TFTs - should the video card have a bearing on buying one?

[spireite]

Bear with me here.....

I'm in a quandary.... whilst I have a std 6800, I have noticed that the CPU (lowly XP2100) is unable to drive some games along at the native resolutions of 1280x1024 at a decent framerate to me. Bearing this in mind, is there anything to be gained by getting a TFT since their native resolution is 1280x1024? (much as I'd like one).

Also, with regards to the resolution, why bother with a 19" since its the same resolution?

[daniel_owen_uk]

Why bother with a bigger television when a 14" has same resolution.

In games the native res looks best but most good TFTs will run games ok lower than that.

Most games however should run fine @ 1280 on your 6800, maybe turn detail down or AA/AF.

[rusty]

why bother with a 19"?


because it's bigger... that's the only reason why you would go ith a 19" - more veiwing area, better for watching films etc


you are right that in going for a tft you are kind of limiting yourself to that resolution for games which could be an issue if your computer isn't particularly powerful. whilst obviously you can run in different resolutions, you may find a degradation in the image quality due to the necessary re-sampling that takes place. it's not always that bad though - i play my xbox through my 1280x1024 tft, which is obviously some major resampling! halo 2 looks perfectly fine through it, whereas NFS undergound 2 shows up the problems more.

but they do have thier advantages as well...

you have to weigh up the pro's and cons and see which wins out for you, as different people will place different weightings on each aspect.

[Archaon]

Yup. 20 inchers can go higher, but also cost a hell of a lot more than you would expect for the extra inch.

[spireite]

Why bother with a bigger television when a 14" has same resolution.

In games the native res looks best but most good TFTs will run games ok lower than that.

Most games however should run fine @ 1280 on your 6800, maybe turn detail down or AA/AF.


Fair enough point really.... wouldn't want to go above 19" though. I've been looking around various price points, but have settled on probably the Sharps, though if Kustom start stocking the Viewsonic 19" mentioned in another thread, I may be tempted by that.

[daniel_owen_uk]

BTW m8 you from Chesterfield? I am too, the username suggests so :P

[spireite]

BTW m8 you from Chesterfield? I am too, the username suggests so :P

Originally, yes - Newbold, but now in the delights (!) of Surrey