Still looking for the right monitor ...

[Simon]

Here I am 18 months after delivery of my system (specification below) and apart from a few rebuilds courtesy of Microsoft I'm still enjoying it enormously.

However, even with a single graphics card I'm thinking it would be nice to upgrade my monitor. When I purchased my system I did not find a monitor that quite ticked all my boxes.

• Since I have some decent speakers I would like to avoid having the sound routed to my monitor, so ideally I'd like the monitor not to have speakers or for them to be easily bypassed. Can you connect the monitor a desktop with HDMI and still have the sound from your MB going to your S/PDIF Out?
• Wall mounting would save some desk space.
• I'm looking for a decent size, so 23" is a minimum.
• Energy efficient would be nice, so LED .
• Although I'm not a gamer I do edit video and I do watch video, so I like the idea of 2ms response times and IPS.
• I have some 3D Home Theatre kit, but I think my GTX480 would only do 3D if I had two of it so I'm not sure whether to go for a 3D ready monitor.

Any suggestions either from the PCS list (I think they can be persuaded to ship accessories to existing customers) or from elsewhere?

As for budget, I'm broke as usual but could probably have my arm twisted from £250 to £500.

Thanks in hopeful anticipation ...

Simon

Case
COOLERMASTER COSMOS 1000 SILVER SILENT CASE (£159)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Processor Extreme Edition i7-980X (3.33GHz) 6.4GTs/12MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® RAMPAGE III EXTREME: 3-Way SLI & CrossFireX, SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0
Memory (RAM)
24GB SAMSUNG DDR3 TRI-DDR3 1333MHz (6 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
1536MB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX480 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
600GB WD VELOCIRAPTOR® SATA 6-Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (10,000rpm)
3rd Hard Disk
600GB WD VELOCIRAPTOR® SATA 6-Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (10,000rpm)
4th Hard Disk
600GB WD VELOCIRAPTOR® SATA 6-Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (10,000rpm)
5th Hard Disk
600GB WD VELOCIRAPTOR® SATA 6-Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (10,000rpm)
6th Hard Disk
600GB WD VELOCIRAPTOR® SATA 6-Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (10,000rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
10x BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£99)
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
10x BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£99)
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W MODULAR PSU (HX1000) 80+ ULTRA QUIET (£175)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£62)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Firewire & Video Editing
1 x IEEE 1394a FIREWIRE PORT ONBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£148)
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Pro 2010 (Incl Disc & 1 License for 2 devices) (£339)
Anti-Virus
MICROSOFT SECURITY ESSENTIALS - Free Basic Protection
Speakers
LOGITECH Z-5500 Digital 5.1 THX-certified digital surround (£252)
Webcam
Logitech® Webcam Pro 9000 - 2.0Mp, AutoFocus and Carl Zeiss Optics (£55)
Headsets (VOIP)
Logitech® ClearChat PC Wireless™ Headset High-performance & wireless (£84)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, Lifetime Tech Support) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Miscellaneous
FREE Just Cuase 2 Game (RRP: £34.99) with any GTX 4xx Series GPU!
Quantity
1

 

[mantadog]

I spent alot of time looking at monitors some time back, but in the end just decided to go for a sort of standard HD one after alot of feeling confused by all the manufacturers using different numbers to describe the same thing.

I hear alot of good things said on this forum about the iiyama monitors from PCS, you could get a 27" monitor well under budget. They seem to tick most of your boxes but i think to spnd over £250 your going to have to go for 3D.

 

[Simon]

Thanks for your reply.

I wonder if anyone else has any ideas?

Simon

 

[Wozza63]

thats a lot of velociraptors, wanna give me one?

id say iiyama they are great quality and decent prices as well

 

[Simon]

I'd be prepared to swap one for a working GTX480 so that I can go 3D

 

[Teaz]

What about a dellsharp? They are also ips monitors.

 

[keynes]

I'd be prepared to swap one for a working GTX480 so that I can go 3D

I ordered yesterday the ASUS VG278H 27" LED 3D Monitor, I read good reviews online and magazines and it comes with 3D glasses and Nvidia emitter built in. It might be a bit over your budget but DABS is offering £25 off from the retail price.

 

[Music Guy123]

I would say llyama, personally, I don't think 3D is worth it but that is just my opinion.

 

[TravelSite]

I have the ASUS VG278H 27" LED 3D Monitor - I think its great and haven't had any issues with it (though I've never used an IPS monitor). I like having the 27" size - I find really good both for working on and for watching movies / playing games on.

