Upgrade or DX10

D

DaMaN841

Limp Gawd
2FA
Joined
Jul 30, 2001
Messages
228
I've recently got a new job, so I thought it was time to treat myself to an upgrade. The new Dell 30" monitors are awfully sweet, and the price, although is high, questionably reasonable nonetheless. However, they sport a 2560x1600 resolution as most of you know. This is where the dilemma comes into play. My machine specs are in my signature, and you'll notice immediately I'll need a video upgrade to even run that type of resolution.

Things you should know: I do play many games, however, the highest priority game is World of Warcraft <insert nerd joke here>, which isn't the MOST graphically demanding game as of yet (graphical overhaul in the future). Now, with a worst case senerio, I can also have my current monitor plugged in as well, just in case I decide to play a game like Oblivion, and I can run that at 1280x1024 on my current 19".

Question: Is it worth it to invest in this monitor now, while having to spend 400-500 on a video card as well that really won't hold me that long OR should I wait a while, and see how far off the DX10 cards are to make a more solid investment.

Any input would be great, thank you!
 
Waiting wouldn't really help much because this is an extremely demanding resolution that is always going to require a powerful SLI or Crossfire setup to run current games smoothly. A year from now the DX10 cards will be out but so will more demanding games, so nothing really changes the fact you will always need a $900 SLI or Crossfire setup while you own this monitor unless you don't mind playing in the lower interpolated resolution :eek: .

If your only priority is WoW then one card might be enough. The option of using a second monitor is possible but seems like a hassle (who wants to pay all that for a monitor only to use in WoW and Windows), it might just be better to sell it and put the $$ toward a second video card. So big screen LCD's will always require a significant investment ont he video card front, but if your new job is good enough I guess it wouldnt matter :)
 
Set the money aside - get the monitor when DX10 cards come out. It will have reduced by $200 then which will be half the cost of one of your SLI/Crossfire cards.
 
I'm in the same situation. I've decided to wait. DX10 cards will be out sometime by the end of the year hopefully. I plan on getting Vista, so I dont want to have to upgrade for another $1k 8 months from now again just to get all the goodies DX10 brings with it.
 
I can tell you from first hand experience the WOW at native res on the Dell 30 is freakin smooth with an ATi X1900XTX.


In fact, every game is, you just can't use a lot of FSAA in some, in others you can.
 
killerD said:
Waiting wouldn't really help much because this is an extremely demanding resolution that is always going to require a powerful SLI or Crossfire setup to run current games smoothly. A year from now the DX10 cards will be out but so will more demanding games, so nothing really changes the fact you will always need a $900 SLI or Crossfire setup while you own this monitor unless you don't mind playing in the lower interpolated resolution :eek:
Click to expand...


I don't agree, because I have seen first hand, one card is enough.
 
Get one x1900xtx. My x1900 murdalizes my dell 24inch with high frames. Even games like oblivion and ghost recon at max no problem. Im only at 1920/1200 but I have confidence your stuff is going to be looking great w/ one card. And if your really afraid just get one of the new crossfire mobos with your x1900 in the case you want to add another to it later on.
 
If you are going to buy a monitor like that you need a better video card to do it justice. DX10 is at least one video card product cycle away from mainstream use. I would go all out.
 
Sorry to double post but I wanted to add. When I built my new rig about 3 months ago I got the monitor last and I wish I had bought it first. I was running a 19inch at 1280/1024 before I got my 24inch dell and it really did blow me away more than anything else I had purchased.
 
I agree with you killerD that as technology increases, so does the game requirements, however I really don't think it's 100% direct. A couple of years ago, 1024x768 was the norm and any other resolution was unheard of with smooth framerates. Now it's 1280x1024 and 1600x1200, with 1920x1200 is creeping up. So considering that, x amount of years down the road, 2560x1600 may be the norm, and games will have to perform at that resolution. Obviously this is just speculation of the future based on what has happened in the past, but I do believe that the video hardware is increasing faster than the software demand.

Regardless of that concept, it is nice to hear that one card is sufficient for WoW, because I know, and you guys have agreed, that a monitor increase will blow me away as well. As much as I've read the X1900XTX is slightly better, I would not be able to Crossfire with my current motherboard. Also, I have an older SLI motherboard, which is not the 32X (16x for a single card, but 8x when in SLI mode - I know it's marginal gains, but it's something to point out).

So when is the waiting game becoming redundant?
Present: 30" $1550 + 7900GTX $500 = $2050.
6 Months: 30" $1550 - Depreciation + Next Gen $500 + ($50 to 100).
 
