Resoultion Q: 22"LCD, 8800GTX

[bish-ireland]

Hi

Awaiting delivery of a new system:

Intel Quad Q6600
8800GTX
4GB Ram
Stripe 0 hdds (with DataBurst??)
Comes with a 22" wide flat panel: Dell E228WFT - 1680 1050 60Hz native, 5ms

My old monitor - LG 19"CRT, flat screen, max res 1600 1200 75Hz (was a costly whore)

Q1. Which monitor to use?
-I know the spec of my old monitor is better, but lcds seem to have a much 'nicer' display

Q2. At high resolutions in games, maybe over 1024x768, the HUD and any subtitles are miniature,
so I generally play at 1024x768. Is this always the case, and will I be losing out dramatically on
graphics with the LCD?

Q3. Is resolution the be all and end all?

Note: I have searched for answers to these questions, (and read the post a few below this one)
but people are usually all for one or the other, its the compromises that confuse me.

Regards

 

[Heyyou27]

You're playing at 1024x768 with an 8800GTX?... The reason it's larger at 1024x768 on your 19" monitor is because it's actually being stretched with the lower resolution settings. The HUD remains the same resolution no matter what setting you play at, but it may appear to be smaller because everything else has increased in size. If you get an LCD, you'll need to play at it's native resolution or the picture will look worse due to interpolation.

 

[baddad]

First off your talking about two different screen formats 4:3 and 16:9 OR 16:10. The 4:3 is standard square TV or CRT look where 16:9 or 16:10 formats are widescreen and most games will play in those resolution, they will also look better in the higher resolution with no effect on the HUD.

 

[bish-ireland]

And the other questions? If someone doesnt mind sharing the knowledge
Thanks for that one though

 

[cleeve]

1. Whichever you like more. It's totally a matter of taste.


2. Playing at 1024x768, you are wasting your money on an 8800. Get an X1950 PRO or 8600 GTS and play at 4xAA.

Better yet, get over your fear of higher resolutions. You're missing major image quality enhancements.

If you're using the LCD, you're going to get ugly scaling artifacts if you're not running at the native resolution. The 8800 will handle 1680x1050 with 4xAA no problemo.


3. Resolution probably has the highest image quality impact. Running at 1024x768, you're missing worlds of quality.

 

[bish-ireland]

Thanks for the help guys.
Just one other thing. Would I be losing out much with the LCD at 1680 1050 do you think?

 

[nickr336]

Just use your 22" LCD and you will be very happy with it. Don't worry about anything. Just make sure you get Crysis and Call of Duty 4 when November comes.

 

[mbs49]

I would argue that you would lose absolutely nothing. You gain 80 pixels in width and lose 150 pixels in height. That's a wash in my mind. I went from a 19" CRT to a 22" widescreen LCD and I have never looked back. You won't be sorry.

 

[mbs49]

I would argue that you would lose absolutely nothing. You gain 80 pixels in width and lose 150 pixels in height. That's a wash in my mind. I went from a 19" CRT to a 22" widescreen LCD and I have never looked back. You won't be sorry.

 

[bish-ireland]

hey nickr336, thats some good advice. I can relax now