My New Build [Part 1] - Monitor

[spO_on]

Having given myself the biggest headache reading about hardware, comparing prices, reading more about hardware, salivating over geeky stuff i want, i have finally taken the plunge and started off my new PC build by purchasing a new LCD monitor.


sorry about the crap quality picture, i had to take it with my phone.

Acer P223W-D

Specs:
- Viewable Area: 22” Widescreen (1680x1050 Resolution)
- Interface: Analog / DVI (HDCP Compatible)
- Response Time: 5ms
- 16.7M Colours
- Contrast Ratio: 2500:1
- Viewing Angle (H/V): 170°/ 160°
- Brightness: 300cd/m2
- Vesa Compatible (100x100)

I am SOOO happy with it. I went to a shop that stocks Acer and the guy in there had this one and the more expensive one on display and allowed me to have a mess. I genuinely couldnt see a difference between the picture quality of this one and the more expensive one that has a slightly better specification, and after the guy said to me "have you played COD4 yet?" ;D that was it, SOLD I got a good price too, £179.99 compared to Overclockers £193.86 inc VAT

My desktop is now 1680x1050 , theres so much more room to have several windows open at once, and COD4 running at my monitors native resolution looks amazing (even if it IS only running at 15FPS lol)

I have decided to start off with the monitor first and next month get the majority of the hardware. I want:

Case- Antec P900
CPU- Q6600 go stepping
RAM- 4gb 800mhz (or maybe faster depending on what mobo i can affored)
Mobo- socket 775 SLI
Power supply- Coolermaster Real Power 700w Modular

Graphics card- Now i have toyed with the idea of getting an 8800GTX, a few of you guys have one and its a great card no doubt, but i wanted to spend as much as i could affored on the components that would make the biggest difference to gaming, so i was thinking of getting the 9800GX2, (overclockers have it at £352.49 this week) BUT!!!! with the arrival of the 9900GTX and GT just around the corner ready to replace the GX2 i think i will wait and see what price they are and how much they "bench" which is the reason for me getting my monitor first.
It really has breathed new life into my aging system. My old 19inch LCD has a response time of 25ms and a contrast ratio of 250:1 so as you can imagine my new LCD looks and plays so much better.

Next month: "My new build" [Part 2] - SKINT!!

[Pug']

nice man! i'm in the market for a new screen myself. to hold my new xbox. 22" seems perfect.

I've noticed it's glossy, which i disagree with, but it does look sweet.

does it have 2 dvi slots at back? thats a features i'd like, if not can always purchase a divider, but it's just more wires.

[spO_on]

No Pugster its only got 1 DVI, but it came with both types of cable so i could connect it to my grfx card without a VGA/DVI converter FINALLY

I know its not the best 22 inch out there, the samsung beats it in every department and its slightly cheaper, but i wanted something different as it seems every1 is going for that 1, and i got it for a good price, i dont have a console, and the difference between this 1 and my old LCD is just amazing, i just love it so much, best toy i have bought in ages

1st 2 screenies were taken here at my mates house using his 19inch CRT so they aint in widescreen, but the last one i took yesterday at mine on my LCD. At 1600x1050 with fraps showing the Frames per second, i am getting 35-45 FPS, only dropping when i turn on all the effects, especially shadows, that seems to REALLY knock it down a lot. The response time has really helped a lot too with COD4 as my old monitor was running at 25ms lool, i just still seem to get lag now when the cpu is loading on and off of the ram. Unfortunately i bought cheapo Corsair value ram 1.5 years ago and overclocking the FSB has just about knackered it up (will NOT be buying cheapo ram next month) but it seems to run ok while the cpu doesnt have to load a part of the map that i have moved far away from. Also ive noticed running at that resolution you dont really need any anti-aliasing which also takes a few frames off the average.





SORRY HELI I SEEM TO HAVE MESSED UP THE PAGE