Is a monitor important in terms of upgrade?

[Cassiekessie]

I have decided to slowly upgrade my pc, built on a tight budget last year. I bought an ssd as a first step and am now looking what to buy next. Money is still tight, and although my system plays whatever I want to play so there is no urgency, I would like to improve. This is my kit:

Asus M5A97 R2.0
AMD FX-6300 CPU
EVGA 500B 500W bronze
Patriot 8gb 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
Sapphire HD7770 GDDR5 Graphics
WD 500GB HDD
Samsung Evo 128GB SSD

However, the monitor I have is around 10 years old. Would I notice much improvement if I bought a new one? I would be looking to spend only around £100 - but I have zero interest in anything large and flashy.

Something like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EZD3KYQ or am I better with a HDMI monitor (I have no clue whatsoever what the difference is)?

Some advice on what would be best to upgrade next would be appreciated; is the ancient monitor the likely candidate?

 

[cdrkf]

I have decided to slowly upgrade my pc, built on a tight budget last year. I bought an ssd as a first step and am now looking what to buy next. Money is still tight, and although my system plays whatever I want to play so there is no urgency, I would like to improve. This is my kit:

Asus M5A97 R2.0
AMD FX-6300 CPU
EVGA 500B 500W bronze
Patriot 8gb 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
Sapphire HD7770 GDDR5 Graphics
WD 500MB HDD
Samsung Evo 128MB SSD

However, the monitor I have is around 10 years old. Would I notice much improvement if I bought a new one? I would be looking to spend only around £100 - but I have zero interest in anything large and flashy.

Something like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EZD3KYQ or am I better with a HDMI monitor (I have no clue whatsoever what the difference is)?

Some advice on what would be best to upgrade next would be appreciated; is the ancient monitor the likely candidate?

Out of curiosity what is your current monitor? Yes a new monitor is nice although quite a few older screens (high end CRT) actually offer better performance than many entry level flat panel (the fact everyone raves about 'HD' when I had a 21" CRT with higher pixel density and refresh rate in the 90s always amuses me).

 

[Cassiekessie]

Samsung SyncMaster 913n circa 2006 Still going strong but I do wonder if a new one would be massively better?

 

[royalcrown]

I disagree with danny7 entirely. Here is why; do you listen to your computer to interact most of the time or look at it ?

1280 x 1024 stinks for newer titles, VGA works well enough, but if you go HDMI you'll be able to carry it over to future builds longer. Just changing from 19 to a nice 22-24 inch will seem like night and day. With at least 23 inches, you get all the vetical space of your current 19 inch, plus all the stuff you've been missing in certain things optimized for widescreen.

But you can only afford what you can afford and if you need to put it off, then you need to.

 

[sora]

I have decided to slowly upgrade my pc, built on a tight budget last year. I bought an ssd as a first step and am now looking what to buy next. Money is still tight, and although my system plays whatever I want to play so there is no urgency, I would like to improve. This is my kit:

Asus M5A97 R2.0
AMD FX-6300 CPU
EVGA 500B 500W bronze
Patriot 8gb 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
Sapphire HD7770 GDDR5 Graphics
WD 500GB HDD
Samsung Evo 128GB SSD

However, the monitor I have is around 10 years old. Would I notice much improvement if I bought a new one? I would be looking to spend only around £100 - but I have zero interest in anything large and flashy.

Something like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EZD3KYQ or am I better with a HDMI monitor (I have no clue whatsoever what the difference is)?

Some advice on what would be best to upgrade next would be appreciated; is the ancient monitor the likely candidate?

If you dislike your current monitor and want a clearer or crisper display, look for a new monitor.

 

[Tayonas]

Yes a new monitor will improve your system and for all sorts of reasons.

There are a lot and I would be willing to bet your benchmarks and FPS will significantly improve.

 

[Cassiekessie]

Many thanks guys, I will replace with a HDMI monitor. I guess after that, the gpu is the next candidate for upgrade.

 

[royalcrown]

These are all our opinions of course and you gotta do what makes you happy for the $$ you spend Enjoy it, whatever you end up buying.

Many thanks guys, I will replace with a HDMI monitor. I guess after that, the gpu is the next candidate for upgrade.