Video Card for new gaming PC at 1280x1024

[KMKTEXAN]

I am going to build a new pc with the following:

AMD Phenom X4 955 (3.2 ghz)
4 gb DDR3 1600

I am keeping my 1280x1024 lcd monitor.

Was thinking of getting an ATI 5850, but thought this could be overkill on this resolution. Maybe a 5770? Will be playing recent games (Crysis, Far Cry 2, Batman: Arkham, Fallout 3) maxed out.

Any suggestion? $300 or less.

 

[toyota]

have you considered buying a modern monitor? games are made for widescreen and your monitor is basically a square. 1280x1024 is a 5:4 aspect ratio that limits your view even compared to 4:3 aspect ratio resolutions(i.e. 1024x768, 1280x960). a decent 16:9 or 16:10 will make those games much more immersive and enjoyable. hell I cant even image playing the games you listed on anything other than a widescreen.

if you are going to stick to that archaic thing then yes a 5770 is fine for that res. a 5850 would only be needed to max Crysis and Clear Sky. I certainly would not spend 300 bucks on a video card to play at 1280x1024 though.

 

[crisium]

5770 will be a perfect fit for that resolution. For Crysis you could do all Very High, but you'd most likely be unable to do AA. Every other game - pretty much maxed out.

5:4 is so not good for FPS games. Ugh. Well, perhaps you can use Catalyst Control Center to letterbox your display to 1280x800 (16:10) or 1280x720 (16:9) when playing games. Maybe someone with more knowledge can help you, but that would really be wise.

 

[cbn]

1280x1024 is not a lot of resolution for a video card to deal with, but to max out Crysis you will need the HD5850.

 

[toyota]

never mind. Computer Bottleneck did a ninja edit on me.

 

[cbn]

never mind. Computer Bottleneck did a ninja edit on me.

Yesterday, the MSI HD5750 was $119 AR.

And yes, I did an edit after I wrote that suggestion.

 

[zerocool84]

2 weeks ago I went from 1280x1024 to 1920x1080. It's infinitely better for practically all types of games. Especially FPS/RTS. Also things look much more crisp in general thanks to the higher rez.

 

[toyota]

2 weeks ago I went from 1280x1024 to 1920x1080. It's infinitely better for practically all types of games. Especially FPS/RTS. Also things look much more crisp in general thanks to the higher rez.

I just fired up Crysis at 1280x1024 on my monitor its depressing to think about that being my standard res. it cut more than a couple inches off of each side of the screen and made for a very claustrophobic game. a game like Dead Space would be almost impossible to play with such a restrictive field of view.

 

[zerocool84]

I just fired up Crysis at 1280x1024 on my monitor its depressing to think about that being my standard res. it cut more than a couple inches off of each side of the screen and made for a very claustrophobic game. a game like Dead Space would be almost impossible to play with such a restrictive field of view.

Yea it really was bad. You don't realize how good it is until you see it first hand.

 

[toyota]

Yea it really was bad. You don't realize how good it is until you see it first hand.

yeah here is 1280x1024 on my 1920x1080 monitor. once you play widescreen its almost impossible to go back to 4:3 much less 5:4 like 1280x1024.

 

[happy medium]

I am going to build a new pc with the following:

AMD Phenom X4 955 (3.2 ghz)
4 gb DDR3 1600

I am keeping my 1280x1024 lcd monitor.

Was thinking of getting an ATI 5850, but thought this could be overkill on this resolution. Maybe a 5770? Will be playing recent games (Crysis, Far Cry 2, Batman: Arkham, Fallout 3) maxed out.

Any suggestion? $300 or less.

I'd go with the 5770 for that resolution. I use a 5750 with that res. and it's just fine.
I been playing on my (square) Sony CRT monitor at 1280x1024 or 1600x1200 for over 6 years and it's just fine. If I want to play on something bigger I just switch over to my 37 inch widescreen TV. Besides being of coarse bigger its not all that different.

