Yet another help request

[Ephraim]

Apologies if this is cluttering up the board, but i need help!

I'm intending to do another of my regular upgrades to my PC, and the overhaul is going to take in the graphics card and the monitor. My current setup is as follows:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Winchester 90nm
Asus A8V Rev.2 Deluxe
2x Corsair 512MB DDR Value Select PC3200
Seagate Barracuda 160GB SATA
Antec SLK1650B Case
Sapphire Radeon 9600 Pro
Sun 21" CRT
Logitech Mouse & Keyboard

I'm planning to change my PSU, my Gfx card and my monitor; and it's the last that I really need help with!

My budget is the limiting factor (isn't it always?), with about £230 set aside for the monitor. I'm set on a TFT monitor of some sort, and see no reason to go for a 17" when my budget will get me a 19" screen. Moving from a the 21" CRT, I'd prefer not to lose too much screen size, and the reviews that I have read sugest that the screens in my price range are fine.

I use my machine for gaming (mostly World of Warcraft currently, but I used to enjoy regular CS games and need the monitor to be capable of playing fps), the usual browsing, but also I often work from home - so I need clear text that won't make my eyes hurt after a couple of hours intensive writing.

I'm not terribly interested in Widescreen, as I've always found the format more hassle than it's worth.

I'd obviously like to buy from OCUK as they have always provided exemplary service. So... my shortlist looks like:

Hyundai ImageQuest B90A 19" LCD Monitor (MO-027-HY)
Hyundai ImageQuest B91A 19" LCD Monitor - Black (MO-035-HY)
Hyundai ImageQuest L91A 19" LCD Monitor - Black (MO-034-HY)
Neovo F-419 19" LCD Monitor - Black/Grey (MO-016-NV)
Samsung SM-913N 19" LCD Monitor - Silver (MO-022-SA)

Faced with these choices, which would you choose and why?

(Oh, and if anyone has any recommendations for a passively cooled AGP gfx card upgrade from my 9600 Pro, that'd be very welcome too!)

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Dark_Angel]

Well, the samsung is very much the "gamers" screen. Though, depending on the resolutions you like running on your desktop, its worth remembering that you will only be able to have 1280x1024 on a 19" TFT. So it depends on if screen real estate is very important to you.

The samsung has great response times, and is in general thought to be the best screen for gaming (for the price at the least) though for DVD playback and so on its not quite so good as other screens. How much cash have you set aside for your Video card? a lot of cards now have rather silent fans, so going for something like an x800XL or something might not be as noisy as you think. Its probablly better to ask in the graphics card forum for more accurate replies.

 

[Ephraim]

Thanks for that... I'm only running at 1280x1024 atm, and I'm completely happy with it, so no worries on that front.

How bad is the DVD playback? I usually use my TV/DVD player for watching films, but occasionally watch Divx stuff...

As for the gfx card, I'm looking at spending up to £120 on it... it doesn't need to be particularly uber, just able to cope with modern games at an appropriate resolution. I have popped a post in the graphics forum asking for help with it.

Thanks for the info, it's very useful.

 

[ACPCUP]

Not sure about Hyundai. The Samsung listed is a good one but only has a VGA connection. I think the poster above was refering to the Samsung 930bf which is 4ms and great for gaming and that is where it is limited.

I have been doing my own research for the 'right' TFT for me and i thing the AGNeovo is a great contender. It has 12ms but everyone i know who has one says there is no ghosting in games and it is superb at DVD viewing and day to day work!!

Baddass will be able to advise you more. On the list you have supplied it is between the 913 and the F419 (this has a DVI and a VGA connection)

 

[Baddass]

Hi Ephraim, and welcome to OcUK

The Hyundai B90A, B91A and Samsung 913N are all based on the exact same Samsung 8ms TN Film panel. The Neovo and the Hyundai L91A are both based on 12ms TN Film panels, but not from the same manufacturer. I think tbh you are best basing your decision on the looks, price and features that you want from your monitor, since in real terms, performance is going to be very comparabale.

Since the B90A, B91A and 913N are all based on the exact same panel, the performance is going to be VERY comparable. These models offer a slight improvement in responsiveness when compared with the 12ms models, but this does come at the cost of slightly more reduced viewing angles and slightly more noisy movie playback. There is very little difference between the 12ms and 8ms TN Film generation really in real application, the difference is mostly down to electronic control over the panel.

I think if it were me in your position i would go with one of the 8ms models. The lack of DVI on the 913N puts some people off, but the VGA connection is of such high quality you would be very hard pressed to notice much, if any, difference between the screen and another similar model with DVI (for example the Samsung 913B). Since you are looking for a gaming screen, the 8ms models are that little bit faster and i think i would choose the Samsung. It is a very well established screen and very very popular here too. The other thing to consider is that the colour reproduction qualities of the TN Film market has improved with each generation of screens (mostly) and the 8ms Samsung panel offers some of the best colour reproduciton you can get from a TN panel right now. Anyway, i would suggest the 8ms models are more suited to your needs, but base the decision on which one you like the looks, features and price of

hth