Monitors part 2

[wagonmastergeneral]

I know Tem's already got a fred going on this but my query is slightly different so didn't want to hijack it.

I'm buying a whole new system in march and want it for using The Toy and playing the odd game e.g. FM 2011 or Civ5 but defo nothing graphics heavy like a FPS.

I need the maximum possible vertical spread visible on the ladder. At the moment I can get 63 ticks visible but ideally this needs to double

Also I need the text to be crystal clear in a small font to enable the above.

I know absolutely nothing about graphics cards but plan to buy one rather than just settle for the integrated option. 512 enough for this? Is it the card or the monitor that I should focus on to get clear small text.

Thinking of:


AMD phenom II X4 955 AM3 or maybe i3/i5
4 gig RAM
GT 210 graphic card
Win 7


Maybe the above is complete overkill, I know TT doesn't need 4 cores but i'm sick of FM2011 taking forever with just 1 league selected.


I haven't got the foggiest where to start with the monitor but would love it to be 27"-32". DVI/HDMI?


Budget prob a grand max but would be an easier sell to the missus if was £400 for the box & 300 for the monitor.


Any help would be just grand.


p.s. Tem what did you end up getting?
p.p.s. Have you packed up the smokes yet?

[lewismbet]

Sorry if you are already doing this however what about rotating the monitor you wish to use and using it vertically, this is not useful for many things as programs are optimised to run in a differnt manner however if would certainly give you plenty of room for vertical rows.

for inspiration...

http://www.google.co.uk/images?q=ver...w=1087&bih=680

[AnyGreenIsGood]

WMG. Not quite clear if you are talking about a self or custom built computer, or buying a box already put together and doing some upgrading. The first option is clearly the best.

I've built a good few machines myself and it's quite nice to get something which is exactly what you want, not what the company thinks you want. Also, you don't have to suffer all the bloatware these companies stuff on the machines, which is all about plugging their name.

Just a few thoughts. Firstly, I'd say that a quad core is not over the top. (and you can get more than 4 cores now) The AMD ones are good. I like the Phenom 11 BLACK edition ones

If you are going for 4gb of RAM (and I would) then remember you need the 64bit version of Win 7.

Motherboard is a big consideration. I would say ASUS, ASUS and ASUS, in that order. Very well built, reliable and a good support site. The newer ones do have pretty good built in graphics to be honest. If you didn't also mention game playing, I'd say you might be OK with the on-board, as they really have come on a bundle, as has the on-board sound - but that goes with getting a good board of course. Still a lot of rubbish on sale and inside the pre-built stuff.

When you come down to a graphics card, it does give you a wide variation in costs. The gaming will use the output way more than the Toy. So what you get will depend more on that side of what you want.

The bigger monitors have come down in price a lot of late and some nice big ones out there for reasonable money now. I'd look for the newer LED backlit ones. They use about half the power and give a very good quality display. If you have one that gives you 1920x1080, which is full HD, then you won't go far wrong and won't break the bank.

Not sure if those ramblings are of any help. It's a bit of a personal choice. Last time I built one for somebody else, I spent a lot of time making suggestions and in the end he just told me to build what I'd use if I was doing it for myself. That made it easier, but I didn't want to hand it over in the end, cos it was then better than my own main one. evil

[Temujin]

I know Tem's already got a fred going on this but my query is slightly different so didn't want to hijack it.

I'm buying a whole new system in march and want it for using The Toy and playing the odd game e.g. FM 2011 or Civ5 but defo nothing graphics heavy like a FPS.

I need the maximum possible vertical spread visible on the ladder. At the moment I can get 63 ticks visible but ideally this needs to double

Also I need the text to be crystal clear in a small font to enable the above.

I know absolutely nothing about graphics cards but plan to buy one rather than just settle for the integrated option. 512 enough for this? Is it the card or the monitor that I should focus on to get clear small text.

Thinking of:


AMD phenom II X4 955 AM3 or maybe i3/i5
4 gig RAM
GT 210 graphic card
Win 7


Maybe the above is complete overkill, I know TT doesn't need 4 cores but i'm sick of FM2011 taking forever with just 1 league selected.


I haven't got the foggiest where to start with the monitor but would love it to be 27"-32". DVI/HDMI?


Budget prob a grand max but would be an easier sell to the missus if was £400 for the box & 300 for the monitor.


Any help would be just grand.


p.s. Tem what did you end up getting?
p.p.s. Have you packed up the smokes yet?

Didn't actually end up getting anything. Dumped about 25k over 3 days so a little against spending any money at the moment... Besides that, I am still a little space limited. Hopefully sort that out soon, and then might just get a full new system and set this up properly, run it side by side with my current, then I can have back ups in place also and start taking this thing a little more seriously and professionally....

I did find monitors at 2600+ resolution though out there. They are obviously more expensive, but in the size you are looking at. No point getting 30" monitor if it is the same resolution as 24", the extra expense probably not worth it.
Surprisingly enough though, the dealer didn't have any on stock for me to check out as there is little demand for them so I don't really know any more on the topic than when the last post on that thread was placed...

[wagonmastergeneral]

cheers for the info.

looks like gonna have to gen up on all this pixel related gobbledygook.

[joneyyy1981]

dont mean to sound flashy, but when i need an extra screen or more room i use my ipad... the have a programme called maxi vista, which allowes you to use your ipad as a 2nd, 3rd, or even 4 monitor if need be,

[wagonmastergeneral]

Sorry if you are already doing this however what about rotating the monitor you wish to use and using it vertically, this is not useful for many things as programs are optimised to run in a differnt manner however if would certainly give you plenty of room for vertical rows.

for inspiration...

http://www.google.co.uk/images?q=ver...w=1087&bih=680

Funnily enough after some research of LED vs LCD, 1920x1200 vs 1920x1080, 16:9 vs 16:10 etc what you've suggested is exactly what i've decided to do. The Samsung SM2443BW is the one i'm gonna get if anyone's interested as it automatically goes into portrait mode and it swivels 90deg on its stand.

I can't see why The Toy won't flip into portrait mode?

[Leonthefixer]

I can't see why The Toy won't flip into portrait mode?

Just redo your layout and save it as a new one - will only take a short while, then you have a layout for both landscape and portrait in case you change back in the future.