Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: MP-Ryan on June 05, 2008, 11:35:21 pm
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So... I haven't really followed the PC hardware news since I bought my current system back in 2001. I'm painfully behind =\
We're now looking at buying a new desktop PC from Memory Express (http://www.memoryexpress.com). I have $2500 to spend (minus the sales tax, so the total price can't exceed $2380), but I know literally NOTHING about current hardware.
Hence, I consult other computer guys =)
Can anyone share some words of widsom? Either articles I should read, helpful sites I can check out, or even a set of specs from the MemX Configurator? (http://www.memoryexpress.com/SystemConfig/Default.aspx)
A couple conditions for the new machine:
-Yes, I'm going to get Vista with it. I'm assuming Home Premium is the best choice? I use XP pro now.
-I need a new monitor.
-I need a new keyboard.
-I need a new mouse.
-I do not need any software other than the OS.
-I could use a new set of speakers but they aren't mandatory. So those don't necessarily have to be included.
-I don't need any of the other peripherals MemX has listed other than those already mentioned.
-I want the hardware installed but I can install and configure the OS (so $40 instead of $70 on their option).
I want a rig that can do all the basics, play new games, and can be upgraded. High-end, but not top-end.
So... who can help me out? =)
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gigabyte motherboard in the DQ6 class
9800GX2
4GB ram
(intg audio will probly do)
Logitech speakers either z-2300 or z-5500
logi ultrax keyboard, logi G5 mouse
Samsung 22" monitor 226BW still looks like a good choise to me.
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My suggestions;
- Vista x64 Home Premium. You really should choose a 64-bit Win OS, otherwise you won't be able to use 4GB or more RAM.
- Gigabyte motherboards are a solid choice, I recommend either P35 or P45 series (P45 was just released). IMHO x38 and X48 aren't worth the price premium.
- 4-8 GB DDR2 RAM, RAM is rather cheap these days. Get lots before DDR2 prices increase significantly when DDR3 comes about.
- Core 2 Duo E8400. You can upgrade to quad-core in a 1-3 years when they are cheaper and better utilized by games and other software.
- Geforece 8800GT, 9600GT, 9800GTX or Radeon 3870 (4870 is coming soon). Geforce 9800GX2 or any other dual-GPU solution is waste of money. You can potentially save money if you upgrade to a new video card in 1-3 years instead of going for a dual-GPU. 9800GTX is a bit costly, personally I'd prefer the rest I mentioned for better bang for the buck.
- Onboard audio chip should be fine these days. But get a motherboard that has onboard audio from a manufacturer that offers drivers in their website. Otherwise you would be stuck with motherboard manufacturer to release drivers, which doesn't happen often. Realtek is one of such manufacturer that offers drivers in their website and ALC889A is currently their top chip.
- This topic will help you to choose your monitor: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=2049206&enterthread=y
Oh, almost forgot. Don't skimp on power supply, get one from a quality manufacturer. Wattages aren't everything, a quality 500W PSU can supply more power than a bad or mediocre quality 650W PSU. Antec EarthWatts are probably an exception, since they are affordable but yet good quality PSU's. Get a 500W or 650W Antec EarthWatts and you should have a good PSU that lasts years.
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have to dissagree on the onboard audio, not great for gameing no eax, ds3d, openal
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heres a crash course in modern diy system building.
first thing you do is decide amd or intel. once youve decided find a mobo. amds have a reputation for power whorism, while intels used to have a reputation for being whores in general. root for the underdog or go with the giant, i just go with who makes the better cpu at the time.
start with a motherboard and work your way out. look for a mobo which has all the connections you want, slots, ports, sockets whatever. make sure all the ports are up to current standards, pcix 16 2.0 i think is the big one to wory about, if you plan sli/crossfire configs, make sure the slots can operate at full speeds when more than one is used bandwidth bottlenecks to your video card suck.
