[okeptl]

Hello PCMonitors,

I’m looking to get myself a second monitor. Currently my pc uses a i7-7700, 1060 3gb, Windows 10 os and C24FG70. I want to use the second monitor (WQHD) mainly in portrait mode, do some photoshop mostly and open a video / stream on the side when I’m gaming. I’ve been reading a little bit on reddit and other forums, apparently dual monitor setup with different refresh rate will have issues like stuttering, especially when something is animated on the lower refresh rate monitor. But on all of those discussions almost no solution is found. Some saying use a different gpu for each monitor, another says use an identical port and model of cable, some even says just get another 144hz monitor.

Do you have any experience on this problem? At the moment I’m thinking of getting the U2719D / U2518D. I probably can sell my CFG70, get myself a 144hz WQHD monitors like the AD27QD / 32GK850G and settle with 1 monitor, but then i will also need to upgrade my GPU as well at that point.

What would you recommend?

Thank you

[PCM2]

Hi okeptl,

I don’t have any recent experience with this as I only typically use multiple monitors in clone mode to do specific testing (comparing to a reference screen). I will be receiving and reviewing the Philips 276E8VJSB very shortly (3840 x 2160 @60Hz) and will do some testing alongside my Dell S2716DG (2560 x 1440 @144Hz) to see what I observe. I’m also running Windows 10 and an Nvidia GPU, so my observations here with the S2716DG and 276E8VJSB should apply to your system as well.

[okeptl]

Thank you, I’m looking forward to your impression. I have found myself a lengthy hdmi cable and tried testing a little bit today with a TV. So far it has been a disappointing.

I tried playing 3 games on my main monitor, while having a YouTube video running on the TV as the secondary monitor.

With CS:GO, on spawn position and early rounds everything still feels fluid. As soon as I’m in a fight, everything becomes a stuttering mess, and it doesn’t recover even after the new round begun. On afterburner the fps rarely drops below 250, while usually with single monitor I get 300ish fps on similar occasion.

Next I tried playing F1 2018. The game on its own has its occasional stuttering and fps drops. When testing, I encountered few occasional stuttering, but not worse than the severe stutter that I experienced with csgo. The gameplay mostly feels smooth. I can still race other players or hit apexes properly, as if I’m not using a 2nd monitor. The fps here varies on different tracks, but mostly it’s around 80 to 100 on dry races. What is interesting is my ram usage ramps up to almost 12GB, compared to the usual 10 with single monitor.

The last game I tried was a GTA V mod FiveM. Here the gameplay feels the smoothest, but most of the time buildings and modded cars are not rendered properly or even at all. Its probably due to the lack of vram, but I can’t confirm since I can’t use afterburner with this game.

Either way I think I am due for a gpu upgrade at this point. I don’t think my gpu can comfortably handle WQHD gaming or a dual monitor setup. I’ll try a bit of other tests again tomorrow

[PCM2]

I’ve spent a bit of time running the two monitors mentioned in my previous post. The experience was quite seamless with my system and GTX 1080 Ti. The Dell was connected via DP and set as primary (2560 x 1440 @144Hz with G-SYNC) and the Philips connected via HDMI 2.0 and set as the secondary (3840 x 2160 @60Hz). I was able to game with the Dell and watch ‘4K’ video content on the Philips without any interruptions. I’ve had to disconnect the Dell as I need to move onto some individual testing with the Philips, but it seems to me there are no inherent issues with running monitors of different resolutions and/or refresh rate. Possible performance issues when running a video and game at the same time would be down to the system rather than any inherent limitation with having 2 monitors connected.

[okeptl]

Thank you for sharing your experience PCM2

I tried playing a different game today (Apex Legends), and it seems there wasn’t any problem at all during my session (bar few cheaters lol). Mouse input feels smooth and connected, and i didn’t experience any stuttering this time around. I agree with your findings, it seems like this is a system based or a game based issue.

I also tried changing my refresh rate to 120hz (double of my 60hz tv), and play some casual match in CSGO again. The stuttering was gone but mouse controls still feels a bit choppy. I think I’m just going to settle with 2 monitors setup, and save myself some trouble on finding a monitor buyer.

