Advice: budget FreeSync monitor with Nvidia GPU

wanderer · 04 October 2020, 18:30

Looking to upgrade my old 22'' monitor with a budget 27'' one. Don't care about modern gaming, just comfortable Web/text/office and of course WinUAE and MAME (older games).

Flirting with the 1080p LG 27MP59G-P (specs) - can be found below 200€. My question to you: is its FreeSync implementation good enough for smooth WinUAE/MAME scrolling with an Nvidia GPU? I'm currently on a GTX 1050 Ti (with DisplayPort) which I believe (i.e. not sure) is the bare minimum. From the monitor manual: https://imgur.com/TkD5RAl

Also a bit puzzled as to why 1920x1080@75 Hz is not the recommended mode. 1920x1080@60 Hz is.

They say here the G-Sync compatible mode works well on this monitor.

Another source of confusion: FreeSync/Adaptive-Sync seems to require DisplayPort 1.2a while this LG is described as 1.2. Probably not an issue. Thanks!

arcanist · 04 October 2020, 18:48

Can't offer much input on that monitor. I use a Viewsonic XG2402 with Freesync (not G-Sync) on a GeForce GTX 1070 and it works flawlessly.

I don't actually use the Freesync capability with WinUAE. I set the refresh rate to 50 Hz and enable lagless VSync. It syncs perfectly and input latency is very low in e.g. pinball games. Variable refresh is mostly for demanding games where the GPU can't maintain a steady frame rate.

Only suggestion I have is that 27 inches feels a bit big for 1080p, unless you're sitting quite far back. 24 inches feels about right a few feet away. I'd prefer 1440p at 27" but I guess that'd be outside your budget.

wanderer · 04 October 2020, 19:45

Thanks, arcanist. I'm still not sure whether 1080p might be actually better on 27'' for easier text reading than a higher resolution. 1080p/27'' PPI is low but again, I'm not sure if higher is mostly better for modern gamers, which is not important here.

arcanist · 04 October 2020, 20:47

It's probably quite subjective. I would say the opposite, though: higher PPI is better for productivity than for gaming. Text looks sharper. 1080 leans heavily on sub-pixel antialiasing to make text readable. I like both 1080p/24" and 1440p/27". I haven't seen 2160p yet but I assume it looks even better.

Windows can increase the text size (or text + graphics if you like) independently of the resolution. It's mostly an issue in games with non-scalable UIs, although those are becoming less common now.

If you can get a look at the monitor in person that'd be the best way to decide. Or I guess buy from somewhere with an easy return process, if you don't like it.

dreadnought · 04 October 2020, 21:25

Recommended max for 1080p is 24". I had a monitor like that and it was okay for text/Windows, but only just about. It's less visible in games (arcanist is right). 27"@1080p is very likely to look poor, unless your monitor has high PPI but I guess that's rare and expensive.

I'm about to buy one with adaptive sync myself again, after a few years break from modern AAA gaming. It used to be simple: only G-sync vs Freesync, with G-Sync being significantly better. Now each of these camps is divided into several sub-categories (G-Sync Pro? lol) and it's just a major headache. Is there any point in buying a G-Sync dedicated monitor these days, if nearly all else is "compatible"? Are they on par performance wise?

Toni Wilen · 08 October 2020, 11:46

Very nice thing with freesync ("g-sync compatible")/g-sync is that you'll get smooth and jitter free emulation also in windowed mode (at least with nvidia hardware).

Lagless vsync can't work well in windowed mode.

04 October 2020, 18:30	#1
wanderer I want an A1000 Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Pac-Land Posts: 738	Advice: budget FreeSync monitor with Nvidia GPU Looking to upgrade my old 22'' monitor with a budget 27'' one. Don't care about modern gaming, just comfortable Web/text/office and of course WinUAE and MAME (older games). Flirting with the 1080p LG 27MP59G-P (specs) - can be found below 200€. My question to you: is its FreeSync implementation good enough for smooth WinUAE/MAME scrolling with an Nvidia GPU? I'm currently on a GTX 1050 Ti (with DisplayPort) which I believe (i.e. not sure) is the bare minimum. From the monitor manual: https://imgur.com/TkD5RAl Also a bit puzzled as to why 1920x1080@75 Hz is not the recommended mode. 1920x1080@60 Hz is. They say here the G-Sync compatible mode works well on this monitor. Another source of confusion: FreeSync/Adaptive-Sync seems to require DisplayPort 1.2a while this LG is described as 1.2. Probably not an issue. Thanks!

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04 October 2020, 18:48	#2
arcanist Registered User Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Austin, TX Age: 41 Posts: 410	Can't offer much input on that monitor. I use a Viewsonic XG2402 with Freesync (not G-Sync) on a GeForce GTX 1070 and it works flawlessly. I don't actually use the Freesync capability with WinUAE. I set the refresh rate to 50 Hz and enable lagless VSync. It syncs perfectly and input latency is very low in e.g. pinball games. Variable refresh is mostly for demanding games where the GPU can't maintain a steady frame rate. Only suggestion I have is that 27 inches feels a bit big for 1080p, unless you're sitting quite far back. 24 inches feels about right a few feet away. I'd prefer 1440p at 27" but I guess that'd be outside your budget.

04 October 2020, 19:45	#3
wanderer I want an A1000 Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Pac-Land Posts: 738	Thanks, arcanist. I'm still not sure whether 1080p might be actually better on 27'' for easier text reading than a higher resolution. 1080p/27'' PPI is low but again, I'm not sure if higher is mostly better for modern gamers, which is not important here.

04 October 2020, 20:47	#4
arcanist Registered User Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Austin, TX Age: 41 Posts: 410	It's probably quite subjective. I would say the opposite, though: higher PPI is better for productivity than for gaming. Text looks sharper. 1080 leans heavily on sub-pixel antialiasing to make text readable. I like both 1080p/24" and 1440p/27". I haven't seen 2160p yet but I assume it looks even better. Windows can increase the text size (or text + graphics if you like) independently of the resolution. It's mostly an issue in games with non-scalable UIs, although those are becoming less common now. If you can get a look at the monitor in person that'd be the best way to decide. Or I guess buy from somewhere with an easy return process, if you don't like it.

04 October 2020, 21:25	#5
dreadnought Registered User Join Date: Dec 2019 Location: Ur, Atlantis Posts: 1,976	Recommended max for 1080p is 24". I had a monitor like that and it was okay for text/Windows, but only just about. It's less visible in games (arcanist is right). 27"@1080p is very likely to look poor, unless your monitor has high PPI but I guess that's rare and expensive. I'm about to buy one with adaptive sync myself again, after a few years break from modern AAA gaming. It used to be simple: only G-sync vs Freesync, with G-Sync being significantly better. Now each of these camps is divided into several sub-categories (G-Sync Pro? lol) and it's just a major headache. Is there any point in buying a G-Sync dedicated monitor these days, if nearly all else is "compatible"? Are they on par performance wise?

08 October 2020, 11:46	#6
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,534	Very nice thing with freesync ("g-sync compatible")/g-sync is that you'll get smooth and jitter free emulation also in windowed mode (at least with nvidia hardware). Lagless vsync can't work well in windowed mode.

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