I think I need a new screen?

[minimx5]

So I play a team based competitive game and at the weekend I met up with a team mate.

Our specs are very similiar, we both have 8700k's overclocked, 16GB ram, different motherboards, game on SSD, same in game config, he has a 1070 I have a 1080 and my rig is watercooled with a custom loop while he is on air.

His game felt so much snappier than mine though, as if it was less input lag or something I couldn't really put my finger on it. It just felt like being more in touch with the game and I'm unsure as to why.

We have both 144hz screens but he has the Dell S2417DG and I have the Acer KG271A which was just a purchase on the day as it was the only one they had that matched the specs I wanted and I can't really find anything online for this monitor, colour profiles etc have been impossible and just the odd review here and there but nothing that's technical or comparisons.

I was just wondering or even if somebody could confirm before I go spending on another monitor that this could be the thing. He also has G-Sync where I have Freesync but I thought 144fps (game limit) constant with no drops wouldn't matter and G-Sync wouldn't do anything with high fps?

Kinda confused.

[LagBuster]

Could be the monitor, but I would first check for differences in the OS like background programs and services, or BIOS settings like HPET, TB, HT, C-states and whatnot. And his RAM could also be faster than yours on top of all that.

If you meet up with him again you could plug his monitor to your system and see how it feels, and he could try yours.

[RealNC]

I was just wondering or even if somebody could confirm before I go spending on another monitor that this could be the thing. He also has G-Sync where I have Freesync but I thought 144fps (game limit) constant with no drops wouldn't matter and G-Sync wouldn't do anything with high fps?

Have you tried enabling freesync on your monitor, and changing the game's FPS limit from 144 to 140? Maybe the constant tearing is to blame. 144FPS on a 144Hz monitor with vsync disabled has a distinctly annoying kind of tearing.

[minimx5]

Could be the monitor, but I would first check for differences in the OS like background programs and services, or BIOS settings like HPET, TB, HT, C-states and whatnot. And his RAM could also be faster than yours on top of all that.

If you meet up with him again you could plug his monitor to your system and see how it feels, and he could try yours.

Yeah I thought that and we had a chat comparing setups. Usually we share any tweaks that seem to improve things so again we're pretty similiar. We both have Asus boards so we can't disable HPET at the bios but both on invariant TSC timer. Windows builds differ, I'm on LTSB 1607 and he has 1709 as pretty much all of us had issues with 1803.

all C-states etc are disabled for the 5ghz overclock.

Yeah that would be ideal but it's a fair trip, I was just working in the area over the weekend and we arranged it seen as I was close by.

I was just wondering or even if somebody could confirm before I go spending on another monitor that this could be the thing. He also has G-Sync where I have Freesync but I thought 144fps (game limit) constant with no drops wouldn't matter and G-Sync wouldn't do anything with high fps?

Have you tried enabling freesync on your monitor, and changing the game's FPS limit from 144 to 140? Maybe the constant tearing is to blame. 144FPS on a 144Hz monitor with vsync disabled has a distinctly annoying kind of tearing.

I have a Nvidia GPU, I've noticed the tearing and I agree with you it's annoying but something I kinda got used too I guess. I've also tried limiting the FPS using inspector and didn't really notice anything different.

I guess I thought all 144hz were pretty similiar, is it possible that I could notice the input lag from one 144hz to another so drastically? or is it likely to be something else? I don't know if I'm hating on my monitor when it isn't the cause. I run overdrive on normal and MPRT is off as it gets some funky ghosting going on and again doesn't feel much better at the inputs.

[LagBuster]

Well, consider that budget products are usually budget for a reason, and you almost never get the full picture as to why. If you have some spare money you could just get a high end gaming monitor, or the same one your friend has, compare it against yours and keep it or return it. That's what I would do.

[Kheri]

There are lots of reasons your monitor could be a problem, as far as I know. IIRC, the display signal can make your monitor feel laggy too. So I can't help, but:
If you think the problem lies with your monitor, Dell S2716DGR is on sale at best buy for BF, even cheaper if you have Samsung Pay I believe. It's the 27 inch version, though. Not the 24 inch one. Dell is a good brand, imo. Might be on sale elsewhere when BF comes.

[ZonePhoenix]

I think some setups can just output a stronger signal and it improves the image quality too, but ive got no answers on how to fix it

[RealNC]

Well, maybe your friend has g-sync enabled then (it's enabled by default, actually.) Since you can't enable freesync, you're comparing VRR vs fixed refresh. Of course there can be a difference due to this.

Have you tried enabling vsync? I know this will increase input lag, but at least if will tell you if it's the smoothness that you find better in your friend's setup.

What game are we talking about, btw?