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Gaming... CRT or LCD?

R

Rrael

n00b
Joined
Nov 1, 2005
Messages
45
Well i'm soon to be building a brand new comp, spending somewhere between 2k and 3k absolute max for it, after using this outdated comp for 4 years at least. I am shooting for a powerful comp that will have longevity and good bang for the buck, my current build is as follows:

Antec P180 case
Athlon X2 3800+ (will overclock for value)
Asus A8N-SLI Premium
7800 518mb Ultra card (or 2x 7800gt's)
OCZ Titanium 2GB RAM (2 x 1GB)
Asus NeoHE 550 PSU
WD 74GB 10,000 RPM
X-Fi XtremeMusic 8
(my 2k to 3k estimate includes a gaming mouse, extra cooling, etc)

Now I arrive at a monitor, i've been eyeing a Dell 2005FPW after reading these forums and other reviews, but my concern is for longevity, the computer will be powerful now and easily capable of running games at 1600 x 1200 widescreen, but I am worried about the monitor's performance a year or 2 from now when I will most likely be forced to turn down the resolution. I have heard that LCD's tend to become less sharp when running lower than their native resolution, and I assume this applies to games to (never used a LCD before). If I would get another CRT, most likely a 19", I would be able to run at 1600 x 1200, and if needed lower the resolution for games when it is required in the future. I don't plan on upgrading for a couple years, so i'm looking for longevity, I don't want the Dell if it will lose most of it's appeal after a year, but I have not been able to find any CRTs that catch my eye.

Generally anything over a 19" CRT seems to get far too expensive for my tastes, and if I would be spending near that much for a monitor i'd rather it be a LCD, although finding a decent price on the 2005FPW seems to be getting hard since the 35% rebate ended. I'd greatly appreciate any reccomendations on larger CRTs, suggestions for my current build, or any answers to my LCD concerns. Thanks in advance, and I love the forums :D
 
These monitors seem to go on sale every other month. There will be deals again. How much more $$$ do you have left for the monitor. Knowing your range will help us recommend the best bang for buck monitor that will be adequate for gamng. I will say that future games are more likely to be playable at a widescreen res of 1680x1050 rather than 1920x1200. As games keep coming it seems they will support widescreen, many new ones do. Future games will be too taxing for 1920x1200 and I see your concern, Based on this concern you have I suggest a LCD with a 1680x1050 native res like the 2005fpw you are eyeing or my monitor which is the new gateway FPD2185W specs are here http://accessories.gateway.com/Acce...inch+LCD_381955/7005483_proddetail.htm?seg=sb
 
Everything together i'm at about $2,100, so i'm on the lower end of the spectrum with room for a monitor like that, although I wouldn't feel right spending too much over $500 just for that. My main concern is that if i'm forced to run at a lower than native resolution on the LCD for some games in the future that it would impact the quality of the picture substantially. That aside, any 1680x1050 LCD would work fine, but i've read a lot on them and can't come to any major conclusion. I'm looking for the best bang for the buck and gaming performance, if there is much of a difference between them in that area.

Edit: Yeah I saw the NeoHE post, but they say the newer boards work ok, and it will still be a month probably before I buy all the components, so hopefully I can avoid that problem. Only reason for the NeoHE choice is to make the P180 case less of a hassle (although i've read that it is a good PSU in it's own right).
 
I'm actually wondering this same question because I'm building a new PC very soon. (Almost the same specs expect for a 7800GT instead of the GTX. :)

While I'm not playing games most of the time I still perfer to run lower resolutions to have faster frame rates. But when it comes to just using the computer for graphical work I like to have at least 1600x1200 resolution for more desktop space. Running at the native resolution of 1280x1050 on a 19" seems too small for me, my notebook's 15" runs at 1450x1280 and it's slightly not big enough.

Rob
 
Sony 24" FW900 Widescreen CRT gets my vote for best gaming monitor on the market , I got mine from this Ebay seller and its awesome :)
 
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mathesar said:
Sony 24" FW900 Widescreen CRT gets my vote for best gaming monitor on the market , I got mine from this Ebay seller and its awesome :)
Click to expand...

I've seen this in another thread, does look interesting. Just how big is this compared to a regular 21" screen? I have a Dell Trinitron 21" at work that just takes up my desk but at home my desk is much smaller. If the footprint isn't too much bigger than a 19" CRT this would be great.

Rob
 
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robscomputer said:
I've seen this in another thread, does look interesting. Just how big is this compared to a regular 21" screen? I have a Dell Trinitron 21" at work that just takes up my desk but at home my desk is much smaller. If the footprint isn't too much bigger than a 19" CRT this would be great.

Rob
Click to expand...

It measures 22.4 inches from side to side (width) , 19.9 inches from front to back and weighs 95 pounds. It requires a sturdy desk but its well worth it.
 
Rrael said:
Edit: Yeah I saw the NeoHE post, but they say the newer boards work ok, and it will still be a month probably before I buy all the components, so hopefully I can avoid that problem. Only reason for the NeoHE choice is to make the P180 case less of a hassle (although i've read that it is a good PSU in it's own right).
Click to expand...

