Yeah, I think I'm going to go ahead and RMA it. If they weren't going to pay for shipping, I probably wouldn't. Admittedly, I did take the picture from an angle and in the dark which makes it way worse than in normal settings, but still.

I just got a QNIX 27 inch 1440p monitor. It's great, no dead pixels (ordered the perfect model because it only cost $15 more even though people say it's a scam :/). My only issue is that there is a weird gray smudge when anything dark is displayed on the monitor.

Does anybody else have this issue with a monitor? What is it? It looks like when you press on a monitor a little bit and the colors get all distorted, but it's permanent.

I can RMA it to Newegg and they'll pay shipping, but my other concern is that I'll get a different monitor with an even worse problem, like dead pixels that they won't RMA since even the "perfect" version still has some allowable ones.

Any chance I can just fix the one I've got somehow?

This monitor:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4JH1NB1871

looks like a pretty good deal. With Black Friday/Cyber Monday in a couple months, I was wondering if monitors like this go on cheap sales, or if this is likely to be nearly as low as I'll find.

Does anybody have any 1440p monitor suggestions?

Also, does anybody have any experience with non "pixel perfect" buys?

You don't need AA as high at 1440 to get smooth edges so that's not going to be a problem. And I'm not asking this card to last 5 years. I don't see games asking for 4gb VRAM in the recommended specs (except CoD) that are looming on the horizon. Anyways, it's too late since I already bought the card, and you aren't really being helpful at this point.

I ended up grabbing another 780 directcu ii 3gb. In the end I just don't think the difference between 3gb and 4gb of VRAM is going to make that much of a difference in the near future. The newer cards are nice with the features and reduced power consumption, but I think it would have cost more than I wanted to spend to get 1 x 980 or 2 x 970s. Also, it came with the new Borderlands, which my friend wants and I can just give it to him for his birthday to save $50. I think $260 in the end is a good deal.

The only game I can find that says 4GB (in the optimal requirements) is the next CoD. Can you name any others? If I can get into 2016 without a problem just by adding a $300 card, I'll be fine.

I was under the impression that DX12 is going to be compatible on the 700 series cards? Lower power consumption would be nice since I'll be pushing the limits of my current PSU with the dual 780s. The temps aren't a big deal for me, I've got the NZXT Phantom with tons of airflow and my current card doesn't go above 60C under maximum load.

I didn't realize that they skipped over reference models lol, I haven't been paying too much attention to new gpus. I kind of doubt that the 780 will go much lower in price before it becomes unavailable.

I guess it really just boils down to the fact that I'm super impatient and would prefer to buy a card now instead of waiting until something else that will likely be very similar to release. Also, I don't want to get Craigslist murdered selling my current card. I appreciate your input on the matter.

I see what you are saying. Since the cards aren't released yet, for the sake of an easy discussion, we can pretend that the GTX960 may have very slightly worse single card performance, but the same or slightly better SLI performance for the same price as adding in another 780. The cards look like they will still hit the same 3GB VRAM wall, so I would have to upgrade them eventually anyways to be able to take advantage of new games that use, let's say, 6GB VRAM. It seems like I would be getting into pretty much the same situation with SLI'ing either of the two cards down the road, and until then would be likely enjoying relatively similar performances. I could buy the 780 now, or I could wait until the new cards are released, but then I would also want to wait until the release non-reference models as well. I think considering money/performance, I would be pretty happy with either choice.

From what I've read, it looks like the only things that are currently pushing past 3gb VRAM usage are either poorly optimized, or (for example) run pretty much as well using 3GB on a 3GB card as they do running 4GB on a 6GB card.

I understand that eventually the VRAM will be limiting, but does that seem like something that will be a problem in the next couple years? I imagine I'll want to upgrade to 4K around then, and I feel like doing the 780 SLI in the meantime will ensure that games keep running optimally. I'm already seeing 30-40 FPS on ultra at 1080p as is in a few games. At 1440p would be even worse with just the 1 card.

Also, if you are thinking that 4GB of VRAM is already cutting it too close, shouldn't I upgrade to something in the future that is quite a bit higher than that? In the meantime, I imagine I'd be satisfied with the 780 SLI.

From what I'm seeing on rumors and stuff, the GTX 960 doesn't look like it will have more than 3GB VRAM, it will perform perform near or below GTX 780 levels, and cost $250. If that's the case, I could spend $250 on one of those for something that isn't better, or $500 on SLI. Doesn't it make more sense to spend $300 on SLI (if I'm going to SLI anything) right now? I know SLI isn't as optimal is a single new card, but for $300 I think it would help out in keeping games at 60FPS at 1440p for a while, until I'm ready for 4K in which case I'll just upgrade everything.