Monitor questions

[Peaks]

hey guys.

I am looking to get a new monitor and I just have a few questions.

1 - My card is an HD4870 1GB...I think the best res for this card is 16x10? Am I right?
2 - How much of an effect on the FPS would running at 19x10 be?
3 - I have heard to stay away from TN - Film monitors, but all I seem to find are TN ones?
4 - Do you guys have any suggestions, budget would be around £200, maybe a little over. I think LG and Samsung make good monitors and so do Dell?
5 - I am looking for a 22" monitor.

Anything else that is really important that I have missed please let me know. I know to look for high static contrast as dynamic is a load of **** and to look for 8-bit colour. Cheers.

 

[Peaks]

Hmm...toms says there is a drop of 45FPS from between 10x16 and 19x12 for the 512MB version of my card (int the FPS benchmarks) but gets a better FPS for games like Assassins Creed at 19x12.

I guess i really dont have to worry about my card struggling at 19x10?

 

[foolycooly]

if you want to achieve high to maximum graphics settings at 1900x1200 then you will probably struggle a little bit with the 4870 512mb card. Your best bet would be to either go with a quality 22" monitor like the Acer or Samsung -

Acer:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009145

Samsung:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001268

If you want to go the 24" route, you should consider buying another 4870 to run in crossfire or buying a more powerful single card. Keep in mind you can certainly run games with your current card on a 24" monitor, but if you're looking for high framerates at high settings, you'll have to upgrade.

 

[Peaks]

thanks for the advice, although I actually have the 4870 1GB, will the added memory have any effect on the performance at higher reses? I think it probably will? Or is it more about the clock speed?

I guess higher reses is where you really start to see the benefits of Crossfire? I have always opted for single cards over xfire.

Any one got answers for my other questions?

 

[nikclev]

I'd say that with the 4870 1gig you will do fine in either 16x10 or 19x12, but in 19x12 you will not be able to turn up all the settings in SOME games, or if you do you'll have noticeable framerate difference. Different games will perform differently, some games will be horrible at either setting without a fast CPU (FSX, to name one.) Check here at toms, and at other sites to see how different cards perform at 16x10 and 19x12. I'd say that two 4870's for a single screen at 19x12 is overkill.

If you're looking for a good 22 LCD monitor, most of them are 16x10. (In my personal opinion a 22inch at 19x12 gets to be a pain, I end up squinting to read text if I'm too lazy to increase the size of text.)

Most affordable LCD's are TN, and for a reason. They are cheaper to manufacture. That doesn't necessarily mean they are of poor quality, but most of the poor quality LCD's are TN panels. Check this out: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=2049206&enterthread=y TONS of info about LCD's.

I've got a TN LCD, an Acer x223w. (16x10) I'm happy with it. (It's the Acer one linked in the post above) I've also got one 4870 1g at stock (for now) speeds. I can turn up -ALL- the settings in my games and everything plays super smooth. Granted, the most demanding game I've got is Stalker-Clear sky, and I've not gotten very far into it.

 

[fruees]

+1 Foolycooly for that Samsung monitor, I have it and it's beastly with a 4870x2. If you're about to say that's overkill then p*ss off because I like to be able to open ANY game and put everything to max without thinking about it ie 8x or 16x AA, AF etc.....

The 1 gig will be good for a 22" 1600x1040 but at 1900x1200 it will struggle with some titles and anything more than 2x AA or even 0 AA. I'd personally go for a good 22"

 

[fruees]

btw, it's memory that makes a bigger difference at a higher res. Clockspeed makes a difference everywhere, no matter what res you play at: Your ccard already has a good clock speed and you can ocverclock it no prrobs because it has a good heatsink
; )

 

[Peaks]

The framerate drop is not actually that much for the 1GB 4870 at 1920x1200 so i dont think it would struggle that much (especially with an oc)...granted it wont be as good as the 1680x1050.

At 16x10 I wont get true HD (1080p) but It does support 720p a tasty second place and in regards to nikclev's post about squinting....i have heard that is a problem, in fact even seen it first hand so its good you bought that up. I was just curious about the other disadvantages of 19x12 on a 22" monitor!!!

 

[fruees]

Apart from that, none. 1900x1200 on a 22" monitor is very sharp - better quality than a 24" monitor at the same res: Same amount of pixels, just on the 24" they're stretched.

 

[Peaks]

Apart from that, none. 1900x1200 on a 22" monitor is very sharp - better quality than a 24" monitor at the same res: Same amount of pixels, just on the 24" they're stretched.

do you mean 1920x1200??

I disagree. the pixels wont be streched. It all depends on the native resolution of the monitor. if a 22" is set at native res 19x12 then that is what it will look best at. its just that they are quite expensive. The same can be met with a 24" its just the pixels are bigger, not streched. The only time they are streched is if you run it outside your native res.

So actually 19x20 on 22" and 24" will be the same, its just on a 22" the picture will be smaller, simply because of a smaller physical size!

Think I have just answered my own question.

 

[fruees]

That's what I just said - a native 1920x1200 22" is exactly the same quality as a 1920x1200 24", just sharper because it has the same amount of detail stretched over a larger area

 

[Peaks]

its bigger pixels!

I just got my laptop with a 15.4" screen and a 16x10 res and it is ****ing small....probably a mistake getting such a high res on such a small screen. This is the worry I have with a 1920x1200 res on a 22".