Worth upgrading the vid card? Or should I wait some more?

[Bonesdad]

3200+ @ stock speed with 2GB of PC3200 mem and a GF 6600. I'd like to upgrade either the monitor or the vid card next, but as always with vid, it's always the next great thing is just around the corner.

I think I'll take the leap to LCD technology and upgrade vid when I do a system upgrade in a year or so. Or is it worth it to upgrade the card now? Gaming...of course.

Finally, if I do monitor, am I better off with a 17" LCD, a 19" LCD or a widescreen format? Thanks!

 

[Lord Evermore]

1) http://www.anandtech.com/myanandtech.aspx?member=108906 is the proper link to rigs. They really need to put it up in big bold letters that when you're logged in to your own account and viewing your own pages it's a different URL than outsiders looking at it.

2) If your gaming performance is good enough now, then yes, swap the monitor, but of course, only swap the monitor if you actually have a need for it or already know that it will look better to you with your usage. A newer video card would probably give you a big boost in performance, but the longer you wait, the better and cheaper a boost you can get, whereas a new monitor isn't going to significantly change prices relatively.

19 inch widescreen=great for gaming, not so great for desktop use if you don't intend to have two windows side by side all the time, results in more vertical scrolling for any particular window compared to a regular 19 inch.

Definitely don't go DOWN to a 17 inch LCD from your current 18-inchish viewable CRT.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: Lord Evermore


Definitely don't go DOWN to a 17 inch LCD from your current 18-inchish viewable CRT.

I gotta disagree on that last part. Even a 17" LCD is an improvement over an old 18" viewable 19" CRT. The space and heat differences alone are worth the change.

But as cheap as 19" and 20" LCD's are you would be nuts to get not get one instead of a 17" LCD.

 

[L00ker]

Well I am still on a slightly older 21" dell CRT, I got it for free from work and it's a trinitron tube, the thing is mint! no fancy high priced LCD for me!

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: L00ker
Well I am still on a slightly older 21" dell CRT, I got it for free from work and it's a trinitron tube, the thing is mint! no fancy high priced LCD for me!

You need to check out the hot deal forum. I've seen everything from a 17" LCD for $99 to a 20" for $199.

Here is a link to a 19" Samsung 6ms monitor for $179 after $20 rebate link and this took all of 20 seconds to research... I have no doubt there are better deals to be had.

CRT's are dead. Plus, all the room you get back on your desk is worth it alone. Not to mention the heat put out by those ancient old CRT's.

To the OP, I would say get the biggest LCD you can afford. My next monitor upgrade is the 24" Dell or bigger if I come into money faster than planned.

 

[Lord Evermore]

Originally posted by: Beachboy

Originally posted by: Lord Evermore


Definitely don't go DOWN to a 17 inch LCD from your current 18-inchish viewable CRT.

I gotta disagree on that last part. Even a 17" LCD is an improvement over an old 18" viewable 19" CRT. The space and heat differences alone are worth the change.

I'd never consider a smaller viewable size to be an improvement, unless desk space considerations are severe. The cost differences running an LCD compared to a CRT aren't THAT huge (2.4KWh per day if it's on 24 hours a day and saves 100W; that's about 38 cents on my power bill). Heat output is a bigger issue but still wouldn't be worth a smaller screen. If you keep the same resolution, that means everything you're looking at is physically smaller on the screen.

CRTs aren't quite dead, but for many people they are an overall better choice. Note that the cheaper LCDs are usually only 6-bit color panels, getting 8-bit often costs a lot. I personally haven't actually played with a 6-bit to even see what the difference is, and my color vision needs calibrating so I couldn't be sure anyway, but some people might find it unbearable.

 

[akshayt]

get a new 1900XT now

 

[imported_goku]

Originally posted by: Beachboy

Originally posted by: L00ker
Well I am still on a slightly older 21" dell CRT, I got it for free from work and it's a trinitron tube, the thing is mint! no fancy high priced LCD for me!

You need to check out the hot deal forum. I've seen everything from a 17" LCD for $99 to a 20" for $199.

Here is a link to a 19" Samsung 6ms monitor for $179 after $20 rebate link and this took all of 20 seconds to research... I have no doubt there are better deals to be had.

