High res monitor

[hubbs_67]

Hello,

I was looking to pick up a high res monitor (my current monitor is only 20", 1680 x 1050), however I find that anything over 1080 p gets quite expensive. (ie, the cheapest 1200p monitor I can find is about $600). I read tons of reviews where people are using 2500 x 1600 displays... I found one of those online and the monitor was about $900.

Wondering if the community can help me out with:

1) Are all monitors over 1080 p incredibly expensive?

2) Any suggests for a good, decently priced high-res monitor?

3) For anyone that has invested in a monitor above 1080 p, can you offer your thoughts - am I better off buying a higher res monitor, or just buying a bigger 1080 p monitor?

4) I haven't seen any monitors that go above 60 Hz (ie, 60 frames per second) - are there any out there, and if so, is it worth it?

Basically I'm looking for a good monitor for gaming.

Current system:

Dual Core E8400 3.0 Ghz process
4 gigs ram
AMD 6950 2 gig video card
Asus P5QL-E motherboard
20" samsung monitor

(yeah I know I'm due to upgrade my motherboard / cpu / ram before too long, so I didn't want to break the bank on a monitor, but I would like to at least get 1080 p out of my 6950!)

Thanks in advance for anyone who takes the time to respond

 

[ssddx]

1) quite a few 1920x1080 monitors are reasonable in price. once you start talking 1920x1200 prices normally jump up a bit. 2560x1600 monitors do typically run high. the prices you mentioned are about typical for something worth buying.

2) personally i prefer viewsonic monitors, but many will recommend dell, asus, etcetera. you need to determine what exactly you want in a monitor

3) i dont have a monitor bigger than 1920x1080 but i do have a 40" lcdtv that i use at 1920x1080. buying a bigger 1080p screen will just enlarge everything, visual quality will actually downgrade a bit as the size increases depending on how far away you sit. keep in mind screen real estate doesnt increase at all. 2560x1600 monitors will drastically increase your screen real estate and look sharp despite the 30" size, however this all depends on the content you play.

4) computer monitors are offered in 60hz and 120hz (dual-dvi) variations. keep in mind that only tn-panels are 120hz so you sacrifice on image quality.

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things to know:

i believe most 2560x1600 monitors are IPS panels.. or at least the ones i know of are.

only tn panels offer 120hz inputs. however, if you dont get 120fps in a game its absolutely worthless. 60hz works fine so i'd suggest this. you can also choose a better panel type.

TN panels are pretty much the lowest end. they often invert-colors or grey-out when viewed on an angle. va and e-ips panels arent bad as far as viewing angles are concerned and fill the middle of the road. h-ips, s-ips and p-ips panels are the top of the line in terms of quality. any ips panel offers near 180 degree viewing without noticible quality loss. the prices also jump up as you step up panel type.

1080p content will look better on a 1080p screen. this includes blueray movies, consoles, etcetera. pc games might look better on a 2560x1600 due to the increased resolution in a small physical size, however you need some serious hardware to play new games at any sort of decent framerate.

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a 1920x1080 screen is probably best due to your budget and hardware. 1920x1200 monitors are nice but is it really worth it to you for 120 extra pixels?

personally i'd suggest an e-ips since you're on a budget. middle of the road in terms of visual quality and you get a great viewing angle. they are all 60hz.

as far as size 22" to 23" should be fine.

 

[hubbs_67]

Best answer selected by hubbs_67.