I just finished putting together my PC last night and got all the drivers installed. I've got a Q9550 processor with a 4870x2 (second card is on the way for crossfire) and 4 gigs of DDR3 1600. Anyways, I put it all together and am running it to a 24" Samsung monitor which I bought a while back for my brothers PC. Now I think I'm going to let him keep that monitor and look at getting a new one for myself.

I also have it hooked up to a Samsung 52 inch 750 series TV for watching blu-ray.

I play a lot of different games, design graphics for buses, and do video editing for some local businesses so I need something high quality.

I was looking at the Dell 2709W and the Samsung 275T. Should I go with a 30 inch and get the higher resolution? If I do go for 30 inches what model should I get?

Thanks!

The 275T is very nice.

With two HD 4870X2 cards and that kind of budget you could go for a 30" monitor all right. I like the 305T a lot. It's $1400 (Canadian) at my local Future Shop these days. I'm getting myself one around Boxing Week or whenever it goes on sale.

Just curious, what kind of motherboard and PSU do you have? With that sort of setup you should have an X38 or X48 and something like 1000W+.

Current Setup:

Mobo: Asus P5E3 premium X48
Processor: Q9550
Cooler: Thermalright Ultra Extreme Black (with 2x Noctua P12 fans in push pull)
Ram: OCZ DDR3 1600
Graphics: Sapphire 4870x2
PSU: Corsair HX1000
Sound: Asus DX2
HDD: 300GB Velociraptor
HDD2: Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB
Case: Coolermaster Cosmos S

I have to reseat my heatsink. I think I used too much thermal paste (Ocz Freeze) and I the temps seem high because of that. I might also lap the base of the heatsink to make sure it's perfectly flat.

Should I just use acetone to clean the thermal paste off?

Wow... Yeah, your MB and PSU will do nicely.

High purity (90%+) Isopropyl alcohol (Rubbing alcohol) and Q-tips would be best.

Pure acetone should be OK too. Some nail polish removers contain acetone but also some oils, and you risk ending up with residue on the CPU.

I've got some pure acetone we use to remove glue when we remove decals Should work alright.

Besides that... You think I should get the Samsung 305T monitor?

I also live in Canada (montreal to be exact) so I have essentially the same prices that you have...

nice choices.... no idea with Dell monitors... samsung are great

whenever I reset a heatsink, I clean it with the goo-be-gone stuff ( which smells horrible yet works great) and then wipe both the proc and the heatsink down with rubbing alcohol. The rubbing alcohol gets off anything the goo-be-gone might have left

It's a very expensive purchase. Read some reviews, don't rush it.
The 305T is perfect for me because I am not interested in blu-ray and I don't expect to buy such a drive in the next 10 years.
In your case though, the lack of HDCP support will probably be annoying. Read these reviews for example:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/for [...] eview.html
http://www.anandtech.com/displays/ [...] i=2950&p=1
http://www.extremetech.com/article [...] 619,00.asp
http://www.extremetech.com/article [...] 749,00.asp
http://www.extremetech.com/article [...] 914,00.asp

I think you'd be happier with the HP L3065. However, that one is almost $2000 at ncix compared to $1170 for the 305T.
http://www.ncix.com/products/index [...] TT PACKARD
http://www.ncix.com/products/index [...] omoid=1065

Thanks for the responses!

Yeah I'm not in a rush to pick up a monitor so I'll make sure to check around.

$2000 DOES seem like a lot though considering the amount I pay for a television above 40 inches is around that price when I'm looking at the high end. I realize that they are a higher resolution and the pixel density is substantially higher but I have to wonder how much those prices are going to drop as 30 inch monitors become mainstream !

I guess though that I should look for an HDCP monitor seeing that I already shelled out for a blu ray drive and have a large collection of Blu Ray and even HD DVD's....

Yeah...

Right now 30" LCDs are unpopular because they cost so much, but also because they need a PC like yours to handle games well. Let me guess, it's about $2700, isn't it? They will become mainstream when you can use a $200 video card instead of a $600 HD 4870x2, I guess. That could be as soon as 2009. My $651 8800GTX OC2 (bought July 2007) is around $200 now, and a $200 HD 4850 can beat it in some games.

According to the posts at NCIX the model that's shipping right now from Samsung is the 305T+ which is HDCP compliant...

I'm really tempted to order it and hope for the best. If not I still have my LCD TV which I use most of the time to view movies and I can just rip them to my hard drive and that will bypass the HDCP problem.

Very tempted at the moment!

If you yield to the temptation, make sure you add the &promoid=1065 part to the URL, it saves you $32. And I'd appreciate a post here when you receive it, tell me if you got the new model or not. Good luck!!!

Yeah I'm torn between the Samsung and the Dell 3008WFP. The dell is expensive as hell but has some amazing features.

I went out tonight and picked up a Samsung 2693HM monitor for the time being and god damn is it ever nice... I'll probably just let my GF have this one when I get my new monitor but if anybody is looking for something nice in the 24-30 inch range then don't hesitate to pick up the Samsung.

Oh... I also bought some Logitech Z-2300 at Future Shop for 89.99 (price match from Best Buy to save an extra $10). If any Canadian people need some speakers that's a pretty good deal.

The dell also has some of the best color and contrast of any monitor available, bar none. It will make the colors pop, and will look absolutely stunning because of that capability (not to mention the huge number of inputs and features, as well as the amazing stand). It is the best 30" on the market IMHO, though it is a significant price premium over many of the others.