Best Widescreen Games

[GearCat]

LOOKING FOR OPINIONS ON THE BEST GAMES FOR WIDESCREEN.

With good performance widescreen LCD monitors becoming more comon and dropping in price, the issue of good reasons to use a widescreen monitor, gaming being a big one, are becoming more important. But having only played a few games, my favorite being UbiSoft IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles, I'm really not sure how many, how diverse, and how good are the games that will play widescreen (specifically at 1920x1200).

My top pick for a widescreen LCD monitor is the Samsung 244T.

 

[Xyclone]

Counter-Strike:Source, HL2, FEAR, Prey, Oblivion, Far Cry, UT2004, BF2 (technically not scaled right in widescreen), and others.

 

[shortylickens]

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/

And I vote "None".

Incidentally I own this:
http://www.anandtech.com/displays/showdoc.aspx?i=2467

Very nice, but for games its still not as good as my Philips 109B.
If I had the space and the muscles I would have purchased one of those Sony widescreen CRT's a long time ago.

 

[TheRyuu]

I have a Viewsonic VX2025 (WS 20.1in monitor).

I love it for games. Best WS games....hmmm......lets see.....:
Oblivion
Counter Strike Source (and other source games)
Far Cry
FEAR
and just about ANY OTHER GAME THAT SUPPORTS WS IS BETTER IN WS THEN IN 4:3/5:4

 

[Xyclone]

Originally posted by: wizboy11
and just about ANY OTHER GAME THAT SUPPORTS WS IS BETTER IN WS THEN IN 4:3/5:4

:thumbsup:

 

[GearCat]

Anyone have any problems or success with current video cards driving widescreen LCD monitors 20" and above to play these games?

Specifically, to drive the Samsung 244T (a 1920x1200 widescreen 24" LCD monitor), what is suggested for gaming (and image/video editing)? I have a GeForce 7900 GT (extreme edition). If there's a benefit, I could double this up in SLI configuration. Or is it better (necessary) to jump to the 7900 GTX, or even the 7950 GX2 (extreme edition)?

 

[dgevert]

I have a Dell 2407WFP; I was using a X1900XT w/ 2 GB of RAM and an AMD X2 3800+; I upgraded to a 7950GX2. You'll probably want another gig of RAM but other than that your 7900GT should handle most games at 1920x1200 depending on the game. For example, my X1900XT wasn't fast enough for F.E.A.R. at 1920x1200, but my 7950GX2 is. Half-Life 2 should run fine at 1920x1200; I only have problems with The Lost Coast tech demo @ 1920x1200, HDR, 4xAA+8xAF...and even that's still playable. I tend to have higher standards than most of my friends regarding what I consider "playable" though.

Ultimately, your 7900GT should be fine...I only upgraded from my X1900XT because I was unhappy about some aspects of ATI's drivers when it came to my widescreen panel

Also you should be aware that the 244T isn't a great gaming monitor, because of its known problems with input lag. You can read up about that in other threads about the issue if you want to look into it more.

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

Yeah, the 244T would be a horrible choice for a gaming LCD because of the poor response times. Higher resolution almost always means slower response in LCDs... you're much better off with 1680x1050.

 

[GearCat]

I've heard mixed opinions about the lag time on the 244T, so I'm not sure if that is as much a variation with the user or with the specific production run of the monitor. Perhaps it's something that Samsung has resolved.

On the 1680x1050 LCD monitors, what model would someone suggest?

I see these options:
- EIZO Nanao FlexScan S2110WBK 21" LCD Monitor for $1100
- Samsung SyncMaster 215TW for $475
- Acer Ferrari F-20 for $375
- Princeton LCD2008W for $380
- ViewSonic VX2025WM for $330
- BenQ FP202W for $310

I think on the LCD Buyer's Guide thread on the AnandTech forum (based on an amalgamation of reviews from all over), Samsung, ViewSonic, and NEC get a lot of recommendations, but it doesn't cover every model.

 

[TheRyuu]

Originally posted by: GearCat
I've heard mixed opinions about the lag time on the 244T, so I'm not sure if that is as much a variation with the user or with the specific production run of the monitor. Perhaps it's something that Samsung has resolved.

On the 1680x1050 LCD monitors, what model would someone suggest?

I see these options:
- EIZO Nanao FlexScan S2110WBK 21" LCD Monitor for $1100
- Samsung SyncMaster 215TW for $475
- Acer Ferrari F-20 for $375
- Princeton LCD2008W for $380
- ViewSonic VX2025WM for $330
- BenQ FP202W for $310

I think on the LCD Buyer's Guide thread on the AnandTech forum (based on an amalgamation of reviews from all over), Samsung, ViewSonic, and NEC get a lot of recommendations, but it doesn't cover every model.

Me like and own a Viewsonic VX2025.

IMO, the other ones are not worth the money if your looking for a 20.1in LCD. Unless you REALLY want a glossy finish on the monitor (the NEC one) then just get the VX2025 like I did. I like it a lot.

 

[pontifex]

i havea dell 2005fpw and love it. i have yet to encounter a single problem with it. plus the fact that it can act as a usb 2 bub is awesome!

 

[Trevelyan]

Originally posted by: pontifex
i havea dell 2005fpw and love it. i have yet to encounter a single problem with it. plus the fact that it can act as a usb 2 bub is awesome!

