Talk to me about the state of computer monitors

I'm planning to replace my 27" AOC monitor. It's got a few minor issues, but one of the HDMI ports crapped out, and I don't trust it, so naturally I see this as an opportunity to upgrade. I do use it for gaming now and again, so I'd like something that works reasonably well for that, but I'm not willing to pay big money for the latest, fastest thing on the market. I'm considering going larger, specifically wider, which brings me into the realm where curved monitors are an option. How do these work for non-gaming applications? Are there downsides to going with a wide-format 16:9 monitor? My graphics card is a GTX 1650 Super, so it shouldn't have issues pushing out more than the 1650x1080 I'm running now, but where's the upper limit? Any specific recommendations, particularly any that are on sale at the moment?

I have a multi-monitor set up here at work with a Samsung 32" curved as my main monitor.  I love it, no squinting involved and has an eye saver mode.  I'm running it at 1920x1080 and it works just fine for me

34" Dell curved widescreen here (UW3417 or something like that), running at something like 3440 x 1440 or whatever its native resolution is. No problem driving that from a couple of older graphics cars (AMD RX470 and RX580), so I don't expect driving it with a newer graphics card should be a bit issue as long as the card has enough RAM. There's a newer version of this monitor out that I would consider if I had to rebuy it, maybe, but the 2017 version is perfectly fine and I'm very happy with it.

I'm not a big gamer, for occasional sim use (Elite Dangerous, X-Plane) it's fine but for something like an FPS, I would expect to need a graphics card with more Oomph.

Note - those graphics cards in two different computers, I'm not using two graphics cards at the same time to drive this monitor.

02Pilot said:

Are there downsides to going with a wide-format 16:9 monitor?

Go 21:9 if you game at all.  Once you go 21:9, you'll never go back.

For office stuff, multiple 16:9s are still good.

Good points all. How do feel about this one? https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-S34J55W-34-Inch-Ultrawide-LS34J550WQNXZA/dp/B07FBS36W2/

BoxheadTim, I'm also playing Elite Dangerous quite a bit these days. Nice to see another GRMr shares my interest - it's a great game.

02Pilot said:

BoxheadTim, I'm also playing Elite Dangerous quite a bit these days. Nice to see another GRMr shares my interest - it's a great game.

I bought Elite out of nostalgia when it came out as I used to play the original version back when I was a kid. It's still fun, but boy is it a timesink. So for that reason I only play it very occassionally, but I should probably fire it up on the weekend once I'm done rebuilding my computer.

And yes, it's good to see that there is another GRMer who shares that interest!

In reply to BoxheadTim (Forum Supporter) :

I started with the original too. I loved that game, though I think I recall bouts of intense rage after failing (again) to maneuver into stations. Much easier with the current iteration. And time suck? Oh yeah, especially when grinding a trade CG or something. Just one more run....

In reply to 02Pilot :

I remember those bouts of rage very well.

First time I played the new version, I managed to dock on the first attempt with no drama, thinking - hey, what just happened?

As I'm no good at combat I most do trade and try to explore a bit when I can.

I have the 32 curved Samsung as well. It's a nice monitor. 

In reply to BoxheadTim (Forum Supporter) :

My play style is pretty similar - I hit Elite in trade a little while ago, so I've been working on exploring, though I haven't gotten too far from the Bubble. Since CGs restarted a few weeks ago I've been trying those out too. I really like how open the game remains.

Ended up getting the one I linked to above. So far very pleased, and Elite looks incredible....