[dark_eternal_knight]

Firstly, i was in a catch 22 as to whether to post this in graphics or monitors, because there is no "PC's - General" section because every section has been covered in some way elsewhere...

I decided to post this in graphics-general, because i am open to suggestions if the decision swings that way...

The next 2 years of my life will be dominated by TV, Gaming and Web Design (yay student

) my pc my shed has the task of handling all three jobs...

The issue with this, is that TV on a 17" Samsung SyncMaster710v is a pile of sith, gaming at 1280x1024 puts more strain on the CPU than the GPU, and a 17" monitor is 'just enough to get by' when doing web design...

I will have a precious £220 to blow on something to do with my PC in january...

I'd love to get a monitor of a size, resolution and viewing distance i can tolerate for a few years, and I'm getting sick of the HD3870, its nowhere near 'top end performance' in anymore even though it barely was on release...

So, New GPU or 22"/24" Monitor?

if GPU, any suggestions?
if monitor, i'll decide that for myself...

 

[P1MP1NJ]

Monitor.

 

[VoodooDan]

Hey dark_eternal_knight -

VoodooDan from HP here. Go for a 22'' or a 24'' with a native resolution of 1680x1050. That is a good resolution and not too hard to push.

Hope this helps. Let me know what you decide.

Cheers
VoodooDan

 

[Blameless]

New monitor. They don't depreciate as fast and there is little sense in getting a fast GPU only to watch what it renders on a tiny and/or crappy screen.

 

[om3n]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VoodooDan Hey dark_eternal_knight - VoodooDan from HP here. Go for a 22'' or a 24'' with a native resolution of 1680x1050. That is a good resolution and not too hard to push. Hope this helps. Let me know what you decide. Cheers VoodooDan

This is advertising for profit, and against the TOS.

 

[procpuarie]

hmm. will your old gpu run your apps on that new monitor? vote for gpu then monitor.

 

[Sun]

I vote for the Monitor as well. Sure, right now I feel like I want a new graphics card, but I would not trade this setup for a 17" and a GTX 280.

Once you go widescreen, especially 1680x1050 and above, there is no going back.

Hell, if I had $1000 to blow right now, I would get a 30" 2560x1600 monitor, not a new graphics card or anything.

 

[-iceblade^]

both

HD 3870 = £ 90.95, though that is admittedly pretty pricey, but i figure since you have one another will help

22" Monitor = £ 105.11

total = £196.06. Add a good game in there, and you're laughing.

enjoy

 

[dark_eternal_knight]

well the fact that episode 2 looks more impressive on brother's 22" with a MSI N8600GT, than it does on a 17" with a HD3870 says alot...

i did try the 22" for a few days and it was quite impressive, my one gripe was that it was a viewsonic and that my 4YO syncmaster had better ratios (400:1 vs 800:1) and response times...

I'll also state that i'm not a stressful gamer, unlike some users here (you know who you are) who turn a midrange card up to full settings on everything and complain when things slow down... ...must be a secret OCN policy... my system torches grid, it torches nfs titles, creed, warhead and anything using the word "source" in the license agreement are all usually on quite good settings. This essay probably steers the decision even more towards a monitor, however i found it quite unnerving to see my 3870 as the recommended graphics solution for GTA4, as 2008 has been yet another year for new chip-draining engines...

 

[S2000_Skyline12]

Well...You definatly aren't getting 24" res gaming on the 3870, and you maybe will get by on the 22". So i'd have to say get a new GPU. 8800GTS G92 or HD4850 suggested. Not too much so then you could take the change and save for the monitor where you could game and do whatever else at the reses.

 

[GeforceGTS]

^^ Not a bad idea, you can pick up a GTS 512 for £100 and i've seen some half decent 22" monitors on ebuyer for around £130 or so, slightly over budget but i'm sure you can scrape another tenner or so from somewhere ;]

EDIT: Nvm.. I thought you had a 3850...

 

[dark_eternal_knight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by S2000_Skyline12 Well...You definatly aren't getting 24" res gaming on the 3870, and you maybe will get by on the 22". So i'd have to say get a new GPU. 8800GTS G92 or HD4850 suggested. Not too much so then you could take the change and save for the monitor where you could game and do whatever else at the reses.

neither seems like a big enough improvement over the 3870 i must admit...

when i say £220 to blow, i do mean blow by the way...

going for a gpu and a monitor that total at £220 i'll be disappointed...

if i go for a £190 monitor, OR a £190 GPU, i won't be...