Best 120Hz Gaming Monitor 2013

[Kenadian]

I'm in a position to pick up a new gaming monitor and wanted to upgrade to a 120Hz version at 24".

I've got it narrowed down to 2 possibilities:

1. Asus VG248QE: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B2HH7G0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00B2HH7G0&linkCode=as2&tag=pcgamsim-20
2. Ben Q XL2420TX: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0076PO6JI/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0076PO6JI&linkCode=as2&tag=pcgamsim-20

...or is there a better option out there I need to consider?

Also, not sure if this is relevant but I'll be picking up another EVGA N670 Signature 2 FTW to run in SLI.

The biggest reason for 120+ Hz Monitors is so I can finally disable VSync and get a bit smoother gameplay which should definitely help me on the competitive side of things.

Most of the guys I play with at reddit get an average of 80+ FPs and they all say it gives you an advantage against your average opponent.

I have to make this decision by Thursday as I'm not paying for it so any insight asap is most welcome.

 

[JohnnyK]

http://pcmonitors.info/reviews/asus-vg248qe

So with such a mixed performance, do we recommend this monitor? As always, it depends. If you are after a really responsive gaming monitor without any input lag or potentially distracting levels of inverse ghosting to worry about then this is really a key player at the moment. The most viable alternative is, of course, the BenQ XL2411T.
....
The XL2411T isn’t available to add confusion to the matter and the XL2420T can’t really compete with its fairly significant inverse ghosting and lower refresh rate.

Emphasis mine.

That's just one review, but it's a good read, and the ASUS does seem to be the 1080p gaming monitor to get.

I'd love a 120Hz monitor, but they don't make those in 16:10, unfortunately.

 

[Kenadian]

Now I'm really confused because that review only made it sound kinda good but also kinda bad at the same time

In fact, much of what I read tells the same story but all seem to have there pros and cons.

I really have no idea what to do at this point?

 

[mondo]

120mhz is a bit meh in my opinion, the problem is they're TN panels and TN panels always look shit compared with anything else. Sure you can get over 60fps but its hardly needed and for that resolution those two cards are a bit of an over kill. You won't need to have more than 2gb VRAM unless you're using 2440x 1440, even then its only when you've turned everything up (I've got a GTX580 running at that res, it doesn't need FSAA so it runs everything pretty well as maximum settings) to full and if your'e playing competitively I assume you'll end up toning stuff down?

If you're buying this purely for gaming, input lag is your enemy. If I was to buy a new 24, I'd get a Dell U2413, lowest input lag in gaming mode for a 24, its not a TN panel ( it makes blacks look terrible and view angles are short) and its a Dell screen, which is the one thing they do really well and it will be useful for other stuff outside gaming.

Check out TFT Central:http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/benq_xl2420t.htm

When I bought a screen earlier this year, basically for gaming first, I ended up going for a Dell 2713HM.

 

[Kenadian]

I've got no choice to go for the 120 Hz simply because most of my opponents are using them and anyone who's used 120 says the difference in movement rendering is night and day as less blur is present due to twice the frame rendering.

Not only that but I have a decent enough system and it sucks to throttle it with vsync simply because my monitor can't render the frames.

My budget was around $1200 so I've decided on the following:

BenQ XL2420T 24IN 120HZ LCD Monitor LED 1080p 2MS Lightboost 2XHDMI Display Port HAS 3D Vision: http://ncix.ca/products/?sku=66305&vpn=XL2420T&manufacture=BenQ&promoid=1224

XFX 1000W PRO1000W Ltd Black Edition Single Rail 12V 83A 24PIN ATX Full Modular 80PLUS Platinum PSU: http://ncix.ca/products/?sku=65626&vpn=P11000BELX&manufacture=XFX

EVGA GeForce GTX 670 FTW Signature 2 1084MHZ 2GB 6.0GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI DP PCI-E Video Card: http://ncix.ca/products/?sku=77327&vpn=02G-P4-3677-KR&manufacture=eVGA

From what I understand, I may see around 5 - 10% (max) increased performance with SLI in BF3 (I already have one 670 Sig 2 FTW) but it can make a big difference in other games such as Max Payne 3 and hopefully ArmA3. It will also help cut down on the time I lose in Video Rendering; maybe not huge amounts but enough to notice as I render video in 3 - 4 total passes.

The PSU is clean power, reviewed well and should last years. I especially like the PSU fan sits idle until power draw surpasses 200 Watts which is a nice feature. It's also fully modular and supports up to triple SLI.

The monitor has meh reviews but most TN's do so no surprise there. What made this monitor my top choice is that even though the reviews don't paint the nicest picture, customer satisfaction is exceptionally high with these monitors.

Also, a good many competitive BF Players use it and since I'm trying to become one of them it only makes sense to get one.

