Desktop Computers

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Void

BAU BAU
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I'm not saying it won't make improvements going to SSD, but my use case is different, and for what I play it's fine. If I tend to get into a game more than another one, I'll move it over to SSD, but I'm so ADD about games, that the one time I play it in a month, or 6 months, I don't give a shit that it's on HDD. Or maybe I only play it that much because it's not on SSD? Hmmm!

How's the reliability of the Red drives? I need to re-do all of my storage right now, and potentially wipe the drives, and start fresh. I assume pretty well even out of a NAS situation?
I have all reds in my NAS, and they are wonderful. I would recommend them to anyone. Personally I didn't necessarily want to buy reds for just a "regular" drive, but there's hardly anything else out there anymore but high end "black" type drives, which I see no need to spend the money on now that SSDs are cheaper, purples which apparently are for video surveillance, and I assume fairly shitty quality, and reds. So red it is, and since it will mostly be media anyway (movies, porn, music, etc.), I guess it isn't so much different than being in a NAS anyway.
 

Lanx

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I have all reds in my NAS, and they are wonderful. I would recommend them to anyone. Personally I didn't necessarily want to buy reds for just a "regular" drive, but there's hardly anything else out there anymore but high end "black" type drives, which I see no need to spend the money on now that SSDs are cheaper, purples which apparently are for video surveillance, and I assume fairly shitty quality, and reds. So red it is, and since it will mostly be media anyway (movies, porn, music, etc.), I guess it isn't so much different than being in a NAS anyway.
psfft, WD white drives are the new hotness, i'll never trust my data to an injun drive, probably would ask for the data back, say no to reds!
 

a_skeleton_05

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@Dom Guess what's back? The Flicker! I don't know wtf happens when I'm gone all week, because the last time I noticed the flicker was when I had come home from traveling all week.

Just like before, there is a new nVidia driver I could download. I Googled it a bit more and some people fixed the issue with a new cable, but those were all people that used the stock DP cable, and I didn't do that. I had gotten an Amazon Basics DP cable right from the start. Others updated the firmware/drivers of the monitor itself, but the highest Acer goes is Windows 8 64 bit, but I'm on Windows 10.

Maybe I'll flip the cable around, or even try out the stock cable and see if it's the same problem?

Don't assume that the amazon cable isn't faulty as well. Flipping wouldn't matter as the problem would still be there if it's physical. Could just be a shit panel that needs to be returned. Could also just be your GPU port.
 

Void

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psfft, WD white drives are the new hotness, i'll never trust my data to an injun drive, probably would ask for the data back, say no to reds!
You're gonna have to give me a link or something, because I have no fucking idea what you are talking about. We all know that white is better, but the only white ones I see are external drives, but that is just the color of the case, not the drive series. Unless you mean "white label" which means it is recertified because it failed originally. And I can't, for the life of me, figure out why I'd want an external drive over an internal one, or refurbished over new.
 

Lanx

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You're gonna have to give me a link or something, because I have no fucking idea what you are talking about. We all know that white is better, but the only white ones I see are external drives, but that is just the color of the case, not the drive series. Unless you mean "white label" which means it is recertified because it failed originally. And I can't, for the life of me, figure out why I'd want an external drive over an internal one, or refurbished over new.
oh naw i was just joking white and reds are the same, whites spin up slower is about it, but also ppl buy external drives and just take it apart to make it internal, just takes a chisel and a quick whack to break plastic tab.
 

a_skeleton_05

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Anyone have any thoughts/experience with this monitor? Will be running with the RTX2080 listed above if nothing else changes. I don't know a lot about TN vs IPS other than IPS is better color/clarity, supposedly. Will I notice a difference? Everything IPS with similar refresh and size is like double that cost. Not saying I won't spend that, but if I don't need to. Still, if I'm going to get a good card, I want a good monitor. I just can't tell what I truly need, and what is just nice to have.