Do you have any other recommendations than the two Dell monitors? I am planning to shop around at the end of the month, and sometimes good electronic products gets sold out at that time here in Indonesia. What do you think of the PD2500Q or the PB278QR?

[PCM2]

The ASUS PB278QR tends to have gamma that’s off regardless of the settings you use in the OSD, so the overall balance of the image is off. To repeat a brief sentence I gave in another thread with respect to the BenQ PD2500Q: “[the monitor] is decent really. Nicely calibrated, good flexible OSD and nice build quality. Although it has some issues with pixel responsiveness (overshoot even using the optimal setting is a bit strong) and there is some suggestion input lag is quite high.” I haven’t thoroughly tested and reviewed this myself so I can’t really give any further details. The AOC Q2577PWQ is one to look out for as well.

[Nagorak]

I wonder if the performance issues being experienced could come down to the CPU? The i7 7700 is only a 4 core/eight thread CPU. If you’re playing a game and it’s utilizing a lot of CPU resources, that might not leave a whole lot for video playback on the other monitor or vice versa. The experience might be better with a 6 or 8 core CPU.

I can’t say conclusively, but I’ve been effectively running a dual monitor setup for the better part of a year and I haven’t noticed any performance issues (144 Hz monitor + 60 Hz AV receiver which windows treats as a monitor even though I don’t actually use it as such). However, to be fair I haven’t actually tried running a Youtube video running on the second monitor, since the AV receiver has no actual output hooked up.

[PCM2]

It might be the case. Although I would’ve expected that BFV (very CPU-intensive at times) would have displayed similar issues on my system. I have an i7770K and didn’t observe any issues when gaming and watching ‘4K’ content. Although I admittedly didn’t test very thoroughly, there may well be some instances where CPU limitations come into play. I mean, heck, I sometimes come across that on BFV even with a single monitor! 🙂

[okeptl]

During my tests, the CPU usage averages at around 40 to 50% and rarely exceeds 80%. Unfortunately I don’t have BFV, but the maximum was with Monster Hunter World on Astera with 70-80% CPU usage, and it went back down to below 50% again when I’m out hunting. 4 core / 8 threads should be more than enough for casual gaming use, and video playback is GPU accelerated mostly so it shouldn’t be much of a problem CPU wise.

Thank you for your recommendations PCM2, and one last question. Are you planning to review the Aorus AD27QD anytime soon? I’m sorry I can’t buy with the affiliate links but I’ll be sure to support through paypal.

[snowk700]

Hey guys, so i need your help.

I’m actualy building my first gaming setup from scratch.
I got a 5700xt radeon ( yeah i know the blower suck ) , ryzen 3700X and an x570 aorus motherboard

So i need 2 new screen for this, mainly to play video games and editing on davinci resolve for youtube and i got 600euros left for 2 screens

i was looking for 1 ms and 144 hertz and saw a lot of this for cheap but with TN pannels and i was kinda disappointed with the image. So after this i saw a lot of good 1ms/144hertz screen VA pannels and they look better but my biggest issue with this is there are all curved, sounds good but i saw them in a shop and i was like i now understand why they are cheap, i feel like curved screen is not suited for 24 inch , like this feel wrong to me at least.

So here is my deal, go for 2 same screens in like the 200-250e range or go with One main nice screen and a cheaper one.

I was going for option 2 but i saw an issue on the internet about dual screen with different frame rates, like windows will lower your framerate on your main screen (144 hertz to be the same as your 2nd screen ( 60 herts) if this one run something in background like a youtube video.

So this would be a big issue for me and doesnt help me to take a decision for my purchase.

Thanks for your help i hope you can understand me with my poor english.

[PCM2]

Hi snowk700,

I’ve merged your thread with an existing topic related to using multiple monitors at different refresh rates (and indeed resolutions). As covered here, there are no inherent issues I’ve come across myself when using multiple monitors for different tasks and at different refresh rates and resolutions. There can be issues with performance, but that will depend on your system and GPU and how demanding the tasks you’re carrying out are – have a read through this thread to make sure you’re aware of this. I’d be very surprised if your Radeon 5700XT had issues and it sounds like a dual-screen setup would work well in your situation.

