[Geeks] System upgrade

[karohemd]

In the next few months, I'm in the market for a new monitor. My 15" CRT still works but I really want something bigger. As a 19" CRT won't fit onto my desk, I'm looking for a flat panel.

This one seems to have the specs I want and need and is well within my budget. Reviews are excellent, too.
Going up a notch in size and res (to 1600x1200), this looks awesome and has the reviews (incl. one from a photog) to prove it.
Thoughts?

As currently I'm only using the in-built graphics of my motherboard, I also want a graphics card with DVI output that supports the maximum resolution of the monitor. I only need the res, I don't need any beefy graphics power as I won't do 3D and no high-end gaming. Suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any hints.

Comments

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Monitor looks pretty good. What type of slot do you have for the graphics card on the motherboard?

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

I think only AGP 4x or PCI, not PCI Express.

[new-brunette.livejournal.com]

Can you stretch to 20/21" to give you 1600x1200? I bought mine for about £150 second-hand on ebay and it's absolutely fantastic for image processing.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

I can, my desk might not be able to. ;o)
The issue isn't budget, it's space. I need to have a good look at the actual physical dimensions of a 21" and if that would fit into the space I've got.

What make/model is yours?

[new-brunette.livejournal.com]

Mine's a Philip's mumble mumble. It's a couple of years old. I'll take a look when I get home.

[davefish.livejournal.com]

Seconded, pixel numbers are the best thing ever for using any image processing.

[echo-echo.livejournal.com]

Let me know how you get on with it.

What I could really do with is a dual head card so I can run two side by side for music tasks and have the mixer in one and the sequencing in the other.

[mergryphon.livejournal.com]

We use all viewsonic's at work, and I have one at home I'm incredibly happy with. They also get great reviews. The site you reference has a five star widescreen for a bit less than the dream one you linked, and their prices are quite reasonable for the quality.

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/120822

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

I've heard good things about viewsonic, too.

[suzerain.livejournal.com]

I'd go for the bigger one, whatever the space issues... move things a bit, knock holes in the wall, glue speakers to the undeside of the table... anything.

I honestly could'nt live without my monitor. (22inch Mitsubishi Diamond Pro - I run at 1600x1200 for normal stuff, 2048x1536 res for texturemapping and 3d modelling, with a pair of BFG Geforce7900OC SLI PCI-E cards to actually cope with that resolution.), though it is a CRT, and frankly, is too big for fitting on most tables, it's the best purchase I've ever made.

going back to "only" a 19-inch TFT at 1280x1024 makes me go "argh, it's all tiny, I can't see a thing!". a decent 20"+ TFT will really make your photography _so_ much easier...

[suzerain.livejournal.com]

oh, and for graphics, you're going to really struggle to find many AGP graphics cards at all nowadays - they're actually more expensive than pci-e now, like for like, and agp4x is completely superceded. agp8x cards will run fine, just with a bottleneck to the motherboard.

if you can, I'd suggest a geforce 6600/6800board, but a quick look on Novatech's listings has very few made. you don;t need the polygon-melting power of the 7n/8n series cards, and the 6-series are pretty good - I used a single 6800ultra for a long time for 3d and graphics and it worked well.

if money's not a worry for a board, http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?BFG-76GS5
I can really reccommend BFG cards, even though that one will have more 3d processing power than you'll pretty much ever need- my BFG cards have worked flawlessly since my last Asus card blew up, and nvidia's drivers are dead simple to run, and have graphics control panels that should let you look at altering the monitor output along with your monitor settings to allow you to set up for proper print calibration - what you see on the screen will be what you print.

which I'm sure you'll value.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your tips!
I need to have a look at my motherboard specs but I don't think I've got PCI-E and I'm not sure about the speed of the AGP.

[suzerain.livejournal.com]

I say, misreading your post. Doh - previous one deleted :)

[suzerain.livejournal.com]

generally speaking, AGP's fairly backwards compatible, so even if you've got a AGP4x motherboard, a 8x card will run just fine. the bottleneck simply means it'll not get up to it's absolute maximum potential bandwidth, but unless you're about to become a mouse-twitching Counter-Strike fiend, that's really not going to be an issue for your uses, I expect.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

*nods* I just need a card for the DVI output and the resolution, really.