Shoudl I go Widescreen?

[rprice999]

Hi All - been a long time since I have been here good to see things are still quite active.

Had a question about an upgrade here...currently running an outdated box (p4p800, p43.0C@3.6, 1 gig Ram, 9800 Pro). Not ready to jump up to a whole new rig (yeah I know I am way outdated now) so going to upgrade to an X1950 Pro AGP card, 2 gigs Ram and a nice new monitor...

I am trying to decide if I should go with:
- 19 Inch Standard LCD
- 19 Inch Wide Screen LCD
- 20 Inch Wide Screen LCD

You can get all of these for less than $200 now which is insane. For gaming though how much value is widescreen? How many games support it? If a game doesnt support wide screen do you just have two black bars on the sides?

Also What about resolution...I mean I am happy to chug along at 1024x768 on my lil 17 inch CRT, but if go up to a 20 Inch wide that's 1680 x 1050 pixels to be pushing! I imagine it shortens the usable life of any graphics card because with and LCD you have less freedom to run at lower resolutions correct?

I suppose I have a lot of questions heh, just looking for some enlightenment I suppose. If anyone has any insight to add I'd love to hear it.

Thanks!

 

[PhoenixOrion]

an x1950 agp should be able to handle resolutions of 19-20" wide for recent games and for games coming out this year.

imo with monitors, the more real estate = the better the experience.

most games came out or coming out have native support. if they don't it's as simple as an .ini fix or some config change to force it to the native resolution of your monitor.

the only downside of widescreen is if you still play a LOT of old games that can't support it at all such as starcraft, etc.

 

[Roguestar]

Stick with 4:3! Old school will never die, down with widescreen!

 

[Boyo]

I would go with the 19-20" wide screen. You will really notice the difference and appreciate it in games even more.

 

[programmer]

For gaming, I'd go with the 20" WS. For non-gaming, I much prefer 4:3 (20" non-widescreen) or 5:4 (19" non-widescreen).

 

[rprice999]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
Stick with 4:3! Old school will never die, down with widescreen!

LOL yeah i guess to keep true to my Rig's antiquated AGP flavor a standard monitor might keep with the theme better haha.

Been checking out these Sceptre jobies on Newegg, the price is sure right:
Newegg - Sceptre

I just wish they didnt have that blue LED logo, and I'd like something that swivels or pivots or whatever between vertical and horizontal view.

Looks like tons of people are buying these, just not sure what the difference is between the models.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
Stick with 4:3! Old school will never die, down with widescreen!

Screw that, widescreen FTW. I won't go back to 4:3 ever, I feel like I'm missing my peripheral vision

 

[Markbnj]

You won't ever be unhappy for going widescreen.

 

[harobikes333]

... really? ... i too have been thinking about widescreen... not sure though...

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Two years ago, I gave up my 19" CRT for 24" widescreen LCD.

Been happy ever since.

Last year, I bought 19" 5:4 LCD coz I wanted to go back playing some old school games and couldn't handle the stretched image on the wide.

 

[harobikes333]

thats what I've been thinking... the whole gaming issue sometimes...

 

[happy medium]

24 inch crt Sony widescreen ftw! About 300 bucks on ebay.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO

Originally posted by: Roguestar
Stick with 4:3! Old school will never die, down with widescreen!

Screw that, widescreen FTW. I won't go back to 4:3 ever, I feel like I'm missing my peripheral vision

But webpages scroll down! If I went widescreen I'd just feel like I'm missing stuff off the top and bottom .

 

[DBL]

Originally posted by: Roguestar

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO

Originally posted by: Roguestar
Stick with 4:3! Old school will never die, down with widescreen!

Screw that, widescreen FTW. I won't go back to 4:3 ever, I feel like I'm missing my peripheral vision

But webpages scroll down! If I went widescreen I'd just feel like I'm missing stuff off the top and bottom .

Should not matter unless the widescreen is a downgrade in resolution, in which case, you should probably consider a higher resolution widescreen monitor.

For instance, don't go from 1600x1200 monitor to a 1600x1080 monitor. Opt for a 1920x1200 widescreen.

 

[Canai]

Widescreen! I've got a 23" and can't stand 4:3 screens anymore.

 

[mercanucaribe]

20" but make sure you get the one that does 8 bit color. I think it's an Acer. Check Newegg. 19" are all crap, as are most 20 and 22" screens.

 

[Akki]

An X1950 will be able to handle any of those types of monitors easily.

Personally, I'm a fan of widescreen - 16:10 is so much better for movies and games. Almost any modern game supports 16:10 resolutions.

Movies/shows still aren't perfect, since they're 16:9... what I really want is a 16:9 24" monitor.

I'm a programmer so I use two 20" widescreens, in a setup similar to this.

 

[rprice999]

Originally posted by: Akki
An X1950 will be able to handle any of those types of monitors easily.

Personally, I'm a fan of widescreen - 16:10 is so much better for movies and games. Almost any modern game supports 16:10 resolutions.

Movies/shows still aren't perfect, since they're 16:9... what I really want is a 16:9 24" monitor.

I'm a programmer so I use two 20" widescreens, in a setup similar to this.

I like that setup....

finding an X1950 Pro AGP flavor has proven difficult in For Sale/Trade...might have to go retail for it, doh.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: Akki
An X1950 will be able to handle any of those types of monitors easily.

Personally, I'm a fan of widescreen - 16:10 is so much better for movies and games. Almost any modern game supports 16:10 resolutions.

Movies/shows still aren't perfect, since they're 16:9... what I really want is a 16:9 24" monitor.

I'm a programmer so I use two 20" widescreens, in a setup similar to this.

How are movies not perfect? Turn off stretching and it will look perfect.

 

[silverpig]

I don't think I'd spend the money on an AGP card. Sell your parts locally, and get a cheap C2D/7900GS system with 1 gig of ram (you can always add more) and a 20 inch widescreen.

 

[BoberFett]

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/index.php?title=Master_Games_List_-_A

And for anybody who loves having a tall monitor, couldn't you simply get a widescreen monitor and orient it vertically, and run that as your second monitor? That'd be a great setup, gaming on a widescreen while having a browser open on a tall screen. Most sites are designed for 1024x768 or less, so running at 1050x1680 you'd be seeing more than two full screens at once. I hadn't really considered that possibility before, but now I'm drooling at the thought.

 

[Icepick]

Widescreen is the way to go. Thinking about 19 or 20" monitor? Go with the largest monitor you can afford. For me it was the Dell 20" widescreen that I bought in summer 2005. I have never had any issues with it and it has not impaired my gaming. Granted, I don't play any old games. All of the new games I've played had native support for widescreen monitors. The extra real estate at 1680x1050 is excellent when I'm multitasking at my job.

Mark my words. Once you try widescreen you won't want to go back.

 

[Slammy1]

Technically, the 16x9 screen has less real estate than the same diagonal size 4:3 display. The reason for WS in MM is more about immersion, the same reason movies are often 2.35:1. Seeing things in the corners of your vision creates a 3-D effect. 4:3 is better suited for display of 11x8.5 documents and SDTV.

 

[rprice999]

Some good advice in here, thanks everyone, will post back when I pull the trigger and get setup etc.