Acer XG270HU Red 27" 1ms 144HZ WQHD 2K 2560x1440 with AMD FreeSync and G-Sync Compatible, Gaming LCD Monitor, Edge-to-Edge Frameless Design, DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, Built-in Speakers - Newegg.com

Crone and I have been talking about his buying and my owning experience with this monitor over the past few weeks if you want more details, but generally it's a good monitor for a TN panel, but has shittier than normal gamma.

Yes, the difference between TN & IPS is noticeable provided both are calibrated correctly, and the TN viewing angles can make this even worse unless you're in the exact right spot. However, keep in mind that buying IPS means having to play a panel lottery to avoid getting one with really fucking obnoxious backlight bleed, or excessive IPS glow.

Mine served me well when I had it, but I wouldn't buy it again unless I could get it for a significant less amount of money than a comparable IPS panel.

As to you not being sure what you need vs what's just nice, the top end of my personal priority list would be something like:

120hz minimum > IPS > PPI of at least 110 > monitor size based on ergonomic considerations (while accounting for previous PPI requirement) > async (gsync/freesync) and then whatever features I could cram into a budget after those. Things like HDR, Ultrawide if I wanted it, connections etc... I'd take out the IPS bit if I was on a strict budget or in need of super fast response time for whatever reason. The 120hz minimum could be removed if you never play any games that have a fair amount of horizontal movement (camera movement) Remember that every bit of higher resolution or higher refresh you go with comes with an increased demand for gpu performance, not just price.
 
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Void

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Crone and I have been talking about his buying and my owning experience with this monitor over the past few weeks if you want more details, but generally it's a good monitor for a TN panel, but has shittier than normal gamma.

Yes, the difference between TN & IPS is noticeable provided both are calibrated correctly, and the TN viewing angles can make this even worse unless you're in the exact right spot. However, keep in mind that buying IPS means having to play a panel lottery to avoid getting one with really fucking obnoxious backlight bleed, or excessive IPS glow.

Mine served me well when I had it, but I wouldn't buy it again unless I could get it for a significant less amount of money than a comparable IPS panel.

As to you not being sure what you need vs what's just nice, the top end of my personal priority list would be something like:

120hz minimum > IPS > PPI of at least 110 > monitor size based on ergonomic considerations (while accounting for previous PPI requirement) > async (gsync/freesync) and then whatever features I could cram into a budget after those. Things like HDR, Ultrawide if I wanted it, connections etc... I'd take out the IPS bit if I was on a strict budget or in need of super fast response time for whatever reason. The 120hz minimum could be removed if you never play any games that have a fair amount of horizontal movement (camera movement) Remember that every bit of higher resolution or higher refresh you go with comes with an increased demand for gpu performance, not just price.
Thanks for all that info, I appreciate it. I didn't realize that was the same monitor you guys were talking about. I've looked at so many monitors, they all run together.

Thinking this one might be my pick. Any thoughts on it?

Amazon product ASIN B01NAXRX5E
 

a_skeleton_05

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Thanks for all that info, I appreciate it. I didn't realize that was the same monitor you guys were talking about. I've looked at so many monitors, they all run together.

Thinking this one might be my pick. Any thoughts on it?

Amazon product ASIN B01NAXRX5E

Hard to really say much about it as I'm not familiar with that model and there are several variants of it (the AMBI stuff) and the price is different on the store page compared to the linked picture (might be due region pricing or something) I'd see if you can find any info on whether or not the freesync is nvidia compatible (officially or unofficially) before making any decision

I have experience with the next generation of Acer's 1440p / 144hz IPS panels (XB271HU), and they're pretty decent.

In your research, it's good to know that the majority of the panels these manufacturers use are actually from the same sources. Asus, Acer, Viewsonic, and most of the others all use the same panels, just with varying features and quality controls.

