# 29" Dell UltraSharp U2913WM - Buy or Not?



## twicksisted (Jan 1, 2013)

My Dell 24" monitor is dying on me and I have a bit of spare money to buy something else.
I was considering getting 3 cheap 23" monitors for surround gaming but id have to get another GTX580 for that to work which is going to work out rather expensive.

The other cheaper option is to get a 27" screen using the 1080p format, but thats not really any improvement on my current 1920 x 1200 24" screen really.

Then I found this:







http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/hom...wm/pd.aspx?refid=dell-u2913wm&cs=ukdhs1&s=dhs

29" Dell UltraSharp U2913WM (2560 x 1080p, 21:9 aspect ratio).

I am struggling to find any in-depth online reviews on this and want to know if anyone else has this screen and uses it for gaming? More importantly what is the real life input lag like and is there a lot of ghosting etc?


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## BarbaricSoul (Jan 1, 2013)

don't have any experience with that particular monitor, or the 2560*1080 resolution, but personally, I'd get this 2560*1440 for £485.50 before getting that for £646


Asus PB278Q 27" LED LCD HDMI Monitor | Ebuyer.com


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## twicksisted (Jan 1, 2013)

I did look at that, and its very nice with the 1440p res, but im thinking that gaming with the 21:9 aspect ratio of the Dell screen im looking at would be very beneficial. Almost like running eyefinity but without the extra GPU overhead of having to use 3 screens.


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## Naito (Jan 1, 2013)

I'd imagine a single GTX 580 would struggle at 1440p if trying to crank up the settings.


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## twicksisted (Jan 1, 2013)

I think it will be fine for now.... definately a lot better than trying to run 5760 x1080p wide over 3 screens.

Currently my Asus Matrix Platinum 580 runs everything I play fully maxxed on my current 1920x1200 resolution so 2560 x 1080p should be more than ok and I could always take down the AA a bit to help out if theres any judders 

EDIT: NAITO I thought you were saying the GTX580 would struggle with the Dell 29" screens res of 2560 x 1080p, my bad


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## KieX (Jan 1, 2013)

If you are going to buy it Aria will be far cheaper than Dell: http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Moni...descreen+IPS+Monitor+-+Black+?productId=53175

Edit: You could use the difference in price to SLI


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## Naito (Jan 1, 2013)

2560x1080 is 20% more pixels than 1920x1200 to render. 1440p is ~60% more pixels, so a single GTX 580 would probably grind to a halt if eye candy is turned up.


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## twicksisted (Jan 1, 2013)

KieX said:


> If you are going to buy it Aria will be far cheaper than Dell: http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Moni...descreen+IPS+Monitor+-+Black+?productId=53175
> 
> Edit: You could use the difference in price to SLI



Yes thats where i saw it originally... no one else has stock of them in UK right now (Except DELL im assuming and they far too expensive)


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## twicksisted (Jan 1, 2013)

I've spent the whole of last night and most of today reading reviews and looking at all the usual suspect UK stores (Aria, overclockers, Ebuyer, Dabs, Scan etc) at various options and prices.

What I want to achieve with this upgrade is to get something better than my now faulty Dell 1920 x 1200, 24" screen and not just a replacement.

Im stuck with the dilemma of these three options:



29" Dell UltraSharp U2913WM
3x 23" Screens + Another GTX580 for SLI/Surround Gaming
3x 23" screens + GTX680 (Single card for surround gaming & Sell my GTX580 to make up some cost)

The conclusion I've come to is:


The 29" wide aspect Dell will give me the best bang for buck I think without taxing my system too hard in games.

Buying another GTX580 will cost around £250 and be very power hungry, noisy and as my current GTX580 Asus Matrix takes up 3 slots probably very hot! (Not to mention its old hardware in todays terms and a bit of a side/down grade).

Buying a GTX680 single and trying to run 3 screens will give much worse performance than using my GTX580 to run this 21:9 wide aspect 29" dell.

*So, back to my original question... does anyone know how bad the input lag is on this "29 inch Dell UltraSharp U2913WM" and if it will be fast enough for gaming?*
(I play mainly FPS games like BF3, COD etc)


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## theonedub (Jan 1, 2013)

The measured lag is 25ms, a touch higher than the U2713HM and a touch lower than the U2711. I don't think you will see any detrimental lag, as I don't see anything too bad on the U2713HM.

