Christmas Upgrade

[dirkpitt45]

I know its a little early , but my parents have some "issues" with online shopping. Looking to only spend about $100-$200 CAD.

Current system:
AMD phenom II 940 @ 3.6ghz wCore Contact
Biostar 128m 790gx
4gb Gskill DDR2 800 RAM
500gb WD black
750wtx corsair
XFX 4850 1gb
Windows 7 RC

I was thinking about one of those 40gb Kingston SSDs with the intel memory controller that are supposed to be out some time soon. Then I can get a student discounted full version of windows 7.

Or a new monitor, since all I have is this dell 17inch that came with my old pc. Served me surprisingly well actually, no dead pixels, no mis-colours, but its only 1280x1024 so its not the prettiest or brightest screen. So I could either get maybe a 22 inch or a second 17 inch. Not sure on which one or what brand, never bought a monitor before.

Final choice is a 4890, figure I could sell my 4850 for $100 or so, my g15 keyboard for $50 and then it shouldn't be too much. Or maybe a 5850, though they're more expensive. And newegg.ca appears to not have any 58xx series cards for some reason... Then later on (march possibly) I'd pick up a new monitor, since my 4850 can already play everything maxed on my current.

Anyone have any other suggestions? or which of those would be best?

 

[bkolk]

Or a new monitor, since all I have is this dell 17inch that came with my old pc. Not sure on which one or what brand, never bought a monitor before.

Final choice is a 4890, figure I could sell my 4850 for $100 or so, my g15 keyboard for $50 and then it shouldn't be too much. Or maybe a 5850, though they're more expensive. And newegg.ca appears to not have any 58xx series cards for some reason... Then later on (march possibly) I'd pick up a new monitor, since my 4850 can already play everything maxed on my current.

Anyone have any other suggestions? or which of those would be best?

First thing id get is a nice monitor, it will make a huge impact on your computing experience going from a 17" to 22".
Some good brand names are samsung, LG, and acer

Do not get a 4890, since your current card is 4850, its not a big enough upgrade to justify the money.
58xx series is nice, id only recommend getting one tho if your 4850 cant play the current games you have.

 

[james.wired]

I agree with bkolk, go with a nice 1080p/1200 monitor since you have 1gb vram. Later on go for a 5800 series or 300 series GPU. That is probably the better upgrade route to go as everything else looks solid for now.

 

[dirkpitt45]

Ok, sounds like a plan, is it still worth buying a monitor off newegg or just stop in at futureshop?

Shipping a monitor sounds kinda risky, considering the state I've received items, and the stuff I'd see when I was shipper/reciever for a company. You wouldn't believe how many times I had to refuse to sign the slip when a box came in missing parts, dented, broken. Even got a set of solid steel beams for an anti-sway bar kit. One of them was bent at a 20degree angle and had a corner grinded completely off.

Edit: Noticed that 21.5'' monitors are 1920x1080 while 22'' are 1680x1050. Is there a big difference between them?

 

[james.wired]

I haven't had any problems with the two monitors that I've had shipped, but if you are sketchy about doing it and you can find comparable prices to ncix, tigerdirect, or even newegg at your local shop, then by all means do it.

1920x1080 and 1920x1200 is high definition resolution, where as 1680x1050 is just a standard resolution. Having a HD monitor is a nice perk, and your current vid card and next one will really pair nicely together. Nothing beats a crisp HD picture! This one looks pretty nice and falls in your price range: Newegg.ca - Hanns·G HH-221HPB Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 15000:1(1000:1) Built in Speakers - LCD Monitors

A few people here on the forums use Hanns-G and like them.

Edit: Here's another at a good price if you can stretch the budget a bit:

Newegg.ca - Acer X233Hbd Black 23" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 40000:1 (ACM) - LCD Monitors
Only problem with that one is no native HDMI input. Shop around, check ncix, tigerdirect, and your local shop to see what they have...don't jump on anything to quick.

 

[dirkpitt45]

Ah ok, so thats why its 1080p.

There's a ASUS for the same price, but 3 year warranty instead of the Hanns 1 year.
Newegg.ca - ASUS VH222H-P Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI Widescreen Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 ASCR 20000 :1 Built in Speakers - LCD Monitors
Total's $223, which is pretty reasonable. I'm gonna look around town here, but I doubt furureshop is gonna have something that isn't a rip off .

 

[bkolk]

Ok, sounds like a plan, is it still worth buying a monitor off newegg or just stop in at futureshop?

Shipping a monitor sounds kinda risky, considering the state I've received items, and the stuff I'd see when I was shipper/reciever for a company. You wouldn't believe how many times I had to refuse to sign the slip when a box came in missing parts, dented, broken. Even got a set of solid steel beams for an anti-sway bar kit. One of them was bent at a 20degree angle and had a corner grinded completely off.

Edit: Noticed that 21.5'' monitors are 1920x1080 while 22'' are 1680x1050. Is there a big difference between them?

Well for monitors i always like to see them in person in a store before buying one, seeing it is much more valuable than comparing specs of monitors.

1920x1080 21.5" are a 16:9 screen ratio (same as an HDTV)
1680x1050 22" is a a 16:10 ratio (typical of widescreen computer monitors)

Id recommend going the 22" 1680x1050 over a 21.5" 1920x1080. Especially if the 21.5" is more expensive, at that small a screen, the resolution is already high enough. For general web browsing, pc games, spreadsheets, the 16:10 ratio is also more desirable (will fit more on the screen).

 

[james.wired]

I think the higher the resolution (up to 1920x1200 on one screen), the better the gaming. With the appropriate video card anyway. Why not go 1080p HD if you can

 

[dirkpitt45]

Well all I do right now is gaming mostly, photoshop + illustrator, and open office. I have no trouble fitting everything onto this 17" either sooo. I also use my monitor to play xbox on, so figure it'll look better too at 1080p.

Although my 4850 might be a bit limiting for gaming, have to turn some stuff down. But that's fine with me, played enough of crysis anyways .

 

[Druid]

Yeah 1920x1200 is a beast of a res. It's what I play at and it took all of my gpu's power to max Crysis with no AA or AF of course.