20" 1600x900 or 23" 1920x1080

[why me]

i'm not sure i'm understanding how this work. so, for someone whose main purpose is gaming.
is there any noticeable difference between gaming in a large size high resolution monitor and smaller size with lower resolution one ? (20" 1600x900 and 23" 1920x1080 as an example). or is it just more "space" and size but the quality of the display is the same ?

in other words, when shopping for a good monitor should i care about the resolution first or just choose the right size as long it's running on its recommended resolution.

i do know that 23" or 22" 1920x1080 should be better. but 20" 1600x900 is cheaper and easier on my GPU which will result in more frames while gaming.

 

[s3anister]

It really depends on what you want out of a game. Personally I prefer to game in 16:10 meaning I would buy either a 1680x1050 or a 1920x1200 monitor. Only downside is those tend to be more expensive now that the 16:9 aspect ratio has become so wide spread due to HDTV's.

Now what you're telling me is you want the most FPS from your games, to tell you what you can run I really need to know what graphics card and CPU you have. If your hardware can run it always get the higher resolution monitor, even if it's 1920x1080 16:9 aspect ratio and not 16:10. The extra vertical pixels are so useful, you really don't know what you're missing until you've had a 16:10 monitor.

As for physical size? I wouldn't go any lower than 21.6" with a 1680x1050 resolution but if you have the option to get a 23" or 24" monitor (1920x1080 and 1920x1200 pixels, respectively).

 

[ssddx]

1920x1080 is pretty much standard nowdays. i wouldnt go less than this unless you are running old or weak hardware. i agree with s3... i would prefer 1920x1200 as well but since i watch movies also and hate black bars 16:9 is what i am stuck with.

20" is fine more a monitor. in fact for fps games having a 20" or 22" might be better than a larger screen since the whole screen stays in your center field of view. in general anything between 20 and 24" is okay.

remember to check out panel types (just search for my posts in this section...i've explained it MANY times).

 

[why me]

Now what you're telling me is you want the most FPS from your games, to tell you what you can run I really need to know what graphics card and CPU you have. If your hardware can run it always get the higher resolution monitor, even if it's 1920x1080 16:9 aspect ratio and not 16:10. The extra vertical pixels are so useful, you really don't know what you're missing until you've had a 16:10 monitor.

it will be my first build and the GPU (7850) is more than capable for Full HD. but the issue is: is the big price difference between [20" 1600x900 and 23" 1920x1080] really worth it ? not only that but a 1600x900 res will make my GPU last longer without the need to upgrade it (am i correct in this one or the additional frames in 1600x900 isn't that much? ).

currently i'm playing at 16" 1366x768. so any upgrade should be more than fine. but again, is stepping from 1600x900 farther to 1920x1080 worth the money.

remember to check out panel types (just search for my posts in this section...i've explained it MANY times).

do Samsung makes one type of panels in their monitors ? i don't see them list the type in the specifications on their site. however, i read your amazing post here and this article and i find the TN panel is more suitable for me. viewing angle is not an issue and being the lowest price is a good thing.


thanks for both of you s3anister and ssddx. you were a great help.

 

[s3anister]

Gotta say, I was not expecting you to say that you have such a high-tier video card. You could run almost any game at 1920x1200 with maximum settings (exceptions being games as demanding as metro 2033). 1600x900 will make your GPU last longer I suppose but what's the point of having such a nice video card when you're not taking advantage of it? It won't be incapable of playing the newest games (and making them look beautiful) for at least a year, probably two. Most mid-range to high end graphics cards are designed to play games at a minimum of 1080p.

When I looked at newegg.com it seems that 1600x900 monitors go for about $100 whereas you could get this: Acer V213HLBJbd Black 21.5" 5ms Widescreen LED Monitor 250 cd/m2 ACM 100,000,000:1 for $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009365

Now like ssddx said you need to check out panel types, I myself just bought an IPS monitor because for their accurate color reproduction but if you're going to be doing serious twitch FPS gaming then an IPS panel isn't going to work best for you. A panel that is 120Hz or has a 2ms display lag is what you're going to want.

As for your question about Samsung monitors, as far as I know they make a lot of LED TN panels, don't think they make IPS panels (if they do it's not many). If you want input on what brands to look for the best brands on average tend to be ACER, ASUS, LG, DELL, NEC, and HP. My personal favorite brand for monitors is DELL.

I hope I gave you some insight instead of confusing you haha but if you need more input I'm more than happy to help out.

 

[why me]

Gotta say, I was not expecting you to say that you have such a high-tier video card.

i haven't bought anything yet. the 16" screen that i was talking about is laptop one.

what's the point of having such a nice video card when you're not taking advantage of it?

good question. i didn't choose this card to play the latest games at high settings. that would be a good thing but i want a card that last with me as long as possible. if this card can run new games after 3 years at medium to low settings at 30 FPS then that's what i'm looking for.

