Do you need a highend graphics card to run a 23"+ monitor

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I am kinda confused, I know most 23" monitors have a native resolution of 1920x1080, so presumably if I was to get one to upgrade my old 19" then any FPS or MMOs I play would have to be run at this resolution correct?

If this is the case then do you need a decent card to run games at these resolutions. At the moment I have a ATI 3850 which does the job for me, its not amazing but I run games at 1280x1024 on my 19" monitor and everything runs pretty smooth. Would I see a massive drop in frame rate if I simply switched out the monitor for a 23/24" monitor due to having to run games at a lot higher res?

If I did need a new graphics card (around January), what would be a solid upgrade from my ATI 3850, in the price range of around 150-200 (UK)
 
Is your 3850 512mb or 1gb? At that res I think you'll notice a big slow down. A noticable upgrade would be a 4870 or 4890 (1gb). or if you have the cash to spare you could go for a 5850 it should last you longer as dx11 is implemented.
can you post the rest of your system?
edit: misread your last line about budget. I'd definetly go for a 5850 as its £200 now but come Janurary I think it'll be ~175
 
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You can run games as high or as low spec as you like, you don't have to run games at the max res of your monitor

MW
 
You can run games as high or as low spec as you like, you don't have to run games at the max res of your monitor

MW

This is true, however with certain monitors, you will get image degradation if you do not run at it's native resolution. Therefore, I would recommend you use lower settings, and don't max everything out.

If you are planning on upgrading your graphics card, higher resolutions require more RAM, I would take 512mb as the bare MINIMUM, as well as this, if you do decide to get a 5850 or similar take into account whether or not your CPU will bottleneck your card.
 
This is true, however with certain monitors, you will get image degradation if you do not run at it's native resolution. Therefore, I would recommend you use lower settings, and don't max everything out.

If you are planning on upgrading your graphics card, higher resolutions require more RAM, I would take 512mb as the bare MINIMUM, as well as this, if you do decide to get a 5850 or similar take into account whether or not your CPU will bottleneck your card.

My CPU is a Quad Core Q6600 and I think think my 3850 only has 256mb :(

Hmmm sounds like I need to upgrade my graphics card as well. I am in the USA so I may see how much they are over here, the pound is doing pretty well vs the dollar atm so I may get lucky.
 
I'd say a card with more memory is important. When I got a 22" my 8800GTS 320mb was totally crippled in most games at native res. I got a GTX280 with 1GB VRAM and it pees through everything I throw at it now. Contemplating going to 24" as I'm sure it can handle it.
 
i got an 8800 ultra (768mb or somit) and a 24", not that im hardcore gamer but it runs most things at top res with quite afew bells and whistles. tbh i wish i didnt so i would have an excuse for a new card
 
I'd say a card with more memory is important. When I got a 22" my 8800GTS 320mb was totally crippled in most games at native res. I got a GTX280 with 1GB VRAM and it pees through everything I throw at it now. Contemplating going to 24" as I'm sure it can handle it.
I remember the same with my 640mb gts, it struggled at 1920x1200, replaced it with the g92 512mb gts which improved things a bit. Subsequently moved on to a gtx 280 which handles everything (bar crysis) easily.
 
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