Anyone stepped up from 24" to 30"?

ChrisD. · 20 Jan 2008 at 22:43

Considering it but I'm worried it might be overkill. I use my PC mainly for gaming, films and TV, it's basically going to serve as an all-in-one monitor (TV, DVD's, Sky etc).

It's what I originally bought my 24" panel for however I'm used to the size and the 30" is very tempting.

Also, how will my 8800GTX cope at native res for current games? I don't intend on upgrading the GTX till the new GTX is out later on this year.

StevenG · 20 Jan 2008 at 23:28

depending on which monitor you get the 3007wfp doesnt have any alternative inputs. only has DVI.

i went from a dual 2407 to a single 3007 setup and i loved the 30" screen but did find it overkill for most things. when using it as an internet browser maximising the windows is a waste with such a high resolution.

its good for films depending on the source, remember with a 30" your stretching even 1080p video to fill the screen. so anything less than 720p and it doesnt really look that good.

worth it for photoshop and the screen SIZE for games but the resolution is a massive hit on your graphics card.

pros and cons to it but for gaming, tv and films, i'd prefer 2x24"s as i find dual screens more productive

just my 2p

StevenG

ChrisD. · 20 Jan 2008 at 23:32

Cheers. I'm using DVI now so that's not an issue.

Looks like it might be a bit overkill then. Must say 1080p looks amazing on my screen atm.

Shocky-FM · 20 Jan 2008 at 23:57

Basically all the latest games will be unplayable or borderline playable at the native resolution, even SLI and Crossfire can't cope, and don't think for a second you wont need AA because you will.

Margaret · 21 Jan 2008 at 00:24

MilanoChris said:
Considering it but I'm worried it might be overkill. I use my PC mainly for gaming, films and TV, it's basically going to serve as an all-in-one monitor (TV, DVD's, Sky etc).

I'd just get a 37"+ 1080P set TBH (cheaper than 30" monitor too), screw 30", plus nothing really has the horsepower to play the latest games at 2560x1600, but my 8800GT copes with 1920x1080 extremely well.

I wouldn't trade my 37" for a 30" despite the 30 having a higher res, no chance.

Since you wanna use it mainly for Games, Films and TV a nice large 1080P TV will do you nicely, I went from a 20" to this 37" and it's amazing for PC gaming.

Sylver123 · 21 Jan 2008 at 00:27

When using a 30" screen, you don't nesserly have to run your games at the screens full native resolution for it to look best, do you? and should look and work fine on lower resolutions too?

Margaret · 21 Jan 2008 at 00:29

Sylver123 said:
When using a 30" screen, you don't nesserly have to run your games at the screens full native resolution for it to look best, do you?

Nope, you could just run it in windowed mode, it'll probably look a tad worse stretched to full screen though.

Same with all displays really.

Sylver123 · 21 Jan 2008 at 00:34

Jihad said:
Nope, you could just run it in windowed mode, it'll probably look a tad worse stretched to full screen though.

Same with all displays really.

so if your 30" screen Optimal Resolution is 2560 x 1600, and you run your games on the screen at a lower resolutions, then the games won't look that good?

Rebelius · 21 Jan 2008 at 00:36

well you could run them at 1280x800 and you'd have each pixel rendered displayed by 4 pixels on the screen - I have no idea how this would actually look as I'm still on a 20" widescreen. I've heard that it can look horrible if you display a resolution that isn't an integer division of native though.

mdjmcnally · 21 Jan 2008 at 02:50

I'm probably going to step up now that the 3008WFP is out and retire the 2405.

The multiple inputs do it for me as can put the games rig. A MAC Pro and a KVM on it and still have the HDMI, component and Display port free.

Just waiting for real people to get there hands on it first.

The 3008 has a proper scaler init so not as bad as the 3007 for only doing 1280x800 or 2560x1600 etc.