check the qvl mem list (go to the manufacturers site), most motherboards have a list of ram that is tested and known to work with that board. i buy ram according to that list as a rule of thumb, but i think the days of random memory non-functionality are over. check your mobo specs and try to get the best ram you can afford. get the highest rate and look at the latecny, memory bottlenecks are an expensive *****. i usually fill up 2 slots (dual channel kits are usually good) with the amount i want and leave the other 2 open for upgrade, unless you get an insane amount of ram. or use more, lower capacity sticks if theres a latency advantage.
cpu comes next, check the socket specs and compatible cpu types. you might want to go tot he manufacturers website and download a manual for a board your looking at to see what it can take. get the best you can afford. go for dual cores if your a gamer and quad cores if all you do is mod (makes photoshop an order of magnitude faster i hear). most cpus now are x64 and frankly i wouldn't buy a 32 bit cpu anyway. get over your 32 bit fanboyism, your slowing down technological progress if you do :D get the best one you can afford and look at benchmarks here.
once your core system is established, pick a video card. whether it me nvidia or ati doesn't really matter. know the good and bads of each. nvidia is good if you like open gl, ati if youre a windows whore and dont mind the inferior directx standards. be sure it works with your port on your mobo.
now pick a psu that can handle twice the power requirements of all that stuff. and a case that can fit it all. don't skimp on a psu especially if you plan to upgrade. you can use one of the many psu calculators out there if you dont know how to look for power requirements in online manuals. i like to count watts myself. also look at the cooling. stock coolers are ok if you dont plan overclocking. use your own thermal compound if you want a performance rig. im still on the same tube of artic silver 5 that i bought last year. get extra fans as needed, look at cfm values and noise levels if you give a **** about that stuff. i like at least 2 case fans in addition to fans in things like psus, vid cards, and the cpu. passive cooling is at your own peril.
now pick other knick knacks like drives, sound cards, speaks, accessories, fan controllers, pimp kits, extra usb ports,card readers, network gizmos, ect. and you may need additional cables. for drives a 3.0 gb/sec sata does nicely. you can get sata burners too. i dont like pata anymore sence it hasnt improved much sence 2001, they just keep em in for legacy purposes, and people who want to move their files over from their old computer in a hurry.
then you can build it, prep the case, get the psu in, put in the port plate that comes with the mobo. and fans in (mind their orientation!). shake out foreign objects, you may need to modify it abit, sheet metal shears and a hacksaw are sometimes, but not often, required. now ground everything, esd damage sucks and is expensive. ground your table your floor, plug in the case (leave the psu master switch on off), ground yourself if you want. i usually just rest my arm on the plugged in case while i work, thats why you leave the master off. if you know somone with a static free clean room at their disposal, see if they will let you sneak in to build the thing.
mount your mobo. dry fit it first so you can find sets of holes that lign up, place standoffs accordingly. some people like to build the core system (ram, cpu, mobo) out of the case and then insert it, i dont, because you loose any grounding benefits of being in constant contact to the grounded case during assembly. once stand offs are in, count them and make sure you put the same number of screws in. a lost standoff shorting out your board sucks. also when fitting the ports into their port panel, make sure none of the tabs enter the ports, i had this happen to me once and was pissed that i couldn't plug a network cable in because the contact tab went into the port instead of around it. finally bolt the thing down. if you have any 3 pin case fans (mobo regulated), hook them up now.
if you havent already add your ram and cpu. c2ds have what seems to me an over elaborate means of installing a processor and heat sink, i think amd still has the zif socket with the nifty little lever you pull back so you can drop in the chip, then you got to deal with the infernal mounting bracket. the c2d mounting system sorta scared me for a moment, because i didnt feel like i used enough force to install it. dont run a cpu without the fan it will fry in a few miliseconds. if you do, and thats bad. oh and dont forget to connect the fan to the proper header.
memory installation hasnt changed much. line up the notches and push it in till it snaps. if you got dual channel, be sure you stick them in slots that are both of channel a or b, dont stick one in an a and one in a b or it wont be dual channel mode.
shove your video card in there, well not really. most high end videocards are heavy enough to set themselves. :D if your mobo has multiple slots, and you dont have multiple cards, theres usually a primary pcix slot you should use, rtfm!