Yea, I bought one to go in a P160 case for a long slow 6 month build to M2. :D

Back on topic. I vote CRT for games and am currently shopping for one now. I recently built a system for my in-laws and paired it with a top of the line Samsung 8ms 19" LCD. One of the ones people talk about when they aint talkin about their Dell. It is a gorgeous, bright web surfer but Doom 3 looked....well.....just wrong. No ghosting or anything like that but obviously a dark game and shows the LCD weakness to it's fullest. I went back home and got on my 6 year old optiquest shadow mask thats even getting a little dim and the difference was stunning. I was very dissapointed because I had looked forward to getting one of the new LCD's for awhile but at least I got to find out on my in-laws system and didn't have to fork out myself.
 
wrangler said:
Yea, I bought one to go in a P160 case for a long slow 6 month build to M2. :D

Back on topic. I vote CRT for games and am currently shopping for one now. I recently built a system for my in-laws and paired it with a top of the line Samsung 8ms 19" LCD. One of the ones people talk about when they aint talkin about their Dell. It is a gorgeous, bright web surfer but Doom 3 looked....well.....just wrong. No ghosting or anything like that but obviously a dark game and shows the LCD weakness to it's fullest. I went back home and got on my 6 year old optiquest shadow mask thats even getting a little dim and the difference was stunning. I was very dissapointed because I had looked forward to getting one of the new LCD's for awhile but at least I got to find out on my in-laws system and didn't have to fork out myself.
Click to expand...

You will not get true blacks with current LCD technology, as long as they continued to use a backlight system, your gonna get untrue black hue colors. Period. Only OLED or SED displays are capable of producing the level of blacks that CRT's produce. In which case, youll be waiting well into 2006-2007 for those.

That being said, i'll trade true blacks for all the positives my LCD gives me.
 
I still prefar CRT's for anything but laptops. Untrue whites/blacks, ghosting in games, dead pixels, backlight bleeding, etc. just do not interest me for things I stare at for long periods.
 
IceWind said:
That being said, i'll trade true blacks for all the positives my LCD gives me.
Click to expand...

No doubt they have a lot of positives and the Samsung was beautiful. But.....OP asked which for gaming. Here are gaming positives for crt imho
a)True blacks
b)Different resolutions. Helps with framerate, if you can't get the frames you need @ 1600x1200 just turn it down to 1280 or 1024 with no scaling issues.
c)Run with v-sync off if you want and experience little to no tearing. Also helps with frame rate. Gamers with lcd's using v-sync report that framerate dips lower. Refresh rates on modern crt's allow a higher cap if you do want to run with v-sync on.

If you want them to look like the maker intended, crt all the way.
 
Good info!

I had some recommended LCD's in mind but are there any 19" CRT's recommended? My local computer shop sells a 19" Viewsonic flat tube for $200 new.

Rob
 
I'm not too concerned with colors being slightly off with LCDs, I can accept that with all the advantages they offer. Its being able to turn the resolution down without hurting the picture too much that bothers me, but i've heard before that the picture scales down to the resolution on the screen, simply leaving the unused pixels around the sides black. If this is the case, is the quality still effected? Or is that mainly a problem with text appearing blurry while at the desktop?

After seeing pics of games like HL2 running on a 2005FPW in widescreen i'm pretty impressed, but don't want to suffer in the future when my graphics card(s) can't handle the native resolution on newer games if it does have large effect on picture quality.

However, if getting a big CRT would be much cheaper up front, and give me more money to put towards other parts, I wouldn't be so apprehensive. But i've had bad luck finding good prices on large CRTs.
 
ok.......let the flames begin. j/k

Ebay.

I am currently bidding on diamondtrons less than 2 years old. 22 inch .24 dot pitch. Screens graded A+ for less than $200 shipped with warranty.

There are 24 inch aperture grill widescreens since it sounds like you like widescreen for $335-400 shipped. What would a 2405 cost you. $700? $600?
 
CRTS are going to be better, but my 2005fpw is extremly pretty, way better colors

IMO
 
I'm really looking at the 2005FPW, its tempting me with its awesomeness... If anyone with one could comment on the picture quality (in games) when running on lower than native resolutions that would be cool.
 
There are thousands (well at least hundreds) of threads in this section on that specific monitor.

Search is your friend.
 
I read through them all before and don't remember reading anything specifically answering that, but i'll check again.
 
zoltan said:
CRTS are going to be better, but my 2005fpw is extremly pretty, way better colors

IMO
Click to expand...

You'd be surprised how much brighter colors get on a CRT if you have an Nvidia card and enable Digital Vibrance in display properties, its seems as if it was designed specifically for CRTs, it made the colors on my FW900 look a lot more like my 2001FP LCD without being over saturated.
 
IMO CRT's are the best for gaming. I think you should get a CRT with a .20 dot pitch. The lower the dot pitch the sharper and better quality the image will be. I went from a .25dp CRT to a .20 and I can tell you there is a huge difference in image sharpness. I will always but a monitor with the lowest dot pitch I can get.

I have the Samsung 1100DF 21in .20 CRT and its a great monitor. Games are awesome on it. I have the black version but NewEgg isnt carrying it http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001124

I recommened you it or the 19in version.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001068
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001178
 
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