I don't recall seeing when you plan on buying, but also keep in mind that we're currently in the ass-end of the current monitor generation and there are some significant advancements coming over the next 1-2 years with things like 4k, HDR, more affordable high refresh rates and so on. If I was forced to buy a monitor right now, I'd either focus on buying used, or buying one that I know I could get secondary monitor usage out of down the line. If you want to ignore that sort of thing and focus on good panel right now, and you want 1440p144hz then pretty much any 1440p144hz IPS panel from Acer or Asus is going to be fine (IPS lottery aside)
 
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Void

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Hard to really say much about it as I'm not familiar with that model and there are several variants of it (the AMBI stuff) and the price is different on the store page compared to the linked picture (might be due region pricing or something) I'd see if you can find any info on whether or not the freesync is nvidia compatible (officially or unofficially) before making any decision

I have experience with the next generation of Acer's 1440p / 144hz IPS panels (XB271HU), and they're pretty decent.

In your research, it's good to know that the majority of the panels these manufacturers use are actually from the same sources. Asus, Acer, Viewsonic, and most of the others all use the same panels, just with varying features and quality controls.

I don't recall seeing when you plan on buying, but also keep in mind that we're currently in the ass-end of the current monitor generation and there are some significant advancements coming over the next 1-2 years with things like 4k, HDR, more affordable high refresh rates and so on. If I was forced to buy a monitor right now, I'd either focus on buying used, or buying one that I know I could get secondary monitor usage out of down the line. If you want to ignore that sort of thing and focus on good panel right now, and you want 1440p144hz then pretty much any 1440p144hz IPS panel from Acer or Asus is going to be fine (IPS lottery aside)
The pricing matches the link for me, so it must be something to do with the region.

As far as I can tell, matching model numbers and such, it is the same monitor as this one on Newegg (for a LOT more cost) Acer XF270HU Abmiidprzx 27" 144Hz 4ms (GTG) ZeroFrame 2560 x 1440 Gaming Monitor, AMD FreeSync, Swivel, Pivot & Height Adjustable, Speakers, USB 3.0, IPS panel - Newegg.com and someone there said that a recent update made it GSync compatible as well.

I will need to buy one monitor for sure, as I'm keeping one with my old PC, and since I'm buying a card capable of 1440p for the first time ever, I figure I might as well get some use out of it. The price on this one seems reasonable enough that I won't feel bad if I want to buy another (better) monitor in a few years. I've looked at refurbished (not comfortable buying used from private party), and for the amount I would save on most of them, I feel like I might as well just buy a new monitor and hopefully get lucky with the lottery and not have to deal with potential refurbish problems as well.

Thanks for all of your help. I plan on buying any day now, so I'm going to scour the sites to see if I've missed any really great deals, but if I don't find anything I'll probably go with this one because it seems to have one of the better price points, as well as good reviews. Not sure why there are no reviews on Amazon, or why pcpartspicker doesn't show any links for it at all Acer - XF270HU 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor (XF270HU) - PCPartPicker because they all match in terms of model number, but if all 3 of those links are the same item (I can't see how they aren't), the reviews seem to be pretty positive.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, I would have bought it recertified from Acer, as it is $360 there, but they are out of stock. That's a significant savings, so I would do it in a heartbeat.
 
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Crone

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Maybe my previous monitors were shitty or maybe my viewing angles are just good and I didn't know it but I've had no issues with my new Acer monitor. Bought it on sale to $300 and have been extremely pleased.

This is with a 970 video card so I haven't even been able to crank up the graphics or take advantage of gsync!
 

a_skeleton_05

<Banned>
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Speaking of refurb. Beware buying any refurbished or open box monitors that you can't test. Theyre often what people return as a loser panel while playing thr IPS lottery, which would mean they're likely to have bad bleeding/glow or dead/stuck pixels. Some people go through as many as half a dozen panels before they settle on a good unit. The quality control in the industry is dogshit outside of art related panels.
 

a_skeleton_05

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Maybe my previous monitors were shitty or maybe my viewing angles are just good and I didn't know it but I've had no issues with my new Acer monitor. Bought it on sale to $300 and have been extremely pleased.

This is with a 970 video card so I haven't even been able to crank up the graphics or take advantage of gsync!