all the other drives and cards go in as usual. accessories vary, again rtfm on those. if your case has a rail system, put the right rails on the right drives. wire the front panel, leds need to have the correct polarity. the mobo manual and the case manual will be helpful there. nowadays the conections are spelled out for you right on the mobo in big bold letters (too many ****ing rmas from so called geeks back in the 90s :D).
hook up all your data cables after that, and any back panel brackets that came with the mobo. most mobos have usb and firewire headers littered across the board, and seldom do all of them get used (see the paragraph on accessories). extra usb ports come in handy if you want to use a ch control config and a track ir and still want a place to plug your usb keyboard, mouse, and your webcam that you never use, or even a printer if your totally archaic. run any ribbon cables if you have any, if your using them at all, electrical tape and zipties suddenly become useful. try not to block airflow.
ok, start hooking up power cables. start with your mobo and work your way up from their. get the 24 pin cable in there, and the 4/8 pin connector for the cpu. then hook up your video card's extra power. then plug in your 4 pin fans (these are constant speed or self regulated), drives, and other accessories. assuming you didnt **** up horribly, the thing should boot to an error message that tells you you for got to drop you os installer in the drive.
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have to dissagree on the onboard audio, not great for gameing no eax, ds3d, openal
Vista doesn't have DS3D anymore and EAX is nothing more than bunch of extra vendor specific effects on top of DS3D. The only remaining player is OpenAL. Creative cards do support OAL through ALchemy, but is it worh the trouble of putting up with ****ty Creative drivers? In my opinion, no.
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seems most mobos come with pretty decent sound so as to make sound cards somewhat obsolete. so long as you got good speaks it will sound ok. a good sound card never hurts though. i ****ing hate vista's audio settings something fierce. its a convoluted mess now. settings that were spread across a couple control panel applets and at most a couple tabs, now take up 3x more space while not really providing anything we didnt already have in win 95.
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Why are you getting Vista? :wtf: :eek2:
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we know whats gonna happen, it happened with every other version of windows. people hate it, people ***** about it, but then through nothing other than microsoft's whorism, it will manage to infest almost every computer that can be bought. and because most people cant be bothered with linux they will have to settle with windows. and eventually xp will reach the end of its service life. ms will wash its hands of it. they all those people who *****ed and moaned will be staring at a vista logo wondering how the **** it got there.
microsoft markets to manufacturers, not to individuals. that fact alone makes them as powerfull as they are. its not the geeks which make or break os software lines, its the average layman joe blow user who decides what operating system you will use. mocrosoft power base is based solely on the ignorance of the average consumer.
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Also remember that modern hard disk drives are generally worse in quality than the older drives. My friend who runs small business with computers gets busted hard disks back almost daily. Samsungs, Western Digitals, Seagates it doesn't seem to matter anymore. So make sure you get good warranties for those. And if you are want to make sure that you wont lose any data either regular backups or then buying multiple HDDs from different production lots and making use of RAID is the way to go
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Why are you getting Vista? :wtf: :eek2:
Because whether you like it or not, XP is obsolete. You either have to get XP x64 or Vista x64 to support full 4GB of RAM or more, Vista is by far the better choice. Unless you don't play games, then you can go with linux. But in that case I doubt you'd have to upgrade hardware anyway.
I've used Vista x64 SP1 for many months now. And to be honest, I have absolutely no reason to switch back to XP. Whatever XP does, Vista does at least as well if not better.
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"I've got a bad feeling about this [thread]."
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Why are you getting Vista? :wtf: :eek2:
Because whether you like it or not, XP is obsolete. You either have to get XP x64 or Vista x64 to support full 4GB of RAM or more, Vista is by far the better choice. Unless you don't play games, then you can go with linux. But in that case I doubt you'd have to upgrade hardware anyway.
I've used Vista x64 SP1 for many months now. And to be honest, I have absolutely no reason to switch back to XP. Whatever XP does, Vista does at least as well if not better.
what he said :)
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The prices and selection on that site don't seem to be that good. If you're in Canada, NCIX has a better selection. I think they do hardware preinstalls if you want that.
