Don't high native resolutions limit hard core gaming?

[Seanzy]

I want to purchase a 19" or 20.1" LCD monitor but can't seem to find a clear answer to one important question. I'm hoping someone here can help me.

In addition to lots of web surfing, I want to be able to play games like Doom 3, Half-Life 2, DukeNukem Forever (when it finally comes out)ect... But isn't the native resolution for these monitors too high to realisticlly play these types of games on all but the fastest PCs and Video Cards?

My research tells me that many gamers now use these larger LCDs for their gaming, but I don't understand how they are getting around this hurdle. Are they playing at resolutions lower than their LCD's native resolution and just putting up with reduced image quality? OR are the hardcore gamers still using CRTs and only those who play less demanding games using LCD monitors? Or am I not seeing the whole picture?

 

[Whizzard9992]

It depends on what you consider a high resolution, how much you can spend on your video subsystem, and what you define as your threshhold for a 'playable' game.

1600x1200, which is considered high-end (and not 16:9 which is another topic entirely) is still playable with high-end graphics setups. Fortunately, when you're talking FPS, the you can go pretty high with enough money. So high in fact, you'll be more concerned about minimum FPS than Max, even at 16x12.

http://www.tomshardware.com/graphics/index.html

A little research there ^^^ should give you an idea of the hardware you need and how much you'll need to spend. www.tigerdirect.com and www.newegg.com are good for shopping prices.

Also, keep in mind that the larger your monitor gets, the slower your response times generally are. It's a lot easier to find a quality 8ms 19" LCD than it is to find a 21" quality LCD at 8ms. At 8ms, you'll see a maximum rate of 125 FPS (without skipped frames), which is pretty diesel. At 25ms, though, the most your monitor will render is 40 FPS, so even if your gfx card can render 80 FPS, you won't even see it. You'll also want to pay attention to user reviews and professioanl reviews. LCD's that use overdrive to get 8ms don't give you the actual image until 2 or 3 frames later, which can distort quality in some 'hardcore' games, such as quake.

In short, I'd say if you can spend the money on an SLI setup with a couple of nice 7800 GTX's or better, you'll be abe to run 1600x1200 on the games out currently without a hitch at full settings. If you're running a single GTX or better, I'd go with a 1024x768 native resolution unless you really don't care about FSAA. Anything less and you'll need to sacrifice quality at 1024x768. Always try and get a 12ms or better on the monitor, and make sure you do your resarch.

 

[Seanzy]

Thanks! Your response will help me decide.