 

[Kitlope]

Just wanted to add I have spent a couple weeks with the same monitor as d0000k, the Benq XL2420T. All I can say is that the higher 120 Hz refresh rate has helped my pwnage skillZ tremendously with the smoothness, accuracy and the relaxed colors/vibrancy of it. Adding the lightboost tweak I've read is a must but I personally can't really tell what it does but it makes sense. You also gotta keep the frames up to 100 - 120 FPS or the lightboost doesn't work properly, without dumbing down my graphics below high I don't always get these frames (but sometimes I do, video card is a 780 GTX). My god, I'm starting to even think about buying a second 780 to accomplish these frames full time, especially for BF4.

If anybody is in the market for a new monitor, this Benq is highly recommended. Yeah yeah, it's not an IPS but is one of the best TN panels from what I've read and have seen myself. Keep in mind I don't claim to be an expert but I'll have to agree - the Samsung 245B that I've had for 5+ years served me well but in the end was a rather cheap, subpar screen. I always knew that but always focused on the pc hardware instead of something as important as what you're viewing it all on. My eyes have thanked me for this, the eyestrain from the Sammy was unbearable (without me truly realizing it until I changed monitors), gaming has become a most pleasurable experience once again.

I'm still reading and figuring out this lightboost thing, here's a great FAQ about it and a long 80+ page thread over the OCP forums.

http://www.blurbusters.com/zero-motion-blur/lightboost-faq/

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1734114

 

[Kitlope]

Changed my refresh rate in nVidia control panel down to 100 Hz and enabled lightboost at this rate. I should see better benefits as like I said I don't get 120 fps too often, but 100 more frequently.

From The Faq:

[h=3]Q: Why do I need 120fps @ 120Hz for LightBoost?[/h]LightBoost is a strobe backlight limited to 100Hz through 120Hz. It is like having a CRT monitor that runs only between 100Hz and 120Hz. When running a refresh rate outside this range, the monitor behaves as an ordinary LCD with lots motion blur, since the backlight no longer strobes in sync with the refresh rate.

LightBoost reduces so much motion blur, that it becomes much easier to see stutters at a higher framerate than usual. (Motion blur on normal LCD’s, can hide stutters). Stutters only completely disappear if you run at a frame rate perfectly matching refresh rate LightBoost is not usually worthwhile if you can only run at 60fps @ 120Hz. You need a frame rate more than half refresh rate, to begin getting real LightBoost benefits. The benefits keep increasing significantly the closer the frame rate becomes to refresh rate. Ths most perfect LightBoost motion (zero motion blur) occurs at a frame rate exactly matching refresh rate.

It is also possible to run LightBoost at 100Hz. In this case, 100fps @ 100Hz produces great results. Doing 100fps@100Hz can produce more fluid motion than 100fps@120Hz.

 

[Kitlope]

Here, a few of you will be interested in this.

CONFIRMED: nVidia G-SYNC includes a strobe backlight upgrade!

When Andy of nVidia was asked whether LightBoost could be combined with G-GSYNC, AndyBNV of nVidia confirmed on NeoGaf:

“We have a superior, low-persistence mode that should outperform that unofficial [LightBoost] implementation, and importantly, it will be available on every G-SYNC monitor. Details will be available at a later date.”.
​

This scientifically confirms strobing is used, because of the law of vision physics — there is no other way to do LightBoost-matching low-persistence modes without ultrahigh refresh rates (e.g. 1000fps@1000Hz) or frame interpolation (e.g. 200fps->1000fps). Since both are unlikely with nVidia G-SYNC, this officially confirms backlight strobing. In addition, John Carmack confirmed on twitter that a better backlight strobe driver is included:​

John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack) tweeted:
“@GuerillaDawg the didn’t talk about it, but this includes an improved lightboost driver, but it is currently a choice — gsync or flashed.”​

Both statements by Andy and John, are confirmations that official backlight strobing (LightBoost) is part of G-SYNC, a 2D motion blur elimination, finally officially sanctioned by nVidia. The question becomes: Can both be combined into adaptive-rate backlight strobing?
It is currently a selectable choice:
G-SYNC Mode: Better for variable framerates (eliminate stutters/tearing, more blur)
Strobe Mode: Better for constant max framerates (e.g. 120fps @ 120Hz, eliminates blur)
UPDATE: Your existing ASUS VG248QE monitor is already upgradeable to G-SYNC!

http://www.blurbusters.com/confirmed-nvidia-g-sync-includes-a-strobe-backlight-upgrade/

 

[Kenadian]

I'll be toning mine down to 100Hz as well as I rarely see 120Hz.

That being said though, there is still a noticeable difference in video rendering even at 30 FPS which is what I record at. All frames are still crisp whereas before one frame would be clear for every 3 or 4 total frames.

I don't know why this difference exists, only that it does?

 

[Kitlope]

No idea dude.