22" vs 24" monitor selection

[Shiner]

I have been using a 22" CRT by NEC, but it is starting to go on me and need to plan for a replacement. I have an ATI 1900XT and play primarily Armed Assault.

I've decided that a widescreen is appropriate and that most if not all future games will support that mode.

I understand the sweetspot is the 22" TN panel LCDs, but that they also don't provide the best image compared the the 24" LCDs on the market.

In particular I'm looking at the 24" Dell for $600
or the 22" Dell for $300

Money isn't that much of a problem, but I hate to overspend on anything. Like my CRT above that lasted 7 years, I'm willing to go above the optimal price/performance curve for a monitor as it is a more long-term investment.

My concerns are primarily that I don't plan to upgrade my video card until late next year. Do you guys think the 24's larger resolution will put too much of a strain on the 1900XT in that next year and do you think the 24 provides much more value over the 22 panels being produced?

Thanks,
Shiner

[Tempus]

I have the Dell 24" and I love it. But there's not too much I can run in native resolution (1920x1200) with my 7900gs.

ArmA seems a bit heavy on the requirements, so I'm pretty sure that you won't be able to run native either. Even so, the monitor does scale down pretty well.

[JMJ]

check out HardOCP, they report of lot of testing at 1920x1200 on their video card reviews.

[Shiner]

Ok so this is something I wasn't sure about since I've heard that lcd monitors only run at native, but your the second person to tell me the dell 24 can scale. Personally, I would love to buy the bigger monitor for future proofing, if I new I could run a lower res if needed. (My eyesight isn't the best so bigger pixels are sometimes easier for me to see).

[Augustus Gloop]

Maybe instead of one 24" monitor, you will consider a dual 22" widescreen setup. I believe that games are going to support the dual monitor configuration more and more as people realize the benefits of having a playing screen and a supplemental information screen (overhead tactical map or something).

List of games supporting multi-monitor displays to some extent:
Age Of Mythology
Aliens vs. PredatorTM 2
Aliens vs. PredatorTM 2: Primal Hunt
Anarchy Online
Apocalyptica
Asheron’s Call® 2: Fallen Kings
BANDITS - Phoenix Rising game demo
BallisticsTM
Battelfeield 1942*
Blitzkrieg*
Bloodrayne game demo
Call Of Duty
Chaser game demo
Clive Barker's UndyingTM
Colin McRae Rally 3
Colin McRae Rally 4*
Corvette
Dead Man’s Hand
Deadly Dozen: Pacific Theater
Deus Ex
Dogs Playing Poker
Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project
Enclave game demo
EVE: The Second Genesis
F1 Challenge 99-02*
Firestarter*
Freedom Fighters
Freedom Force™ game demo
Gangland
Gladiators: Galactic Circus Games
Gore: Ultimate Soldier
Grand Prix 4
Grand Prix Legends*
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City*
GTR*
Heavy Metal: FAKK2
Hitman: Contracts*
Hover Ace*
IGI 2: Covert Strike game demo
IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles
Imperium Galactica III game demo
Jedi Academy
Knights Of The Temple
KUMAWAR
Lego Drome Racers
Line of Sight: Vietnam game demo
Live For Speed
Lords of Everquest
MafiaTM game demo
Manhunt*
Max Payne 2*
Medal Of Honor
Medal Of Honor: Breakthrough
Medal Of Honor: Spearhead
Microsoft® Combat Flight Simulator 3
Microsoft® Flight Simulator 2002
Microsoft® Flight Simulator 2004
Midnight Club II
Mobile Forces
Motocross Madness 2
Moto GPTM 2
NASCAR® Racing 2002 Season
NASCAR® Racing 2003 Season game demo
Need For Speed: Underground*
Neverwinter Nights
Nitro Family
Operation Flashpoint: Resistance
Painkiller
Planetside
Postal 2
Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time*
Pro Race Driver™ game demo
Quake 3 ArenaTM
Quake 3 Team ArenaTM
Racer game demo
Rainbow Six: Raven Shield*
Rise of Nations™
Return to Castle WolfensteinTM
RUNE
Saturday Night Speedway
Serious Sam: Gold Edition
Serious Sam: Second Encounter
Shadowbane
Soldner: Secret Wars
Spider-Man 2
Splinter Cell
Star TrekTM Voyager: Elite Force
Star TrekTM Voyager: Elite Force Expansion Pack
Star Wars GalaxiesTM: An Empire Divided
Star Wars® Jedi Knight 2 - Jedi OutcastTM
Strike Fighters: Project 1
Tactical Ops: Assault On Terror
Terminator 3: War Of The Machines
The Elder Scrolls® III: Morrowind
The Elder Scrolls® III: Tribunal
The Elder Scrolls® III: Bloodmoon
The Wheel of TimeTM
Tomb Raider™ The Angel of Darkness
Tom Clancy's Ghost ReconTM
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Desert SiegeTM
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Island ThunderTM
Trackmania
Tribes 2
Trainz® game demo
Unreal® II: The Awakening
Unreal® Tournament 2003 game demo
Unreal Tournament 2004
Unreal® Tournament
Vietcong
Wolfenstein™ Enemy Territory
World Racing
X2: The Threat
X-Plane

