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scrubs23
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Monitor Questions...

Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:55 pm

Hello,
Well, I'm totally new to this website, but I had a question about LCD monitors.

I intend to get a new monitor because I need something that will get me through college that I can watch TV on, play my Xbox 360 on, and use my computer on. In my dorm rooms, I'm assuming there's limited room, so there's not going to be much space for a wall mount (not that they'll let me drill holes) or excessively huge monitors.

What size monitor should I look for? I currently own a 17 incher (blugh) LCD that came with my old computer. I've since upgraded my computer, but not my monitor. Right now, I'm running a EVGA 8800 GT, but I'm thinking about upgrading to 3 8800 Ultras. So, my price range is anywhere from $100-2000.

I have no clue what kind of connectors or plugs I should look for, nor do I know what brand names are better. What should I buy?
 
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:20 pm

Welcome to the forums.

Where do we suddenly get all these people so loaded with cash wanting to this nonsense known as triple SLI? :o

Even giving away that money to us is not that outrageous in the face of that.
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mortifiedPenguin
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:25 pm

I would say that if you're going to be using this in a double or triple (or even a quad) occupancy dorm room, you probably don't want anything particularly expensive sitting around. So a particularly large monitor and $1500+ worth of graphics cards + whatever other hardware you have probably isn't a good idea, unless you have a single room. If you do buy the Ultras, you have no budget for a monitor large enough to actually need them. A 20 - 24 inch monitor is what you're looking for and you'll have no need to upgrade your graphics with that GT.

Flying Fox wrote:
Where do we suddenly get all these people so loaded with cash wanting to this nonsense known as triple SLI?
Why do you want to do tri-SLI anyway?
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:29 pm

mortifiedPenguin wrote:
Flying Fox wrote:
Where do we suddenly get all these people so loaded with cash wanting to this nonsense known as triple SLI?
Why do you want to do tri-SLI anyway?

Don't ask me ask them. :P You should have known my position on this multi-card thing by now.
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mortifiedPenguin
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:36 pm

I meant the OP, of course. I do know your position and I agree.
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scrubs23
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 12:14 am

Ha. Thanks guys. Yeah I was figuring about 22 or 24 inches was good enough with a HDMI port for my 360. It's a double by the way, and I'm living with a good friend. By the way, for triple SLI....BECAUSE I CAN. No seriously, I'm thinking about buying the 3 cards and then giving them and my 780i mobo to my little bro when the next best thing comes out. I'm actually considering building a quad ATI GPU rig alongside the triple Nvidia just for the fun of it.

edit: Yeah when I said I have a $100-2000 budget, I meant just for the monitor. I was going to invest 8,000 into a watercooled BEAST rig, but I'm starting to question that decision due to the fact that yeah, it'll probably get jacked. So I'll probably stick to just upgrading the system I have now.
 
MrJP
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 4:53 am

I don't think you can ever use the word "invest" in a sentence about spending $8000 on a PC... :wink:

Unless you're going to go for a 30" monitor, triple-SLI is totally unnecessary. If you're looking at 24" as the maximum (and hence 1920x1200 resolution), a 8800GT will be sufficient for pretty much all current games. The only notable exception is Crysis, and that doesn't seem to benefit much from triple-SLI anyway: http://techreport.com/articles.x/14161. By the time other games are needing this sort of power, Nvidia will have moved on a generation and will have stopped optimising drivers for the G80 anyway, so the future proofing argument is moot as well. If you're simply determined to use the extra slots in your SLI motherboard, save your money and just add a second 8800GT.

In terms of the monitor question, you need to be looking for a monitor with both DVI and HDMI connections to support your Xbox and PC. You also mentioned TV: do you have a separate TV tuner box or will you be using a card in the PC? If you're using a separate box, then the monitor will need a matching video input: composite, s-video, or component in order of increasing quality. Note that not all montors scale all of their inputs correctly (i.e. maintain the correct aspect ratio when scaling up lower resolution sources such as TV), so it's worth carefully checking for reviews with tests of the type of inputs you want to use.

Given you seem to be fairly flexible in budget, stay away from current 22" screens and cheaper 24" screens, as these use TN panels which will give you viewing angle problems with this size of screen. Do some research and look for S-IPS or S-PVA panels. Some examples to look at would be the Dell 2408WFP (but may have input lag problems), Benq FP241W (possibly discontinued in the US?), LG L245WP, Hyundai W241D... As you do more research, you may start to come to the conclusion that no screen is perfect, as someone somewhere has probably got something bad to say about every screen available unfortunately. For good quality reviews, my personal favourite sites are http://www.xbitlabs.com
or http://www.tftcentral.co.uk, but as usual GIYF. Good luck!
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JustAnEngineer
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:05 am

You probably want a 24" 1920x1200 monitor like the Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP.
Last edited by JustAnEngineer on Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:30 am

scrubs23 wrote:
Right now, I'm running a EVGA 8800 GT, but I'm thinking about upgrading to 3 8800 Ultras. So, my price range is anywhere from $100-2000.
What should I buy?


