which to do first

[sybaris]

I am thinking about upgrading my old 8800gts and my 19" monitor (max res 1400x900)

I can only afford to do one of these right now with a budget of £180.

What should I do, the monitor or gpu?

 

[arc@css]

Depending on the strength of the settings you normally apply when playing games does have a bearing imo. I would suggest upgrading the monitor first, you may well find that the 8800 noticeably doesn't cut it depending on your expectations. How much vram does your video card have? If it has 1gb then that might help quite a bit for the mean time.

 

[ThomasTheTankEngine]

Yup. Depends how badly you crave those "high" or "ultra" settings.

Getting the new monitor first will make them even more unattainable because you'll be running a higher resolution. If those settings are your priority, then get a new card. If more desktop space + big screen gaming are your priority, then get the screen.

 

[sybaris]

Not sure how much RAM is on the card.
I don't always play full on games. Sometimes I do and I like to push the settings to the max.

But its not a gaming only PC.
Surfing the web and writing letters are not graphic intensive.

 

[Weazle]

Tough choice really

Standard 8800 GTS was either 320MB or 640MB .... if you're gaming at 1900x1080 or more than it can really struggle.

I recommend the card, you don't want to sacrifice the frame rates you've got now for a bigger view.