It has pretty good viewing angles for a TN for sure. If you're interested in how even a good TN can suffer from viewing angles though, check out the following link. The thing with TN monitors above 21" or so is that it's not possible at close-average viewing distance to be directly in-line of all the pixels, so at least some of the panel is going to be shifted away which diminishes the picture quality. This is usually in the peripheral vision areas though so it's not a big issue. Don't click if you suffer from "can't unsee" issues or get frustrated with knowing that there's something even slightly wrong with what you have.

Viewing angle - Lagom LCD test
 

Crone

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It has pretty good viewing angles for a TN for sure. If you're interested in how even a good TN can suffer from viewing angles though, check out the following link. The thing with TN monitors above 21" or so is that it's not possible at close-average viewing distance to be directly in-line of all the pixels, so at least some of the panel is going to be shifted away which diminishes the picture quality. This is usually in the peripheral vision areas though so it's not a big issue. Don't click if you suffer from "can't unsee" issues or get frustrated with knowing that there's something even slightly wrong with what you have.

Viewing angle - Lagom LCD test
Oh yea, I've been there before when you linked it before. That's fine.

As for my flicker issue, I've determined that it seems to only happen within minutes after turning the screen on, after being off for most of the week. My wife thinks the screen is too bright, and so she turns it off after I leave for the week. So Friday's, when I come home, I turn it back on, and for however long, it has a couple flickers, but they go away, and I don't see them again all weekend. Totally weird.
 

a_skeleton_05

<Banned>
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Oh yea, I've been there before when you linked it before. That's fine.

As for my flicker issue, I've determined that it seems to only happen within minutes after turning the screen on, after being off for most of the week. My wife thinks the screen is too bright, and so she turns it off after I leave for the week. So Friday's, when I come home, I turn it back on, and for however long, it has a couple flickers, but they go away, and I don't see them again all weekend. Totally weird.

It's still not normal behaviour and could be a sign of a deeper problem. Speaking of the brightness, what do you have it set to? And the screen should shut itself off if the PC is sleeping.
 

Crone

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It's still not normal behaviour and could be a sign of a deeper problem. Speaking of the brightness, what do you have it set to? And the screen should shut itself off if the PC is sleeping.
Brightness is set to 65.

There's something on my computer that I never figured out , as the problem carried over even between hard drives, that won't let the screen sleep. The power settings are set to turn off the screen after 10 minutes, and I have the computer set to never Sleep, but the displays will never turn off. It's weird.

My guess is the Plex Server or Deluge, as I shut down everything else when I leave during the week. it'd be an easy test that'd take 10 minutes. Shut down the plex server, and then let it sit for 10 minutes.
 

a_skeleton_05

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Brightness is set to 65.

There's something on my computer that I never figured out , as the problem carried over even between hard drives, that won't let the screen sleep. The power settings are set to turn off the screen after 10 minutes, and I have the computer set to never Sleep, but the displays will never turn off. It's weird.

My guess is the Plex Server or Deluge, as I shut down everything else when I leave during the week. it'd be an easy test that'd take 10 minutes. Shut down the plex server, and then let it sit for 10 minutes.

I wonder if the flickering might not be tied into that same issue.

If you ever deep-dive into the issue, try taking a look at disabling Windows 10's (I assume you're using 10) fast boot bullshit and take a look at USB suspend settings under power options as well. Both are known to cause issues with other things including monitor problems like jitter and some other stuff.
 

Crone

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I wonder if the flickering might not be tied into that same issue.

If you ever deep-dive into the issue, try taking a look at disabling Windows 10's (I assume you're using 10) fast boot bullshit and take a look at USB suspend settings under power options as well. Both are known to cause issues with other things including monitor problems like jitter and some other stuff.
Well I shut down everything, and it still didn't turn the monitor off after 10 minutes. Back to square one.

As for my Flicker, it hasn't happened again since Friday, but I found a video online. Another buddy of mine got the same screen at the same time and he used the stock cable and was getting bad flicker where the screen would go black. Mine does this:



But again, only on Friday's after I turn the screen on after being off for a while.