If you want input on what brands to look for the best brands on average tend to be ACER, ASUS, LG, DELL, NEC, and HP.

the reason i looked within one brand is to not get lost with all the names and series so i can focus more on the specs. i choosed Samsung because of their good TVs which i bought one of them long time ago. however i just looked at ACER,LG,DELL and HP sites. my head got exploded from the different models 😀 .

if i'd buy from Samsung i'll take this as 23" full HD or this as 20" 1600x900
what monitors of other brands[ACER,LG,DELL,HP] with similar specs and quality you recommend ?

thank you very much s3anister. you really convinced me to consider the full HD choose. if i could convince my wallet at the time of shopping i'd certainly take a full hd monitor.

 

[s3anister]

I would absolutely hope your card runs 30fps minimum with at least medium settings in three years. Our cards are close in performance and I'm hoping my radeon 6970 will do that but I'm pretty sure it will lol

haha I know the number of monitors from all the brands out there are THOUSANDS and my head about blew apart last week (I just had to buy a new monitor, actually). I ended up buying the Dell Ultrasharp U2312HM 23" IPS-Panel because of its excellent reviews and price of $250, I would have got the 24" 16:10 but it was another $60 more expensive and that's diablo 3 for me haha Link to my monitor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260055
The other dell monitor that I was looking at was this one but I didn't get it because it's not IPS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260062

As for Samsung, they make beautiful LED LCD's (and plasma TV's 😀 love my samsung plasma) especially considering that they're not IPS panels, I actually believe costco carries both of those monitors, I was just looking at them the other day. Personally I thought the 23" looked much better in person.

As for brand quality, if it gives you any indication my last monitor was a Samsung from 2006 and it still works perfectly, just not as pretty as my new display.

If you're interested in more screens to choose from Dell I think has the best lineup in terms of quality (they get the best screens from LG and Samsung, who are the major panel manufacturers). Anything in the Dell ultrasharp line is their high-end and almost everything else at a minimum is excellent budget quality. After Dell, Acer is another top manufacturer of LCD's. ASUS is the other brand that I would buy but only if it was one of their "ProArt" monitors, and they're not cheap (like $500).

 

[why me]

I ended up buying the Dell Ultrasharp U2312HM 23" IPS-Panel because of its excellent reviews and price of $250, I would have got the 24" 16:10 but it was another $60 more expensive and that's diablo 3 for me haha Link to my monitor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824260055

congratulations, it's a very good monitor with nice features. but too expensive and too good for me. i think this one form dell should be fine for me.

but i'll certainly look for dell options along with samsung while shopping.

 

[s3anister]

I ended up buying the Dell Ultrasharp U2312HM 23" IPS-Panel because of its excellent reviews and price of $250, I would have got the 24" 16:10 but it was another $60 more expensive and that's diablo 3 for me haha Link to my monitor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824260055

congratulations, it's a very good monitor with nice features. but too expensive and too good for me. i think this one form dell should be fine for me.

but i'll certainly look for dell options along with samsung while shopping.

For a monitor yes it's expensive but I was looking specifically for an IPS monitor which for that kind of panel it's not (since it's e-IPS). If I had the money to I would have bought the p-IPS Dell U2410 but at $545 it's way out of my price range. Ironically, the Dell I just bought is cheaper than the samsung I bought half a decade ago by $100. Goes to show how much LCD's have come down in price.

That looks like an excellent consumer dell monitor. I'll give you this, though as my last bit of shopping advice. logicbuy.com (which is a site that tom's seems to be loosely affiliated with) always has a lot of dell and HP monitors on sale for crazy low prices, and usually directly through dell or HP. If you have a few minutes to kill take a look at the site. Direct link to their monitors: http://www.logicbuy.com/categorydeals/computers/monitors

It looks like right now they have the 24" version of the monitor you linked for $190 (directly from dell) when its retail is $260. http://www.logicbuy.com/deals/dell-st2420l-24-inch-1080p-hdmi-led-lcd-monitor/25118.aspx That's the kind of deal you want to jump on! But like I said look around the site (or amazon/buy.com) for a good deal, it's easy to get a nice LCD for real cheap.

 

[why me]

Ironically, the Dell I just bought is cheaper than the samsung I bought half a decade ago by $100. Goes to show how much LCD's have come down in price.

this is the main reason i don't want to buy high end costly monitors and TVs. because you know that soon they will get superseded by another technology that makes yours inferior and old. so enjoy your monitor and don't read about the new monitor technologies until you decide to buy again.

I'll give you this, though as my last bit of shopping advice. logicbuy.com

i live in the middle east and if i want to ship a monitor like the one you bought it would cost me around $121. half of the monitor price. 😀 although monitors (and most electronics) prices is very high here compared to sites like newegg or amazon. i have no option when it comes to heavy items. thank you very much however for the nice site. i might use it to buy light items later.