As a general rule for a gaming setup, you want to go heavy on the monitor and video card and skimp on the other things if necessary. You have a nice budget to work with, so get a GTX 280 or 260 (coming out in less than two weeks) and a DoubleSight 263N, which is the best sub-30" LCD right now. Fury's suggestions are good for most of the other stuff.
have to dissagree on the onboard audio, not great for gameing no eax, ds3d, openal
It's worth it only if you have fairly high end speakers or headphones to pair it up with. Onboard audio has improved a lot in the last few years, to the point that the difference will be minimal to an average user. I'm also not sure what the situation with Creative's Vista drivers is like these days (and they are basically the only option as far as gaming goes).
Oh, almost forgot. Don't skimp on power supply, get one from a quality manufacturer. Wattages aren't everything, a quality 500W PSU can supply more power than a bad or mediocre quality 650W PSU. Antec EarthWatts are probably an exception, since they are affordable but yet good quality PSU's. Get a 500W or 650W Antec EarthWatts and you should have a good PSU that lasts years.
The low end Earthwatts are great budget units but the more powerful ones are too expensive for what they are. The PCP&C and Corsair models are better deals around the $100 pricepoint.
I've used Vista x64 SP1 for many months now. And to be honest, I have absolutely no reason to switch back to XP. Whatever XP does, Vista does at least as well if not better.
It makes sense to get it for a new system, but it doesn't do much more than XP that would justify an upgrade either. Vista 64 (not 32) also has an annoying limitation where it doesn't let you use unsigned drivers without some cumbersome workarounds. This is actually the main thing preventing me from switching to it, as this is needed for refresh rate forcing methods to work.
Also, there is no current game that uses more than the 2.5GB or so that a 32-bit OS limits you to. Some content creation programs like Photoshop can use more. It's probably a good idea to get 4GB anyway though, given the memory prices right now.
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Use NCIX.com in conjunction with shopbot.ca and Price Match.
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Use NCIX.com in conjunction with shopbot.ca and Price Match.
I have been burnt by NCIX before and I will never shop there again. Ever. Memory Express is a local shop with absolutely fantastic customer service. I have no problem paying a little bit more to support them.
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OK, multiple reply:
1. I'm not doing the hardware assembly. I'll do the OS install, etc, but I don't mind paying $40 to have a tech put the components together. Not worth my time.
2. I've read and heavily relied on the ArsTechnica's Buyer Guides for the "Hot Rod" and priced out a couple systems. Both arrived at ~1900 total (taxes and everything included).
3. I'm not buying until at least the end of June, potentially end of July. So component availability will change.
4. Having had bad luck with HD's in the past, I'll probably buy 2 500 GB SeaGate's and stick them in RAID 1.
5. The ANtec Sonata III case I'm eying has a 520W EarthWatt in it, so I think I'm good for PSU. I thought about adding a Corsair but for an extra $100 it doesn't much seem worth it (especially as these Antex's get pretty good reviews).
6. The RAM advice I may need more of - RAM remains one of those cryptic things when it comes to specifications and compatibility that makes me nervous. But checking the motherboard sites is a great idea I hadn't thought of so thank you for that Nuke.
7. I'm reluctantly taking the advice of several articles and buying a dedicated sound card (Creative X-Fi) because onboard sound still isn't quite up to snuff. I am buying a motherboard with onboard sound just in case though. Much as Creative drives me insane, I don't know if I have much other choice if I want the features afforded by X-Fi (other than Auzentech).
8. I am extremely reluctantly going with Vista x64 for the 4 GB RAM support and because eventually I'm going to be forced into that OS anyway (however, I fully plan on setting it up to dual boot with a Linux distro, once I settle on one). I'm quite a fan of XP, especially after SP2 and SP3, but alas MS is going to force us all eventually. I figured I might as well do it now. I'm leaning towards Vista Ultimate because its only $80 more than Premium and comes with all of Vista's features (the drive encryption could be useful).
Lastly, I will post the specs of whatever PC I settle on for you fellows to review and suggest changes before I pull the trigger. I'll also be garnering the advice of a few friends who work in IT.
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1. Nothing to say.
