty noticeable POV effects. Still, it's definitely better than 60hz was.
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