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I have an 8800 GT for my video card, and I do a LOT of gaming. I upgrade my card pretty much every 2 years, but I never step up to super high tech. I don't do much in the way of watching videos/movies on the monitor, but I do like some quality. I'll also probably have two monitors going simultaneously since I appreciate the additional screen real estate.

I've been looking at 1920x1200 or 1600/xxxx monitors, and trying to figure out what a really good one would be (to buy two of). There are just so many options though. I'm a little bit overwhelmed by the variety, and a lot of the statistics don't mean a lot to me. A 2 ms response time sounds great, and response time sounds like something I'd like... but there's no way I could tell you the difference between 2 and 8 ms in real time, at least I think...

Contrast and color? Panel types? Pixil pitch? I don't really get it. Resolution and monitor size, that I get, but I'm not sure on anything else.

If anybody has any recommendations, I'd love to hear them.

After looking at tons of different monitors, I eventually settled on the Dell 2407. Great monitor, I love it and would easily snap up another one if finances allowed it. There are monitors that are better, but what really wooood me was the component/composite/S-video inputs, as well as the 4xUSB and card reader and VGA/DVI connector (The VGA has come in especially handy as there were a few times during University a couple of friends would get together, one would bring the laptop, one would bring the speakers and I'd bring the monitor). Haven't seen too many laptops with DVI yet...

The new 2408 has all that plus Display port and HDMI. They also increased the color gamut. Don't know if it uses the crappy TN panels though....

But I'd definitely stand behind the 2407 (and I imagine the 2408)

Sargent Duck wrote:

The new 2408 has all that plus Display port and HDMI. They also increased the color gamut. Don't know if it uses the crappy TN panels though....

But I'd definitely stand behind the 2407 (and I imagine the 2408)

The 2408 is still S-PVA, but appears to suffer from high input lag. Hopefully, they'll be able to fix it in future revisions, but at the moment, it is one of the worst LCD monitors in terms of lag and therefore not suitable for gaming.

The LCD thread is full of links to the information that LCD manufacturers and vendors don't tell you.

How much did you want to spend? Does the Planar PX2611W fit your budget?

If you have to get TN, consider the Samsung 245BW.

Definitely check out the thread that JAE linked to, but I have the Dell 2407-HC and I find it suitable for gaming. This is the first LCD I've used regularly on my home computer, and I came to it straight from a nice Sony CRT, and I'm able to enjoy games on it.

Try Samsung T240. You know why? It's power comsumption and run only at 60 watts max.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001275&Tpk=T240

Wow, that thread has a rediculous amount of information.

One thing, if at all possible, try and go see it in person. Everyone eyes work differently, so what one person likes, another might not. Obviously a good panel with good specs should eliminate most issues, but sometimes you just never know.

That's a fair point. From that thread, the first item they list under the recommendations for gaming monitors is looking fairly good. I actually looked at that one at a Best Buy recently and thought it looked great and had good specs, but at the time I figured that anything in a big box store that looks too good to be true just isn't. It's a little lower on the max resolution, but with two of them that's not too bad. It looked pretty good there, and I could potentially pick it up in store, which is worth something I guess.

The $800+ monitor linked here and 2nd in that thread looks pretty nice, but if I'm paying that much I'm a bit miffed at not getting an HDMI input connection. That's not really a concern I guess, as I don't have a card to support it, but if I spend $1600 on monitors I'm hoping to use them for 8 or more years easily, and I could see that coming up at some point given that I can't predict what will be more important going forward.

Creamsteak wrote:

I'm hoping to use them for 8 or more years easily.

Then maybe you should be holding out for DisplayPort?

Voldenuit wrote:

Creamsteak wrote:

I'm hoping to use them for 8 or more years easily.

Then maybe you should be holding out for DisplayPort?

That's if I'm spending $1600 on them.

I have two of these babies in my place setup in clone mode.

http://i.pbase.com/o6/41/780041/1/80521 ... 010238.JPG

I actually have a computer chair hooked up to a crane so i can sit a few feet from it.

http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/2919/dunpb0.jpg