2. Nothing to say.
3. Get the GT280 that will be out.
4. Get the Samsung SpinPoint F1 series, they have excellent reviews, and are fast performers.
5. Nothing to say.
6. For RAM, OCZ, G-Skill, Crucial, Mushkin, Kingston are your best bets. I've heard bad things about Corsair. Make sure that the RAM is dual channel DDR2-800 or higher, and try to get 4 GB, in two sticks of 2 GB. This will leave you with two more slots to add more later, and it's only about 100-110$. Make sure that it's dual-channel, unless you use AMD CPU. Try to get low latencies and high timing numbers (e.g: 3-3-3-9 [that's not an example of a good number, rather what they look like]) as a general rule.
7. Nothing to say, but they do give super sound. Under 50$, I wouldn't get one though, as they don't seem to be much better than onboard. (going by reviews)
8. I'd get 64, and 4 GB of RAM is definitely worth it if you'll be doing any gaming.
As for a monitor, the BenQ G2400W seems to have the best price-performance ratio in your budget.
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Vista Home Premium is a good choice for the average user/gamer. Ultimate doesn't offer anything really compelling unless you want one of its specific features...if you need to go find a comparison chart and see if you're one of those people. Otherwise, Home Premium is the only one to consider. Thats what I have and I'm quite happy with it.
New Monitor...I'm not up on these by part number but compare Samsung, LG, BenQ and any of the other manufacturers. 19in is the typical size now. 17in is usually only a few dollars cheaper now so its not worth it...go for the bigger 19in.
New mouse and keyboard...up to you. Logitech and Microsoft both make good products. Logitech's latest laser mice are really nice...even the cheaper ones like the G5.
Not up on speakers these days but Altec Lansing is always a hold out for me and have always been happy with their products. Logitech apparently makes allot of speakers.
For price/performance the Core 2 Duo is the best option. Buy a higher dual core or go quad if you can afford it. The higher dual cores are usually the best performance/dollar value option but always research the model numbers and correlate to benchmarks.
I bought my ram from Mushkin for my current C2D system. Smaller company but very good RAM from my experience. Absolutely solid *touch wood*.
Video card is a hard one...if you want wait for the latest and greatest...its all coming out in the next month or two. So good deals on the old stuff and really spectacular power on the new ones (of course).
Make sure you get a power supply that is capable. If its a gaming rig with gaming hardware in it (even if its not top end)...minimum 600W now. It sounds extravagant but buy a good PSU and one with a higher wattage. The price is easily worth not having to replace the system a few years later because its blown out. Aim for getting a high efficiency unit. Antec makes good stuff normally but there are other good manufacturers as well. Most systems don't need the 600W all at once but you need the overhead on the most recent systems once you get going...during idle the latest systems have never needed less power and clock themselves back really nicely.
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Um... IceFire. The usual monitor on even cheap PCs now is 22", and he has enough money to get the BenQ G2400W, one of hte best gaming-monitors available. (as stated by AnAndTech)
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having seen my share of the computer manufacturing business, and hearing all the horror stories my boss at the time told me about his previous techs, id be very careful about who you have build your machine. i know a few people who trusted a company to build a computer correctly, just to have parts fail at random and having to ship it back and forth (which gives hds a chance to recieve shock damage). technology is a lesson in halfassery and if you want something done right you gotta do it yourself. i can build a computer in less than 20 minutes, not counting any component research (which youre doing anyway :D ). now is probibly the best time to build computers yourself. back in the 90s it was possible to fry compnents with botched jumper settings, nowadays everything auto configures and all you got to do is plug in a few connectors. besides, its fun :D
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besides, its fun :D
That it is. And yeah, give it a try building it yourself, you'll learn a lot, and have fun.
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6. The RAM advice I may need more of - RAM remains one of those cryptic things when it comes to specifications and compatibility that makes me nervous.
Among the options that site offers, this stuff (http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX19639(ME).aspx) is known to be very good and runs at 1.8V stock for maximum motherboard compatibility.
7. I'm reluctantly taking the advice of several articles and buying a dedicated sound card (Creative X-Fi) because onboard sound still isn't quite up to snuff. I am buying a motherboard with onboard sound just in case though. Much as Creative drives me insane, I don't know if I have much other choice if I want the features afforded by X-Fi (other than Auzentech).