I know it doesn't apply to you but performance with the 580 going from 1200p to 1440p really depends on the game. My 580 keeps up quite well, haven't run into an unplayable game yet.


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## twicksisted (Jan 1, 2013)

theonedub said:


> The measured lag is 25ms, a touch higher than the U2713HM and a touch lower than the U2711.



To be honest I wasnt really aware of monitor input lag till I started researching which screen to buy 2 days ago. This figure of 25ms input lag, how does it compare with most other monitors out there today? Is there a sweet spot for input lag on monitors when gaming and what is too much?


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## theonedub (Jan 1, 2013)

Its relatively high, even for IPS- an IPS like the U2412M is only 9ms. The thing is, its hard to see any real difference in lag unless you either know exactly what to look for or you are a hardcore gamer where even a single missed frame is unacceptable. 

I've been from a TN Samsung, to the U2412M, and now the U2713HM which would have input lag increasing with each upgrade. Have I noticed any lag? Not at all. The color, contrast, and increased screen size sure are noticeable though


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## ATi > nVidia (Jan 1, 2013)

I had this monitor. I liked it a great deal.  But it leaves you wanting... a bit more.  I ended up returning it.  Dell even offered me a $75 dollar refund to keep it.  I wanted a more immersive  experience so I got triple monitors and GTX 670 SLI.  Very pleased with it so far.

The pluses are...you can have super wide screen without sacrificing too much framerate.  The minuses are... you'll want more.

Input lag is negligible.  Unless you're a CS:S-type freak and need a CRT 240hz v-sync, you won't be disappointed in that regard. 

Also, the color and viewing angles are outstanding.  Dell's drivers are outstanding; you can set-up "zones" for various windows and such. Like I said, I liked it...but I wanted more.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jan 1, 2013)

ATi > nVidia said:


> I had this monitor. I liked it a great deal.  But it leaves you wanting... a bit more.  I ended up returning it.  Dell even offered me a $75 dollar refund to keep it.  I wanted a more immersive  experience so I got triple monitors and GTX 670 SLI.  Very pleased with it so far.
> 
> The pluses are...you can have super wide screen without sacrificing too much framerate.  The minuses are... you'll want more.
> 
> ...



Thats interesting, with a user name like that id think you would have a ATI Crossfire setup.


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## ATi > nVidia (Jan 1, 2013)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> Thats interesting, with a user name like that id think you would have a ATI Crossfire setup.



Heh.... made up the name 9 years ago when I was an ATi fanboi with my modded 9500 Pro. Notice "ATi" not AMD. 

I'll never forgive them for selling-out the ATi brand.  It's like nVidia buying the 3DFX brand ... and killing it off.

And the truth is... NV's drivers are just so superior, esp. for multi-monitor SLI.


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## twicksisted (Jan 1, 2013)

Cool well thanks for all the advice guys 

Now im just thinking of buying a £160-£200 27" monitor to replace this 24" and spending the rest of the money on coke and hookers 

Nah but in all seriousness if I did just buy a relatively cheap 27" monitor it would be a good replacement for my 24" and I'd have stack of money left over....

Hmmm descisions, descisions


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## qubit (Jan 1, 2013)

@twicksisted

You want good gaming? Then get any NVIDIA LightBoost monitor for sure. The resolution will "only" be 1080p, but that's good in two ways.

The first is the massive benefit you'll get with the elimination of all motion blur, as explained in my thread here. It's so good that it wipes the floor with the old CRTs, giving you blur-free motion, 120Hz monitor refresh rate, high resolution and super-clear LCD picture, all at the same time and this benefit can't be underestimated. You will also have very low input lag with such a monitor.

The second is that driving less pixels, your framerate will be higher and that's important when you're running older and slower graphics cards. I've got a GTX 580 too and it's plenty fast, but it's still slower than what you can get today and it shows sometimes.


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## twicksisted (Jan 1, 2013)

qubit said:


> @twicksisted
> 
> You want good gaming? Then get any NVIDIA LightBoost monitor for sure. The resolution will "only" be 1080p, but that's good in two ways.
> 
> ...



Damn just as i nearly made up my mind on what to do you had to throw in this curveball 
I did a search for lightboost screens and have found an ASUS one for £497.50

ASUS VG278H LCD LED 3D Ready
ASUS VG278H LCD LED 3D Ready 27" HDMI Monitor.. | ...

