1,600 by 1,200 digital display

[chrisnelson]

My six-year-old 21" Nokia CRT computer monitor just gave up the ghost and I am planning to replace it with an LCD (because they take up less space and reportedly cause less eyestrain). I want a viewable image as large as my CRT's, which means 20" or larger. 20" and 21" LCDs have 1,600 by 1,200 pixels, but the 128 MB NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 graphics card on my Dell Dimension 4600 (with 3.06 GHz Pentium 4) supports a maximum resolution of 1,280 by 1,024 (at least in digital mode, which I gather produces a better image than analog). Since operating an LCD at less than its native resolution reduces graphics quality, this means I must update my graphics card (which surprises me on a mid-line computer just bought in February). Does the increase in resolution I am looking for require installing a new card or can the FX 5200 be modified to support 1,600 by 1,200 (digital)? Assuming it cannot be modified, can you recommend a reasonably priced card that will support 1,600 by 1,200? I am satisfied with my current card's performance (I am not an extreme gamer) except for its maximum digital resolution. Any recommendations on a monitor (I am considering a Samsung 213T) would be appreciated also.

Thank You

 

[RichPLS]

Dell has good prices and great looking 20" flat panels, for under <A HREF="http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?sku=320-1578&c=us&l=en&cs=04&category_id=5194&first=true" target="_new"> $720 </A>

I want two, but have to wait...


========================
Try everything...
Do not be afraid of failure, for this is how we learn and grow...
Live life to the fullest...
Do not regret what you have not yet done!!!

 

[RichPLS]

16ms response time, good for gaming.


========================
Try everything...
Do not be afraid of failure, for this is how we learn and grow...
Live life to the fullest...
Do not regret what you have not yet done!!!

 

[RichPLS]

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1918&p=1" target="_new"> Anands Review... </A>



========================
Try everything...
Do not be afraid of failure, for this is how we learn and grow...
Live life to the fullest...
Do not regret what you have not yet done!!!

 

[priyajeet]

i read abt these anand guys doing some clustering [-peep-] ! they built kinda a super computer.

:tongue: <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/priyajeet/Finger.jpg" target="_new"><i><font color=red>Very funny, Scotty.</font color=red><font color=blue> Now beam down my clothes.</font color=blue></i></A> :tongue:

 

[blackphoenix77]

I'm pretty sure your FX5200 will support higher resolutions than 1240x1024. Maybe you need to update or change drivers.

<font color=blue>AthlonXP-M 2500+(12x200)</font color=blue>|<font color=green>Abit NF7-S</font color=green>|<font color=red>Kingston DDR400 2x256Mb</font color=red>|<font color=purple>NEC Accucync90 19"</font color=purple>|<font color=black>Sapphire 9600XT</font color=black>

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

But remember the method of rating monitors has changed. It went from worst case scenario ms ratings to average, and many 16ms LCD are worse than 20ms because they were rated/claimed differently.

Take a look at the THG review and you can see their testing on a 20ms Phillips versus a 16ms Shuttle;

<A HREF="http://graphics.tomshardware.com/display/200409231/shuttle-03.html#fast_but_no_more" target="_new">http://graphics.tomshardware.com/display/200409231/shuttle-03.html#fast_but_no_more</A>

Interesting new testing methods. The 12ms monitors are usually better though, and the one BenQ I saw about 2 weeks ago was very goood with full motion video (admitedly it was on a XPMediaPC watching TV) and gaming.

So people have to be aware that most of the 20ms ones were using previous marketing ratings, and most of the 16ms ones are using the new method. It's really sneaky IMO.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

The 1280x1024 limit may be set by your refresh rate, you should check, even though most default to 60hz.

There's also two other considerations, this may be one of the cheap FX5200s that has slow RAMDACs and thus has trouble supporting higher res. with hight bit depth, but this would affect the VGA out more really. Also if the FX5200 uses a weak TMDSlink then it can't support driving higher rez. on the DVI port. Try using a 3rd party monitor program like UltraMon, or MultiRes, etc. and see if you can't change the reslution. However it may look terrible if those last two things are limiting the card.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK