Monitor Reccomendation?

1

123+ski

Active member
Monitor broke driving home from school, half the screen is semi usable, but it's time for a new one. I have an older Mac pro with dvi and VGA outpouts. A new graphics card might happen in the future, but I assume it will have dvi and HDMI, and this purchase will likely delay that one. So, my wants/requirements:

DVI input

22" min, 24" ideal (I'd rather save money over a 27" unless I get a deal)

Thin/low profile is nice, but not a deal breaker if it isn't

1080p is an absolute mminimum

$150, maybe close to $200 if it's large and or high res

I don't care about built in speakers, I'm using it on my desk so most mounts are fine, and I don't do any serious gaming (shredsauce, and then ssx or smash on an emulator). I will mostly use it for video/photo editing, basic web surfing/word processing etc., and potentially some 3D modeling (once I get around to partitioning, I will install inventor and possibly other autodesk/similar software).

If there are any deals, I would like to buy it at best buy or costco (locally), otherwise I'm assuming that newegg or amazon are the best.
 
I was thinking that because I saw a dell on sale for $150 for a 23" 1080p, and I thought they had a decent rep. Here is a link:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-23...kuId=6814943&st=pcmcat143700050048_categoryid$abcat0509000&cp=1&lp=1

Now that I look closer, I think it may be the "ultrasharps" that are popular, and it doesn't appear that this is one. I also thought that I would need it now, but I can actually get by on my tablet for 2 weeks or so, and roughly half the screen appears to still work. That one you posted looks sweet, and double monitors has also been tempting, but a larger nice one sounds better than two shitty ones.
 
Haven't owned an IPS or 1440p, but I definitely agree that buying a cheap monitor isn't worth it in the long run. I bought a cheapo $130 1080p 24 inch monitor a little while ago thinking it would be just as good as any other but it was shit. Even my 144hz TN panel, known for its awful colors looks far better than it.

It's also worth it IMO for the better stand and build quality, so I can take it in the car with me and not have to worry about it breaking. Anyways jamie or someone could probably tell more about the subject, most of what I know is just in terms of gaming.
 
13003120:p.hawks said:
and double monitors has also been tempting, but a larger nice one sounds better than two shitty ones.
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honestly i can't imagine having a desktop without two monitors. it doesn't seem like that big of a deal until you get used to it imo
 
13003271:erikK said:
honestly i can't imagine having a desktop without two monitors. it doesn't seem like that big of a deal until you get used to it imo
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I do like using them, most labs at my school have them, but I'd been getting by with a 24" screen and an app that snaps windows to full screen, left/right, or quarters. Two monitors will be great, but I just can't really drop $600-$800 right now. I will probably get a second after I get a new graphics card. I was going to hold off until I had the money for both, but that was before my current one broke.

Also I said I don't care about mounts because most are the right height/crappy. A dual VESA mount will be bought with the second monitor. As far as transport, I think I will be keeping the boxes and foam with the new one, the old one was used and didn't include a box.
 
13003271:erikK said:
honestly i can't imagine having a desktop without two monitors. it doesn't seem like that big of a deal until you get used to it imo
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I use 3 monitors at work, its insane
 
13003271:erikK said:
honestly i can't imagine having a desktop without two monitors. it doesn't seem like that big of a deal until you get used to it imo
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LG 21:9 monitor, aspect ratio of the future

er_photo_182329_52.jpg
 
13003472:Balto said:
LG 21:9 monitor, aspect ratio of the future

er_photo_182329_52.jpg
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I've been considering buying a new monitor and for $299 this would be sick. I wonder if counter strike supports that res haha
 
13003672:pussyfooter said:
I've been considering buying a new monitor and for $299 this would be sick. I wonder if counter strike supports that res haha
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why are we not pwning newbs on CS together
 
13003686:Balto said:
why are we not pwning newbs on CS together
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You're missing out bro, Eheath and I CS on the reg. Just saw he started playing, I might have to join him...

EDIT: Will chime in after gaming

**This post was edited on May 24th 2014 at 8:29:34pm
 
If anyone has graphic cards recommendations, I may just buy these together. Just something relatively cheap with support for cs6 and davinci. I mostly want it for CUDA support, and while I am interested in crypto currencies, I'm not looking for a top end card to mine with.
 
