Picking a monitor, 4870

[Craig234]

A couple questions.

I'm picking a monitor to replace my Sony 24" CRT (I've always liked CRT).

There are some 23" $170 sales, there was recently a nice HP 24" normally $550 for $400 (sale over, but I can shop/wait), and the real question - the LG W3000H.

There's this sort of 'gee, a 30" high resolution would be nice' feeling. More than I should spend but oh well. Not it's at Egghead for $1159, and Bing has 10% cash back.

Any comments on getting it or settlling for another? Use is World of Warcraft and other gaming and web.

I have a 4870 1GB - is that enough for the 30" if I get it, or do I need a second 4870 in Crossfire?

Are there any general tips I need to know considering this - for example, I saw someone talk about how the LG has no Onscreen controls, and how they used some 'Spydersomething' software to adjust the monitor, I don't know if that's something needed.

What CPU is the starting point where it won't slow the system down? I have an AMD 940, if that'll keep up with the card.

 

[Craig234]

Back to page 1, for one more rond to see if anyone has information on these questions.

 

[yh125d]

The rig in my sig gets bogged down in 25 mans at 1920x1080 and all max settings (but no shadows), so you might want to upgrade your graphics if you get the 30" and you raid. If you don't, the 4870 should be fine for 1920x1080/1200

 

[heyheybooboo]

Anything after that Sony CRT will be a let down

I've had good success with the Asus LCDs. Just ordered the VH236H 23" 2ms and got free shipping.

The Phenom 940BE should do 3.4GHz with 2200MHz IMC/NB at stock volts by simply adjusting the multipliers in the BIOS. It should work well for you in any way you go.

A 30-inch monitor @ 2560 x 1600 will require roughly twice the pixels of a 19x10 '1080p' monitor. In that case a Crossfire will certainly benefit you at the higher resolution - BUT - one issue with WoW (as I understand it - not much of a gamer over here) is that when you enter a city with a lot of 'angry mob type' characters this will really work the CPU. So ... it may also be important for you to bump the CPU as noted above.

Finally ... with the money you seem willing to invest the first question is (drum roll, please): How far are you going to be sitting from the screen? Depending upon your response $1,100 will take you far in the realm of flat panel TVs.

At an 8-10 foot distance you may also bring 720p into play.

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
Anything after that Sony CRT will be a let down

I've had good success with the Asus LCDs. Just ordered the VH236H 23" 2ms and got free shipping.

The Phenom 940BE should do 3.4GHz with 2200MHz IMC/NB at stock volts by simply adjusting the multipliers in the BIOS. It should work well for you in any way you go.

A 30-inch monitor @ 2560 x 1600 will require roughly twice the pixels of a 19x10 '1080p' monitor. In that case a Crossfire will certainly benefit you at the higher resolution - BUT - one issue with WoW (as I understand it - not much of a gamer over here) is that when you enter a city with a lot of 'angry mob type' characters this will really work the CPU. So ... it may also be important for you to bump the CPU as noted above.

Finally ... with the money you seem willing to invest the first question is (drum roll, please): How far are you going to be sitting from the screen? Depending upon your response $1,100 will take you far in the realm of flat panel TVs.

At an 8-10 foot distance you may also bring 720p into play.

Thanks for the responses. This is for sitting at a desktop, 1.5 foot viewing distance. (I have a 65" LCD TV for a second system, and like the idea of some PC gaming on it (WoW at 65" woo hoo), but I'm not sure how well the keyboard/mouse will be logistically for that set, am I going to put a desk in the middle of the small living room floor for it?)

I've never overclocked, so will need to learn a little the right way to approach that.

If I got the 30", I'd want to run it at max/native resolution, not 19x10 - and it doesn't have a scaler anyway, which apparently limits running it at 19x10 anyway. (I'm new to this).

As for 8-10 foot and 720P, I seem to have a different taste than some - the 65" is about 6-8 feet away, 1080p, and I like it.

Sounds like unfortunately the card I'd hoped was more than enouigh, it not enough - at least they've come down since I got this one at $270 and messed up on the $50 rebate.

I'm just picking whether I should spend this much on the monitor, mostly - and add in the expense of the second card/crossfire for it.

