LCD purchase help

[hawkbit]

I'm in the market for a new monitor. I'm trying to keep it around $300-400, but will go to $600 if necessary. I would like to try for a 19 inch. I am very disappointed in my current monitor. I paid way too much for it and it is becoming defective just after the warrany expired. So I am looking to spend a bunch for a monitor that will last me for awhile.

I am primarily a gamer and I am mostly playing WoW right now. WoW supports a max 1280x1024 resolution which I want to play at. It also supports a maximum 1280x800wide resolution. The biggest reason I want a new monitor is because my current one is a CRT and will not support max res at anything above 60hz which is killing my eyes.

I am also running a 6600gt which does have DVI-I and supports resolutions much more than what I need for WoW.

Now for the questions:

Do I need to match the native resolution of the monitor I wish to purchase with the resolution I wish to play the game at? i.e. 1280x1024 or 1280x800wide?

Is it worth buying retail for the (typically) better return policy on defective pixels?

Do you have any advice for me on this purchase?

Thanks in advance. I don't need frills, I just want a great monitor that's easy to use. Hopefully I can find something!!

 

[fishmahn]

It looks best if you match the monitor res to the driver (or game) res.

Usually its better retail because you can open the box and inspect it for dead pixels before buying.

I've never used LCD for gaming so I don't have first-hand experience, but the general consensus is that the Dell 2005FPW (20in widescreen) is an awesome LCD and in your budget - especially if you can find a good coupon deal. I use their basic 17" here at work and its quite nice.

For normal aspect, I think it was something like a VP90D... Oh grr... I cna't recall. Sorry 🙁

Mike.

 

[RichPLS]

You can get the Dell 2005FPW under $500 1680x1050

 

[hawkbit]

You can get the Dell 2005FPW under $500 1680x1050

After looking at monitors for a few weeks, I am seriously considering this monitor. There are still a few things that I need clarification on. First, Dell lists that monitor with a 12ms response time, which is supposed to be ok for gaming. Is this correct? I will use this monitor for about 98% of the time for gaming.

Also, about native resolution vs. max resolution. WoW has a maximum 1280x800wide resolution and the Dell monitor has a maximum 1680x1050. Dell does not list what the native resolution is. If we assume that 1680x1050 is the native as well as the max, what is that going to do with the text in WoW? Will the text become garbled because it's too stretched out? Or does WoW have to played in windowed mode?