I personally love the 3D aspect - I have a 3d camera and it allows me to easily view all the photos I take (the 3D is amazing!). I like playing games in 3D too though obviously its more demanding on the graphics card. Watching 3D movies is fine too, though there aren't that many of them around yet hence I don't do this very often (I think I probably own most of them already!)

The 3d blu-ray playback software I bought upscales dvds to 3D - but I mostly have things in blu-ray so its not a great use for that (I don't think there's any software out that upscales blu-rays yet).

It has built in speakers (which are fine) - but I haven't connected the audio to them hence I just use my 5.1 headphones. I probably look at bit odd with my large headphones and 3D glasses on (these came with the monitor)!

The ASUS VG278H 27" was the first 27" monitor with 3D Vision 2 (there was also a 23" one which probably makes better sense if you ever want 3 monitors) which brightens everything up for when you're watching 3D stuff.

I'm pretty sure that I had 3D working on the PS3 using it (before my desktop arrived).

The only slight annoyance with it is that it blinks off for a second as it turns 3D on / off - I would have preferred if it happened seemlessly, but its still a great monitor.

 

[keynes]

I have the ASUS VG278H 27" LED 3D Monitor - I think its great and haven't had any issues with it (though I've never used an IPS monitor). I like having the 27" size - I find really good both for working on and for watching movies / playing games on.

I personally love the 3D aspect - I have a 3d camera and it allows me to easily view all the photos I take (the 3D is amazing!). I like playing games in 3D too though obviously its more demanding on the graphics card. Watching 3D movies is fine too, though there aren't that many of them around yet hence I don't do this very often (I think I probably own most of them already!)

The 3d blu-ray playback software I bought upscales dvds to 3D - but I mostly have things in blu-ray so its not a great use for that (I don't think there's any software out that upscales blu-rays yet).

It has built in speakers (which are fine) - but I haven't connected the audio to them hence I just use my 5.1 headphones. I probably look at bit odd with my large headphones and 3D glasses on (these came with the monitor)!

The ASUS VG278H 27" was the first 27" monitor with 3D Vision 2 (there was also a 23" one which probably makes better sense if you ever want 3 monitors) which brightens everything up for when you're watching 3D stuff.

I'm pretty sure that I had 3D working on the PS3 using it (before my desktop arrived).

The only slight annoyance with it is that it blinks off for a second as it turns 3D on / off - I would have preferred if it happened seemlessly, but its still a great monitor.

I didn't know I could use it to play 3D games on the PS3, if that is the case that is a plus.

 

[Music Guy123]

I think it was NMEBowen that had a 3 monitor 3D setup and said it was the best thing ever for the first month then the dull colours got boring. But i guess you said that this monitor is brighter, it probably won't be too bad.

 

[RogueTainer]

I have a iiyama 24" currently & i cant praise it enough, every review i've read on iiyama has been very very good

 

[Simon]

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far.

I'm left with a couple of my original questions, probably so basic that nobody thought they needed answering, plus some new ones and a variety of opions for me to ponder (that is the benefit of the Forum, of course).

1. If I connect a monitor to my GTX480 using HDMI and have my Z-5500 speakers connected with S/PDIF to the MB (Rampage III Extreme) there won't be any conflicts and I can just mute the speakers on the monitor if it has them?
2. I would need two GTX480 cards (I only have one) if I wanted to view in 3D?
3. For DVD/Blu-ray in 3D I would need some upscaling software (possibly non-existent) as I don't believe my Blu-ray drives (LG) are 3D ready, or does NVIDIA do that for me?

If the same is true to PC monitors as is the case with TV screens, then my opinion is that 3D monitors provide a better 2D experience than non-3D monitors but yes, 3D is not always quite so spectacular as is sometimes hyped.

I note much praise heaped on the iiyama monitors, notably by PCS staffers. I shall think on ...

Simon

Truth be told, and despite the emphasis implied above, I'm more looking for a really good HD monitor - bright, sharp, fast, green than for 3D - for general workstation use, plus video/photo editing and DVD/Blu-ray viewing. Perhaps I should have said that in the first place but maybe the Forum has helped me clarify my thinking a bit.

 

[Music Guy123]

I am not too sure about questions 2 and 3 as I don't know anything about the 480s, they were around before I really knew what a GPU was! For the speakers, it will be fine, for win 7, right click on the sound icon in the taskbar, click playback properties then find the right output that you want your sound to come out of, it is probably called speakers, right click it and click set as default. That way, sound will automatically come from there.