Just get an another 8800GT like me and be done with it (They perform really good in SLI).. 3 Ultras are not going to help much. BTW SLI is only worth if you have montior of 24" or above.

JustAnEngineer wrote:
You probably want a 24" 1920x1200 monitor like the Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP.


This should serve you good..
Image
 
JustAnEngineer
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:56 am

About your graphics card: Rather than wasting money on three GeForce 8800 Ultras, get just one of the next-generation card, instead.
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Kevin
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 7:12 am

Thread moved to Visual Haven (from General Hardware).

Kevin
 
Flying Fox
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 7:38 am

scrubs23 wrote:
I need something that will get me through college

scrubs23 wrote:
edit: Yeah when I said I have a $100-2000 budget, I meant just for the monitor. I was going to invest 8,000 into a watercooled BEAST rig

Don't you have books to buy, tuition and rent to pay, alcoholic beverages to buy, pr0n to watch, poker tournaments to enter, so on and so on? ;)

Save the cash and use it for something else. Heck buy a few more games, get a PS3 as well if not just for the Blu-Ray drive, may be a nice receiver for a grand or two. Some speakers would be nice too.

Man I can think of so many better ways to spend 8K.
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Vdor
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 8:47 am

Flying Fox wrote:
Don't you have books to buy, tuition and rent to pay, alcoholic beverages to buy, pr0n to watch, poker tournaments to enter, so on and so on? ;)

Save the cash and use it for something else. Heck buy a few more games, get a PS3 as well if not just for the Blu-Ray drive, may be a nice receiver for a grand or two. Some speakers would be nice too.

Man I can think of so many better ways to spend 8K.


I'm with Fox on this one, you should think of better ways to "invest" such a huge amount of money... I mean, a computer is no investment... unless you can get your money back from triple SLI... but I don't think you can...
 
scrubs23
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:10 pm

Well, I don't want to say how much I make, but--it's substantial. It's not enough that I have a cushy job, but my parents like to spoil me too. So, $8,000 for a computer actually isn't all that much to me. Books and pr0n are relatively cheap in comparison. For poker, I always win...when I'm the dealer.

edit: Yeah I have a PS3 but I really and honestly don't like it. I've got all of what you mentioned Fox...so there really isn't anything more for me to buy...(I've got a good source for kegs of beer, brandy, vodka, you name it)

edit 2: I bought a lot of games for my PS3, hoping that at least one of them would turn me away from my Xbox 360, but, alas, none are any good or at least passing in my opinion (I LOVE HALO 3). I was planning on leaving the PS3 at home with my bro because I won't play it anyways.
 
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 7:26 pm

scrubs23 wrote:
Well, I don't want to say how much I make, but--it's substantial. It's not enough that I have a cushy job, but my parents like to spoil me too. So, $8,000 for a computer actually isn't all that much to me. Books and pr0n are relatively cheap in comparison. For poker, I always win...when I'm the dealer.

edit: Yeah I have a PS3 but I really and honestly don't like it. I've got all of what you mentioned Fox...so there really isn't anything more for me to buy...(I've got a good source for kegs of beer, brandy, vodka, you name it)

edit 2: I bought a lot of games for my PS3, hoping that at least one of them would turn me away from my Xbox 360, but, alas, none are any good or at least passing in my opinion (I LOVE HALO 3). I was planning on leaving the PS3 at home with my bro because I won't play it anyways.

Oh, so you are going to college just for fun? OK. I would probably build a Folding farm if I have that kind of money. It's more fun that way, for me at least.

Wait, actually you should just give your money to all of us. We can put it to much better use. :lol:
The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

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scrubs23
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 7:41 pm

Yeah well I have the job and the money, I want to go to college just to say I went and got my degree. I intend to come back and major in more than one thing to broaden my knowledge. What's a folding farm?
 
JustAnEngineer
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 8:20 pm

scrubs23 wrote:
What's a folding farm?
A way of keeping the PC hardware vendors and the power company in business. :lol:
viewforum.php?f=9
 
Flying Fox
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:51 pm

JustAnEngineer wrote:
scrubs23 wrote:
What's a folding farm?
A way of keeping the PC hardware vendors and the power company in business. :lol:
viewforum.php?f=9

That's one way of looking at it. But there's always the help in medical research, the fun of getting more points, the competition, the trashtalking, the managing of multiple machines at home (which basically force a lot of users to learn to be real sysadmins), basement decorations, custom racks, etc.

It can be addicting if you catch the "folding bug". ;)
The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

Gerbils unite! Fold for UnitedGerbilNation, team 2630.
 
scrubs23
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:21 pm

Wait is it that thing where you have a server rack and you have a **** of CPUs and mobos folding proteins and stuff like that?
Last edited by Kevin on Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: EDIT BY MOD: Please do not work around the word filter.
 
Flying Fox
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:22 pm

scrubs23 wrote:
Wait is it that thing where you have a server rack and you have a **** of CPUs and mobos folding proteins and stuff like that?