ChrisD. · 21 Jan 2008 at 08:12

The reason why I don't want a massive TV is because the Army Accommodation doesn't have the biggest rooms. Imagine a smallish Hotel room and you get the idea. Anything over 32" would simply be too big.

MR.B · 21 Jan 2008 at 08:54

mdjmcnally said:
I'm probably going to step up now that the 3008WFP is out and retire the 2405.

The multiple inputs do it for me as can put the games rig. A MAC Pro and a KVM on it and still have the HDMI, component and Display port free.

Just waiting for real people to get there hands on it first.

The 3008 has a proper scaler init so not as bad as the 3007 for only doing 1280x800 or 2560x1600 etc.

I have a 2405 aswell, infact i have three, and i'm replacing one with the 3008. I'll have one ordered near the end of this month and will write a detailed review with pics (on the Dell 3008 thread i created on here). So maybe wait for that first?

I've already done a post in that thread why it's stupid to choose a TV over a monitor, but it wouldn't matter so much for you as you dont seem to do any photography/graphics/CAD/web design work? ...but personally i still wouldn't choose a TV over the 3008 when it has all them connections and vastly better colours + higher res.

Shocky-FM · 21 Jan 2008 at 12:37

Sylver123 said:
so if your 30" screen Optimal Resolution is 2560 x 1600, and you run your games on the screen at a lower resolutions, then the games won't look that good?

Yep, it will look pretty poor, at least with a 24" display the drop to 1280*1024/1440*900 isnt so bad, but from 2560*1600? Damn, thats really going to blur allot.

The drop to 1600*1200 will also look pretty bad, but on a 24" display thats basically the native resolution with the sides cut off so it still looks super sharp.

mattyrigby00 · 21 Jan 2008 at 13:09

on most games 2560x1600 needs an insane setup (sli ultras etc) and still doesnt run well. not sure what the scaler on 30 inch screens is like though for 1920x1200 etc.

Sylver123 · 21 Jan 2008 at 17:27

After reading this thread, im now worried that if I go for the Dell 3008WFP or any 30" LCD Monitor, since we wont be able to run our games at this screens native resolution of 2560x1600 anyway, and any lower resolution than that may not look right.

Right now im using a 19" CRT, and it doesn`t matter what resolution you run your games on, it still displays without it being stretched, etc.

I take it LCDs handle resolution differently than CRT, and when using LCDs, you really must use its native resolution or you`ll run into problems?

Raikiri · 21 Jan 2008 at 17:46

I think people are exaggerating the impact it has slightly, if it's a good screen then it will scale the image well. For example anything down to 1440x900 still looks good on my 24" (not as good as the native res, but far from terrible).

They're also overstating how poorly games will run, ignoring Crysis there isn't a game I can't run at 1920x1200 on a £150 8800GT. I imagine a single GTX/Ultra would handle most games at 2560x1600.

Elric · 21 Jan 2008 at 18:56

Raikiri said:
...They're also overstating how poorly games will run, ignoring Crysis there isn't a game I can't run at 1920x1200 on a £150 8800GT. I imagine a single GTX/Ultra would handle most games at 2560x1600.

***!

All the games I play run FINE at the native res, my 8800GTX runs it perfectly fine.

Sylver123 · 21 Jan 2008 at 19:33

so I take it, as long as the 30" LCD Monitor scales well, I shouldn`t have anything to worry about when using lower resolutions?

gt_junkie · 21 Jan 2008 at 19:42

Sylver123 said:
so I take it, as long as the 30" LCD Monitor scales well, I shouldn`t have anything to worry about when using lower resolutions?

Bingo.

gt

Shocky-FM · 21 Jan 2008 at 20:55

Sylver123 said:
so I take it, as long as the 30" LCD Monitor scales well, I shouldn`t have anything to worry about when using lower resolutions?

Depends, if your refering to 1:1 scaling then thats an option but low resolutions will look very small, as long as it's stretched across the screen it will look blurred and the greater the reduction from your native resolution the worse it will look.