PC monitors, how much is overkill?

TwistedJester

I've come to the decision I need a new monitor, as I've had a 17" CRT only capable of 1024x768 for far too long. I want a wide screen monitor, I know that much. As it is right now, I'm looking at this 19" (1440x900) monitor, and this 22" (1680x1050) monitor.

For reference, I have a E4500 Core 2 Duo running at 3Ghz, 2 gigs of DDR2 800 RAM and a 7900GT with 256MB of ram.

At first I was thinking I would just get the first monitor I listed, as it's cheap and I think I could run stuff like Oblivion and City Of Heroes at the native resolution with most stuff turned up to high. However I've been told that I should get something more along the lines of the second monitor, because I'd be future proofing myself, and that the 7900 could handle what I mentioned above. I'm just not sure my machine could handle that resolution without turning settings lower and such. So... can my machine handle the higher resolution or should I just get the smaller monitor?

Also, how annoying is it running stuff in windowed mode? I have a few games that don't support widescreen, and if I ever got Crysis I probably couldn't run it with higher settings at those native resolutions.

TychoCelchuuu

I'd go for the bigger one. 1440x900 is just too small. City of Heroes should probably run fine at that res, and Oblivion might nto run with everything on max but it should do pretty well. It sort of comes down to whether you mind upscaling games that you can't run at the native res. I, for example, had no problem playing games at 320x240 (X-COM) on my 22" 1680x1050 monitor stretched all the way out, but some people might not like it. You have to decide if you want to assure yourself that you can always run in the native resolution, or eventually sometime in the future be forced to interpolate stuff that you can't run as well as you want to.

EggyToast

I'm a big fan of 20" and 19" monitors at normal desk sitting positions, with the screen about 2 feet away from you. But that's at 4:3 -- my 19" at home is 1600 x 1200. Honestly, I'd suggest that if those are the monitors you're looking at, at those resolutions, you should get the bigger one. Worst case scenario is that you'll want to get a newer video card, but even then, it'll be because you'll have a nice big monitor and can appreciate all the fancy shit going on.

If anything you'll run into more problems running games simply in widescreen rather than running into issues with the resolution.

Deviant Hands

This is overkill.

Glocjt

If you can roll with the 22", I'd say definitely go for it. Even if the 7900 struggles a bit pushing the pixels for the time being, like you said, you'd be set for whenever you rustle up some new parts.

And you actually get used the extra real estate really fast, too. I went from a 17" TFT to a Dell 24", and it felt just about totally natural within half an hour of usage.

TwistedJester

Thing is, getting a new video card wouldn't be that easy for me. I just upgraded the CPU, Mobo and Ram.

Thanatos

I'm fairly sure that Acer is my monitor.

I love it. I was running it on a subpar video card for quite some time, still loved it. Once my job gets rolling, and I get some more disposable income, I'm going to seriously consider getting another one, just because my video card has 2 DVI outputs.

I paid about $50 less than that for it, though, by waiting until it was on sale.

Blake T

You need to consider also that the screen can outlast system builds if you buy a decent enough screen.

Go for the 22".

KiTA

I currently have dual 19" widescreen monitors, and am seriously considering moving up to dual 22" widescreens. Having dual monitors is something you just can't explain to someone who hasn't had them before, it's quite a nice setup. I don't know if I could go back to a single monitor setup now.

Fofamit

I took at peek at that 22" monitor you posted... I recommend this one instead, it's the one I have and it's amazing. http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=012403&cid=MT.282

When you get a monitor try to get one with a good response time and a good contrast ratio.
(also note that Sony monitors are made by Samsung... Samsung is cheaper than Sony.... so go Samsung)