The picture shows 3D glasses and im assuming an emitter too... though it says "3D ready" which usually implies that you have to buy something extra

Does this mean that I could use 3D with my hardware without buying that nvidia 3D kit? 
Can my single GTX580 do 3D with this monitor or do I need to SLI GTX580 for that to work?

Hmmmm


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## twicksisted (Jan 1, 2013)

What do you guys make of this monitor?
Acer S271HLBbid 27" LED LCD HDMI Monitor | Ebuyer....

Good price.... how bad can it be


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## qubit (Jan 1, 2013)

twicksisted said:


> Damn just as i nearly made up my mind on what to do you had to throw in this curveball
> I did a search for lightboost screens and have found an ASUS one for £497.50
> 
> ASUS VG278H LCD LED 3D Ready
> ...



Hehe, it looked like you weren't aware of the benefits of a LightBoost monitor. This is what makes threads like this so useful. 

If you get the VG278HE, it'll cost around £375 from Scan, support 144Hz and doesn't come with the 3D glasses. The emitter is built into the monitor on the VG278H which sounds great, but isn't really, because it doesn't have the little scroll wheel to adjust the 3D depth on the fly while you're gaming.

While I have the VG278HE and am very happy with it, any brand of monitor supporting LightBoost will do. Note that LB only works at 120Hz.

Yes, you can run it in LB mode without the nvidia emitter, but you need to apply the registry hack given in the article otherwise the driver hides the option (thanks nvidia). Still, games look awesome in 3D anyway and don't show any motion smear there either.

As much as I don't like Overclockers due to dodgy customer service, they have a good selection of LB monitors for you to look at here. Just try to buy one from another retailer, though.


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## twicksisted (Jan 2, 2013)

Alright, I pulled the trigger and bought the DELL 29" 2560x1080p panel today...
Have never felt so apprehensive about buying hardware before so hopefully its not a bad thing I've done! Got it for £479.99 from Aria which is around £120 less than anywhere else in UK! (price went back up today though).

I'll post on here to let you guys know how I get along, and perhaps a few pics for the "Sexy Hardware Close-Up" thread too.

Worst case scenario I can use the EU distance selling laws to send it back for a refund


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## qubit (Jan 2, 2013)

twicksisted said:


> Worst case scenario I can use the EU distance selling laws to send it back for a refund



Exactly, so there's no risk, just a little potential cost if you don't want it. That looks like quite a bargain you've got there and I wouldn't mind checking out a monitor like that myself.

Looking forward to your impressions of it. 

Here's my impressions of my Asus VG278HE monitor you might like to read. Note that I wrote this before I realized the motion blur benefit of LightBoost. The superlatives would have been even more gushing otherwise. 

Note that I've just put in "update 2" on that Asus impressions post, covering LightBoost.


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## Maban (Jan 2, 2013)

What was wrong with the ASUS PB278Q that was suggested? You could have just set the resolution to 2560x1080 in games and out of games you would have had the full 2560x1440.


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## twicksisted (Jan 2, 2013)

qubit said:


> Exactly, so there's no risk, just a little potential cost if you don't want it. That looks like quite a bargain you've got there and I wouldn't mind checking out a monitor like that myself.
> 
> Looking forward to your impressions of it.
> 
> ...



Will definately give that a read in a bit 



Maban said:


> What was wrong with the ASUS PB278Q that was suggested? You could have just set the resolution to 2560x1080 in games and out of games you would have had the full 2560x1440.



The reason I went with it was because of the aspect ratio... I get a wider angle (FOV) in games with 21:9 (2560x1080) than I would with 16:9 (2560x1440)... kinda like you would using surround gaming or eyefinity but only using one screen vs. 3 screens.


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## Tatty_One (Jan 2, 2013)

Bit late now, however I was looking at those Dell's last month when I upgraded a few bits, I found a CNET Australia review, albeit not a particulary good one, dunno if you have seen this.......

http://www.cnet.com.au/dell-ultrasharp-u2913wm-339342439.htm


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## twicksisted (Jan 2, 2013)

Tatty_One said:


> Bit late now, however I was looking at those Dell's last month when I upgraded a few bits, I found a CNET Australia review, albeit not a particulary good one, dunno if you have seen this.......
> 
> http://www.cnet.com.au/dell-ultrasharp-u2913wm-339342439.htm



awesome, yes thats the type of thing I was looking for... funny i googled for reviews but never found that one... thanks


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## twicksisted (Jan 3, 2013)

Alright, the monitor arrived earlier today and I hooked it up but have requested an RMA.
Its a fantastic bit of kit... really good build quality, and excellent picture, comes with a lot of accessories and impressed by it.

