Getting a 3007WFP - need a new card.

[imported_boe]

I got a one time only fantastic deal on a 3007 from dell. Now the question is do I sell it on ebay or get a new video card or a new PC. I have a 2.8GHz HT p4. I have an ATI 850 currently. I believe I'll need a dual DVI out on my video card to even use the 3007. I don't think anyone is planning on building the ATI 1900 in AGP. I would want something at least that fast w/512mb. My motherboard is AGP only (8x) so getting a PCIE card won't help me unless I build a whole new computer.

I could build an entire new system but I'm not sure there is enough reason to do that at this point since little seems to take advantage for the dual processor systems for gaming as far as I know. Gaming is the only thing that seems to even make the processor jump on my system. The only question is - how soon will any game engines come out that actually take advantage of the dual core CPU. If they are coming out soon, I could talk myself into building a new PC with dual core CPU - and maybe room for two video cards

 

[Bull Dog]

I thought that the X8xx series' GPU driven DVI port was Dual-Link DVI....at least I seem to remember driving a display at 1920x1200 @ 85hz when I had one....

 

[tuteja1986]

x1600pro Dual-DVI AGP $130ish = cheap one
or you can wait for :
7800gs Dual-DVI AGP = $300 i think
or you can do an upgrade :
X1900XT
DFI Ultra mobo
AMD X2 3800

Best choice is that you upgrade and you will be ready for future games that are dual core ready like Oblivion , UT2007 and others

 

[Agnostos Insania]

Isn't gaming going to be awkward on a LCD with such an insanely high native resolution?

 

[bobsmith1492]

High resolution gaming is sweet.

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: bobsmith1492
High resolution gaming is sweet.

Yah until you lose your vision from sitting 1.5 meteres away from a 30 inch monitor

If you plan on playing any games at those resolutions, you need 2x1900XTs.

 

[yomafire]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation

Originally posted by: bobsmith1492
High resolution gaming is sweet.

Yah until you lose your vision from sitting 1.5 meteres away from a 30 inch monitor

If you plan on playing any games at those resolutions, you need 2x1900XTs.

Ok when I got my 3007 my first impressions were "HOLY COW ITS HUGE" Now on my second week and I find this thing tiny (LOL) Basically you easily get adjusted to it. Also you will need a large desk in width!

Oh and I use 7800 GT and it does me good for now (obviously with eye candy to minimum) But Im thinking to get g80 eventually.

 

[imported_boe]

Originally posted by: yomafire

Originally posted by: RussianSensation

Originally posted by: bobsmith1492
High resolution gaming is sweet.

Ok when I got my 3007 my first impressions were "HOLY COW ITS HUGE" Now on my second week and I find this thing tiny (LOL) Basically you easily get adjusted to it. Also you will need a large desk in width!

Oh and I use 7800 GT and it does me good for now (obviously with eye candy to minimum) But Im thinking to get g80 eventually.

I'm debating about using my 3007 at all or just leaving it sealed and selling it.

Can you tell me if the screen looks good enough in a fairly bright area? My PC is near a window.

Are you pleased with it or do you think you should have waited for their next 24" screen?

Thanks

 

[vaccarjm]

I love my 30" dell. Only problem is that i still get some slowness in WoW but i believe its due to driver issues. For example....it fluctuates anywhere in wow from 40 fps to 18fps.

Im using the x1900xtx. Hopefully some real drivers come out and solve that issue.

 

[videopho]

My 2405fpw is only 3 days old and already looks small.:disgust: I see myself looking at the 30" in the near term.

 

[imported_boe]

Originally posted by: vaccarjm
I love my 30" dell. Only problem is that i still get some slowness in WoW but i believe its due to driver issues. For example....it fluctuates anywhere in wow from 40 fps to 18fps.

Im using the x1900xtx. Hopefully some real drivers come out and solve that issue.

Thanks! I am considering the x1900 if I build a new PC. If I do, I'll want to make sure I can crossfire it (later on, probably not right away - so I have to find out a lot about that process works. Do you know if Zalman has a GPU cooler for the x1900 yet?

I don't play any massive multiplayer games currently. My favorite game right now is FEAR. If you have it - I would be VERY curious about what resolution it can handle with all the bells and whistles turned on. I don't expect it to be much more than 1280 but am very curious about how that would look on your unit.

 

[yomafire]

Originally posted by: boe

Originally posted by: yomafire

Originally posted by: RussianSensation

Originally posted by: bobsmith1492
High resolution gaming is sweet.

Ok when I got my 3007 my first impressions were "HOLY COW ITS HUGE" Now on my second week and I find this thing tiny (LOL) Basically you easily get adjusted to it. Also you will need a large desk in width!

Oh and I use 7800 GT and it does me good for now (obviously with eye candy to minimum) But Im thinking to get g80 eventually.

I'm debating about using my 3007 at all or just leaving it sealed and selling it.

Can you tell me if the screen looks good enough in a fairly bright area? My PC is near a window.

Are you pleased with it or do you think you should have waited for their next 24" screen?

Thanks

I got it near window too and it looks great during the day, but thats my opinion. I would not sell it! Well I wouldnt since I got it for 1599 CAN

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Ah, Ye Olde Dell Canada-Only Hot Deal.

Ohh Canada ...

- M4H

 

[vaccarjm]

ill try fear tonight when i get home and post some benchies.

 

[imported_boe]

Originally posted by: vaccarjm
ill try fear tonight when i get home and post some benchies.

