Monitor, Keyboard advice & suggestions

[marvir]

Hey all,

Just ordered my new build, so now I need some advice to complete it all. Any help would be appreciated.

Monitor: One thing I have become 100% out of touch with is monitors.. Refresh rates and types (IPS, TN) are over my head. What should I be looking for? The only criteria I have I guess is size at roughly 21-24 inches, on a max budget of £150. I'd take a 21.5 inch monitor over a bigger one if it performed better.

Keyboard: I'm looking at the Razer Deathstalker, but if anyone could suggest something as good but cheaper, I'm all ears. I'm not really bothered with getting a mechanical keyboard for now (price, loud clicky noises annoy me). I think the Deathstalker is also a chiclet-style keyboard which I like. My only concern is cleaning the keyboard might be difficult.

Thanks in advance, hope you guys can help!

 

[SpyderTracks]

Monitor: One thing I have become 100% out of touch with is monitors.. Refresh rates and types (IPS, TN) are over my head. What should I be looking for? The only criteria I have I guess is size at roughly 21-24 inches, on a max budget of £150. I'd take a 21.5 inch monitor over a bigger one if it performed better.

What output resolution are you looking at? 1920 x 1080, or higher?

Keyboard: I'm looking at the Razer Deathstalker, but if anyone could suggest something as good but cheaper, I'm all ears. I'm not really bothered with getting a mechanical keyboard for now (price, loud clicky noises annoy me). I think the Deathstalker is also a chiclet-style keyboard which I like. My only concern is cleaning the keyboard might be difficult.

I can't really comment on keyboards as never had a proper gaming one.

 

[marvir]

1920x1080 is fine by me for the monitor. I'm looking at a few on Amazon (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post links to Amazon from here). The ones I am researching on are the Asus VX229H 21.5 inch which is an AH-IPS monitor (whatever that means, I just heard it makes for better image quality?), the ASUS VE247H 24 inch, the BenQ GL2450HM LED TN 24-inch among others. I'm finding it quite hard to narrow it down, as there are sooo many monitors, and there are some with loads of reviews, and some with only 1 or 2. Basically I want something good for gaming and general use, so any input would be great.

As for the keyboard, I don't really need a gaming keyboard, a regular one is fine. I am interested in a gaming one however as the multiple key input thing I would find handy, being able to input more than 5 keys at the same time would be nice, but solid, well performing keyboards that aren't necessarily "gaming" types would be considered too, as they'll likely be much cheaper.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Monitor-wise, it's easy to recommend based on own tastes, but at the end of the day, everyone see's differently and what may be right for me, may not be so good for you. With any suggestions, if you can, I'd suggest going to PC World or somewhere and seeing them up close to get a personal feel for what you want.

At that budget, you'd be looking at LED TN panels. I'd personally stick to Asus, Samsung, Iiyama, BenQ and Dell. Asus are excellent at the moment generally for monitors and the one below is on special at a few etailers:

Asus VN247H 24" Widescreen Super Narrow Bezel LED Monitor £139.99

Iiyama Prolite E2481HS-B1 24" Widescreen LED Super Slim Bezel Monitor £149.99

BenQ EW2440L 24" Widescreen Flicker Free LED Monitor - Black £139.99

If you can push the budget a little the AOC below comes in at £169.99 which seems excellent for a 144Hz screen! I've never used AOC, but that's a hell of a bargain!

AOC G2460FQ 24" Widescreen 144Hz 1ms Gaming LED Monitor £169.99

 

[marvir]

As I'm not really versed when it comes to technical specs for monitors, what exactly does 144Hz mean to me for actual use? I know that most monitors come in the 60Hz flavor.. That has something to do with the amount of FPS or something?

I do like the look of the Asus models actually, particularly the VN247H you mentioned, the VE247H 24" and the VX229H 21.5" which has a slower response time (5ms) but is an IPS type.. Whatever that means, I just heard image quality is better overall at the cost of response time. Is 5ms a big, noticeable difference from 1 and 2ms monitors? Also, the BenQ EW2440L looks really good too with an even thinner looking bezel than the Asus.

 

[SpyderTracks]

As I'm not really versed when it comes to technical specs for monitors, what exactly does 144Hz mean to me for actual use? I know that most monitors come in the 60Hz flavor.. That has something to do with the amount of FPS or something?
Yep, that's right. Basically if a panel is limited to 60Hz, the maximum framerates it can produce is 60. Some people experience blur with this (never bothered me, can't see things that clearly). 144Hz monitors are open to higher framerates and so are considered better for gaming with less motion blur. Again, this is something worth seeing up close in PC World to see if your eye can notice the improvement, and weather or not your graphics card can output above 60fps anyway.