The waiting game is a waste of time. If you need more graphics horsepower to play the games you have now then go for it. But if you are buying a new video card to play future games then wait.

I remember when I bought the geforce 4 series card in anticipation for DOOM3. That was a total bummer.
 
Well that's what I was planning on doing. Getting it now, and enjoying the current games I play, and given later on a newer game comes out that requires some sick amount of horsepower, I'll use my 19" monitor until a video card upgrade is absolutely necessary. However, killerD made the point, why spend all the money for a monitor that I will only be able to use 1 game on, and he has a point. On the flip side to that, others have said that it will run fine, just don't use the fancy AA or HDR on demanding games.

I think my biggest concerned is that I'm looking at Oblivion framerates, and subconsciously thinking ALL games are as demanding as that, and that's really not the case. Unfortunately, I can't block it out of my head.
 
I would buy the monitor first. It's nice to have that much real estate when doing anything on a pc. I bought a 20 inch from Dell and wish I had picked up a bigger one or a second one.


Also, there are some nice deals on LCDs right now.
 
Well it seems to be settled. Perhaps I'll invest in the monitor in the next month or so, and grab a single 7900 GTX or X1900XTX - and milk that until I can't anymore and when that time comes a year from now, I'll do what is necessary. Until then, I'll be able to enjoy vast real estate and decent framerates.
 
for whatever it's worth, i'm getting near constant 50-60FPS all at max settings in WoW @ 2560x1600 with a x1900xt. just my 2cents, get the 30" if you can afford it along with a top end GPU. i'm pretty sure you will have very good if not awesome gaming experience with this monitor. sure you will not be able to crank everything all the way up, but 99% of the current games that came out including Oblivion, i only had to turn down some barely noticable eyecandies and AA to be able to get very good FPS. Also, at this kind of resolution, im pretty sure u wont need AA and AF, unless youre going to view this monitor from 1-1.5ft away (which i know you wont =) ). i'll never go back to anything smaller than 30" =)
 
AF doesn't have anything to do with the monitor's resolution. With out 2x AA edges will still look like crap. Especially against a contrasting color.
 
Why not just buy a 30'+ HDTV LCD with DVI inputs for a $1000 LESS then what Dell wants for it's 30"?

Wouldn't a HDTV LCD work just as good as this and save money?
 
I imagine it depends on the chipset of the LCD tv. I don't know a lot about that tech but i'm sure there are differences.
 
Well the Dell 30" is 1550, so minus 1000 = 550. I doubt any 30" HDTV comparable would come close to 550, because it would have to be 1080p true color, and that's tough to come by.

Secondly, HDTV's come in resolutions of 1280 x 720, 1366 x 768 or 1920 x 1080. That scale is 16:9. Computer resolutions for widescreen are 16:10, which is 1280 x 800, 1366 x 853.333 and 1920 x 1200. On top of that, the Dell 30" is 2560 x 1600, which just gives incredible real estate.

As hard as it is to believe, tv's just really aren't the best way to go for cpu monitors, imho. As far as AA, HDR and AF, my first order of business is to run everything in native resolution. Anything on top of that will just be an added bonus, and that's how I'm going to have to look at it until it's time for a CPU overhaul.
 
Obi_Kwiet said:
AF doesn't have anything to do with the monitor's resolution. With out 2x AA edges will still look like crap. Especially against a contrasting color.
Click to expand...

yes it does, for 2 reasons...

1) assuming we are playing at native rez, you got a 30" LCD (at 2560x1600) diagonal that has a pixel pitch size of .250mm compared to a 20" LCD monitor (at 1600x1200) that has a bigger pixel pitch size of .258mm
2) at this size, you will want to sit 3-3.5ft away...with a 20" monitor, you would want to sit about 1-1.5ft away

so if you think about it, with AA/AF off, you will almost be sure to see jaggies with the lower rez monitor (in this case the 20") since you have bigger pixels and you view it at a closer distance than the larger monitor that you view at a farther distance with much smaller pixels.
 
I got the same spec you have (except my card is x800xt).

I do have enough money for a huge upgrade but I won't wast them now. I plan to wait for a real upgrade when the new intel core 2 duo CPUs out this summer and get a DX10 card for future games and windows vista.

Ah and btw I'm WoW addict too and it's my main game atm and it runs so perfect so I won't rush in and upgrade my PC for some random games (Oblivion..etc).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top