I agree that the X-Fi is still worth it for a high end system, but make sure you invest in some good speakers or headphones as well. A good set of speakers on onboard audio will sound far better than crappy speakers on an X-Fi.
6. For RAM, OCZ, G-Skill, Crucial, Mushkin, Kingston are your best bets. I've heard bad things about Corsair. Make sure that the RAM is dual channel DDR2-800 or higher, and try to get 4 GB, in two sticks of 2 GB. This will leave you with two more slots to add more later, and it's only about 100-110$. Make sure that it's dual-channel, unless you use AMD CPU. Try to get low latencies and high timing numbers (e.g: 3-3-3-9 [that's not an example of a good number, rather what they look like]) as a general rule.
No, timing numbers are the same thing as latencies, and lower is better. Although they have a minimal impact on C2D performance anyway, so it's not worth spending more than a few dollars here and there for them.
Um... IceFire. The usual monitor on even cheap PCs now is 22", and he has enough money to get the BenQ G2400W, one of hte best gaming-monitors available. (as stated by AnAndTech)
I don't know where you heard that. The G2400W is good for what it is but is easily outclassed by numerous 8-bit LCDs with the same resolution, especially that DoubleSight IPS I mentioned earlier. With a $2500 budget, the monitor is the last thing you want to skimp on.
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Um... IceFire. The usual monitor on even cheap PCs now is 22", and he has enough money to get the BenQ G2400W, one of hte best gaming-monitors available. (as stated by AnAndTech)
Scanned through a Futureshop advertisement and didn't see any 22in with the cheapo computers. A few have them but not the cheapos. Plus that size is overly extravagant in my mind...19in is a great size and usually has the standard aspect ratio which causes fewer problems for games not published in the last few months (albeit with some exceptions).
Depends allot on pricing and whats wanted/required. 19in is still probably the best price for what you're getting.
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Oh and I'll chip in another one for building yourself. A few tutorials online, the manuals that come with the products, and 4-5 hours and you'll have done it yourself and will know the job you did. I've built 4-5 machines now....takes a bit of knowledge, sometimes requires reading a manual or two just to get it right and its often nice to have some help while doing it but its a great experience and often ends up with a higher quality machine. Worth considering.
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Well IceFire, you picked the exact RAM that I priced into my ballpark price system, so I'm glad to see I'm picking the right components.
The monitor I've selected (for now) is the 22" Samsung SyncMaster 226BW, 2ms lag time and 3000:1 display. That BenQ is on the list and comes recommended by ArsTechnica, but its a little pricier and I've heard great things about this Samsung. Then again, it all depends on the prices when I go to actually finally configure and buy this thing.
...about assembly...
I've rebuilt my current PC three times, assembling it entirely from components once. Having done that, I have precisely NO desire to do it again. I don't mind swapping components during upgrades but if I can pay these guys $40 to do it for me (with all the cable management) then so much the better. My friends and I all buy our hardware from them now, we've all had great experiences, and I trust their techs. There's really no reason for me to do it myself when I can walk in, pick up the assembled system, and know without a doubt that its assembled correctly and as efficiently as humanly possible. So yeah... I'm not doing it. Not out of fear or inexperience, but out of convenience.
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Um... IceFire. The usual monitor on even cheap PCs now is 22", and he has enough money to get the BenQ G2400W, one of hte best gaming-monitors available. (as stated by AnAndTech)
I don't know where you heard that. The G2400W is good for what it is but is easily outclassed by numerous 8-bit LCDs with the same resolution, especially that DoubleSight IPS I mentioned earlier. With a $2500 budget, the monitor is the last thing you want to skimp on.
HARDCORE GAMING (CRT-like response)
* Low response time
* Low input lag
* High brightness
1. 22": LG L227WT, 1680x1050 (16:10)
* Panel: TN (LPL LM220WE3); 6-bit+Hi-FRC, 16.7M colors
* Image Delay (rt+lag): 0 - 0 - 0
* Specifications: LG L227WT
* HDCP Compliant: Yes
* More Info: prad.de
* Notes: US model is L227WTG-PF (glossy). Excellent gaming monitor (zero input lag). Vibrant colors.
