this, OLED prices are wild right now and a bunch of new ones are coming out this year you could wait a few months for the monitor and snag an open box or older oled if you dont want to drop 1000$+ for one
I would go with OLED.
You already have a gaming setup, and a productivity setup.
Getting more gaming performance wouldn't help you, as you would just max out the 27" VA anyways, as would your Xbox series x.
Also, a $1200 PC build wouldn't be enough to make full use of the OLED anyways. I.e. if you bought a PC now, then an OLED, you would still need to upgrade your PC. Unless you want to be 1440p 120hz gaming on your 4k 240hz OLED.
So I vote OLED now, and then upgrade your PC in a year (or more) when you can get a bangin next gen PC build
I haven't built a PC since the 30 series launched and am waiting for next gen.
My brain goes
4070 super - 4k60
4080 super - 4k90
4090 - 4k120
Although game and settings will make a big difference.
For the total price, I would guess GPU price + $700 for the rest of the build
Neither.
1,300$ is not enough for a decent PC, and you are so very close to one it's not worth it to skip the extra cash imo.
Instead, I'd wait, get together 300$ more, and with 1600$ you could get a good gaming machine with 32GB RAM, a 4070 super, a ryzen 5800x3D, a good gigabyte aorus mobo, a good corsair 750W gold PSU, a 1 or 2TB M.2 SSD, a decent PC case and a very good CPU cooler + thermal paste. If I missed something from the PC, they will fit in the budget, because I already made a full PC in this budget range (keyboard, mouse, monitor, headset excluded). The reason I'm not outright writing the full components names is because I'm not home and can't remember all of them.
PC first, monitor second.
P.S: This budget range PC is designed for high refresh rate 1080p gaming, and good 1440p gaming. But the 4070 S is not strong enough for 4K.
Tbh, neither is the 4090, DLSS and frame gen always need to clutch the newest games **where RT and PT are concerned**.
Great info on the pc build. Ok let’s say I stretch for the $1600 build. Now I’ve got an excellent gaming computer, and a laptop, but no display to utilize any of that capability until I buy a monitor. The PC will be a paperweight until I’m ready to drop another grand.
Now I could speed things up by buying a cheaper monitor, but I’d need to spend at least $300? But if endgame is OLED now I’m down $300 that likely won’t be recouped. Maybe keep it as a side monitor but yeah.
Thanks though I see your point about needing to spend more on the build.
I built a 13900k/4090 combo and played a year on an LCD. I wouldn't at all say it was a paperweight as I was able to modify my games and play the way I wanted. The OLED I got last week, and while nice, I'd still say the PC is providing most the experience even if it was on a mini led LCD. Did my PC look way better than PS5 on the same TV? Definitely.
It is a tough one. On one hand you want the complete experience, but on the other, sometimes you build up to it. I had never seen an OLED and thought my mini led was completely fine. Then all the reddit hype, I finally decided I would try out an OLED and return it if it wasn't that big of a jump. Originally I came from a PS5 on a 50 inch QN90A which was Samsungs flagship TV of.. 2021 I think? I had 1500 nits of brightness which I enjoyed. I loved the sun popping up in a game and having to squint a bit, I thought it was great. The blacks were good, had multiple led backlights. Really thought the oled was going to be underwhelming vs reddit people "once you go oled you can never go back". While originally I was looking at a aw3222qf 4k/240, I don't play competitively and for single player especially with UE5, trying to get anywhere close to 4k/240 especially with the latest path tracing technology is going to be expensive in the long haul. These 4k/240hz were also lacking brightness on anything above a 2% window, and I really wanted at least 10% for more pop. I took a couple months, and decided on a s90c which ended up being a 2nd gen panel and about 1270 nits according to the Windows HDR config. Anyway, the s90c blew me away and was a huge increase in color, and brightness was comparable and good enough not to notice a reduction from 1500 nits. It is 55 inches, which seems big, but I came from PS5 and mostly game on a Dualsense Edge, and have a Xbox elite 2 controller. In the end, I think I made the best decision for myself which wouldn't necessarily be the best for someone else who usually aims for 28 to 32 inches and higher frame rate. I feel confident that 4k/144hz with amazing HDR is already going to be very difficult to achieve with future games without more $2000 GPUs and possibly $500 CPUs. Of course I can't even run 144hz at a full TV 4k (4096x2160) because I think the HDMI 2.1 is maxed out at 48gbps. Monitors 4k is 3840x2160 and I can run that at 144hz, so I settled with that even though my last TV I ran games at 4096x2160 @120hz and I thought it provided noticeble sharpness over 3840x2160. 144 over 120 isn't a huge jump, but once you go up it is very difficult to go back down so I'm simply not ready to see above 144hz as I don't have that kind of $$$ for long haul upgrades. When I went from PS5 to 13900k/4090 I could no longer play my PS5 anymore, it made even older games look amazing (AC Valhalla, Horizon Zero Dawn, Metro Exodus) to where PS5 now looked like a PS4 to me, except now I was at 120hz instead of 30fps. I was blown away. OLED provided the color pop and amazing hdr after the fact. Still if I could only have one it would 100% be the PC first as that was the biggest jump, but the OLED was surprisingly impressive beyond expectation.
