Upgrading Monitors.....which to buy?

[pacific27]

I've been very happy with the 20" Hanns G monitor that I've been using for the last year, but would like to go with a dual monitor set up and can't find another 20" hanns g to purchase, I admit I've only looked on newegg and thats who I usually purchase from. I've got a friend that wants to buy my old monitor so I decided I would upgrade to a larger size for the two new monitors as 20" seems a hair small, have two 24" monitors at work and they are about perfect size.

Purchase date: within a week or two (looking for a good deal)
Budget: 300$ (for both)
Intended use: Workstation, AutoCad, light gaming (wow), internet etc

I've found some nice LCD monitors 23" ($139) 1920x1080 (samsung & viewsonic) When talking with the salesmans he said they are moving all there LCD monitors out to make way for the LED monitors coming in. He showed me the difference in contrast ration between the two and noted that the LED would be much more energy efficient. He told me that if I worked for 8 hours a day for a year the energy savings for the LED would just about pay for it, seemed more like a sales pitch but hey it sounded good, lol.

I guess my question being that with such a huge difference in contrast ratio would I notice the difference in gaming? I've read some reviews on a ghosting effect on some of these monitors that I've been looking at and wondered if I should hold off for a couple of months for the price to drop a little on the LED's or if an LCD would do the trick. Hav'nt followed trends in monitors to make a totally informed decision so I though I'd post to see what others who may have would recommend.

My monitor now is 16??x900 and I don't notice any ghosting while playing and for a low graphics game like wow how much of a difference would there be between the two different resolutions?

Thanks for your taking the time to read my post and any advice would be appreciated.

My Rig

Phenom II X2 (unlocked triple core 3.6ghz)
CM Hyper 212+
6gb ram
Sapphire 6850 (easily overclocked to near 6870)
Corsair 650w psu
MSI MB

 

[rolli59]

The 6850 would handle WOW OK at 1080P. I think you will be just as happy with a LCD as LED.

 

[wa1]

^+1

 

[pacific27]

Thank you for responding.

I"m now wondering if I'd rather go with an eyefinity setup. Before I do the research thought I'd ask if my card would be able to handle 3 monitors? Thinking that it would be cheaper to buy 2 more 20" monitors at 1600x900 resolution which would be 4800x900 in eyefinity. Honestly would rather jump up to 23"-24" monitors but not sure I'd notice a huge difference in resolution playing wow. Now if I start playing other games that would be another story. If I were to go with 3 23" monitors I would most likely need to upgrade my MB for crossfire and purchase another 6850...which is a little more than I want to spend now. Pretty sure even overclocked my 6850 would struggle to power 3 23" monitors in eyefinity? 5800x1080. It would also be about twice as much just for monitors and then MB and Card all told about 700-800$.

So I guess my question is would my card Sapphire 6850 Oc'd power 3 20" monitors in eyefinity? I bought the card as I read that it oc'd to near 6870 lvl's which it has and I got a good price so I figured in a year or so I'd just upgrade my MB and Crossfire it with another.

Any advice or links on this subject are appreciated. Anyone playing WOW in eyefinity? Please let me know how it works for you..

Pretty sure I'd be happiest with 23" monitors but I'd only have to spend another 200$ to set up eyefinity on 3 20" monitors.

My monitor now is a Hanns-G 20" 1600x900

I reviewed newegg and see that Hanns-G's 20" monitor is now called Hanns spree or something or other has the same resolution for 119.00, would be nice if they went on sale as that's what I paid for it 80 months ago....guess I could go with a different brand for my side monitors.

 

[JDFan]

Just remember if going with 3 monitors you'll also need at least 1 of them to have an HDMI input (or use an active adapter which can cost about $100) something to keep in mind when looking for the additional monitors (since bying a monitor with native HDMI support is sometimes cheaper than buying the adapter) -- since the VGA and DVI signals out of the GPU share 2 connections internally you can not run 3 monitors on 2 connections so have to use HDMI for the third separate signal to run eyefinity)

 

[pacific27]

Thanks for your response JDFan.

I'm starting to read up on how to configure an eyefinity setup. My monitor now is working via HDMI currently So then would I be able to use the two DVI for the other two monitors? I though I had read, albeit I need to do more research but from what I've read so far it seemed that you need to use one display port for eyefinity, but you are able to use a display port to dvi adapter to achieve this.

Anyone with eyefinity please let me know if this is the case. I hav'nt priced them out yet but from what I've read the adapter is like 30$

If anyone is running an eyefinity set up with either a 6850 or 6870 would appreciate your input as to what I can expect for performance from either of these cards at the above mentioned resolutions. IE (3) 20" 1600x900, (3) 22" 1680x1050, (3) 23" 1920x1080.

If I could get the card to power 22's at that resolution It would be a good compromise between 20's and 24's...would like just a little more real estate than the 20's if my card could handle it.

Thanks all for taking the time to respond.

If the HDMI connection will work with DVI for the other two monitors the 20's are looing like a pretty good setup for the money.

 

[JDFan]

Thanks for your response JDFan.

I'm starting to read up on how to configure an eyefinity setup. My monitor now is working via HDMI currently So then would I be able to use the two DVI for the other two monitors? I though I had read, albeit I need to do more research but from what I've read so far it seemed that you need to use one display port for eyefinity, but you are able to use a display port to dvi adapter to achieve this.

Anyone with eyefinity please let me know if this is the case. I hav'nt priced them out yet but from what I've read the adapter is like 30$

If anyone is running an eyefinity set up with either a 6850 or 6870 would appreciate your input as to what I can expect for performance from either of these cards at the above mentioned resolutions. IE (3) 20" 1600x900, (3) 22" 1680x1050, (3) 23" 1920x1080.

If I could get the card to power 22's at that resolution It would be a good compromise between 20's and 24's...would like just a little more real estate than the 20's if my card could handle it.

Thanks all for taking the time to respond.

If the HDMI connection will work with DVI for the other two monitors the 20's are looing like a pretty good setup for the money.

YOu are correct it is 1 displayport !! (typed that wrong in my reply - so many connectors and abbreviations LOL)

 

[pacific27]

Best answer selected by pacific27.