I am sending it back though for a refund as I dont feel that its worth £477.99 to me. I knew that it was going to be much wider than my old 24" screen but diddnt think that it would be that much smaller vertically... Its physically about 3" lower than my old screen and just looks too strange as I'm used to having a large format chunk of lcd infront of me.

Im likely to go for a cheap £160-£200 27" 1080p screen instead of this as really all I want is something bigger than my 24" and that should do the trick.


All in all if you need an IPS, high quality wide aspect screen then this is very nice indeed, but for me, it diddnt quite hit the spot.


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## qubit (Jan 3, 2013)

Yes, the wider the aspect ratio of a monitor, the less it actually shows you - just maximise a pdf file on monitors of different aspect ratios for a good demo of this. This is independent of screen resolution too, which often confuses people. One can see the most with a 1:1 ratio (square) monitor, which of course isn't made.

Still, a wide format monitor like this can be very good if you're a movie buff or hell, just want a superwide one for the hell of it like I do, lol.

Why don't you go for the Asus VG278HE I was telling you about? It's around £370, 27 inches in size with 1080p resolution which makes it very easy on the eyes and eliminates motion blur in your games as I described. It looks good, has great ergonomics and a lovely picture. Bear in mind that it is a TN panel though, but despite this viewing angles are still quite reasonable and you don't notice much colour shift and colours look good.

Anyway, that's enough from me blabbing on.


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## Tatty_One (Jan 3, 2013)

My next door neighbour has one of these, I have to say for the price the picture is awesome and a lot of IPS monitor for £360.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-003-DG&groupid=17&catid=1120&subcat=


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## twicksisted (Jan 3, 2013)

Yes, I have to wait for the RMA and refund, then ill be back in the buyers market again 
Both of those look like good choices.... I guess im back to square one!

(Oh and my current 24" samsung is getting worse by the day... like the pixels are dying... just have an ever increasing blacked out line that grows vertically up the side of the screen!... was such a nice screen too!)


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## qubit (Jan 3, 2013)

twicksisted said:


> (Oh and my current 24" samsung is getting worse by the day... like the pixels are dying... just have an ever increasing blacked out line that grows vertically up the side of the screen!... was such a nice screen too!)



That sounds very unfortunate and must be really annoying to look at. Any chance a friend can lend you a monitor in the meantime until you get a replacement?


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## Ralfies (Jan 4, 2013)

In my opinion, 27" is a little too big for 1080p. I had the 27" Acer you linked earlier in the thread. The picture was great, but if you sit close to the screen like I do, you can notice individual pixels. If you're not sensitive to that sort of thing, then the Acer is great bang for the buck. I now have a Catleap 2560x1440 monitor that I got for $300usd and couldn't be happier with it. Your 580 might struggle a tiny bit at the higher resolution, heck my 670 does, so you'll have to turn down AA. 2xMSAA at 2560x1440 has a little more aliasing than 4xMSAA at 1080p, but the image is much sharper. I'm sure you'll upgrade your GPU before you upgrade your monitor again, so I think you're better of going with a higher resolution.


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## gottistar (Jan 4, 2013)

or http://www.samsung.com/au/consumer/pc-peripherals/monitor/lcd-monitor/LS27A850TSK/XY-spec

just did a thread on this screen , really happy with it...2560x1440, is where its at !


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## qubit (Jan 4, 2013)

gottistar said:


> or http://www.samsung.com/au/consumer/pc-peripherals/monitor/lcd-monitor/LS27A850TSK/XY-spec
> 
> just did a thread on this screen , really happy with it...2560x1440, is where its at !



Does the power light flash in standby?


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## gottistar (Jan 4, 2013)

qubit said:


> Does the power light flash in standby?



no it doesnt


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## qubit (Jan 4, 2013)

gottistar said:


> no it doesnt



That's great. All the Samsungs I've seen over the years have this stupid, annoying flashing standby light. I'm glad they're moving away from this.


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