Part Recommendations

[Wally_AMD]

Hey, Red Team!

Back with another question for y’all. What are your thoughts on ultrawide monitors compared to your classic single or dual monitor setups? Of course, it can be situational... but in this case, I'm talking about its usage for gaming.

As someone who's used both (or technically all three options) in terms of setups, it took me a little while to get used to my current choice – an ultrawide 34-inch curved monitor from LG (pictured below). I was pretty hesitant about going ultrawide since I had been running a dual monitor setup for years and loved the flexibility it gave me (gaming on one, watching streams on the other). But I had an opportunity to “upgrade,” took the chance, and haven’t really looked back.

Sure, I miss having that extra monitor, and sometimes it can be a pain looking left and right in some FPS games (or even games like League of Legends), but I quickly got used to it and hardly have those gripes anymore. Plus, I think it being a curved monitor helped a lot and maybe I'll snag another monitor in the future when I get more desk space.

I’m not going to get too technical since that can lead down a whole other rabbit hole, lol (i.e., refresh rate, panel type, resolution, aspect ratio, etc.), but I’d love to hear your thoughts on your current setups or other options out there. In this case, you’re more than welcome to get as technical as you’d like – I’m always happy to learn something new!

[GreatnessRD]

While they look cool, I'm just not a fan of Ultrawide or curved monitors. Just call me old fashion. Give me my dual monitors or maybe down the line, a flat 34" OLED screen. We'll see how it goes, but yeah, Ultra and curve just ain't my speed. What GPU do you have paired with your beastly monitor?

[Sam_AMD]

Ha ha! I'm sure one day you'll convert to a single Ultrawide, my friend! I did, and I will never look back. I'll tell you why. I saw a 34" OLED at CNE Gaming Garage a few weeks ago. Sapphire was demoing Far Cry 6. The monitor was light, I think Sapphire said less than 7lbs, and it was very thin, I wanna say about 3/4 of an inch. And Far Cry 6 looked amazing! 

[Wally_AMD]

I felt the same way as you. Ran dual monitors for years and even had a friend ask what my thoughts were when he was thinking about getting an ultrawide (I told him they weren't worth it). Having used both flat and curved ultrawide, I have to say curved would be my personal go-to.

As far as GPU goes... (Sam has already shamed me here, lol) I have a GeForce RTX 3080. In the height of the GPU shortage/rise in prices, I was desperate and found a good deal for a... *shudders* prebuilt PC... 😅

[hrpuffnstuff]

My primary is a curved nano IPS 38" LG and my secondary is also a curved nano IPS 34" LG panel both 160hz capable but I run them at 144hz.  I'm driving them with a XFX Speedster MERC 319 RX 6900 XT black AIB card from my desktop and an RTX 3060 from my laptop.  The new LG 45" panel's resolution is just too low for that screen size. 

Curved panels are easier on my old eyes and the LG's color is fabulous.  I also telework on a weekly basis so having the ability to have multiple documents up on the screen makes things so much easier.  My work laptop is limited to 75hz on the 38" and 60hz on the 34" which is good enough for working documents.  At work I have 3 screens plus the laptop display to work with and this setup gives me a little bit more screen real estate.

I will never go back to a flat panel apart from a secondary information only display like a dedicated hardware monitor display.  You can see from the picture how the 38" dwarfs the 34" and the extra 120 lines of vertical resolution makes a big difference.

[Sam_AMD]

How do you feel about having three 34" (or 27") curved monitors placed side-by-side? (Assuming you have enough space on your desk)? See, I'm asking Santa (my wife) for a flight and racing simulator setup for X-mas, and I'm considering either a 49" ASUS ROG Strix Ultrawide Monitor or three 27-inchers...  

[Wally_AMD]

You must have a heck of a desk to fit all of that, Sam. I personally think it would be overkill, and would maybe go 2 ultrawide at most (or the single 49"), but if you're looking to play flight sims, it makes sense and sounds really cool!

[hrpuffnstuff]

I know gamers with a single 49" curve and they swear by it.  Having a single monitor reduces the possibility of any issues like those of us with multi monitors face plus eliminates bezels from the picture which I despise seeing. 

I briefly considered one but I do not have a large enough desk to accommodate such a beast.

[Wally_AMD]

A monitor mount can really help with freeing up some space if you're on the cusp of giving an ultrawide a shot! It certainly helped me, heh.

[hrpuffnstuff]

My current monitor stand can hold two of them, however, I just don't have the room for them.😪

[Wally_AMD]

(sad violin music) 😔 Hopefully one day!

[Key-J]

I'm not sure how I would feel about ultra-wide monitors, I've never had the chance to really use one.

However, It would be so hard for me to give up a dual monitor set-up. I feel I've just become so accustomed to it, that anything else would just be unusable. Having a physical divide between applications and screen sharing is hard to give up.

[Wally_AMD]

Totally get that. If I can acquire some more desk space in the future, I totally see myself hooking up one of my monitors sitting in the closet right now (or maybe going for dual ultrawide... 👀). As much as I enjoy my big ol' screen at the moment, I do miss having that extra monitor.

[marinesquirel]

Originally, I thought they were absolutely overkill, and I would have agreed with it. BUT after giving my wife one for her setup, I loved it. The games that support ultra-wide feel much more immersive than my normal curved screen and it its awesome to be able to multitask on one monitor. When watching movies, there are no bars. It's almost like things were made for ultrawide screens before they even made it mainstream.

[Sam_AMD]

I have a feeling that soon, say within the next two years, dual screens will be obsolete. Ultrawide, whether curved or not is the way to go, for both gaming and everyday computing. (I never liked the bezels - too bulky).  

[KabouterPlop1]

Ultrawide is a must have honestly, super ulrawide is even more awesome, just wish it did not have the quality issues if personally had a lot of bad luck grabbing a panel with many dead pixels each time so i eventually just went for a 24:10 aspect ratio screen, i do not think ultrawides replace dualscreen setups, heck i have a small 10 inch setup as potrait display to display hardware statistics and framerate etc, im looking forward to the next gen ultrawides especially the corsair ultrawide that is 240hz and will have zero burning and zero dead pixel warranty as far i understood

[red5]

I bought an LG Ultrawide a couple years ago and sold it to a friend almost immediately. Just didn't work well with the games I played. You can't really see all the action on the screen when playing MOBA and RTS games, so you're constantly having to move your eyes left and right to make sure you aren't missing anything.

[johnnyenglish]

I would love having an Ultra wide, but I cannot. Not enough room...
In fact, the other half already thinks the computer is super big as it is and normally says things like:

"You should have a laptop like normal people."

[BigAl01]

I have several 32" flat 4K monitors from LG that I like quite a bit, although they are 60 Hz versions.  I did recently buy a 27" curved gaming monitor (165 Hz) and it's decent.  Not sure I would want a 34" curved one though.  I think you can get used to anything after a while.

[mrpipster]

I love my Samsung G9 240Hz Beast.

Best monitor for multi windows I've ever used. So immersive in games too.

My 4K dell used to be my main but I can have 3 browsers running side by side and still have room to pull out a youtube tab.

[Wally_AMD]

You must have a HUGE desk for that 49 inch monitor!

[Key-J]

If I was going to get an ultrawide monitor, I might as well just go with the whole:

[Wally_AMD]

I fully support this. 

[Key-J]

Let me know where I can DM you my address, so when you ship it over I can tell my wife it was a gift. Because, let's be honest, that's the ONLY way I'm ever getting my hands on one of those.

#happywifehappylife 😛