More or less, it does not have to be a real server rack. As you can see from one of the links, the stuff can just hang off the ceiling or in some self-built wooden "rack". :o Of course there's the satisfaction with all these machines, the bragging rights, and all that. :D
The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

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scrubs23
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:25 pm

What kind of CPUs, power supplies, and mobos do you need? I think my dad has some quad cores lying around and some spare 680i mobos
 
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:26 pm

scrubs23 wrote:
I think my dad has some quad cores lying around and some spare 680i mobos

:o
 
Flying Fox
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:29 pm

Yeah, :o is right. Are you located in a place where there are always trucks with stuff falling out of their backs? :P

You can get started right here (linked before). We have an entire forum dedicated to this Folding stuff.

Multicore CPUs are the king of folding right now. If you have "a few spare quads", then you can be a real folding force in no time. :) Just make sure whoever is paying the electricity knows about this though, we do have a code of conduct (mentioned in the Folding forum).

/me jealous
The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

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scrubs23
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:39 pm

Flying Fox wrote:
Yeah, :o is right. Are you located in a place where there are always trucks with stuff falling out of their backs? :P

You can get started right here (linked before). We have an entire forum dedicated to this Folding stuff.

Multicore CPUs are the king of folding right now. If you have "a few spare quads", then you can be a real folding force in no time. :) Just make sure whoever is paying the electricity knows about this though, we do have a code of conduct (mentioned in the Folding forum).

/me jealous


Haha. Well no,...I just live in the silicon valley, so me and my friends sometimes pounce on our parents' spare hardware. Don't get me wrong, not everybody in the silicon valley has "spare quad cores" and "680i mobos," it's just that I'm...more...."privileged." I'll definitely look into that folding thing and I'll see if I can get some pics onto this website. Do I need RAM too? I have like 64 GB of memory lying around--not even kidding. I need to give that away or throw it away.
 
Flying Fox
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Wed Mar 19, 2008 7:07 am

scrubs23 wrote:
Flying Fox wrote:
Yeah, :o is right. Are you located in a place where there are always trucks with stuff falling out of their backs? :P

You can get started right here (linked before). We have an entire forum dedicated to this Folding stuff.

Multicore CPUs are the king of folding right now. If you have "a few spare quads", then you can be a real folding force in no time. :) Just make sure whoever is paying the electricity knows about this though, we do have a code of conduct (mentioned in the Folding forum).

/me jealous


Haha. Well no,...I just live in the silicon valley, so me and my friends sometimes pounce on our parents' spare hardware. Don't get me wrong, not everybody in the silicon valley has "spare quad cores" and "680i mobos," it's just that I'm...more...."privileged." I'll definitely look into that folding thing and I'll see if I can get some pics onto this website. Do I need RAM too? I have like 64 GB of memory lying around--not even kidding. I need to give that away or throw it away.

If and when you decide to fold, please consider joining team 2630 (TR's team). You are more than welcomed to fold under your own user ID or join the UnitedGerbilNation (shameless promotion :P).

As for spare hardware, you can always sell it for a good price and benefit your fellow gerbils. ;)
The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

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takealready
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Re: Monitor Questions...

Sat Dec 06, 2008 11:17 am

Well this is what I have to say about your situation.

1. You must be very wealthy. I am suddenly up for adoption. I promise I won't steal..take/use any of the money you have to spend on that PC.

2. You will need a Nuclear reactor of a PSU to power the 3 video cards. We all know what happened at chernyobyl (they were time travelers from the future who came back in time to test a triple 8800 Ultra SLI).

3. I have SLI and I must admit it's not as difficult to deal with (when it comes to the drivers). I plan on getting another CF or SLI rig. I was able to play crysis on a 7300 GT SLI at 1024 x 768, no AA, 4x AF, 85 hz refresh rate on a 19" CRT. Honestly the game was very playable for me (even COD4 was very playable on a 7300 GT SLI). Before I SLI'ed I couldn't do that. So go for the SLI/CF but don't assume you'll be future proofing yourself.

4. Once I SLI'ed to my current 8600 GT I can play crysis (thou I don't care for the game) and all the current games at a decent frame rate (I love playing the Tomb Raider Underworld demo).

5. Don't go overboard. If I can play crysis with 7600 GT's and 8600 GT's than there's no reason to get anything above a 4850 or 9800 GTX. The only reason I don't have a 3870 X2 is because I don't like the nuclear waste it produces (in the form of heat and power consumption) But to me that's my ideal card for how I game. My friends can still play any game out now with there 7950 GX2 SLI'ed, 2900 XT CF'ed and there 7900 GTX SLI'ed.

6. The major down side is that the cost of your SLI rig might in 6 months be the total cost of one high end GPU. The only thing is are you willing to wait six months to get a high-end GPU or get two mid-ranged GPU's now. I think that' s why so many people go SLI/CF. Waiting sucks...

In the end you are the commander in Chief of your money, So you have the final say.
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