widescreen

[bum]

I've mentioned in other threads that upon my graduation I will be buying parts off newegg and building myself a gaming comp. It won't be the kind of computer that gets up at night and goes around killing people, but it will still be much better than anything I've ever used.

Anyways its depending on acouple things but I definitly want an lcd moniter, preferably cheap. I was planing on buying off newegg, but just recently I've found a way to get a university discount (off on dells and stuff.)

My question is will I be able to really see what my games look like without spending a fortune? The widescreen comes into question because they have higher resolutions, but will it 'fit' games like F.E.A.R.

My other ? is when you plug your computer into your TV does it like kill the graphics? (I figure I could get a cheap moniter and then just plug it into my tv for FEAR)

Any ideas are welcome, just trying to figure it out early.

 

[Alex81388]

For the widescreen question:

When you start games, they are usually made for regular screen ratios, so if you rigth click a desktop shortcut icon (say BF2), click properties, and you look at the command line box, you can see the path to where the game is located on your computer. For my widescreen, I always have to add -szx 1920 -szy 1200, because its a 1920.1200 resolution monitor, so you would change it for yours. Each games has different 'codes' or commands, instead of szx or szy, it could be height and width, just look at google it is easy to find. If your graphics card can handle it (yes, you need a decent one), you can make the games look pretty sweet.

For the TV question:

If you don't have a HDTV, the resolution will suck. Thats it. The cheapest monitor will kill the best non-HD tv any day in terms of how it looks.

 

[bum]

hmm... I didn't know it was that easy. I'm already familiar with command line parameters, so for me its just a matter of looking up the code.

My tv isn't HDTV but it is a new flat screen so if it works right it would be better than any monitor I can afford, but like you said the resolution might go down the tube. I take it there aren't any ways or codes to fix that? Also I have a Geforce 6800xt would that be able to handle decent resolutions? Oh and I'm not one of those performance freaks that has to have all the advanced lighting setting maxed out, I just want to feel like I'm getting the most potential out of my gear.

One last question whats DVI? I know its a way to connect but is it better or what?