Help with choosing a new monitor 32" or more for about £500, programming/games

[norbiw13]

Hello,

I am looking for a 32” or larger monitor for under/about £500. I will use the monitor mainly for programming (websites/applications/games/3D graphics). I will also play non-competitive games, I’ll play Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs, Forza… games where the input lag is not that important. Currently I have AOC Q3279VWF as my main monitor and on one side I will soon have Dell S2721DGFA in pivot for displaying code (this monitor can also be used for games as it has nanoIPS). My new monitor is going to be my main display, on one side I will have the AOC and on the other the Dell S2721DGFA.

I do not have too many requirements. Can be curved or not. It’ll be nice if it’ll have at least 120Hz, so that I can use for next gen consoles. It can be 16:9 or 21:9. If this new is 21:9 then I’ll use my AOC for YouTube.

I have managed to find Dell S3220DGF for about £300. For this price will this be the best deal/monitor currently? Even temporary until HDMI 2.1 becomes more popular or until some new monitors show up next year? What about second Dell S2721 (around £330) and then I’ll wait for some 4k 120Hz that may be available next year?

Currently I think Dell S3220DGF looks as the most attractive option for me, I’ve seen reviews and there is no point in paying twice for the Samsung Odyssey G7 32. On the other hand, I’m curious about 21:9, but is worth the extra price? Once 4k technology becomes more advanced, I’d like to purchase something like Samsung Odyssey G9, but in 4k.

My research:

Dell S3220DGF June 2020 Rev A03 - 31.5", VA, 165Hz, 16:9, 2560x1440, 1800R, HDR400 - £300.
SAMSUNG Odyssey G55 32 - 31.5", VA, 144Hz, 16:9, 2560x1440, 1000R, HDR600 - £350.
Gigabyte G32QC – 32”, VA, 165Hz, 21:9, 2560x1440, 1500R - £360.
Iiyama GB3466WQSU-B1 - 34", VA, 144Hz, 21:9, 3440x1440, 1500R, HDR400 - £380.
Xiaomi Mi Curved - 34", VA, 144Hz, 21:9, 3440x1440, 1500R - £385.
AOC CU34G2X - 34", VA, 144Hz, 21:9, 3440x1440, 1500R - £480.
Gigabyte G34WQC - 32", VA, 144Hz, 21:9, 3440xx1440, 1500R - £470 from amazon, normally around £400.

This is my potential setup:

AOC 32 – 32”/32”+ monitor – S2721
Or
S2721 – AOC 32 - S2721

I prefer better colours than fast response (I will use Dell S2721, if I start playing competitive games).

Thank you.

[Jake_UK]

I'm in a similar situation other than just going to use the one display and am looking at the Dell S3220DGF. Where did you find it for £300 though (looks more like £350 at the moment)?

[k9wazere]

My research has lead me to believe that every monitor in this price range has one or more fatal flaws. And there is a lot of overpriced "crap".

All the VA panels are too slow to be "true" 144 or 165 Hz monitors. They either have massive amounts of dark level smearing (due to really slow dark transition response times) or massive amounts of overshoot haloing (due to aggressive overdrive to compensate for VA's inherent weaknesses). Mostly VA are just too damn slow to be gaming monitors. The VA monitors advertised as 144 or 165 Hz are really bending the truth and verging on "lying"

And the panels that have "decent" or "good" performance at max refresh rate often have awful performance at lower refresh - say 100Hz down to 60 Hz. So what's the point of Freesync et al if your monitor is crapping out at lower refresh?

The one VA which has great response across all frequencies (the G7) behaves more like an IPS - it has weak contrast, lots of backlight bleed and unacceptable levels of glow. Great, they've made a VA which sacrifices VAs strengths and embraces IPSs weaknesses... good job!

The IPS that have great response have awful contrast, below even 800:1. And of course lots of IPS glow and often backlight bleeding. Because quality control is a thing of the past it seems.

You'd have thought that £500 would get you a really nice monitor, but these days everything is really quite poor. £500 is becoming entry level pricing, with an abundance of deeply flawed monitors and nothing of any great quality.

[danq]

I like the look of the Gigabyte 34" ultra wide - although can't find it anywhere! For me its between that or the Dell S322.

[Alsedo]

I got the AOC CU34G2X a few months ago and it's mostly fine. There's a patch of noticeable bleed at the bottom of mine that just goes away after a few minutes (warm up time?). The picture quality doesn't seem quite as good as my old monitor's IPS panel but going from 16:9 to 21:9 has been great. I knew when buying it that there would be compromises at this price point, so I wasn't really disappointed.

I occasionally get some games blank the monitor for a couple of seconds with VRR turned on, seemingly when the frame rate gets too low. That's with an Nvidia card.