Yes I have that one too, and I love it for gaming.

Of course, now that I have it I want the 24" widescreen... but alas, I don't know if I can push all my games at 1920 resolution...

 

[GearCat]

I'm going to scrutinize the reviews and forums to reach some conclusions on the VX2025WM (MVA panel) versus the Samsung 215TW (PVA panel) as I'm concerned about the arguments over color quality, reaction time, and dead pixel warranty. The ViewSonic ranks quit well against the Samsung in this size. I've seen the argument that for gamers, the two technologies (MVA and PVA) are equivalent. It would be nice to save $150.

 

[tuteja1986]

BEST WIDESCREEN MONITOR : DELL 3007FPW you would need a Crossfire and SLI setup to go with that

 

[GhettoFob]

Originally posted by: GearCat
I've heard mixed opinions about the lag time on the 244T, so I'm not sure if that is as much a variation with the user or with the specific production run of the monitor. Perhaps it's something that Samsung has resolved.

On the 1680x1050 LCD monitors, what model would someone suggest?

I see these options:
- EIZO Nanao FlexScan S2110WBK 21" LCD Monitor for $1100
- Samsung SyncMaster 215TW for $475
- Acer Ferrari F-20 for $375
- Princeton LCD2008W for $380
- ViewSonic VX2025WM for $330
- BenQ FP202W for $310

I think on the LCD Buyer's Guide thread on the AnandTech forum (based on an amalgamation of reviews from all over), Samsung, ViewSonic, and NEC get a lot of recommendations, but it doesn't cover every model.

I just picked up the Viewsonic VX2025WM for $250 AR. I couldn't resist.

 

[pontifex]

everybody keeps saying about you need low response times for games. if i'm not mistaken, the dell 2005fpw has a 16ms response time. i play all kinds of games, from FPS (FEAR, CoD2) to RPG (Oblivion) and i have never had any problems with ghosting or anything else.

 

[StevenYoo]

Originally posted by: pontifex
everybody keeps saying about you need low response times for games. if i'm not mistaken, the dell 2005fpw has a 16ms response time. i play all kinds of games, from FPS (FEAR, CoD2) to RPG (Oblivion) and i have never had any problems with ghosting or anything else.

16ms is pretty much the cutoff, so people say.

anything above that, and ghosting becomes noticeable

 

[GearCat]

I just picked up the Viewsonic VX2025WM for $250 AR. I couldn't resist.

Haven't seen it that cheap. J&R played a dirty trick and offered it for $300 with a $50 rebate (still shows up that way on pricegrabber.com), but then they switched that today to $330 with $50 rebate. But they then charge $30 to ship (to me), so it went from $280 to $310 overnight. Many of the other good online resellers are around $330, so makes the effort of sending in the rebate for $20 pretty pathetic.

I use a 17" Sansung and 21" NEC now (both 4:3), so before getting dirty with reviews and threads on 20" and 21" widescreens (16:10), I went to CompUSA today to look at the VX2025WM and Samsung 215TW simply to judge size (forget about these guys having the monitors set up and calibrated for comparing). Now there's no doubt that these monitors are where the price is still on the ground, but I have to say, I'm looking for something bigger, albeit at a price that's clearly in the clouds.

So I go back to where I started. Can I get a 23" to 24" widescreen LCD (1920x1200) that's fast enough for games and has good color and contrast (maybe the ViewSonic VP2330wb instead of the Samsung 244T). I still see all these arguaments that the 244T and other larger widescreens (Dell primarily) do and don't have this lag in response time or ghoasting. So what is the truth? I hope it's just differences in users perceptions based on their eyes, the games thay play, and/or their particular hardware. I hope there is not a large variance in the performance of the monitor based on production runs of the panels.

NOTE: I'm going to start a new thread in this forum on the 23"-24" LCD widescreen issue.

 

[GhettoFob]

Originally posted by: GearCat

I just picked up the Viewsonic VX2025WM for $250 AR. I couldn't resist.

Haven't seen it that cheap. J&R played a dirty trick and offered it for $300 with a $50 rebate (still shows up that way on pricegrabber.com), but then they switched that today to $330 with $50 rebate. But they then charge $30 to ship (to me), so it went from $280 to $310 overnight. Many of the other good online resellers are around $330, so makes the effort of sending in the rebate for $20 pretty pathetic.

Yep, the price jumped $30 overnight. I originally saw it mentioned in Hot Deals.

 

[GearCat]

Originally posted by: GhettoFob

Originally posted by: GearCat

I just picked up the Viewsonic VX2025WM for $250 AR. I couldn't resist.

Haven't seen it that cheap. J&R played a dirty trick and offered it for $300 with a $50 rebate (still shows up that way on pricegrabber.com), but then they switched that today to $330 with $50 rebate. But they then charge $30 to ship (to me), so it went from $280 to $310 overnight. Many of the other good online resellers are around $330, so makes the effort of sending in the rebate for $20 pretty pathetic.

Yep, the price jumped $30 overnight. I originally saw it mentioned in Hot Deals.

Too small for me anyway. J&R can bend over. I almost bought from them, but had to check out size first. Note edited previous response to address size issue.