Need help with first build; Torn Between Monitors

[CreepinDeth]

Hi everyone, I am a new member here and this is my first post. Well, I've decided to build a nice beefy gaming PC, my first build actually. I'm ordering all of the parts in 1 week, but, right I'm stuck deciding on which monitor to choose. First off, here is the setup I'm building:

XFX MB-N680-ISH 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz processor
EVGA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB video card
Rosewill RX750-S-B ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91 750W Power Supply
4GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS- 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s- Hard Drive
SONY DRU170C 18X DVD±R DVD Burner/Drive
NZXT Zero ATX Full Tower Case
Windows Vista Home Premium Edition (most likely 64bit version)

Ok, so I've narrowed it down to 2 monitors that I found on newegg that are in my price range: the BenQ FP202W V3 20" 5ms Widescreen LCD and the NEC AS120-BK 21" CRT Monitor. I would like to have the best monitor for gaming with the best resolution spending under $350....I know CRT monitors are typically better for gaming, but this BenQ LCD monitor has only a 5ms response time and can display 1680 x 1050 native resolution, has a 1000:1 contrast ratio, and is priced at only $180, whereas this NEC CRT has 1600 x 1200 max resolution and is priced at a considerably steeper $299, and it seems it is not a flatscreen but rather convex unfortunately. Which one do you guys think would offer a better gaming experience and display the best picture/resolution/clarity? (Size/weight of the monitor is not an issue for me)? Also, which monitor has the best price/performance ratio?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16824014146
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824002090

Ok and here is one more idea, the ViewSonic G225fb 21" CRT Monitor; it's out of my price range by about $200, but it has a 2048 x 1536 max resolution and is flatscreen! Though this is out of my price range, if this would give me a considerably noticeable increase in quality and overall gaming experience... I'd take the plunge and dish out the extra $$... worth it? Do PC games even utilize 2048 x 1536 resolution and is it a big enough difference from 1600 x 1200 or 1680 x 1050 to warrant the extra money for this monitor?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116121

P lease let me know what you all think, and if you know of any other monitors that would be a good choice that I missed, I am open for recommendations. Thanks!

 

[1haplo]

Take a look at the LG L206WTY-BF Black 20" 2ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor. This will be good for gaming. The cost is $239.

1Haplo

 

[cb62fcni]

Hi everyone, I am a new member here and this is my first post. Well, I've decided to build a nice beefy gaming PC, my first build actually. I'm ordering all of the parts in 1 week, but, right I'm stuck deciding on which monitor to choose. First off, here is the setup I'm building:

XFX MB-N680-ISH 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz processor
EVGA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB video card
Rosewill RX750-S-B ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91 750W Power Supply
4GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS- 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s- Hard Drive
SONY DRU170C 18X DVD±R DVD Burner/Drive
NZXT Zero ATX Full Tower Case
Windows Vista Home Premium Edition (most likely 64bit version)

Ok, so I've narrowed it down to 2 monitors that I found on newegg that are in my price range: the BenQ FP202W V3 20" 5ms Widescreen LCD and the NEC AS120-BK 21" CRT Monitor. I would like to have the best monitor for gaming with the best resolution spending under $350....I know CRT monitors are typically better for gaming, but this BenQ LCD monitor has only a 5ms response time and can display 1680 x 1050 native resolution, has a 1000:1 contrast ratio, and is priced at only $180, whereas this NEC CRT has 1600 x 1200 max resolution and is priced at a considerably steeper $299, and it seems it is not a flatscreen but rather convex unfortunately. Which one do you guys think would offer a better gaming experience and display the best picture/resolution/clarity? (Size/weight of the monitor is not an issue for me)? Also, which monitor has the best price/performance ratio?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16824014146
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824002090

Ok and here is one more idea, the ViewSonic G225fb 21" CRT Monitor; it's out of my price range by about $200, but it has a 2048 x 1536 max resolution and is flatscreen! Though this is out of my price range, if this would give me a considerably noticeable increase in quality and overall gaming experience... I'd take the plunge and dish out the extra $$... worth it? Do PC games even utilize 2048 x 1536 resolution and is it a big enough difference from 1600 x 1200 or 1680 x 1050 to warrant the extra money for this monitor?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116121

P lease let me know what you all think, and if you know of any other monitors that would be a good choice that I missed, I am open for recommendations. Thanks!

I absolutely love this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001096
So much so that I've bought three in the last 2 months! There were some problems with quality control a few months back, but Samsung has cleared all that up and is only shipping S panels.

On a side note, if you don't plan on using SLI, save yourself some $$ and get a P35 motherboard. Not only do they perform better with Quad cores (especially if you plan on overclocking), they're cheaper and will definately support upcoming processor releases. Also, if you're going to get 4GB of RAM you really need the 64bit version, if you wanna stick with 32bit just get 2GB.