It’s really personal preference whether you go for a single potentially higher resolution and more capable display or would get more use out of multiple potentially less capable monitors. It sounds like you want one “decent” monitor and an accessory monitor to aid with multi-tasking. That should work fine, I don’t forsee any particular issues with that. I’d focus on some of the models in the recommendations section primarily and browse some of the other threads on the forum and reviews for further inspiration.

With your budget in mind, your system and usage the Dell S2719DGF makes sense for the main display. I think it’s foolish to let your impressions of some unnamed and likely poorly setup TN models sway your opinion. You’re making a rather broad generalisation by saying you were disappointed with TN panels based on one experience. They certainly all share inherent weaknesses related to viewing angles and colour consistency. But the extent of that varies. And if you’re talking about a model with a grainy screen surface, poor colour gamut that’s poorly calibrated then you’re certainly not seeing what the technology is capable of.

[snowk700]

Thanks for your answer, yeah i’m really “noob” to hardware and monitors, and i m sure you’re right all TN models are not equal.

Yeah i was looking to your recommendations monitors, and the dell look great indeed.

But i got one concern, do you think my PC (Ryzen 3700x / radeon 5700xt) no overclokcing can handle this 2K resolution with another screen and still get 144fps+ while streaming or watching stream / youtube content ? Sorry if this sound dumb, i know i got geat GPU/ CPU but im not sure how much 2k resolution work and affect the PC.

And lastly do you think 2x AOC C24G1 would be a good option? they look very great for the price but i’m not sure if curved monitor is good for editing, photoshop and stuff, i assume no.

Thanks for your help, appreciate it.

[PCM2]

A few things:

1) Do not use the term ‘2K’ to describe the 2560 x 1440 (WQHD) resolution. It’s wrong. I don’t blame you for using the term, it’s a common (but to me very annoying) mistake also spread by marketers.

2) Depending on the level of colour accuracy you require for your editing purposes, I’d generally advise sticking to IPS-type panels for that purpose. Refer to our reviews and this summary article for reasons as to why that would be the case. If it’s just hobbyist-level stuff you’re doing then I wouldn’t worry too much about it as long as you’re aware of the limitations of the model you’re using.

3) Seeing curved models in a shop, presumably standing over them, is not a good way of assessing how they look during normal use. I’ve said a lot about this in our reviews of curved models, including the C24G1. For editing purposes the curve could be problematic, but as with the panel type itself (not ideal for colour consistency – see above) it could be considered passable for those purposes. It’s very subjective and you’re going to have to see for yourself. Amazon offers an excellent returns policy, it really shouldn’t be an issue if you need to send whatever model(s) you end up purchasing back.

4) Streaming YouTube content shouldn’t really have much impact on frame rate. See my comments above. You’re able to leverage FreeSync, so dips below 144fps are easier to stomach as well. I don’t really think this should be an issue on your system, but I advise on monitors not entire systems.

[snowk700]

Thanks for this quick answer, as i said i’m totally new to pc monitors and stuff so my bad.

[snowk700]

Didn’t want to create another topic just for this so i will ask this here.

@ PCM2 do you know why in europe we got a lot of 24 inches curved monitor cheaper than flat monitor doing the same thing ?

A lot of samsungs or MSI 24 LED Optix Mag241c ( i didn’t saw any review here ) what do you think about this ?

The only reason i find is like because curved are not realy well suited for “small” monitors so ppl go for flat over them ?

[PCM2]

You can get plenty of cheap flat ~24″ models as well, including flat high refresh rate TN models. Plus some fairly cheap flat 27″ Full HD models. I’d focus more on quality than price.

[PCM2]

This thread has become a popular resource, so it’s clear that the original question and discussions here have been valuable. Something that hasn’t been mentioned are the possible implications of enabling HDR with multiple displays of different refresh rates. Displays of different refresh rate which seemingly work just fine alongside each under HDR can play less nicely together if you enable HDR, even on just one of the displays.

In this exchange one of our forum members was using the AOC AG273QCX at 144Hz (DP connection) alongside a 60Hz TV (HDMI connection). This worked as you’d hope under SDR, but enabling HDR on the AOC seemed to force it to run at 60Hz. It didn’t matter what was selected as the refresh rate in Windows for the display. Without the secondary display (TV) connected the AOC happily ran at its native 144Hz under HDR.

