Help with gaming monitor decision

[Swingman]

I want to get a LCD monitor for gaming but don't want to spend over $250

I'm looking for 19 inch monitors. Possibly bigger but 19 is enough for me.

I'm thinking of getting the NEC 90GX2 for $210 (after shipping) but unsure whether or not that would be the right choice.

 

[Vengance_01]

What Kind of rig do you have? Whats your max budget? If you plan to keep this LCD for a while, you might as well grab the best you can afford. I will be dropping 750$ on a new LG 24inch LCD. I plan to keep this bad boy for quite some time till new OLED, SED or something to that effect comes out.

 

[Swingman]

i don't have $750 to spend on a monitor. Max is around $250. I'd just keep my current 8 year old CRT monitor if there's no good options.

Right now I have...
Athlon 64 3200+
1 GB Ram
Geforce 6800

End of next month I plan to have...
C2D E6420
2 GB Ram
eVGA Geforce 8800 320 Superclocked

I want to stick with a size close to 19 inch because the bigger monitors need bigger resolutions. I'm going to need my soon to be new rig to last me a few years and I'd rather have future games run fast then try to play them on a huge monitor.

 

[Swingman]

bump

 

[Swingman]

Looks like majority likes the widescreen. Are there any GOOD widescreen LCDs that I could afford?

 

[dbthump]

You wanna drop all that jack on the rig, then cheap out on the LCD? Save up till you have at least $400 then you'll have many more options.

 

[Swingman]

I guess I just never see how monitors are worth close to half what it costs to build the computer.

What scares me with widescreen is the ratio difference. A lot of games don't support widescreen and then might not support both 16:10 and 16:9. Widescreen monitors need to stick with one ratio IMO.

 

[Steve01S4]

I guess I'm the opposite... I don't really see why you'd spend a lot of money on a system and not be able to interact well with it. If your monitor sucks (and your keyboard and mouse), how enjoyable is it going to be to actually use the system? I know how bad my 8 year old CRT looks, and it barely justifies the PCI FX5200 it's hooked up to. Maybe yours has aged better than mine, but if you're going to drop the cash on an 8800GTS, you probably want to be able to take advantage of the extra image quality you'll get running at max settings. Also consider that a good monitor will probably outlast your PC. Think of a $400 monitor as $200 for this PC and $200 for your next one. If I could afford it, I'd happily spend more on displays than on the system itself.

I haven't really kept up with monitors in that price range, but I think there are a few 19-20" widescreens under $300 that shouldn't be too bad. I think Dell has a 20" for $279 or so, though I haven't seen it in person. A 24" or 30" might be overkill for you, but if you buy a nice 20" widescreen, you'll definitely thank yourself.

 

[Swingman]

I care more about framerate than getting the best image possible. I'm sure my CRT isn't showing me awesome graphics but it looks good to my untrained eye.

You spend a lot of money on the system so you can play current games well and hopefully near future games. The monitor doesn't slow you down.

2 reasons I want a LCD is I'm on my computer a lot and heard they are better on your eyes. Also, they look nicer and save space.

I see what you're saying but it's the computer doing all the work. I shouldn't have to pay anywhere near as much just to see what it's doing lol

For $280 at Dell Outlet, I could get the Dell Refurbished UltraSharp 2007WFP 20-inch Widescreen Flat Panel LCD Monitor.

Maybe the price will drop in time.

 

[CruzCtrl]

I went with the outlet Dell myself and I don't think that for the money I could have done any better at the time.

Make the leap and don't look back (I haven't regreted it and money was tight).

 

[Swingman]

Thanks for the advice guys. I think i'm leaning towards the refurbished Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP. Since my new PC won't be finished for another month or so, I'll keep an eye on the price. They have a lot of them (hopefully that's not a bad sign) so they shouldn't run out.

 

[malicious]

i was in your boat until recently

i also wanted a wide screen bec i thought it was "cool"

the problem for me was the resolutions that they run...

at first i looked at 19 wide screen ~1400x900 and then the 20 and 22 inchers 1680x1050 most of them

(it turns out the 19" ones look really small in person)

the problem is that I'm a mainstream gpu purchaser at best so the games that i play can't run very well at the 20-22 res's (1689x1050)

for me the balance was 1280x1024 so i went with a standard 19"

The one i bought (just now actually) is in fact the 90gx2-BK - i'll have it on Saturday

it was 169 after rebate and 183 shipped to my door (after rebate)...

i'm going from a cloudy ass old 19" KDS crt so it will surely be money well spent...

hope you find the one that works for you...




edit: i bought from www.directron.com