Radeon 1800XL to 3870HD for 37" LCD TV primary display?

[Tyler Durden]

Hi guys,

I currently have a system in the works so to speak as I fix a RAM issue and I am intrigued by the newer ATI HD offerings as a GFX solution.
My card is a liquid cooled 1800XL and that runs my 37" LCD fine at a low but acceptable resolution even for gaming. I run a 24" Sony CRT as a secondary display for dumping toolbars, media player menus and shortcuts. It is useful for photo/web work.
I am wondering what real world benefit I would see from upgrading to a 3870HD. They seem optimised for output to a large screen LCD but is this cosmetic or genuinely different to the 1800XL?
If it is a good option for my set up - how should I run the 1080p LCD for best results in Vista?

THANKS for any advice

 

[dbmzk1]

In terms of 3D performance, you would see a HUGE improvement. Image quality would be slightly better too.

 

[MoD_Callidus]

a 512mb HD3850 would show a massive gain. the 3870 even more so. win/win