Trying to decide now whether to get the monitor at all (realizing weaker compy specs)

[XVII]

I have the Ati HD 3850 (Sapphire, AGP) and "HDMI compliance/HDCP ready, HDMI modes (over DVI)" are n/a according to the spec sheets. "HDTV compatibility (YPbPr)" is supported though. I also am running a wimpy 3200+ 2.2 Ghz AMD Athlon XP. I am reading things now about bottlenecking.

Well anyhow I am stuck between these two monitors.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...mList=N82E16824116400,N82E16824009125&bop=And

I was hoping to use it on my compy for some good gaming (Like UT2004, Quake 4, Battlefield 2, Half Life 2) with the big monitor making it prettier and more immersive. I would also try to view some 720p and 1080p downloadable movies on the monitor. With the seemingly lack of "HDMI compliance/HDCP ready, HDMI modes (over DVI)" [hoping I'm wrong] I am wondering what that would do to me? Also with the bit of slower computer how that would affect it.

But on good news I'd also want to use it for my PS3. HDMI of course from the monitor to the PS3. I asked on the PS3 forums and one guy said it worked. What I would do for audio is...
http://la.gg/upl/PS2RCA.gif
http://la.gg/upl/21uswx0eHJL._AA280_.jpg
http://la.gg/upl/LOGITECH_Z_5300E_5.1_280_WATTS.jpg

So my questions be...
Which monitor would you guys recommend for me for what I wish to use it for?
How would my compy handle the tasks forementioned?
Will the limits posted about my video card make a difference?
Is this a good PS3 setup?

Thank you again for your time and knowledge.

 

[XVII]

...anyone?

 

[RallyMaster]

Get a cheap Athlon64 X2 AM2 platform. You will have to sell your HD3850 but you can pick up a new HD3850 PCIe for $60 if you're lucky. AM2s and DDR2 are extremely cheap right now and a mid-range X2 won't bottleneck the HD3850 at all. I remember my AthlonXP lagging when anything HD related was playing (720P and 1080P) but I had no hardware HD acceleration capabilities.

 

[krnmastersgt]

I very much doubt that your system could run games at playable frame rates at 1980x1200, since at that res your gpu and cpu would be quite underpowered. As for the monitors you were looking at, it's up to you whether the extra $100 is worth the higher contrast ratio and slightly larger screen.

 

[Pederv]

I just put an AGP 3850 in my daughters system, I talk a little about it in this thread. My daughters monitor is a Samsung HDTV (1920x1200) and her system is performing so well that she's wondering why I didn't get myself the "good stuff" and give her my old stuff.

If you look further down the thread you'll see that my nephew is playing UT2004 on his underclocked XP2700 with a 3850 in it at 1280x1024 (granted not in widescreen).