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Which 19" LCD and which graphics card

S

sandeep108

Senior member
I am finally deciding to take the plunge to LCD from my old 17" CRT. With prices of LCD 19" panels falling, I feel I can go with 19" instead of 17". I would also upgrade my PC in a couple of months so maybe PCI-E is the way to go.

While I now do not play games so much, occasionally I may want to play. I am going to buy HL-2 and Doom3, to play over the next few weeks / months after I upgrade my PC.

So now which 19" LCD? Looking at various reviews and forum posts, it does seem that the Samsung 930B is the clear winner at present, with good reviews on L90D, new Viewsonic and Dell 1905. If I do want to go for an 8 bit panel, then what should I buy. Since I may play games only occasionally, then maybe color / image quality would be more important. My budget is around $400 max. Or since the res. is about the same, should I stick to a 17" and save the money? Say Samsung 730B? Or buy a 17" 8 bit LCD? I have seen a 710N with a friend and quite like it.

Also it seems I would need an improved graphics card to drive a good monitor. I think currently a 128MB 6600GT seems to be at a sweet value spot - around $125 or so. Or are there any other better value spots? I have not done much research here.

TIA
 
The main point is if you're using a 19" monitor you'll be gaming at 1280x1024.

The 6600GT will allow you to do that and have pretty high detail.
However, if you get the ATI X800XL you'll be able to push settings that bit higher especially with AA and AF and pretty much max stuff out on 1280x1024.

If the X800XL isn't too much more I'd go that route. I think I remember it had better miniumum fps than it's comparative Nvidia cards.
 
If you're looking for an 8-bit panel I'll refer you to this thread on the Viewsonic VP191B. If you go for that monitor be careful though as they didn't change their model names when they went to the new 8-bit panel so you could get an old panel...
 
I'm actually writing because I'm going to helping my brother out with his upcoming computer build and so have been doing alot of research - anyhow, that's the route I'd go. If you don't want to buy from Viewsonic because they're a bad company, you can perhaps wait in hope for another manufacturer to start using the same 8-bit panel with the same tech.
 
Thanks Diasper for your replies. I had seen the Viewsonic thread, but would not buy a Viewsonic monitor. Also, my relative who is buying this stuff is not at all tech savvy. I really loved the 6-bit 710 Samsung and am sure the 930B will be as good if not better. I have generally been happy with Samsung's products overall. I do not have much time, only a couple of weeks in any case. Seeing a great deal, (~$380 BEFORE MIR of $80) my relative has gone ahead and bought the 930B. As I said before it is mostly for work with a little gaming thrown in. I am not going to be doing any imaging / video stuff on it so I think it is ok for me. And waiting for newer technology is a never ending process. In a couple of months it is expected that 4ms panels will be launched and in another year maybe 19" 4ms 8-bit panels will be at the $200 price level but...

Coming to the issue to of the graphics card, now I am getting more confused. The 6600GT 128MB seems to be a bit more expensive at around $175-190, while the 6600 256MB are a somewhat cheaper at around $125-130. Wouldn't more ram actually help performance? Most reviews of the 6600 said they could easily play Doom3/HL-2 without any problems. Then should I spend $50 or so more for a GT that has lesser memory, but higher clock speeds? Where is the trade-off? More memory or higher clock/core speeds? Especially for occasional gaming? Or should I go ATI's x600/x700? I have generally been happy with nVidia so far - very stable.

x800 /6800 is really too much money IMO for my use.

 
cirthix - tx, but I have weak eyesight and felt 1280x1024 would be better / bigger on a 19" than 17". I would follow your suggestion if I did do a lot of gaming, but with mostly 2D? x800xl would be sort of overkill I think.
 
6600GT PCIe...i would recommend taking the PCIe route not because it offers better performance but because of its future upgradeability...and yes X800XL would be an overkill for someone who doesnt game much...
 
I think I am settling on a 6600 128MB. It does seem that the 256 MB RAM is just a marketing gimmick according to most posters at Hard Forums. Most of them are around $125 (as against $135-140 for the 256 MB ones) - I did make a mistake in my first post, getting confused between the 6600 and 6600gt. The 6600 GTs are minimum $175-190, not $125.

After reading a detailed comparison between 6600gt, 6600, 5900, I think the 6600 will meet my needs quite adequately. I felt even the 6200 would have met my needs, but will go for the 6600.
 
Bump: Samsung 930B or Dell 1905FP? I think I can spend a bit more so I just may be able to go for a 6600gt and Dell 1905FP. AT did praise the 1905FP.
 
Don't do the 1905FP, too many people complain about serious ghosting. AT always fails to notice that themselves for some reason.

Get the 930B, 8 ms.
 
Yes, thanks archcommus, I did read most of the posts about the 1905fp. But there have also been several who have also praised it considerably and reported no ghosting. I was not very convinced it was that poor a monitor. If I scroll text on my crt and look at it, it will blur. I feel that LCDs are a different technology than crt and it is simply a matter of getting used to it. Most people even using 25ms panels swear they would never go back to a crt.

AT has praised the similar 193P also. A friend who has recently bought a 1905fp and is also a very heavy gamer, says he cannot really notice it at all - he has a 6800gt card and says it is one of the best monitors he has used (and he also owned a Dell 21" CRT).

As I said earlier, I am not into too much gaming, just an occasional 15-30 min during the day, and that too if I am bored. The rest of the 8-10 hours it will be used for work, which does include some photography. The other advantage of the 1905fp is the height and swivel stand.

So I am tending towards the 1905fp as being more acceptable for my needs.
 
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