Haswell build - H87 vs Z87

From my pricing around it's several $100 less and I don't see where the 3014 has spec improvements I would notice/appreciate.

That is definitely a wish list item though. Basically doubles the cost of my upgrade when I could instead just try a 27" Korean IPS panel for $400 from Monoprice or Microcenter, giving my aging Dell 3007 to the kids (and returning the 27" if I actually notice the -3" after a week).

 

Wow, googling the Dell U3014, first result is the Dell site which says it's 75.6 cm. That used to be a big TV size.
I would love to have that kind of display (or even a 27"), I don't think I've seen one first hand yet but I wonder if you can get absorbed into it and forget everything else (like with a regular computer monitor, but more pronounced).

 

I'm in a similar dilemma. The backlight in my 3007 is fading fast, and I'm itching to replace it despite being leg-crossingly expensive. The 3014 has an LED backlight, the 3011 is CCFL like my 3007. So I'm wondering what the longevity of LED backlights is compared to CCFL. Maybe a 3014 would last a lot longer than a 3011??! That's how I'm trying to justify it to myself...

 

can you not just replace the backlight ?

 

No idea. If it was in some sense a spare monitor I didn't really care about I'd maybe give it a go, but it isn't. Even in its current state it has residual value (either financial or utility), if I knacker it it's useless.

 

The change in U3014 I would appreciate most over previous versions would be the improved contrast ratio.

IPS are weak in this area, and I think a 20%+ improvement in static contrast ratio is significant.

 

My 3007 is doing the same, it has uneven backlighting right down the middle of the screen, which creates this stripe that's noticeable.

 

Bizarre; I hope the CCFL backlight in my 2711 doesn't have the same fate as your 3007

Supposedly, and I"m only regurgitating what I've read elsewhere, the CCFL provides a better color balance than the LED backlight. At least, that's as far as my memory goes. Maybe that has since been solved, or else maybe it was never an issue anyway and I just remember wrong.

 

The review of the 3014 I've read (here) says that the backlight is a new type of wide-gamut configuration (GB-LED).

 

Cool, I'll give that a read. I figured there would be a "fix" for LED to provide the proper gamut eventually, I just haven't been on top of it.

I love my U2711, and I rue the day that it dies and I have to replace it.

 

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=113&cp_id=11307&cs_id=1130703&p_id=10734&seq=1&format=2

Now that Christmas is over and we've paid off the cc bill for Dec (including new tires for the family van and repairing the kitchen fridge) I'm back in upgrade mode. My Amazon wish list still has the ASUS Z87 Pro mobo and a i7 4770k CPU with 2x 8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600 sticks, plus a NZXT H2 case because my 3DCool Now! case from 1999 has reached that time in its lifecycle where a visit to the recycle bin has come, but I'm all over the map when it comes to replacing my 3007 display. The unit I linked is tempting because if price, but you know they're cheap Korean IPS panels. Which a lot of people have bought via eBay and not had too many problems, and it's cheaper than a 27" from Dell or other brand names. Decisions, decisions.

 

The problem for me is I want a 120Hz refresh monitor if possible the next time I buy one. Though I guess the variable refresh rate might make that superfluous if everybody starts to support it.