 

[toyota]

I'd go with the 5770 for that resolution. I use a 5750 with that res. and it's just fine.
I been playing on my (square) Sony CRT monitor at 1280x1024 or 1600x1200 for over 6 years and it's just fine. If I want to play on something bigger I just switch over to my 37 inch widescreen TV. Besides being of coarse bigger its not all that different.

why would you use 1280x1024 on a 4:3 monitor? you should be using 1280x960 which would actually display more on the sides for games and keep the correct 4:3 aspect ratio. also if you think that 1920x1080 is not all that different from the claustrophobic 1280x1024 then perhaps you have blinders on.

 

[zerocool84]

yeah here is 1280x1024 on my 1920x1080 monitor. once you play widescreen its almost impossible to go back to 4:3 much less 5:4 like 1280x1024.

WOW that's a lot of lost realestate. I'm so glad I moved on up to the east side.

 

[happy medium]

WOW that's a lot of lost realestate. I'm so glad I moved on up to the east side.

I don't see the difference in realestate but just in size. The exact same things are displayed on screen for me.

Toyota my 37 inch TV is 720p. No need for more with AA/AF avalable.

 

[dguy6789]

You could max out Crysis on a 5770 at 1280x1024 as long as you kept AA off.

 

[mmsandi]

i think u could do AA too if it's a 1gb card ..mine 5850 doesn't cut me much on fps when AA enabled

 

[toyota]

i think u could do AA too if it's a 1gb card ..mine 5850 doesn't cut me much on fps when AA enabled

well a 5770 isnt going to handle AA like a 5850 though. also even with AA and very high settings Crysis probably wont go over 512mb at just 1280x1024.


EDIT: I just ran Crysis at 1280x1024 with DX10 very high settings and 2x AA and it did use 630mb of vram.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

5870 for future wide-screen monitor choices.

 

[Rifter]

I would get a bigger monitor, the differnce in field of view is amazing you can see things beside you that you cant with smaller res, makes huge differnce in FPS and RTS. That said a 5770 would be a good card for that res, if you want to max out everyhting in all games a 5850 might be better.

 

[Wreckage]

If you have $300 to spend I would get a GTS250 or a 5770 + a new monitor. That will make a world of difference over a $300 card with an old monitor.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0326042

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...129-_-Homepage

 

[fffblackmage]

Not sure if they're still around... but maybe try to find a 22" 1680x1050 for $100-150-ish or 24" 1080p for $200-ish? And maybe get that 5750 for $119 AR Bottleneck mentioned. Then you'd have a decent widescreen gaming set-up?

Yeah... that's a bit pricey if you really want to keep it under $300 and you probably won't be able to max out everything, especially Crysis.

In any case, it'is well worth it to upgrade to a newer high res monitor if you can afford to.

 

[severus]

If you have a microcenter in your area, take advantage. They have 1gb 9800gt's for $87. That should be more than adequate for your resolution. I was gaming on 1440 X 900 with a 512mb 8800gt for over a year with no problem, every game ran high with aa / af.

 

[cbn]

And maybe get that 5750 for $119 AR Bottleneck mentioned.

Apparently newegg stopped the sale on those. (Just the other day that MSI had a $20 rebate... but today the rebate is gone)

 

[TJ Tom]

I'm wondering if it's a smart move to buy an ATi card right now sicne Fermi is, hopefully, right around the corner?

 

[nyker96]

I also game on 1280x1080 I see nothing wrong with it, I can definitely appreciate people playing on wide screen with higher rez but if you just casual gaming, 1280 is fine.

besides with 1280 you don't need to upgrade gcard as often. but one trick to make 1280 look better is to turn on about 4xAA. I can usually max out every eye candy setting in games and that puts the bottleneck on the gcard, if I had a very high rez I might have to turn down visual settings just to get decent frame rate. so it's a toss up as to which is better visually.