Finally, the PSU you have selected is garbage, it's a Tier 5 manufacturer. Here's a Tier 2 that's actually cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

Mob o options:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131188
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128047

Hope this helps, good luck!

 

[CreepinDeth]

I absolutely love this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001096
So much so that I've bought three in the last 2 months! There were some problems with quality control a few months back, but Samsung has cleared all that up and is only shipping S panels.

On a side note, if you don't plan on using SLI, save yourself some $$ and get a P35 motherboard. Not only do they perform better with Quad cores (especially if you plan on overclocking), they're cheaper and will definately support upcoming processor releases. Also, if you're going to get 4GB of RAM you really need the 64bit version, if you wanna stick with 32bit just get 2GB.

Finally, the PSU you have selected is garbage, it's a Tier 5 manufacturer. Here's a Tier 2 that's actually cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

Mob o options:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131188
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128047

Hope this helps, good luck!

Thanks for the replies. That Samsung monitor is very nice, and seems like a great deal too, but, are you sure Samsung is only releasing S panels though, because there were a bunch of recent reviews on newegg of people claiming they were still receiving the C panels and complaints of false 2ms and poor picture on those? Also, what does 700:1(DC 3000:1) contrast ratio mean, is the constrast ratio 700:1 or 3000:1?? I also like the LG L206WTY-BF that the previous poster linked. Seems like this one offers more solid performance for the price judging by the reviews. Will these LCD perform as well or better than CRTs for gaming?

About the mobos; you think SLI is not worth it? I could just use a single 8800GTX setup, P35 mobo, and a cheaper PSU that doesn't support SLI... would save me some $. I'm not sure I will go the 4GB RAM + Vista64 or the 2GB RAM + Vista32 yet :\.

 

[cb62fcni]

Thanks for the replies. That Samsung monitor is very nice, and seems like a great deal too, but, are you sure Samsung is only releasing S panels though, because there were a bunch of recent reviews on newegg of people claiming they were still receiving the C panels and complaints of false 2ms and poor picture on those? Also, what does 700:1(DC 3000:1) contrast ratio mean, is the constrast ratio 700:1 or 3000:1?? I also like the LG L206WTY-BF that the previous poster linked. Seems like this one offers more solid performance for the price judging by the reviews. Will these LCD perform as well or better than CRTs for gaming?

About the mobos; you think SLI is not worth it? I could just use a single 8800GTX setup, P35 mobo, and a cheaper PSU that doesn't support SLI... would save me some $. I'm not sure I will go the 4GB RAM + Vista64 or the 2GB RAM + Vista32 yet :\.

SLI is ABSOLUTELY not worth it, especially if you're using an LCD where your max res is going to be 1680X1050. A single GTX will be all you need to run almost anything at max settings, at least until Crysis and more next-gen titles come out, and even then you'll be able to run them with fairly high settings.

The Samsung panel does have somewhat misleading labeling. The 2ms quoted gTg is a "simulated" number, actual performance is closer to 5ms. Contrast ratio is the difference in luminosity between the brightest white and deepest black a unit can present. For this panel the brightest white is 700 times brighter than the darkest black. DC means dynamic contrast. Basically, by manipulating the brightness of the backlight the unit is able to make its blacks blacker. Because LCD's can never be totally opaque, their blacks typically look "washed out" By dimming all or portions of the backlight, the dark colors can appear, well, darker. So when this is taken into account, it becomes 3000:1. On none of the three that I recieved, which included one C panel, did I have any real problems. The C had to be color calibrated, but there's plenty of places to go online for help with that, and it only take a little bit. One of the S panels had a stuck pixel, which is common with any LCD, but I was able to clear it. All of them look great and run extremely well.

Will an LCD perform better for gaming? No, not really, but it probably won't be appreciably worse. Purists swear by CRT's for a large number of reasons. There is no response time, much higher contrast ratio, better color reproduction, non-fixed resolution, etc etc. At the end of the day, unless you're a video guru and as long as you don't get a crappy LCD panel, you probably won't be able to tell the difference. Get whichever fits your desk and your wallet the best.

 

[CreepinDeth]

SLI is ABSOLUTELY not worth it, especially if you're using an LCD where your max res is going to be 1680X1050. A single GTX will be all you need to run almost anything at max settings, at least until Crysis and more next-gen titles come out, and even then you'll be able to run them with fairly high settings.

The Samsung panel does have somewhat misleading labeling. The 2ms quoted gTg is a "simulated" number, actual performance is closer to 5ms. Contrast ratio is the difference in luminosity between the brightest white and deepest black a unit can present. For this panel the brightest white is 700 times brighter than the darkest black. DC means dynamic contrast. Basically, by manipulating the brightness of the backlight the unit is able to make its blacks blacker. Because LCD's can never be totally opaque, their blacks typically look "washed out" By dimming all or portions of the backlight, the dark colors can appear, well, darker. So when this is taken into account, it becomes 3000:1. On none of the three that I recieved, which included one C panel, did I have any real problems. The C had to be color calibrated, but there's plenty of places to go online for help with that, and it only take a little bit. One of the S panels had a stuck pixel, which is common with any LCD, but I was able to clear it. All of them look great and run extremely well.