But like speakers in audio, the screen is the single most important part of the PC, what you look at hours a day. Second rate there isn't too good.

FWIW, I'm happy with the colors gaming on the Sony 24", but sometimes it's hard to read the text on the web, and I'm not sure if it's more my eyes or the monitor losing quality.

Given that it gets easier to read later in the day, I'm leaning towards my eyes as part of the issue. Who knows, maybe a screen all day is not good for the eyes, ironic.

I notice the LG W3000H is non-returnable on Newegg, I'm not sure what their stuck pixel policy is.

Is the $1159 less 10% bing a good deal and is it a good monitor for this?

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: Craig234

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
Anything after that Sony CRT will be a let down

I've had good success with the Asus LCDs. Just ordered the VH236H 23" 2ms and got free shipping.

The Phenom 940BE should do 3.4GHz with 2200MHz IMC/NB at stock volts by simply adjusting the multipliers in the BIOS. It should work well for you in any way you go.

A 30-inch monitor @ 2560 x 1600 will require roughly twice the pixels of a 19x10 '1080p' monitor. In that case a Crossfire will certainly benefit you at the higher resolution - BUT - one issue with WoW (as I understand it - not much of a gamer over here) is that when you enter a city with a lot of 'angry mob type' characters this will really work the CPU. So ... it may also be important for you to bump the CPU as noted above.

Finally ... with the money you seem willing to invest the first question is (drum roll, please): How far are you going to be sitting from the screen? Depending upon your response $1,100 will take you far in the realm of flat panel TVs.

At an 8-10 foot distance you may also bring 720p into play.

Thanks for the responses. This is for sitting at a desktop, 1.5 foot viewing distance. (I have a 65" LCD TV for a second system, and like the idea of some PC gaming on it (WoW at 65" woo hoo), but I'm not sure how well the keyboard/mouse will be logistically for that set, am I going to put a desk in the middle of the small living room floor for it?)

Rosewill USB 2.4 GHz Cordless Slim Keyboard and Mouse : $30 --- I will be conducting my product evaluation this weekend

I've never overclocked, so will need to learn a little the right way to approach that.

It's a simple matter of changing 2 settings in the BIOS - the CPU multiplier (from 15 to 17) and the NB multiplier (from 10 to 11). If that does not interest you there is a free utility available called AMD Over Drive

If I got the 30", I'd want to run it at max/native resolution, not 19x10 - and it doesn't have a scaler anyway, which apparently limits running it at 19x10 anyway. (I'm new to this).

As for 8-10 foot and 720P, I seem to have a different taste than some - the 65" is about 6-8 feet away, 1080p, and I like it.

Sounds like unfortunately the card I'd hoped was more than enouigh, it not enough - at least they've come down since I got this one at $270 and messed up on the $50 rebate.

The 4870 1Gb will work great at resolutions 1920x1200 and down. Adding a second card will make you a gaming monster.

I'm just picking whether I should spend this much on the monitor, mostly - and add in the expense of the second card/crossfire for it.

But like speakers in audio, the screen is the single most important part of the PC, what you look at hours a day. Second rate there isn't too good.

FWIW, I'm happy with the colors gaming on the Sony 24", but sometimes it's hard to read the text on the web, and I'm not sure if it's more my eyes or the monitor losing quality.

At what screen resolution are you running? You may reduce the screen resolution in the 'Display Settings'. This has the effect of increasing the text size (and upping the refresh rate-which means greater frames-per-second when gaming)

Given that it gets easier to read later in the day, I'm leaning towards my eyes as part of the issue. Who knows, maybe a screen all day is not good for the eyes, ironic.

I notice the LG W3000H is non-returnable on Newegg, I'm not sure what their stuck pixel policy is.

Is the $1159 less 10% bing a good deal and is it a good monitor for this?

This is just me, but ...

The reason I tossed 720p into the equation is that my resolution (1366x768 - 42-inch) at 8-9 feet just works for me.

It's a balance of media 'entertainment' center and computer use. At 5-6 feet I get a small degree of 'pixelization' and the screen size becomes overwhelming for computer use. At this distance and screen resolution I can do my design work, follow text well with a minimum of eye strain, watch movies and TV, and play a very occasional game.

