Spec priority for a new monitor for Zwifting

General Discussion
#1

I have decided i have had enough of using Zwift with my 15" Laptop screen and i am trying to decide what spec monitor to get

I am no gamer, and the gamers don’t much about Zwift, so can those in the know help please

Seems i need to choose based on budget, panel type (TN, IPS, VA), panel size (thinking 27-32"), refresh rate, resolution and response time. So the question is, which of these specs have a higher impact on the Zwifting experience and should therefore be prioritised. Some shops say refresh rate, others response etc…

Also, am i right in the assumption that a smaller monitor would be better than a larger TV?

(Current spec of laptop is I7-7700 CPU, GTX950M GPU, 16GB ram. I can select Ultra with it, but Zwifalyser recommends High for a higher refresh rate. I don’t want to change the PC out, but one day i will, so i might as well get a monitor with the future in mind)

Thanks in advance

#2

I would recommend a 40" 1080p TV. 60Hz. No frills, standard HDMI cable.

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#3

Thanks Mike. For me to understand why better, is the bigger screen for a more immersive experience and 60HZ refresh rate is all you need? Also re 1080p, would the picture get better with a WQHD & 4K TV,or not noticeably so?

Cheers

#4

Hi Andrew, I am using the new LG 34" Full HD Ultrawide 2560x1080 IPS. LED Monitor with HDR 10, the Ultrawide screen gives you an amazing sense of movement, I toyed with the idea of 4k, 5k even 8k but decided Wide was the go, it didn’t disappoint. Cheers Colin (SAS)

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#5

Thanks for the input Colin

That looks a great setup you have. I’ll have a look at that monitor

Cheers

Andrew

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#6

Seconded on going for the ultrawide I have one and it’s fantastic for Zwift as it adds to the immersion having extra at the sides. However it’s only a small one due to limited space, if I had the choice between small ultrawide or big 16:9 I’d take the big screen every time.

I saw the setup they had at the Zwift Draft House in Harrogate with a massive TV running Zwift in 4K and it was awesome.

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#7

I have found that the 4k HDR on my TV really makes the colours pop on Zwift.

#8

Bigger screen has the highest impact, until it looks jerky and blocky. The limiting factor is the GTX 950M GPU. It is not really powerful enough for smooth motion at 4K, and at 1080p it will not draw more than 60 frames per second so a high refresh rate of 120 hz or more is pointless. Response time is lowest priority because Zwift is not a twitchy action game. A computer monitor will give you a sharper image for documents and text, but costs more, does not have speakers, and you don’t need that clarity for games. The HD Ultrawide is nice, but would push the 960M more because the total number of pixels to render is higher. Your frame rate would go down, but probably not by much. Lastly, cost. Here in the US a 40" 1080p LED TV is $130. Here are the numbers:

Here’s the raw stats on how many pixels the 950M would have to draw, every frame:

Full HD 1080p = 1920 x 1080 = 2,073,600 pixels
Full HD Ultrawide = 2560 x 1080 = 2,764,800 pixels
4K = 3840 x 2160 = 8,294,400 pixels (4 x Full HD)

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#9

I have tried both options, TV vs Computer monitor.

Tv was wall mounted and not close to the bike.
Monitor 27" was/is mounted within arms reach.

I do like the monitor setup a lot more, I feel the graphics is better and I can read every number on the screen.

I do like that LG 34" Full HD Ultrawide of @CCooper_SAS_Leader, but I would mount it on that wahoo table it is way to far away, and put the lap top to the side. so that when you are on the bike you only see the game.

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#10

Thanks so much for the detailed reply Mike. Helped a lot

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#11

Last question i hope Mike

I am clear on what to get now if i keep using my laptop. If i decided to bite the bullet and set up a dedicated desktop with the trainer and wanted a cost effective 4K/Ultra/60FPS setup that i could match with a 4k TV, would your recommendations from this post in August 2018 still stand?

That being
7th gen or higher Core i5 @ 3.0 Ghz or higher
EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 ideally

Zwift currently say t use the following for Extreme Specs
8GB Ram
2GB Radeon R9 290 series oror NVIDIA GTX 970
Quad Core Intel® i7 or AMD

#12

Negative. There are better options than what I suggested in August 2018. Single core clock speed is important. Number of cores, not so much. Intel Core i3-8100 has 4 physical cores and frequency of 3.6 GHz, $149. AMD Ryzen 3 3400G has 4 physical cores and boosts to 4.2 Ghz, also $149. Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti performs almost the same as GTX 1070 but costs $70 - $100 less. Last I checked 1660 only got High profile though, not Ultra, so that’s something to watch. Dang it, you’re making me want to dig up zwiftalizer benchmarks from its grave for halloween :slight_smile: Also, GTX 970 is 4 years old now and is not extreme specs or recommended. I have one. It’s good, but old hat.

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#13

Yes do that. We miss them. :blush:

#14

Here is my Sharp 58" tv set up. I cast from my Samsung Note8.

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. My mtb was replaced recently with my Tarmac. I had hip surgery so I had to use the mtb for a bit. The saw horses have been replaced with a very nice tv console.

#15

Even the top 10 benchmarks would be great

#16

I tried earlier. The smell was awful.

#17

Newer picture of the man cave.

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#18

Unfortunately doing a top 10 does not reduce the amount of work required to collect accurate data in the first place. Would a page listing various set ups & features at various price point be useful? For most people the thing that makes most sense is Apple TV 4K or an existing smart phone or tablet. The new iPhone A13 bionic chip out performs most mid range laptops with built in Intel graphics. It’s nuts.

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#19

The page listing would be great if you had the time. Zwift specs are outdated as you say and it would be very useful

#20

Thanks for the recommendations Mike. Going for a new desktop with Ryzen 5 3600 & GTX1660 Ti as couldn’t reconcile an old tech TV for an old tech laptop setup. Now i need to decide what monitor or TV to match with that