If you need cuda support you'll probably only need something like a gtx650. Cuda does speed up rendering a lot, but there isn't too much increase between lower end and high end cards. Mostly bottle-necked by the cpu.
 
13008078:.qzyxya said:
If you need cuda support you'll probably only need something like a gtx650. Cuda does speed up rendering a lot, but there isn't too much increase between lower end and high end cards. Mostly bottle-necked by the cpu.
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I was considering a 760 or 660 ti, but I thought they might be overkill. I like the 750 ti because it doesn't draw as much power, but there aren't drivers. As far as CPU, I have dual 2.8 ghz xeons. They are older ones, but still pretty fast (I think they roughly equate to an i7-3770k).

Also, I was at Costco today and saw the lg 25" 21:9 for $250. Couldn't help myself, gonna go try it out now
 
13008286:p.hawks said:
I was considering a 760 or 660 ti, but I thought they might be overkill. I like the 750 ti because it doesn't draw as much power, but there aren't drivers. As far as CPU, I have dual 2.8 ghz xeons. They are older ones, but still pretty fast (I think they roughly equate to an i7-3770k).

Also, I was at Costco today and saw the lg 25" 21:9 for $250. Couldn't help myself, gonna go try it out now
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If you want a fast GPU with cuda but wanna save money, check out the gtx570.
 
13008322:pussyfooter said:
If you want a fast GPU with cuda but wanna save money, check out the gtx570.
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I have the GTX580, it's pretty rad. Get a PCI 3.0 card if your MOBO supports it, if not, the 580 is the way to go
 
Thanks guys, I'll check those out too. I have the Mac Pro 3,1 which I don't think has PCI express 3.0. Should I spring for a model with extra VRAM? I can't seem to find a straight answer. I know it isn't necessary for my uses in regards to gaming (single monitor/no new cutting edge games). The 1.2gb 570 and 1.5gb 580 both are really cheap, but the 2.5gb 570 and 3gb 580 are in the range of 660 ti and 760 prices.
 
13008640:p.hawks said:
Thanks guys, I'll check those out too. I have the Mac Pro 3,1 which I don't think has PCI express 3.0. Should I spring for a model with extra VRAM? I can't seem to find a straight answer. I know it isn't necessary for my uses in regards to gaming (single monitor/no new cutting edge games). The 1.2gb 570 and 1.5gb 580 both are really cheap, but the 2.5gb 570 and 3gb 580 are in the range of 660 ti and 760 prices.
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I have the 1.5gb 580 and it'll be plenty for your uses.
 
13009083:Walter.1337 said:
I have the 1.5gb 580 and it'll be plenty for your uses.
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Thanks again. I think I'm leaning towards the 570 because it draws a little less power, but still can handle most of what the 580 can. It also looks like it is enough power to use as the only GPU with resolve, which I will be downloading for handling raw video. Regardless, I'm going to keep the old one as backup and it would probably be too much work/not worth it to sell
 
Not sure how much a used 580 or 570 would cost you, but I suspect it'll probably be cheaper to get a new 660 or 760 or something. Better power efficiency and about the same performance. Even between a gtx680 and a 550ti there's very little difference according to benchmarks I've seen online. Not nearly as much of a difference compared to when gaming or 3d modeling. (http://ppbm5.com/DB-PPBM5-2.php,http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm)
 
13009837:.qzyxya said:
Not sure how much a used 580 or 570 would cost you, but I suspect it'll probably be cheaper to get a new 660 or 760 or something. Better power efficiency and about the same performance. Even between a gtx680 and a 550ti there's very little difference according to benchmarks I've seen online. Not nearly as much of a difference compared to when gaming or 3d modeling. (http://ppbm5.com/DB-PPBM5-2.php,http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm)
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If the 570 is $150 or less, I'll probably get that. The 660 ti and the 760 were my other two choices. The newer ones are slightly faster/better, but also more expensive, and it looks like all three would be great for my system. If prices are close, I will spring for a new one, but I don't really want to spend almost double for a marginal increase in performance.
 
got the right cable today, this monitor is beautiful, I had a 24" 1920x1200, but this blows it away in terms of color and sharpness. Can't wait to edit some stuff on it, or even just watch some videos.
 
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