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I've been biding my time waiting to get a monitor that checks off a few desired specifications: 4K, IPS, FreeSync, not comically large, and cheap-ish.

So, LG 27UD59P-B 27" Class 4K UHD IPS LED Monitor (2017 Model) is on sale at BuyDig.com for $275. I'm thinking about pulling the trigger, but there aren't any reviews and that's kind of holding me back a bit.

My current monitor is just fine as a 19" 4:3 1280x1024 via VGA, but it's been getting a bit cramped since forever.

Looks like the LG lacks a DVI connector, and my motherboard (ASRock H97M Anniversary) has a max resolution of 1920x1200. (Using integrated graphics at the moment via i3-4160, and I refuse to take out a second mortgage.) I haven't been able to determine the revision of the connectors.

Yes, I occasionally play EVE Online, but I spend more time doing actual work. Or reading techreport. Or reddit.

Thoughts?

I think a 4K Freesync mon with a system that can't even use 4K or Freesync is a bit of an odd choice unless you plan to get a GPU later.

LostCat wrote:

I think a 4K Freesync mon with a system that can't even use 4K or Freesync is a bit of an odd choice unless you plan to get a GPU later.

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Running a monitor at a non-native resolution is a blurry mess. I think you're just trading one problem (cramped monitor) for another (smeary mess).

4K really seems like a waste at 27". You're inviting scaling issues in legacy apps and making gaming dependent on a $800 GPU investment.

Try out a 2560x1440 display and be blown away!

Honestly, your best bet would be to pick up 2 monitors. You can get a 22" 1080p monitor for under $100 these days. You can only game on one at a time, but your GPU can probably handle it fine. 2 of those is still cheaper than $275 for something your computer can handle now without scaling.
Example: https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VS228H-P-19 ... 005BZNDOO/

Usacomp2k3 wrote:

Honestly, your best bet would be to pick up 2 monitors. You can get a 22" 1080p monitor for under $100 these days. You can only game on one at a time, but your GPU can probably handle it fine. 2 of those is still cheaper than $275 for something your computer can handle now without scaling.
Example: https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VS228H-P-19 ... 005BZNDOO/

2560x1440 is almost as many pixels as 2x1920x1080 and in a much more usable form factor. An i3 IGP is going to struggle in games at both 1080P and 1440P, so you might as well maximize utility.

I was trying to stay within the constraints of the resolution his motherboard outputs (1920x1200).

Usacomp2k3 wrote:

I was trying to stay within the constraints of the resolution his motherboard outputs (1920x1200).

For $30-40 you can get a simple PCIe card that will support up to 4K resolution, which is a reasonable stopgap measure (e.g. GT710). Used on ebay or a forum you can probably snag one even cheaper.

I bit the bullet on this deal and ordered three. One for me and two for my ego in case anyone was wondering. They should arrive on Monday.

If you're going to use your PC for gaming, you should be looking at graphics cards at least as powerful as the $150 Radeon RX 560-1024 or $200 GeForce GTX1050Ti with 4 GiB of video memory. Don't expect great performance at 3840x2160 with those cards in most games, but they'll play many games nicely at 1920x1080.

Well, you guys have talked me out of it.

I run Eve Online via Wine on Linux. The IGP gets 75 FPS (I think I have vsync enabled because that's the monitor's refresh rate...allegedly) on low-ish settings. It'll probably be terrible with an exponential increase in pixels, unless I lock the window to an unusable size with tiny fonts. I'm pretty sure I'll have the same experience even if I get a $40 card.

I think I can keep working with cramped real estate.

I’m not trying to talk you out of spending $275 on a new monitor. I’m trying to talk you into spending $150 to $200 on a gaming graphics card to drive it. . This 3840x2160 monitor should do a decent job scaling to 1920x1080 if you run something more demanding than EVE Online. Those graphics cards should even provide better performance at 3840x2160 than your existing integrated graphics can manage at 1280x1024..

If they do that little gaming though spending that much on a GPU seems pointless with the rest of the system being that old. I'd still recommend a decent 1080p monitor over that 19" at least.

(With the added benefit that they can be super cheap these days.)

I've gotten a bit of time with the unit so first impressions:

The stand is good but not great. Height adjustable with tilt and swivel.

4K resolution is very sharp. Currently running at 1920 x 1080 high DPI mode which means applications think I'm at full HD for scaling but text and user interface is rendered at native 4K. Bitmap icons stand out as not as sharp as other elements.

It is an ISP panel so good viewing angles.

Color calibration still needs to be done but it has all the controls I'd want for this.

The bad news: this isn't the brightest display. Not a deal breaker for me but those who want to emulate the sun in HDR will be disappointed it is more like moon emulation.

Oddities: system initially defaulted to 1280 x 720 resolution when using DP. Toggled DP1.2 mode off then on and native was them an option at 60 Hz. 3840 x 2160 @ 30 Hz is an option under DP 1.1.

Not tested:
FreeSync as I have nVidia cards currently.
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