Hardware [Quick question] Should I do a monitor upgrade?

[samiam144]

Hi guys,

Currently, I have this 1366 x 768 TV as a "monitor" for my PC (GTX 750 Ti, i5-4440).
I am thinking of getting this monitor.

Worth it? Should I jump from 720p to 1080p, with a small decrease in screen size?
I will be using it not only for games, but for schoolwork too. For those of you that have an Ultrawide monitor, how do you find it?

Thanks!

 

[Duo8]

I used to use a 768p 37" TV as my monitor too. It was absolute ass and had scaling issues.
Switched to a 23" 1080p screen later. Definitely worth it.

Ultrawide would be most useful in games and multitasking. If you can afford it go for a 1440p.

Recommendations: http://www.logicalincrements.com/monitors

 

[migles]

Recommendations: http://www.logicalincrements.com/monitors

thank you for this resource
is it constantly updated?

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Hi guys,

Currently, I have this 1366 x 768 TV as a "monitor" for my PC (GTX 750 Ti, i5-4440).
I am thinking of getting this monitor.

Worth it? Should I jump from 720p to 1080p, with a small decrease in screen size?
I will be using it not only for games, but for schoolwork too. For those of you that have an Ultrawide monitor, how do you find it?

Thanks!

I don't own an ultrawide monitor, but I've seen them in stores and they seem nice. There are a lot of movies with this aspect ratio as well, which on a normal TV or monitor would have huge black bars and waste a lot of screen space, so it should be really nice for watching movies. An upgrade to 1080p would be a huge improvement regardless of aspect ratio. 720p/768p is rather bad, especially on a screen that big.

You can think of it this way, it's kind of like having the multitasking abilities of a dual monitor setup while being able to use the entire screen space for a game or movie when you want to. I personally love dual monitor setups but this would be even better
Not all games will support the aspect ratio though so you won't be able to play those games in fullscreen without black bars.

But I do agree with Duo8 that 1440p would be better. On a screen this size when used as a monitor you'll be sitting rather close to the screen so resolution matters more. If it was used as a TV you'd be sitting further away so 1080p would be enough (and you likely wouldn't be able to tell a difference between 1080p and 1440p)

Also, you may want to upgrade your GPU, it's not really powerful enough to run modern games at 1080p let alone 1440p.

 

[samiam144]

Thanks for the responses!

@Duo8 Thank you for the resource, I just finished reading through it. It's very helpful and I've looked through the recommendations (on Canadian Newegg and Amazon of course).

@The Real Jdbye As much as I'd really like a 1440p screen, I'm only willing to spend up to $500 CAD so it's out of my budget unless I go down from 32" to around 24", at which point I might feel a little regret Also the fact that I've been using the 768p TV since I got my PC 2 years ago and I still quite enjoy the visuals sitting up close (but I'm starting to dislike those jagged lines in GTA V, hence my interest in 1080p haha).

------
To make full use of a 1440p screen I understand I'd need to upgrade my GPU, but I actually just got the 750Ti in early April so I'm not sure what to do right now:
(1) get that 1080p UltraWide screen for $350 (pretty good price in Canada!)
(2) get a smaller 1440p screen (to fit my budget), or.....
(3) save the money for a GTX1070, sell the 750Ti, and put that money towards a monitor in the future.

To be clear, I am hoping to not go down in screen size by too much; I actually really like my 32" TV (which fortunately has a PC mode), and if I could find a 32" 1080p non-ultrawide monitor for also around $350, I think I would seriously consider it over a smaller 1440p screen.
The way I see it, 1080p would be the sweetspot for what I have and "need" right now, but 1440p would be better for the future (though I'd have to upgrade my GPU, PSU, tower, and probably my mobo as well!!)

Side note: I just checked the exact same model (29UM58) in BestBuy USA, and it's the same price as in CAD! That doesn't happen very often here

 

[Duo8]

You can wait for the RX 480 if you want a new GPU.

 

[samiam144]

You can wait for the RX 480 if you want a new GPU.

Geez, $199 USD? I'm very interested in that!

Edit: well, I did the upgrade. It's pretty freakin cool! Thanks for all the help!