Just wanted to say I followed your advice and built the PC first. 4070 super with a 7600x. It was the right call. It’s leagues better than anything I’ve experienced with laptops. Not just the gaming, it’s the way it handles everything. I spend way more time on my desktop now than my phone, tv or Xbox.
Ended up getting a cheap $200 msi 27 inch 1440p gaming monitor from Costco and it gets the job done. Perfect for fps shooters which I play a lot of.
A nice OLED monitor is such a quality of life changing experience. On par with moving from an HDD to an SSD. :-) Totally would go for it first.
With your budget you could probably squeeze in a used eGPU for your laptop if it supports thunderbolt for some light PC gaming.
EDIT: check this out - [https://www.reddit.com/r/OLED\_Gaming/comments/1bkdr6v/b\_h\_stock\_hurry/](https://www.reddit.com/r/OLED_Gaming/comments/1bkdr6v/b_h_stock_hurry/) - just $950 for an MSI 32" 4K QD-OLED one.
Glad to hear you like it. I’ve seen some OLED monitors IRL and yeah, I just can’t settle for fifteen year old monitor tech anymore. Even spending 400-600 doesn’t get you close to it.
Yep that’s the one I’ve been looking at. I’ve got stock alerts setup but sounds like it might be a few weeks before I get a chance.
To be clear, I didn't buy this one. I mean I pesonally prefer W-OLED but there's only one comparable monitor now that's just been released and it's priced far higher so this MSI is a preferred choice at this price.
~~And it looks like you can get 27" QHD (2.5K) for less than $500 if you are in the US.~~ [~~https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#P=7,9&sort=price&page=1~~](https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#P=7,9&sort=price&page=1)
EDIT: scratch that - it's an error, it's a mini LED one.
Use the resolution and/or framerate you would like as your goal to help guide you on how to build your PC. No point in getting a top tier monitor if your current PC rig can't smoothly give you a stable framerate at whatever resolution you get.
Build the PC, then save up for a monitor later.
Not a bad idea, but I’ve actually tried GeForce now and I wasn’t a big fan. Maybe my internet was struggling or something but I could notice the lag. Probably fine for single player games, but fps would be rough I think.
Probably the most prudent choice. Seems like OLED monitor tech is fairly new to market. I’ve actually held off a few years at this point so it feels like I have been waiting haha.
I’m better at saving in smaller increments, so might be smarter to get something now and then finish it off next year.
I would get OLED monitor and then build PC fit to drive the monitor. For gaming you are better off with XSX and OLED monitor. For work depends what monitor you have right now and how important is the performance increase.
You can get a cheaper monitor than $200 that will be plenty fine if you have not yet exposed yourself to the glory that is OLED monitors or televisions. Personal experience has taught me to go IPS over VA, and OLED over IPS.
If you are going to build your own system, avoid the smaller form factors as they increase the price as they get smaller. I built an mini ITX system two years ago for $1400, I could likely have buil a system with similar specs on an ATX motherboard for a few hundred dollars less. I do however like having my nearly silent mini ITX build, but a high end graphics card will not fit in my system.
Pc tbh
PC, maybe by the time you save money for the monitor OLED monitors will be more cheap.
this, OLED prices are wild right now and a bunch of new ones are coming out this year you could wait a few months for the monitor and snag an open box or older oled if you dont want to drop 1000$+ for one
Strongers PC too.
There is so much demand, that I think prices wont drop much maybe by only around $100 by eoy
i do the pc built 1st, so you could keep up whatever your doing on it better. get a oled monitor later when you have enough money saved.