Thanks!!! That will help me a lot! I would really like to know what the benchmarks are at what resolution and with what turned on. I guess the easiest thing would be to turn on everything and set it for 1024 or some such number. I guess I'm curious how things look when you display at lower than native resolution.

 

[imported_boe]

Originally posted by: vaccarjm
ill try fear tonight when i get home and post some benchies.

Thanks!!! That will help me a lot! I would really like to know what the benchmarks are at what resolution and with what turned on. I guess the easiest thing would be to turn on everything and set it for 1024 or some such number. I guess I'm curious how things look when you display at lower than native resolution.

 

[Piuc2020]

If you can buy a 3007FPW then you can most likely buy a new motherboard+CPU+videocard to drive your games, I wouldn't suggest anything other than the 7800GS (and that is just because its the fastest AGP card out there) if it has Dual-Link DVI (not to be confused with dual DVI ports) because gaming with a X1600Pro at those resolutions is going to hurt very very very much.

 

[vaccarjm]

Ran some Fear tests tonight. Everything maxed....set the pc to max settings and graphics to max settings.

1024x768

1600x1200

1920x1440

Now on the highest resolution....it had black borders on the side and did not show in full screen. All other resolutions did except the very last one which is this.....

2048x1536

 

[imported_boe]

Originally posted by: vaccarjm
Ran some Fear tests tonight. Everything maxed....set the pc to max settings and graphics to max settings.

1024x768

1600x1200

1920x1440

Now on the highest resolution....it had black borders on the side and did not show in full screen. All other resolutions did except the very last one which is this.....

2048x1536

Thanks so much! Now onto the next question - how do things look on your screen - at lower resolution than native? I know some people say regular apps/fonts don't necessarily look that good so it makes me wonder about games as well.

 

[imported_boe]

Originally posted by: Piuc2020
If you can buy a 3007FPW then you can most likely buy a new motherboard+CPU+videocard to drive your games, I wouldn't suggest anything other than the 7800GS (and that is just because its the fastest AGP card out there) if it has Dual-Link DVI (not to be confused with dual DVI ports) because gaming with a X1600Pro at those resolutions is going to hurt very very very much.

Can I afford it - yes. Would it be prudent? - I don't know - that is a pretty major investment. I tend to keep PCs only for 2.5 years. I have been using my Viewsonic 21PS for nearly 10 years now! So investing in a screen isn't an issue for me - plus I got the screen for even less than the best deal I've seen on e-bay. It was a one time only thing because of an error on the part of Dell so I don't bother to ask how anyone can get such a good deal.

Even though my current PC is nearly 2 years old there really hasn't been that much improvement in PCs. Sure - they have dual core - are they faster for games - not really. They have PCIe for video cards - are any video cards gaining speed from that slot vs. agp 8x - no. Is there faster memory - yes - speed gain for most apps - only 5-10%. Plunking down 2,000 for a state of the art PC that is only 20% faster than my current PC is a tough thing to swallow. Typically my PCs have been about 50% faster every time I upgraded.

 

[vaccarjm]

Originally posted by: boe

Originally posted by: vaccarjm
Ran some Fear tests tonight. Everything maxed....set the pc to max settings and graphics to max settings.

1024x768

1600x1200

1920x1440

Now on the highest resolution....it had black borders on the side and did not show in full screen. All other resolutions did except the very last one which is this.....

2048x1536

Thanks so much! Now onto the next question - how do things look on your screen - at lower resolution than native? I know some people say regular apps/fonts don't necessarily look that good so it makes me wonder about games as well.

I was actually pretty amazed how good it looked at lower resolution. I decided to try WoW at 1900x1200 widescreen and that looked good as well.

I have no doubt that you will enjoy the 30" dell.

 

[vaccarjm]

cant seem to copy screens. may have to load fraps. Ill try it tomorrow...getting late.

 

[imported_boe]

YOU SOB! You were supposed to say it is horrible wait another year! Now I have to buy about $2200 worth of computer parts! Jusk Kiddding! I really appreciate your testing and opinion. I'd love to get a dual chip 1900 so that I could eventually have 4 GPUs! I wonder when those cards will be coming out.

So I guess it is time to see if there are any good motherboards with slots for a crossfire or sli configuration for the video and NCQ . I'm thinking about going AMD this time around - maybe the 4600 x2 or a Pentium D 940. I'm trying to find some more recent comparisons.

Thanks again!

 

[imported_boe]

I finally broke down and connected it to my PC as is. My 850 is set for 1280 x 800 and it looks fine. I'm looking forward to building a new system so I can set it for native res. Not sure why they recommend the dual link DVI cards.

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: boe
I finally broke down and connected it to my PC as is. My 850 is set for 1280 x 800 and it looks fine. I'm looking forward to building a new system so I can set it for native res. Not sure why they recommend the dual link DVI cards.

A dual link DVI port is required in order to display the full native resolution of your monitor. As far as a PC upgrade, you'd be seriously hard pressed to spend $2000. Get an AMD X2 3800+ for $300, DFI NF4 Ultra-D for $125, an X1900XT for $475, and reuse everything else. I'm assuming you have 1GB of DDR memory. That will be quite sufficient. If you really wanted more, there's always a 2x1GB kit of G.Skill for $175. You will be fine with your optical and hard drives that you already have. Your PSU, if it's a high quality unit, should be fine with the upgrade. If you're worried about having a 24pin unit, just plop down $75-$100 on a good, sturdy unit.

That's $1175 worst case scenario. $900 if you already have enough memory and a good PSU. This doesn't even take into consideration that you can sell your old stuff you just replaced.