Edit: Seems to be a specific issue with that monitor, I’ve tested a single display running HDR and the other not many times without issue as noted here.

[tmfrank]

I am on the hunt for a 2nd monitor to run side by side. With potential to add a 3rd in the future. Short of buying a bunch of monitors and looking at them in person, Im a little unsure of what to look for to “match” my current monitor.

Current monitor is MSI mag274qrf-qd. I use it mostly in the sRGB mode. I dont really need the wide gamut but occasionally flip it on for photo editing or games that look good with it. I could prolly live without wide gamut and def dont need another. The 2nd monitor just for more real estate for office work and for other apps when gaming fullscreen (Chrome/YT, spotify, sim dashboards, OBS). If I add a 3rd display down the line it would be primarily for “surround” sim gaming on all 3 screens.

Main questions:

• Can I get the screens to look similar enough to the eye to not be annoying (not professional levels)?
• Will I be able to maximize refresh rate when gaming on just one or multiple/surround screens?
• What to look for in a monitor to achieve the above?

Thoughts on some options:

• Dell S2721DGF – $300. Cannot clamp the wide gamut and lower contrast.
• LG 27GP83B – $350. lower contrast
• MSI G273QPF – $280. Not wide gamut but still oversaturated compared to sRGB?
• Gigabyte M27Q – $280. Tried before but dont want BGR. Adding to list cuz otherwise ideal on paper

I know I can tell the difference between fully unclamped gamut and sRGB mode on my current monitor. Would rather avoid such a stark difference unless its manageable with ICC/OSD. Im less sure how much the contrast matters. Also not sure how much difference in response time I would notice when gaming on multiple screens. I do have access to a colorimeter and can use displayCAL but I know thats not a silver bullet.

MSI G273QPF seems ideal if its native gamut is similar enough to “standard” sRGB to look similar. Is a wide gamut monitor with an sRGB mode a better choice in the long run? Im in the weeds and prolly dont need to be.

[PCM2]

Hi tmfrank,

You can certainly use multiple monitors with different refresh rates and indeed resolutions. If you’re using both models for productivity tasks and frequently moving the mouse between the two or dragging windows around, it can be nice to have the resolution and even refresh rate closely match just so things look and ‘feel’ similar. Otherwise it can be a bit jarring I find. You can set the refresh rate of screens independently, for example could be gaming on one screen at full refresh rate which may not match the other screen (including because VRR is being used). For surround gaming the resolution and refresh rate needs to match on all screens.

I can also understand your desire to have a close aesthetic match, which will look nice visually and also ensure the screens can be lined up properly. Sometimes screens of the same size can still have quite different bezel sizes and that can make things awkward as well, particularly if adjustability is limited. The MSI G273QPF seems like a good choice with that in mind and it’s one of the models I recommend for people who are seeking an alternative to the M27Q. And you definitely don’t want a mixed setup of BGR and RGB in my opinion.

As covered in our article on the topic, sRGB emulation can be achieved on Nvidia and AMD GPUs even if the monitor itself doesn’t have an associated mode. That will allow you to get a better match between the two monitors in terms of saturation levels. Because different backlights are used, you will find there are natural ‘tints’ particularly to white that differ between units and imperfect uniformity can make things look a bit different too. But you can at least expect a reasonable match when using two or three IPS models side by side with sRGB emulation active.

[tmfrank]

Thank you for your response!

You can set the refresh rate of screens independently, for example could be gaming on one screen at full refresh rate which may not match the other screen (including because VRR is being used). For surround gaming the resolution and refresh rate needs to match on all screens.

I have heard a lot of people say that when gaming on one screen and doing anything “3D” on another (e.g. YouTube), Windows will lock all displays to the lowest common refresh rate. Some people have also said refresh rates evenly divisible by each other can avoid this. To you knowledge is this accurate?

Other than sRGB emulation/color matching, do contrast or other variables not mentioned impact the match? Like if I went with one of the NanoIPS panels?

I wish the MSI G273QPF was out when I bought my current monitor. Seems like the better option for me given the price.

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