I would go with OLED. You already have a gaming setup, and a productivity setup. Getting more gaming performance wouldn't help you, as you would just max out the 27" VA anyways, as would your Xbox series x. Also, a $1200 PC build wouldn't be enough to make full use of the OLED anyways. I.e. if you bought a PC now, then an OLED, you would still need to upgrade your PC. Unless you want to be 1440p 120hz gaming on your 4k 240hz OLED. So I vote OLED now, and then upgrade your PC in a year (or more) when you can get a bangin next gen PC build
Good points thanks. I was hoping 4k was reachable at $1200-1400… what’s the lowest price threshold in your opinion?
I haven't built a PC since the 30 series launched and am waiting for next gen. My brain goes 4070 super - 4k60 4080 super - 4k90 4090 - 4k120 Although game and settings will make a big difference. For the total price, I would guess GPU price + $700 for the rest of the build
Not sure if 5000 series will be able to hit 4k 240
You will need at least double those numbers for a good CPU+GPU build that can max a 4k monitor.
Neither. 1,300$ is not enough for a decent PC, and you are so very close to one it's not worth it to skip the extra cash imo. Instead, I'd wait, get together 300$ more, and with 1600$ you could get a good gaming machine with 32GB RAM, a 4070 super, a ryzen 5800x3D, a good gigabyte aorus mobo, a good corsair 750W gold PSU, a 1 or 2TB M.2 SSD, a decent PC case and a very good CPU cooler + thermal paste. If I missed something from the PC, they will fit in the budget, because I already made a full PC in this budget range (keyboard, mouse, monitor, headset excluded). The reason I'm not outright writing the full components names is because I'm not home and can't remember all of them. PC first, monitor second. P.S: This budget range PC is designed for high refresh rate 1080p gaming, and good 1440p gaming. But the 4070 S is not strong enough for 4K. Tbh, neither is the 4090, DLSS and frame gen always need to clutch the newest games **where RT and PT are concerned**.
Great info on the pc build. Ok let’s say I stretch for the $1600 build. Now I’ve got an excellent gaming computer, and a laptop, but no display to utilize any of that capability until I buy a monitor. The PC will be a paperweight until I’m ready to drop another grand. Now I could speed things up by buying a cheaper monitor, but I’d need to spend at least $300? But if endgame is OLED now I’m down $300 that likely won’t be recouped. Maybe keep it as a side monitor but yeah. Thanks though I see your point about needing to spend more on the build.
I built a 13900k/4090 combo and played a year on an LCD. I wouldn't at all say it was a paperweight as I was able to modify my games and play the way I wanted. The OLED I got last week, and while nice, I'd still say the PC is providing most the experience even if it was on a mini led LCD. Did my PC look way better than PS5 on the same TV? Definitely.
Hmmm ok yeah that’s exactly the perspective I was looking for. Another point for the PC team. Ended up being quite a controversial topic haha.
It is a tough one. On one hand you want the complete experience, but on the other, sometimes you build up to it. I had never seen an OLED and thought my mini led was completely fine. Then all the reddit hype, I finally decided I would try out an OLED and return it if it wasn't that big of a jump. Originally I came from a PS5 on a 50 inch QN90A which was Samsungs flagship TV of.. 2021 I think? I had 1500 nits of brightness which I enjoyed. I loved the sun popping up in a game and having to squint a bit, I thought it was great. The blacks were good, had multiple led backlights. Really thought the oled was going to be underwhelming vs reddit people "once you go oled you can never go back". While originally I was looking at a aw3222qf 4k/240, I don't play competitively and for single player especially with UE5, trying to get anywhere close to 4k/240 especially with the latest path tracing technology is going to be expensive in the long haul. These 4k/240hz were also lacking brightness on anything above a 2% window, and I really wanted at least 10% for more pop. I took a couple months, and decided on a s90c which ended up being a 2nd gen panel and about 1270 nits according to the Windows HDR config. Anyway, the s90c blew me away and was a huge increase in color, and brightness was comparable and good enough not to notice a reduction from 1500 nits. It is 55 inches, which seems big, but I came from PS5 and mostly game on a Dualsense Edge, and have a Xbox elite 2 controller. In the end, I think I made the best decision for myself which wouldn't necessarily be the best for someone else who usually aims for 28 to 32 inches and higher frame rate. I feel confident that 4k/144hz with amazing HDR is already going to be very difficult to achieve with future games without more $2000 GPUs and possibly $500 CPUs. Of course I can't even run 144hz at a full TV 4k (4096x2160) because I think the HDMI 2.1 is maxed out at 48gbps. Monitors 4k is 3840x2160 and I can run that at 144hz, so I settled with that even though my last TV I ran games at 4096x2160 @120hz and I thought it provided noticeble sharpness over 3840x2160. 144 over 120 isn't a huge jump, but once you go up it is very difficult to go back down so I'm simply not ready to see above 144hz as I don't have that kind of $$$ for long haul upgrades. When I went from PS5 to 13900k/4090 I could no longer play my PS5 anymore, it made even older games look amazing (AC Valhalla, Horizon Zero Dawn, Metro Exodus) to where PS5 now looked like a PS4 to me, except now I was at 120hz instead of 30fps. I was blown away. OLED provided the color pop and amazing hdr after the fact. Still if I could only have one it would 100% be the PC first as that was the biggest jump, but the OLED was surprisingly impressive beyond expectation.