CRT's are dead. Plus, all the room you get back on your desk is worth it alone. Not to mention the heat put out by those ancient old CRT's.

To the OP, I would say get the biggest LCD you can afford. My next monitor upgrade is the 24" Dell or bigger if I come into money faster than planned.

19" LCDs suck over 17" LCD due to the fact that they have the same resolution therefore the 19" has a lower DPI. You either get a 17" or get a 20", don't get a halfassed monitor. Also the 6ms monitors are only 6bit monitors, not 8bit.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: goku

Originally posted by: Beachboy

Originally posted by: L00ker
Well I am still on a slightly older 21" dell CRT, I got it for free from work and it's a trinitron tube, the thing is mint! no fancy high priced LCD for me!

You need to check out the hot deal forum. I've seen everything from a 17" LCD for $99 to a 20" for $199.

Here is a link to a 19" Samsung 6ms monitor for $179 after $20 rebate link and this took all of 20 seconds to research... I have no doubt there are better deals to be had.

CRT's are dead. Plus, all the room you get back on your desk is worth it alone. Not to mention the heat put out by those ancient old CRT's.

To the OP, I would say get the biggest LCD you can afford. My next monitor upgrade is the 24" Dell or bigger if I come into money faster than planned.

19" LCDs suck over 17" LCD due to the fact that they have the same resolution therefore the 19" has a lower DPI. You either get a 17" or get a 20", don't get a halfassed monitor. Also the 6ms monitors are only 6bit monitors, not 8bit.

goku, you are already known as perhaps the stupidest poster on Anandtech so just stfu on this subject. As usual, you know nothing.

 

[imported_goku]

Originally posted by: Beachboy

Originally posted by: goku

Originally posted by: Beachboy

Originally posted by: L00ker
Well I am still on a slightly older 21" dell CRT, I got it for free from work and it's a trinitron tube, the thing is mint! no fancy high priced LCD for me!

You need to check out the hot deal forum. I've seen everything from a 17" LCD for $99 to a 20" for $199.

Here is a link to a 19" Samsung 6ms monitor for $179 after $20 rebate link and this took all of 20 seconds to research... I have no doubt there are better deals to be had.

CRT's are dead. Plus, all the room you get back on your desk is worth it alone. Not to mention the heat put out by those ancient old CRT's.

To the OP, I would say get the biggest LCD you can afford. My next monitor upgrade is the 24" Dell or bigger if I come into money faster than planned.

19" LCDs suck over 17" LCD due to the fact that they have the same resolution therefore the 19" has a lower DPI. You either get a 17" or get a 20", don't get a halfassed monitor. Also the 6ms monitors are only 6bit monitors, not 8bit.

goku, you are already known as perhaps the stupidest poster on Anandtech so just stfu on this subject. As usual, you know nothing.

Considering that I own two 19" LCDs and encounter 6 others on a regular basis, I can attest that 19" LCDs have poorer image quality than a 17" be default. Don't pretend to be a pompous ass when you're too stupid to realize when you're making a fool of your self. A 19" screen has a lower DPI (really PPI) than a 17", it's a fact. And any monitor to I recall that has a refresh rate lower than 16ms is infact a 6bit display. If you're going to tell me that a 6bit display=8bit displays in quality, well then, you've already proven your pupose on this forum, and that is to troll.

Nice way to troll.

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: Bonesdad
3200+ @ stock speed with 2GB of PC3200 mem and a GF 6600. I'd like to upgrade either the monitor or the vid card next, but as always with vid, it's always the next great thing is just around the corner.

I think I'll take the leap to LCD technology and upgrade vid when I do a system upgrade in a year or so. Or is it worth it to upgrade the card now? Gaming...of course.

Finally, if I do monitor, am I better off with a 17" LCD, a 19" LCD or a widescreen format? Thanks!

With that (3200+) you won't be gaming at any res. above 1600x 1200. I 'd say stick with you current monitor, and upgrade your video card to a 7900GT or x1900gt. Then overclock your cpu @ 2.4. With this cpu,videocard combination you will max your monitor,cpu and video capabilities. Then later on down the line go for the Vista,directx10 videocard,monitor, duo cpu upgrade .(your whole system)

Edit:I wouldn't upgrade my monitor unless I needed desk space (LCD) or my system components supported a higher resolution than the monitor can deliver.