2560 x 1600 resolution gaming?

[eylee86]

Approx Purchase Date: Within 2 weeks
Budget Range: 1100-1200
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Web-surfing, Movies, Document/Excel Review
Preferred Website(s) for parts: Newegg
Parts Preferences: Corsair, Antec, etc.
Parts Preference: Will be using Intel I7 920 system
Overclocking: Yes, In the future
SLI: Yes, In the future

Intel I7 920 Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

Prolimatech Megahalem Heatsink with Scythe Fan
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/prmeforinso7.html

ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 X58 Mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365

Corsair Dominator 6GB DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224

EVGA Geforce GTX 260 216 Core (will SLI later)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

Corsair 850HX 850W Modular Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

Antec 1200 Case

This is my current setup for my new computer. I am going to buy another GTX260 216 core to run SLI. I am also looking at a dell 30'' wfp2007-HC from costco. If i wanted to play games, do you think it's powerful enough? right now you can get GTX260 216 from newegg for 135 before the 20dollar rebate and that's why I wanted to stick with gtx260. I just want to see you guys' input and see if you guys know much better bang for the buck deal than what I am about to decide on thanks

 

[Mrbumbum]

I would spend an extra $15 per card and go with a gtx 275 or HD 4890. I would only get your 30" display after you get sli or crossfire running because gaming at that res with one card (thats not x2) will mean much lower settings on the newest games.

I would save money on the ram and get ocz platinum 6gb, which have faster timings 7-7-7-24 vs 8-8-8-24 of the dominators you listed

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381

 

[coozie7]

Running current heavy games at that resoloution is going to be VERY expensive indeed.
I would say the GTX260 SLI is going to be too weak at that resoloution, a pair of GTX275s' would be minimum or you'll have to turn the settings down, a waste of such a premium monitor.
I'm not sure of memory requirements, anyone think the 1792 Mb GTX275 is too much, or would the 896 Mb be enough at this resoloution?
FYI I think the larger memory is going to be needed if Eylee86 starts to use AA.

 

[the last resort]

may as well go with the larger amount of memory, i dont think it will ever hurt anything. if he does use AA, he will want the extra.

 

[blackhawk1928]

Dont tell me you expect to play at 2560x1600 with a GTX260......maybe on the lowest possible settings with a couple fps if you are lucky, Either get a much smaller monitor or a much more powerful video card!

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

Just forget 2560x1600 gaming, it doesn't look much better and it is just a waste of money. If you want a 30" screen then get a nice LCD HDTV for much less and get a much better picture (10-bit panels are almost standard for decent LCDs).

 

[cjmcgee]

I have been gaming on a 30" Samsung (2560x1600) for a couple years now. The Samsung looked a lot better in games then the Dell did when I bought mine. I recently upgraded from a pair of 8800GTS 640MB to a pair of 285 GTX 1MB cards. Most stuff still ran fine with the pair of 8800s, there were only a couple titles that pushed me to upgrade (Empire:Total War mainly). With the pair of 285s I still can not max the settings out on all my games, but I can get close.

My guess would be that one 260 would run older titles at close to max settings, but for stuff that has come out in the last year you will have to turn settings down. A pair of 260s would get you close to as good as you are going to get. The 3xx series will be out soon though, so a 360 at the time might be better then adding a second 260.

You can run at 1/4 res and not suffer any interpolation blur if you do have real performance issues; 1280x800 still looks fine, but it is a letdown when you are used to gaming at four megapixels.

All that said, gaming at four megapixels is awesome. The 30" monitor has been the biggest impact of any single upgrade I have ever made. I have spent $2500 for a new computer before and not gotten near as noticeable an upgrade to my games as this monitor made. $1K+ for a monitor is a lot, but it has been well worth it. The real financial pain comes if you want to be able to max out the setting at this resolution

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

You see I have to disagree. I bought the NEC 30" that is basically the top of the line 30" 8-bit panel monitor out their and I noticed a huge difference over my current monitor in color accuracy, viewing angles, and the black levels. I was very satisified... until I saw my friends high-end 1080P 32" Samsung monitor with the full 10-bit panel. Everything I just listed was better on it, because of the 10-bit panel, and it was cheaper. the extra pixel density on my NEC didn't make a difference, even when only 2 feet away from the screen.

Of course then my car died and so I took the NEC back and put a down payment on my Mustang !

 

[eylee86]

hmm well i guess i'll wait for the July 4th sale and see. But I believe 4890/gtx275 might be good enough since I don't really play crysis or much of graphics intensive game at the moment. I mainly play L4D, WC3. I might try out Prototype but we'll see how that goes. I'll be happy as long as its good enough to play SC2 and Diabloe 3 on highest settings when they come out! whenever that is...

And seeing how monitor prices have been declining rapidly maybe 3007wfp-HC(now exactly 999.99 @ costco) will be cheaper in couple months. I'll just hang with my dell sp2309w until then.