720p vs 1080p on a small monitor

[mrhello123]

Hi, after posting a recent thread on specs for my new pc somebody asked me what sort of monitor I would be using. I hadn't really thought about that so decided to open a new thread in the graphic section as I thought it would get better replies.

The main problem that I have is 1080p vs 720p. I now the difference 1080p makes on things like a 42" TV (we have one in our living room and the picture is amazing) but I have heard that on smaller monitors, ones like under 24" you can't tell the difference. Another problem that I have is my budget of around £450. I know this isn't much money but it is the most that I can afford. I have been looking at 2 different monitors. A 22" 1080p monitor for £86 and a 18.5" 720p monitor for £60

1080p: http://www.misco.co.uk/product/Q571628/AOC-E2250Swdak-22inch-LED-DVI-Monitor

720p: http://www.waeplus.co.uk/product/2101501/LG-E1942C-BN

They both have 5ms response times and other similar things such as that. Unlike a lot of people however I aren't too bothered about screen size. I am currently using a 15.6" laptop so a 19" monitor seems huge. Also the space on my desk will only just fit a 19" inch screen on when I tested(it would be very annoying if a had to take my desk apart just to fit a monitor). This is the graphics card that I am going to be using, it is a XFX DD Core Edition Radeon HD 7770 1GB GDDR5. It has one dual link dvi, a display port and a hdmi.

graphics card: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-xfx-radeon-hd-7770-dd-core-edition-4500mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-1000mhz-640-cores-dp-dl-dvi-i-hdmi

The 720p monitor only has a vga input whereas the 1080p has both a vga and a DVI-D. The 1080p monitor also has speakers. But this isn't a important point as I will be using headphones for gaming and a iPod docking station for anything else.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

P.S- when you first turn a pc on to install windows do you need a wired keyboard or will a wireless keyboard and mouse work?

 

[hizodge]

If you can't fit a > 19" monitor on your desk I'd say don't bother. The difference between 720 and 1080 is quite apparent in my opinion, but seeing your graphics card only has 1 Gb of VRAM I'd personally go for the 720 monitor as you would have trouble rendering games at playable frames per second in 1080p.

If you want to upgrade to 1080 at some point, prepare to get a new graphics card as well.

 

[Derza10]

1080p has about 2x the pixels as 720p, there is a huge difference. The 7770 1gb will run most games at 1080p on medium settings pretty well. Get the 22 inch 1080p monitor it is well worth the £26 difference...

 

[wanderer11]

There is a giant difference from 1280x720 to 1920x1080. You will see 2.25 times as much area with the 1920x1080.

 

[Daedalus12]

If you can only just barely fit a 19" monitor on your desk, then it seems like your question is answered. Go with the monitor that fits properly with your desk.

However, I would try to find a 1080p monitor instead of a 720p. You'll probably be happy plenty happy with the 720p for gaming, but I like the extra room a 1080p monitor is going to give me for non gaming tasks. Also, a 1080p monitor is going to have denser pixels and generally look smoother for computer usage, games or not.

 

[mrhello123]

Do you think it would be a good investment? Plus it has speakers so added bouns should something was to happern to ipod dock.

 

[Daedalus12]

Built in speakers are usually terrible. If the monitor you want has them, thats fine, but don't go out of your way for a monitor with speakers. A cheap pair of desktop speakers are going to serve you way better.