 

[Ash]

I have a Viewsonic VX2260WM monitor and it is very good. It's 3D apparently too, which I didn't know at the time and I have never used with 3D with it.
Also, my girlfriend has a HP LED monitor which is amazing. The colours on it are outstanding.

 

[Teaz]

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far.

I'm left with a couple of my original questions, probably so basic that nobody thought they needed answering, plus some new ones and a variety of opions for me to ponder (that is the benefit of the Forum, of course).

1. If I connect a monitor to my GTX480 using HDMI and have my Z-5500 speakers connected with S/PDIF to the MB (Rampage III Extreme) there won't be any conflicts and I can just mute the speakers on the monitor if it has them?
2. I would need two GTX480 cards (I only have one) if I wanted to view in 3D?
3. For DVD/Blu-ray in 3D I would need some upscaling software (possibly non-existent) as I don't believe my Blu-ray drives (LG) are 3D ready, or does NVIDIA do that for me?

If the same is true to PC monitors as is the case with TV screens, then my opinion is that 3D monitors provide a better 2D experience than non-3D monitors but yes, 3D is not always quite so spectacular as is sometimes hyped.

I note much praise heaped on the iiyama monitors, notably by PCS staffers. I shall think on ...

Simon

Truth be told, and despite the emphasis implied above, I'm more looking for a really good HD monitor - bright, sharp, fast, green than for 3D - for general workstation use, plus video/photo editing and DVD/Blu-ray viewing. Perhaps I should have said that in the first place but maybe the Forum has helped me clarify my thinking a bit.

1. Yes, that should be the case for it. The sound should just be adjust through the Playback Devices's window I'm sure.

2. I don't believe or you shouldn't require two gtx480s to make 3D work I'm sure. I am sure all gtx460 models and above it ie your gtx480 should be 3D vision ready. You would normally need a 3D ready tv or monitor along with a 3D vision kit (PCS do stock these for sale if you're not aware) which is what's required when I last looked back. Some TVs are or right now are made to incorporates the 3D vision sensor, where TVs a while back would needed to be purchased with the sensor separately.

3. It shouldn't be the case of the blu ray player as it already allows blu ray and 3D blu rays to be played, you just need a 3D monitor along with the 3D vision kit as said.

That should be all correct. I may be wrong in some parts, mind my bad memory functions lol.

 

[TravelSite]

I bought my 3D monitor elsewhere, and had to purchase Cyberlink PowerDVD 11 to view blu-rays in 3D (and to do 2d to 3d on videos/dvds - though it can't do 2d to 3d on blu-rays). Personally I prefer watching 2D to 3D, but it never gets it 100% accurate.

- I did get a cut down version of blu-ray software with the PC (as it had blu-ray drive) but it didn't play blu-ray in 3D (note that I didn't order a 3D Monitor setup from PCS - they may well send a different version of the blu-ray software for those ordering Nvidia 3D vision from them).

I'm not sure how your graphics card compares to my one, but I have a 560 Ti (full HD screen) which seems to run the games I play in 3D at the highest settings (Duke Nukem, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Black Ops Mulitplayer). Battlefield 3 slowed down a lot on "Ultra" Settings when there was things on fire (but seems fine so far on high settings). PC games have the edge over PS3 given that so many of them will automatically work with 3D from the outset.

 

[Simon]

I thought I would update this post to say that I finally elected for the iiyama E2773HDS and am very disappointed with it. It seems that everyone else loves iiyama monitors to death, so worth a post just to say that prospective purchasers should be aware that there is at least one dissatisfied customer out here!

In normal desktop use the monitor is too bright, the colours are washed out and just a little blurry. That wouldn't be so bad, but no matter how hard I try I can't find a bunch of settings that will correct this. I've tried both the limited adjustments available on the monitor as well as fiddling with NVIDIA settings, but whilst I can improve things the results remain distractingly disappointing.

Sadly I waited until Day 8 to ask PCS for advice and got an uncharacteristically unhelpful response to the effect that it it was too late for a refund (7 day cooling off period) and there was nobody at PCS who could advise on how best to set up the monitor. I was offered a 'phone number for iiyama.

By the way, if you are going to wall mount your monitor then you might be wise to note the serial number before you do so as nobody at iiyama will speak to you without it.

The larger real estate is most welcome and but for that I think I'd take it to the skip and reinstate my 10 year old Sony, as it has much better colours.