* Price: ~$290 USD
2. 19": LG Flatron L1960TR, 1280x1024 (5:4)
* Panel: TN (LG.Philips LM190E06); 6-bit+FRC, 16.2M colors
* Image Delay (rt+lag, estimated): Low (10 ms)
* Specifications: LG Flatron L1960TR
* HDCP Compliant: No
* Notes: Extremely fast for gaming, great response time control. Sometimes LG models are hard to find. The ones in the L1900-1970 range are usually the ones you want. The only ones suitable for gaming are those rated 2 ms (g2g). Most of the 5 ms (bwb) versions have no overdrive, so they are slower (20 ms). The $200 L1933TR available at Circuit City and Best Buy is likely identical to the L1960TR. Seems just to be different VESA mount and look. TR, TQ, and TX models tend to have overdrive. Models like S do not.
* Price: ~$270 USD
3. 25.5": DoubleSight DS-263N, 1920x1200 (16:10)
* Panel: WG H-IPS (LG.Philips LM260WU1); true 8-bit, 16.7M colors
* Image Delay (rt+lag): <1 frame (thank you ToastyX of HardForum)
* Specifications: DoubleSight DS-263N
* HDCP Compliant: Yes
* Notes: Quite possibly best value on the market. High quality H-IPS panel with good implementation. Good screen uniformity. Very similar to PX2611W but cheaper. Low input lag, good response! Scaling options (1:1, 4:3, fill) available. Some known to have A-TW polarizer.
* Price: ~$700 USD
4. 25.5": Planar PX2611W, 1920x1200 (16:10)
* Panel: WG H-IPS (LG.Philips LM260WU1); true 8-bit, 16.7M colors
* Image Delay (rt+lag): 16 ms (~1 frame) (thank you ToastyX of HardForum)
* Specifications: Planar PX2611W
* HDCP Compliant: Yes
* Notes: Fast, little input lag. Same panel as the LCD2690WUXi without the extra viewing angle compensation film (see NEC entry for more details). Poor variety of inputs for multimedia.
* Price: ~$880 USD
5. 24": BenQ G2400W, 1920x1200 (16:10)
* Panel: TN (Unknown Part Number); 6-bit+Hi-FRC, 16.7M colors
* Image Delay (rt+lag): 1.9 - 3 - 3
* Specifications: BenQ G2400W
* HDCP Compliant: Yes
* More Info: prad.de
* Notes: Better quality than Samsung 245BW, cheaper.
* Price: ~$390 USD
EDIT: Didn't see the LG there, but yeah, that would probably be better.
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I have LG L227WT and I love it. It's very good for gaming and movies.
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Given that my last Samsung HDs (high rated) had 100% failure rate after 2 month operation i certainly would avoid those as well as i could.
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EDIT: Didn't see the LG there, but yeah, that would probably be better.
You're looking at the "hardcore gaming" category on that. That list gives priority to low response time and input lag above anything related to image quality or size, which is why it mostly consists of otherwise low end TNs. For most people, the "multimedia" category has more appropriate recommendations, which is dominated by the IPS monitors. (which, unlike the VAs, are almost as fast as the TNs)
As a general rule, it's a good idea to spend about 1/3 of the total system's price on the display, which is in many ways the most important component of the setup. A cheap TN doesn't make much sense in this case.
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Oh.
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Why are you getting Vista? :wtf: :eek2:
Because whether you like it or not, XP is obsolete. You either have to get XP x64 or Vista x64 to support full 4GB of RAM or more, Vista is by far the better choice. Unless you don't play games, then you can go with linux. But in that case I doubt you'd have to upgrade hardware anyway.
I've used Vista x64 SP1 for many months now. And to be honest, I have absolutely no reason to switch back to XP. Whatever XP does, Vista does at least as well if not better.
The extra 512 MB isn't worth it for the piece of complete and utter **** you get, so unless you're getting more than 4 gigs of RAM don't even bother