Will this setup work?

[CrimsonChaos]

I have an older system with a Radeon x1900XT (512MB) video card. Will I be able to use a 22" wide-screen monitor at native resolution with that? If not, is it recommended I get a 22" if I cannot use it at the native resolution? Or do I have to buy either a smaller screen or a new video card...

Thanks!

(P.S. The highest 4:3 resolution it goes to is 1600 x 1200, and max widescreen resolution is 1440 x 900)

Edit: Updated/Solved -- see last post. Thanks everyone.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: CrimsonChaos
I have an older system with a Radeon x1900XT (512MB) video card.

(P.S. The highest 4:3 resolution it goes to is 1600 x 1200, and max widescreen resolution is 1440 x 900)

Sounds like something is screwy with your drivers, firmware or card.
The x1900XT cards should have a max resolution of 2560 x 1600.
BTW, That's the resolution for 30" widescreen LCD's. :roll:

 

[CrimsonChaos]

Hmmm, is it possible it is setting the max resolutions based on what type of monitor is plugged into it (current monitor is 17" CRT)? If not, it could be the driver I guess - the date of my current driver is September 2007.

 

[Blain]

It takes about 1.5 minutes to update the driver.

 

[techmanc]

make sure your using the ATI driver gotten from there website or others and not the one Windows installs.

 

[ther00kie16]

the settings will only show the resolutions up to max for the currently connected screen.
so yea, if you connect a monitor with a higher resolution, it should be just fine.
Video cards have been capable of 2048 x 1536 over vga for a very long time, though theoretical maximum is supposedly more than 2560x1600. But then again, who's going to connect their 30" via vga?

 

[CrimsonChaos]

Just an update, you were right ther00kie16, the screen resolution options changed when I plugged in the LG 22" monitor.

And for the record, I got the LG 227WTG, and must say it is very nice. It is a bit bright, so I turned down the brightness and contrast from its default settings, but the text is super clear, and the colors are very crisp.

I'm running it at 1440 x 900 (the letters seemed too small in the 1680 x 1050 mode). Also, no dead pixels yet either, but I just bought it tonight, so I'll edit this if that changes.

 

[imported_wired247]

native resolution always looks best. why would you lower resolution to increase font size? so you can have bigger, jaggy-edge fonts?

would you throw away half of your land so your house looks bigger on your property?

learn how to manage your font sizes in your OS / while browsing / etc . lower resolution is not the answer.

 

[CrimsonChaos]

How do you know what the "native" resolution is of a monitor?

I switched to 1680 x 1050 mode, and increased the font sizes in the control panel and also in Internet Explorer, but some fonts still come out too small (for my taste). Any suggestions?

 

[Blain]

You change the font size like you change other video options on your PC.