*These games are not offically supported for multiple monitors but they can be modified to.
Some of these games will only work with the matrox Parhelia

[Shiner]

Thanks Augustus, I run duals at work, but was under the impression that for gaming a single large monitor was preferred by most.

[Augustus Gloop]

As things are now, absolutely. But the potential for gaming is really exciting! This will be my next major purchase, and I'm trying to talk myself out of a 3 monitor display.

[avenging llama]

Originally Posted by Augustus Gloop

As things are now, absolutely. But the potential for gaming is really exciting! This will be my next major purchase, and I'm trying to talk myself out of a 3 monitor display.

LOL... I feel your pain man...I already have an acer 24" and a Samsung 17" LCD on one system but I am running my 19" crt on a second system right next to the other 2 so I can feel like its a 3 monitor setup :P

[Basic1]

22 obviously, $300 for 2 inches is stupid.... if your desperate for gaming glory then as gloop said. go for dual..

later.. people please help with my internet sound problem on the same forum:P

[Twisted_Firestarter]

Originally Posted by Augustus Gloop

Maybe instead of one 24" monitor, you will consider a dual 22" widescreen setup. I believe that games are going to support the dual monitor configuration more and more as people realize the benefits of having a playing screen and a supplemental information screen (overhead tactical map or something).

This will certainly not happen anytime soon, if ever. There aren't enough dual-monitor users to justify spending extra development costs associated with native dual-monitor games. Valve's recently released some statistics of a survey of almost 800,000 gamers and it showed that a mere 3.10% of those surveyed had a multi-monitor system.

Although you can certainly run a few games on dual monitors today, the vast majority of these are simply one screen spanning 2 monitors rather than any sort of useful extra information on the second monitor. And who wants a huge vertical line in the middle of their screen?

I would certainly love to see games like Company of Heroes which could use the second screen for the tactical overlay map, but it ain't gonna happen.

[Zoopy_T]

I have a 26" monitor and a 20.1" monitor and it sure is awesome. I like running common apps in the second monitor like Xfire, TS, and IM.

The only game that I know of that actually supports dual monitors is Supreme Commander.

[avenging llama]

Hey Augustus, where did you get that list of games, I have several of them and have never heard about multi monitor support but would like to see what they offer.

[sordavie]

If money isn't a problem for the 24"

[PanzerHans]

I have the Dell 24". Great monitor. Can't give you any info on the GPU load for Arma as I run a 8800GTS.

Also note that dual monitors is not a good setup for gaming. You need triplehead so that your crosshairs don't end up in the middle of the two screen setup.
Matrox has an excellent and affordable triplehead solution(http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/gxm/products/th2go/).

I use it at work and can really recommend it (3x19 inch monitors = 3840x1024)

[=Sarc=]

I don't think the 1900XT will be able to run at that high of a resolution for many games. However, you can scale a lower resolution to fit the monitor's native resolution. If the monitor can do it, your graphics drivers should be able to do it.