I do like the look of the Asus models actually, particularly the VN247H you mentioned, the VE247H 24" and the VX229H 21.5" which has a slower response time (5ms) but is an IPS type.. Whatever that means, I just heard image quality is better overall at the cost of response time. Is 5ms a big, noticeable difference from 1 and 2ms monitors?
Again, this is where you need to have a look close up. IPS is considered a much richer colour reproduction and often deeper blacks. I have a Dell IPS with 5ms response and can't detect any slowness, but can tell the improved colour reproduction. I can't tell any difference for gaming compared to my previous Samsung TN panel which was 2ms response time, but I have to stress, I don't have a very keen eye in that respect.

Also, the BenQ EW2440L looks really good too with an even thinner looking bezel than the Asus.
BenQ are a value option, there's no doubt they produce some remarkable panels at a very competitive cost, basically, you get a lot for the money. In the last few years they've been making a lot of waves and bringing new competition to the market, they're well worth considering.

 

[marvir]

Hmm I think I might go with Asus then. Used a fair few of their products and I like them as a brand. I wish I lived near a PC world to see (do they have keyboards as well on display?) but I live near Skipton and the closest is have to go is probably Leeds which I don't have time for unfortunately, and there aren't really any pc shops where I am. I might just have to go on he strength of reviews here. Keyboards do concern me as I definitely like to try em out before I buy one.

Many thanks for all the help on monitors! I think I might try and go for the Asus VN or possibly the IPS model. Worst case scenario I can return it I guess.


Now I just need some help with keyboards ��

 

[marvir]

Went out on a limb and took a train to Keighly today, no monitors at that PC World, at all. They also had a few pretty cheap keyboards on display, so a wasted trip for me haha. Didn't have the time to take a 50min train ride each way to Leeds where there may have been a slightly better selection, so yeah I am just gonna go on what looks good to me and strength of reviews.

I think I am going to go for the Asus VX239H 23", which has a 5ms response time and is an IPS monitor. It's quite hard for me to say if the potential ghosting would bother me, as I've not properly gamed on anything other than this laptop, but better colour reproduction and image quality sounds appealing to me over a 1 or 2ms monitor. Does anyone know what the specs of these laptop screens are? (I have a Vortex III which is the P170EM, and used to have a W880CU I believe) Like, response time and stuff? If 5ms monitors perform on par or better than the laptop screens I've been using the past 6 years, then I don't see it bothering me now.

After seeing the cheap Microsoft keyboards at PC World today, I'm a bit more worried about my keyboard purchase. I was thinking of just getting any decently priced Logitech but I have to pay more attention now to the layout of the keys themselves. 3 of the 5 keyboards I saw today had the Q, A and Z keys at more of an angle than what I'm used to, making gaming with the WASD keys a bit more uncomfortable, and seemingly harder as my fingers have to be significantly closer together. I kept hitting the caps lock key. I might just have to order a couple of keyboards and send one I don't want back. Just added costs though as the only way to get to the nearest post office from here requires a taxi. But oh well.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Shame your nearest PC World was a bit useless.

I'm a big fan of Logitech in general, I've got a non-gaming bluetooth keyboard of theirs which I used for gaming until I got the laptop and it's awesome, had a few of their mice and webcams too.

Their G510s is a really good piece of kit and has some good reviews, it's really fully featured for the price (not expensive):

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/logitech_g510s/

 

[marvir]

I am looking at that particular Logitech actually, I've currently narrowed it down the G510s at £79.99, the G105 at £52 (which is a cheaper version without the LCD that I don't need anyway), the Razer Anansi at £85.99, and the Razer Deathstalker at £69.98.

Upon further inspection and "simulated testing", which basically means I visualize those keyboards as if they were this keyboard I'm using now, the Logitech's programmable keys -- I'd never use. They're positioned to the left of the WASD keys and I'd have to take my hand off them to reach, which I personally find counter-intuitive.The Razer Anansi however has I think 5 extra buttons below the spacebar which is fantastic.. Those buttons I'd use, especially for MMO type games, but it does cost £85.99. The Razer Deathstalker has no extra features really save for backlighting which I'm not bothered about, but it has the chiclet-style keys which I loved when I still had my W880CU.

If I had the budget I would probably get the Razer Anansi, but to save on a bit of cash as I've just had to splash out on my case and monitor along with my keyboard, I'll do the sensible thing and go with the Deathstalker. At the end of the day, I feel I'd enjoy typing with it most as I've used nothing but laptop keyboards, the keys look well spaced, it has the 1 feature I like about gaming keyboards which is being able to press and register up to 10 keystrokes simultaneously seems to have overall good reviews.

So there it is, thanks for all the help man! Will be ordering everything now -- Corsair Carbide 500R, Asus VX239H and the Razer Deathstalker. Can't wait for it to all come together! + as much rep as I can give for each response you gave :clap:

 

[SpyderTracks]

Good choices, hope you're happy with the new rig, sure you will be! See ya round the forums, cheers for the rep

 

[marvir]

I think I will be too. Thanks again for the help. I'll post some pics or whatever when it's all done, hopefully soon. I got greedy and got the fast track. Soon as I can clear all the finance paperwork on Monday hopefully I'll get my new rig by Friday.