Buying Monitor - Advice?

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Six O'Clock Shadow

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Hey all, been a while since I've had time for multiplayer.


Currently have a dead monitor on the desktop I use for CFS3 -- shopping for a new one.


Anyone have advice on monitors in general, or a particular model you like?


I'm replacing the 17" CRT that came with my machine in 2005.


Of course everything is LCD now, and 16:9 instead of 4:3.


From what I've read, the Twisted Nematic (TN) panels are the 'old school' LCD technology that offers faster response times, but worse color and worse color shift when viewed off angle.


The newer IPS screens have better color and almost no color shift, but can have slower response times.


This one looks like a good IPS screen:


http://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-VX2370SMH-LED-23-Inch-Monitor-Frameless/dp/B008RM235I/


But this TN panel is Amazon's top seller:


http://www.amazon.com/Asus-VS247H-P-23-6-Inch-Full-HD-LED-Lit/dp/B005BZNDS0/


Anyone have any thoughts for me on monitor selection, especially for CFS3?


I will be running via VGA since that's all my older desktop supports -- but I'm planning to buy a monitor with HDMI too for forward compatibility.


Thanks for all input!


-=6=-
 
A 5ms response time versus 2 ms is negligible imo, especially for CFS3. Best is to get as big a monitor as you can afford and I'd suggest a 24" or 26" monitor would be better than a 23" at the same resolution if you're doing anything which involves really small text or graphics. My monitor is 20" and I'd prefer a 22" monitor at the same resolution for Gmax model building, but 'tis too late now! :blind:
 
:wavey:Just got me this one from Amazon. an BenQ XL2420TE 144Hz, 1ms, :icon_eek:Still fine tuning it, think I'm gona get a better vid card an EVGA GeForce GTX760 SuperClocked card also from Amazon,:mix-smi:my GF8800 GT does'nt seem to hack it anymore:salute:
 
ME IM CURRENTLY RUNNING (3) VIA TRIPLE TO GO 39 INCH HAIER LCD TV AND ABSOLTULY LOVE IT GREAT FPS BENCH MARKING PLACES IT IN THE HIGH 80'S WITH ALL SETTING AT 5, AND IM RUNNING AN AN OLDER 9500 GT SLIGHTLY OCED FOR WHAT YOUR PAYING FOR A 23- 26 IN LCD MONITOR ID GO UP TO THE TV THEY WORKS JSUT AS WELL AND OFFER MORE OPTIONS
 
Get an LED monitor. They run really cool so they don'tr heat up the room and are even more enrgy efficient. I use a Viewsonic 24 inch and love it.

You might want to make sure if you need one that has an adjustable base and neck. The one I bought was very low priced but isn't adjustable so I got a stand to make it sit higher on my desk so I wasn't "looking down" at it. I love the setup now.
 
Thanks all for the good advice!

Just need to decide now between max size for 'more immersion', or a little smaller size with nicer specs, etc.

Looks like you can get a 'cheapie' 27" TN panel for about $199 if you wait for the right deal.

I just wonder if the 1920 x 1080 resolution spread across 27" starts to look grainy.

I'm leaning toward this 24" -- the 'poor man's' alternative to Old Tiger's monitor:

[h=3]BenQ RL2450HT[/h]
BenQ, 24", Adustable stand, but 2ms response and 60Hz refresh rates -- about $185.

One concern I have is that any 1920x1080 monitor may force me to buy a new computer, too.

I've been running CFS3 at 1024 x 768 = 786,000 pixels. It ran fine with all sliders maxed.

But 1920 x 1080 = over 2 million pixels. Will performance take a hit rendering three times the pixels per frame? Maybe!

My machine is an emachines T6524 with XP:

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ / 2.2 GHz
ATI Radeon Xpress 200 (RS482)
1GB of DDR SDRAM - 400 MHz

Don't laugh! ;) This was a pretty decently spec'd machine in 2005 when new -- just wondering how it will 'hold up' to the resolution of these modern monitors for playing CFS3.

Thanks again, all!

-=6=-
 
Six O'Clock Shadow said:
Thanks all for the good advice!


One concern I have is that any 1920x1080 monitor may force me to buy a new computer, too.

I've been running CFS3 at 1024 x 768 = 786,000 pixels. It ran fine with all sliders maxed.

But 1920 x 1080 = over 2 million pixels. Will performance take a hit rendering three times the pixels per frame? Maybe!

My machine is an emachines T6524 with XP:

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ / 2.2 GHz
ATI Radeon Xpress 200 (RS482)
1GB of DDR SDRAM - 400 MHz

Don't laugh! ;) This was a pretty decently spec'd machine in 2005 when new -- just wondering how it will 'hold up' to the resolution of these modern monitors for playing CFS3.

Thanks again, all!

-=6=-
Click to expand...

Hi, don't worry about the resolution! for some reason CFS3 runs happiest at the default resolution for the mon itor. so if you scaled back the resolution from full HD, it wouldn't run as well. The other trick is to use a digital connection to your video card if at all possible - it seems to reduce the load/improve the performance. So HDMI as first preference, otherwise whatever the best connection option is for your vid card, preferrably digital.

If you can use HDMI and use the native resolution of the monitor, you may even get an improvement on your current frame rates!

You can always turn a few things off in cfsconfig (eg terrain and scenery lighting, use terrain mips, turn off targetting cone, turn off water animation, etc etc) Better to lose some of this minor stuff than lose the wonderful eye candy of seeing an aircraft in all its glory at full res on an LED monitor - they look fantastic....

cheers,
DaiW
 
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