DVI or VGA Cable?

Zake202

Gawd
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Jan 19, 2008
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I've been using VGA on my monitor for a few years now. I never really thought about using DVI.

Would it be better to use DVI if I am a gamer? (mainly world of warcraft)

My video card has DVI output also.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
dvi is a cleaner signal, you'll notice a sharper picture. your monitor configuration options are greater with a VGA input though.
 
I've been using VGA on my monitor for a few years now. I couldn't use DVI because my video card only supported VGA.

My new card has 2 DVI outputs.

Would it be better to use DVI if I am a gamer? (mainly world of warcraft)

Would the loss in refresh rate make a noticeable difference?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
The question is essentially digital over analog. With the digital (DVI) signal there is no loss of quality and most of the time you'll have a clearer picture.
 
Will there be a big difference between 60MHz refresh and 75MHz?
I don't know any LCD which is capable to real higher than 60Hz refresh rate.
While they might accept higher refresh rate input they just drop frames away, for example most LCD monitors accept 75Hz input (through DVI) at lower than native resolution but they simply drop every fifth frame.
For higher refresh rates we have to probably wait until really mature flat display technologies (OLED, FED/SED) replace slow liquid crystals and leaking backlights.
 
I don't know any LCD which is capable to real higher than 60Hz refresh rate.
While they might accept higher refresh rate input they just drop frames away, for example most LCD monitors accept 75Hz input (through DVI) at lower than native resolution but they simply drop every fifth frame.
For higher refresh rates we have to probably wait until really mature flat display technologies (OLED, FED/SED) replace slow liquid crystals and leaking backlights.

Is that true for both Analog and DVI connections to the LCD?

I've run mine at 75 for a long time, but if it's true that it has always dropped to 60 than going from analog to DVI should be no trouble.
 
DVI will be clearer.

VGA still has some distinct advantages however:

Main one for me is the ability to do high refresh rates (85 to 120hz)

Secondary consideration is that scaled images look better on VGA/CRT. If you have a lot of games that run at different resolutions (800x600 to 1920x1080 and everything inbetween) then the good old analog signal often scales much better.
 
DVI will be clearer.

VGA still has some distinct advantages however:

Main one for me is the ability to do high refresh rates (85 to 120hz)

Secondary consideration is that scaled images look better on VGA/CRT. If you have a lot of games that run at different resolutions (800x600 to 1920x1080 and everything inbetween) then the good old analog signal often scales much better.

What do you recommend if I only play one game really? (WoW)

I run my resolution at 1280X1024 75Mhz
 
What do you recommend if I only play one game really? (WoW)

I run my resolution at 1280X1024 75Hz

Fixed. I doubt anyone could tell the difference between 75 frames per second and 75 million. :p
 
Fixed. I doubt anyone could tell the difference between 75 frames per second and 75 million. :p

Oops yea, Hz =/

Hmm, I'm running my monitor at 60 now just to test it. I don't see a difference.

But I have a few days before my DVI cable arrives. Hope it changes it a bit.
 
Well if you have both connectors you could always try both and see which one you prefer.

Just buy the cable from a store with a good return policy.

Personally I still prefer VGA/CRT for gaming. The added sharpness of DVI is not really a huge plus when gaming (IE: If possible I usually tend to use 4xAA or even 8xAA to blur the image anyhow) Analog signal by its nature is a little blurry, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

If you have an LCD screen, you might tend to like DVI more as the main benefit of VGA is no longer possible on LCD screens.
 
Well, when I first got my monitor I had a DVI and a VGA cable.

I tried both and stuck to VGA simply because of the 75Hz Refresh.

Recently, I've been having some issues with my display, I narrowed it down to my VGa cable and replaced that yesterday.

I still see some problems between 75Hz and 60 though. Which is one reason I decided I should try DVI again.

Hoping it solves the issue anyway.
 
If it's LCD, DVI for sure.

If CRT, do any CRTs have DVI connections? If not, I doubt it really matters.
 
I can't notice any difference between VGA and DVI on a 26, so if you're using smaller, it may be irrelevant.
I haven't properly tested it, but I actually think my games ran better/smoother on VGA:confused:
 
Is that true for both Analog and DVI connections to the LCD?

I've run mine at 75 for a long time, but if it's true that it has always dropped to 60 than going from analog to DVI should be no trouble.

LCDs dont refresh like CRTs anyway, so it's erroneous to compare to the refresh rates.
 
LCDs don't have a native refresh rate. They have a response time. The DVI specification does have data limitations which can limit the refresh rate depending on resolution and color depth of the signal.
 
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