Hi,
I just reged here as I find this site has usefull hints and good experience, etc. so I wanted to ask you for your opinions regarding my matter.
I've an older pc, some may call it already a old rig (2007 iirc)... the point is, back in the days I've built it with intent to upgrade it later on. The GPU was the weakest part in it, I knew that from start, but it was enough and it suited my needs... years passed and now...
...my current display is ending his "life cycle"... and thus I will need to buy another one. This will most probably need to upgrade the GPU as well aaand yeah... that's where I would need some skilled advice as I was not watching the technological evolution in the past few years...
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE:
february 2013
BUDGET RANGE: for GPU <50-135€ ... for Display <80-130€
Anything concrete in mind? - Yes
GPU: ASUS GeForce GTX 550 Ti DirectCU
http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/ENGTX550_Ti_DCDI1GD5/
Display: Samsung S22B350H - 21.5" @1920x1080/60Hz
http://www.samsung.com/hk_en/consumer/computer-peripherals/monitors/consumer/LS22B350HS/XK-spec?subsubtype=series-3-led
USAGE: gaming (ranging from WoW, Minecraft, BF3, Crysis, AvP, Metro2033, Path of Exile, Diablo 3,... etc.)
CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY:
GPU: Gainward GeForce 8500GT 256MB GDDR3 silent (it is a passive... yes... I know)
Power Supply: Fortron FSP400-60GLN
MONITOR RESOLUTION:
Current Display: Prestiogio 19" @1440x900/60Hz
OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS:
CPU: AMD Athlon64 X2 5000 Black Edition currently at default @2,61Ghz
CU: Alpine Cooling AC64
MoBo: Gigabyte GA-MA78G-DS3H
RAM: 2x1 GB DDR2 dual channeled @800Mhz (A-Data Extreme edition)
Windows XP / 7 - 32bit
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: n/a
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Slowakia
PARTS PREFERENCES:
Nvdia... Gainward, Asus, etc.
OVERCLOCKING: Yes
I planed the pc with this once to come, so it will probably come handy now
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
I know... the price range, especialy in GPU makes a great difference, but here is a reason for that... (=> mostly my current pc setup and later on the optional future update of the remaining pc parts). So yes, I plan sometimes to get a fully new pc, but at this moment I'm more than low on budget.
I do not care about ultra settings, Anisotropic filterings, Anti-Aliasing, nor high / HD resolutions, maximum res I play with is 1440x900,... I can live w/o those simply.
Ofc. if the pc will be able to handle higher settings, I will be just glad, but as said it is not my priority.
My plan is to get a newer GPU which will be able to keep up with the new Display.
OC the CPU...
With some time, I gonna upgrade the the PC with additional 2GB RAM (so I get max 4GB, as I would not want to use 64bit OS - if not necessary)
however... most probably I gonna buy a completely new pc if the upgrade price will be too high @not worth the money compared to what I could get for a bit more but fully new. This is the reason why the price range by GPU...
The main question is if the GPU will be suitable for that display and if the rest of the PC will be able to keep up at least in some degree with it (I'm clear with the fact that it is not balanced)... What must (not should) be upgraded beside the GPU/Display (I know the whole pc would need an upgrade, but that's not possible atm).
TL&DR
My questions:
1. If I buy the new 22" LCD... my current GPU will or will not keep up with it? (I lean to not)
2. If not... What would you suggest to me to do atm:
A) get some cheap 19" LCD @ 50-80€ (or maybe even less if bought from a bazaar/2nd hand) and low budget GPU @<30-60€ or even leave the GPU out and get just the LCD for the time being...
This would mean, that I will need to buy again a new display+GPU in the future when I decide to buy completely new pc.
B) get the new 22" LCD and the GPU, thus I would not need to buy them again in the future when I decide to buy new pc (I would just buy new MoBo, CU, 8GB DDR3 RAM, and maybe CPU if OC would not be enough)...
3. Which GPU would you recommend for my current pc as an upgrade to be balanced (as the GTX550 is evidently outperforming it)
4. What about the LCD Samsung? Is it fine? Any experience with it? How it performs at gaming?
5. Would you recommend another LCD? Why?
If so... I preffer low consuption displays, with at least 1440x900 resolution and good response for gaming.
Good reviews, experience, etc. LED/LCD, I don't care, althought LEDs are now greatly preffered and have low power consumption, well...
detail: the surface would be fine if not glossy, I just hate such surfaces on anything (one just touches it and it gets messy instantly... grrr) but if there is no other option I can live with it...
Also is the DVI connection a must or may I go with typical VGA cable? or even HDMI?
uff... if you read the wall of text and made it here, GL