Need some advice about a upcoming monitor upgrade.

Hey guys I am in need of some advice and input about a monitor upgrade I plan on making in the near future. I have been saving some money for a few months to pick up a new LCD monitor. I know and have known since I started saving exactly which monitor I want to pick up.


24-inch, Wide Aspect (16:10), Active Matrix TFT, Midnight Gray, Up to 1920x1200 Pixels, 500 cd/m² Brightness, 1000:1 Contrast Ratio, 15-Pin D-Sub / 24-Pin DVI-D / S-Video / Composite Video / Component Video / USB Connectors
Dell Part #: 24055YR, Manufacturer Part #: T6133

I should be able to pick it up for about $850-900 with shipping. I have a little over half already saved and in another month or 2 I should have enough. The native rez which I need to run my games at (who am I kidding, I pretty much ONLY ever play WoW) 1920x1200. My current system, while not the king of the block it once was, has enough juice to keep me at ~30fps (25-35 fps is plenty playable for me) 1600x1200. I am worried however that my FPS would take too much of a hit if I up it to the 24inch widescreen rez of 1920x1200. If it does drop below a playable frame rate then I would need to upgrade. Upgrading for my current setup is going to be extremely costly. Since I am still running old school AGP and they don’t make an AGP card faster than the one I am using, I would need to make the jump to PCI Express. That means new Motherboard, new Videocard(s? SLI maybe?), new CPU to go along with the new MB. Shit I am looking at least another $600 to make it a noticeable upgrade for me. I fucking should have gone PCI Express last time my bad I fucked that one up.


Or my alternative could be to pick up a smaller LCD and save some money. The Dell 20 inch wide screen sells for about $300 less.


20.1-inch, Active Matrix TFT, 1680x1050 Pixels, 300 cd/m² Brightness, 800:1 Contrast Ratio, 15-pin D-Sub/DVI-D/S-Video/Composite Connectors, Anti-glare
Dell Part #: 2007W3Y, Manufacturer Part #: 00001

I know for sure I would be good on the FPS with this monitor and my current setup. 1680x1050 is actually a downgrade from my current rez and I may even get a bump in FPS with this thing. Here is where I am in need of some advice. Should I take the chance and get the extra 4 inches of screen real estate or be safe and go with the 20 inch widescreen. Both are an upgrade from my 20 inch CRT which has seen better days.

What should I do?

*Shrug*

I got a 19 inch Samsung LCD for like 400 bucks with tax little more then half a year ago. Big enough for me. Going 24 inch is overkill. Now to get the computer to hook up to the monitor.....

Side note: Every laptop in our house has a 15.1 in screen, so maybe that's why I think 19 is more then enough. :Shrug:

Why not just spend a few times as much and get a plasma screen t.v. :P.

Or a projector!

Plasmas are cheaper than LCDs (per size).

But a plasma won't fit on my desk. I could maybe squeze one of those 30inch Dell displays but I ain't about to spend $1800 on a monitor.

Why not just buy a good ole CRT monitor and call it a day. Just dig a hole out of your wall for the back to fit into if need be.

lol. I have a CRT, 21inch old school 50 pound "perminate sag in my desk cause this shit is so frickin heavy don't even think about taking me to a lan party" deal. I want to upgrade to the latest and greatest. I remember the first time I saw someone playing WoW on his 24 inch widescreen a few months ago. It looks so fricking awesome. His viewable area was crazy. He had his chat boxes at 10pt font and it didn't get in the way of his playing. He had his bags (all in one inventory) always up and it didn't protrude on his play at all. It was off to the side and there when he needed it.

I went to Costco the other day and saw their 20 inch Viewsonic widescreen and while it is a definate upgrade for me. I don't think its worth it for me to spend that much money and not get what I really want, the 24. I'll keep my eyes on the dell referb listing while I save they rest of the cash.