I've tried 1920x1080 but never became comfortable with the resolution from the computer standpoint. I couldn't get the screen resolution configured in such a way to follow text without strain, and I would have to move closer to draw. As I got closer - lets say 5 feet - it's like I had to turn my head 20 degrees left and right to take in the entire screen. I enjoyed the 'immersion' of the large screen but moving my head from left to right got annoying really fast - LOL.

If I were you that's what my concern would be with a 30-inch from 1.5 feet. And 2560 x 1600 might be a great gaming resolution but from a computer work standpoint I think I would have to split the screen into 2 work areas and adjust my icon and text size until I got comfortable with it. From the 'work' standpoint I might find it annoying - from the gaming standpoint I'm sure it's a blast.


I'll let you know how the wireless combo works out - gaming on that 65-inch LCD can only be topped by using a $2,000 HD projector -

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo

This is just me, but ...

The reason I tossed 720p into the equation is that my resolution (1366x768 - 42-inch) at 8-9 feet just works for me.

It's a balance of media 'entertainment' center and computer use. At 5-6 feet I get a small degree of 'pixelization' and the screen size becomes overwhelming for computer use. At this distance and screen resolution I can do my design work, follow text well with a minimum of eye strain, watch movies and TV, and play a very occasional game.

I've tried 1920x1080 but never became comfortable with the resolution from the computer standpoint. I couldn't get the screen resolution configured in such a way to follow text without strain, and I would have to move closer to draw. As I got closer - lets say 5 feet - it's like I had to turn my head 20 degrees left and right to take in the entire screen. I enjoyed the 'immersion' of the large screen but moving my head from left to right got annoying really fast - LOL.

If I were you that's what my concern would be with a 30-inch from 1.5 feet. And 2560 x 1600 might be a great gaming resolution but from a computer work standpoint I think I would have to split the screen into 2 work areas and adjust my icon and text size until I got comfortable with it. From the 'work' standpoint I might find it annoying - from the gaming standpoint I'm sure it's a blast.


I'll let you know how the wireless combo works out - gaming on that 65-inch LCD can only be topped by using a $2,000 HD projector -

t's funny you say that, I got that projector 3 years ago - before the LCD - and never got the screen for it and it's never been plugged in, but that was the idea, huge gaming.

The thing on the keyboard and the mouse isn't the wire, it's where to put them - they can't go in my lap. Flop flop click click. Only a desk seems sturdy.

On the 2nd card, one darn thing is I already got a single-card motherboard, so that'd be an additional purchase. Hm.

 

[arkcom]

Originally posted by: Craig234

On the 2nd card, one darn thing is I already got a single-card motherboard, so that'd be an additional purchase. Hm.

Wait about 5 weeks and you can start looking at a 5870x2.

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: arkcom

Originally posted by: Craig234

On the 2nd card, one darn thing is I already got a single-card motherboard, so that'd be an additional purchase. Hm.

Wait about 5 weeks and you can start looking at a 5870x2.

Thanks, but I am trying to keep costs sane. Would one 5870 make sense over a second 4870, would it be enough... I'm guessing two of them would be very expensive.

 

[arkcom]

Originally posted by: Craig234

Originally posted by: arkcom

Originally posted by: Craig234

On the 2nd card, one darn thing is I already got a single-card motherboard, so that'd be an additional purchase. Hm.

Wait about 5 weeks and you can start looking at a 5870x2.

Thanks, but I am trying to keep costs sane. Would one 5870 make sense over a second 4870, would it be enough... I'm guessing two of them would be very expensive.

Nobody really knows. Most are thinking twice the performance of the 4870 at about $299.

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: arkcom

Originally posted by: Craig234

Originally posted by: arkcom

Originally posted by: Craig234

On the 2nd card, one darn thing is I already got a single-card motherboard, so that'd be an additional purchase. Hm.

Wait about 5 weeks and you can start looking at a 5870x2.

Thanks, but I am trying to keep costs sane. Would one 5870 make sense over a second 4870, would it be enough... I'm guessing two of them would be very expensive.

Nobody really knows. Most are thinking twice the performance of the 4870 at about $299.

Just one should be enough then...