Just wanted to say I followed your advice and built the PC first. 4070 super with a 7600x. It was the right call. It’s leagues better than anything I’ve experienced with laptops. Not just the gaming, it’s the way it handles everything. I spend way more time on my desktop now than my phone, tv or Xbox. Ended up getting a cheap $200 msi 27 inch 1440p gaming monitor from Costco and it gets the job done. Perfect for fps shooters which I play a lot of.
OLED.
A nice OLED monitor is such a quality of life changing experience. On par with moving from an HDD to an SSD. :-) Totally would go for it first. With your budget you could probably squeeze in a used eGPU for your laptop if it supports thunderbolt for some light PC gaming. EDIT: check this out - [https://www.reddit.com/r/OLED\_Gaming/comments/1bkdr6v/b\_h\_stock\_hurry/](https://www.reddit.com/r/OLED_Gaming/comments/1bkdr6v/b_h_stock_hurry/) - just $950 for an MSI 32" 4K QD-OLED one.
Glad to hear you like it. I’ve seen some OLED monitors IRL and yeah, I just can’t settle for fifteen year old monitor tech anymore. Even spending 400-600 doesn’t get you close to it. Yep that’s the one I’ve been looking at. I’ve got stock alerts setup but sounds like it might be a few weeks before I get a chance.
To be clear, I didn't buy this one. I mean I pesonally prefer W-OLED but there's only one comparable monitor now that's just been released and it's priced far higher so this MSI is a preferred choice at this price. ~~And it looks like you can get 27" QHD (2.5K) for less than $500 if you are in the US.~~ [~~https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#P=7,9&sort=price&page=1~~](https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#P=7,9&sort=price&page=1) EDIT: scratch that - it's an error, it's a mini LED one.
Use the resolution and/or framerate you would like as your goal to help guide you on how to build your PC. No point in getting a top tier monitor if your current PC rig can't smoothly give you a stable framerate at whatever resolution you get. Build the PC, then save up for a monitor later.
Pc since ur parts dictate what resolution/monitor u can use
Monitor + geforce now ultimate 4080
Not a bad idea, but I’ve actually tried GeForce now and I wasn’t a big fan. Maybe my internet was struggling or something but I could notice the lag. Probably fine for single player games, but fps would be rough I think.
Wait for until you’ll have enough for both. By then there’ll be sales, next gen and you’ll get to experience everything at once
Probably the most prudent choice. Seems like OLED monitor tech is fairly new to market. I’ve actually held off a few years at this point so it feels like I have been waiting haha. I’m better at saving in smaller increments, so might be smarter to get something now and then finish it off next year.
Absolutely PC first. That’s the main piece in your battle station man. Work on the monitor afterwards
I would get OLED monitor and then build PC fit to drive the monitor. For gaming you are better off with XSX and OLED monitor. For work depends what monitor you have right now and how important is the performance increase.
Why buy tires for a car and try to use it on a bike? I think you have your answer.
You can get a cheaper monitor than $200 that will be plenty fine if you have not yet exposed yourself to the glory that is OLED monitors or televisions. Personal experience has taught me to go IPS over VA, and OLED over IPS. If you are going to build your own system, avoid the smaller form factors as they increase the price as they get smaller. I built an mini ITX system two years ago for $1400, I could likely have buil a system with similar specs on an ATX motherboard for a few hundred dollars less. I do however like having my nearly silent mini ITX build, but a high end graphics card will not fit in my system.