Will an LCD perform better for gaming? No, not really, but it probably won't be appreciably worse. Purists swear by CRT's for a large number of reasons. There is no response time, much higher contrast ratio, better color reproduction, non-fixed resolution, etc etc. At the end of the day, unless you're a video guru and as long as you don't get a crappy LCD panel, you probably won't be able to tell the difference. Get whichever fits your desk and your wallet the best.

Ok thanks ALOT for the help! I'm changing up my build now, going P35 and I've chosen a new power supply as well. Same setup as my first post except:

ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813127030
Mushkin 550150 ATX12V 750W Maximum Power; 650W Continuous Power Power Supply 115/230V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817812005
LG L206WTY-BF Black 20" 2ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16824005096
And I think I'll go with 2GB of Ram instead of 4GB and I'll just stick with Vista 32bit for now (read all the driver horror stories 0.o)

How's that? Good quality PSU and mobo?

 

[emp]

SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 700:1(DC 3000:1) - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001096&Tpk=226B W

Check that one out, and that Rosewill is garbage like someone else stated. And also that Mushkin is no good either (They're only good for RAM), they're clearing up their act on their PSU dept. but still not worthy of a good PC. You can go with the OCZ above, but I prefer the following PSUs:

Try the Antec NeoHE 550, Seasonic S12 550, PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610W, or Corsair 520HX.

Antec also released a new kick *** PSU known as Antec NeoPower Blue 650W, incase you're interested.

 

[erik_tilton]

I have a Viewsonic VX2025WM widescreen LCD (20") and the maximum frames per second it shows without image distortion is 60 frames per second because it is a 60 Hz monitor. Hertz is a fancy way of saying "# of times per second". I like this monitor because of the image quality for its price ($400).

With a CRT monitor, depending on the model you can see anywhere between 85 Hz to 160 Hz, which means 85 frames per second to 160 frames per second. THAT'S VERY SMOOTH VIDEO!!! If you are playing online games it makes a great difference, it is so lifelike.

I also have a 14" Sony VAIO Trinitron CRT and the maximum Hz or frames per second is 100, so when I compare it with my Viewsonic VX2025WM (which maxes out at 60 Hz) it is smooth like butter especially Halo PC online but it does not have the same resolution and color quality as the VX. I nabbed the Sony Trinitron for $10 at Goodwill.

CRT = bigger and faster
LCD = slimmer and higher resolution in most cases and not being as fast as CRT

I'd choose CRT if you are into fast online gaming and LCD if you are into single player games. But either works for both, I'm just giving my opinion. I use my VX for online games even though CRT does it better.

 

[cb62fcni]

Ok thanks ALOT for the help! I'm changing up my build now, going P35 and I've chosen a new power supply as well. Same setup as my first post except:

ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813127030
Mushkin 550150 ATX12V 750W Maximum Power; 650W Continuous Power Power Supply 115/230V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817812005
LG L206WTY-BF Black 20" 2ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16824005096
And I think I'll go with 2GB of Ram instead of 4GB and I'll just stick with Vista 32bit for now (read all the driver horror stories 0.o)

How's that? Good quality PSU and mobo?

Here's a list of PSU manufacturers sorted by quality, you want to get tier 1, 2 or 3.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088

 

[emp]

You're not really supposed to go below Tier 1 or Tier 2 unless you really are on a budget, you know that right?

 

[cb62fcni]

You're not really supposed to go below Tier 1 or Tier 2 unless you really are on a budget, you know that right?

There's absolutely nothing wrong with Tier 3 brands, or even Tier 4 for that matter. They're not as high quality and might not last forever, but they're still good PSU's. Where on earth did you get the idea that you can't go below Tier 2? Tier 4 and 5 should be avoided, 5 like the plague. But I would have no problem suggesting a Tier 3 to someone if they didn't have enough to afford a higher placed PSU. You realize the only reason most of them are ranked lower is because of efficiency ratings, right? And you know that varies considerably even within a line? Antec, FS, and Seasonic are hardly bad manufacturers.

The bottom line is that if you can't find a Tier 2 at your price point, you'll be just fine with a Tier 3.

 

[betunn]

I have both a Westinghoues 22" LCD and a Gateway 20-21" CRT.

The CRT has better color and brightness on videos, and is a little faster on games.

The LCD has no problems running games either, but I preffer it for the
less power consuption and heat generated.

Can't complain on resolution, my CRT can go 2048x1536.
The LCD does 1680x1050.

I think a 5ms or lower LCD will do great,
and as cb62fcni said before:

At the end of the day, unless you're a video guru and as long as you don't get a crappy LCD panel, you probably won't be able to tell the difference. Get whichever fits your desk and your wallet the best.