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Tom's Hardware > Forum > CPU & Components > CPUs > New CPU or bigger monitor?

New CPU or bigger monitor?

Forum CPU & Components : CPUs New CPU or bigger monitor?

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Right now I have

GTX 260
Athlon X2 6000+ 3.1ghz
2gb ram
19in monitor

I'm wondering whether I should go with a phenom 2 or a 23-24in widescreen monitor. All my games run pretty well. But will upgrading my monitor and rez affect my fps at all? Or no since the gfx card is made for higher resolutions anyways? I have had this 19in for a while and want an upgrade. So CPU or monitor? Thanks

Reply to misterjoe100
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Upgrade the monitor.

 

It will drop your framerates, but almost any game should still easily be playable on near full settings unless you go crazy and get a 30" or something.


Message edited by cjl on 05-16-2009 at 07:25:53 AM
Reply to cjl

Thanks! I have around a $200 limit so 23in would probably be my choice

Reply to misterjoe100

For me, the monitor would be a better upgrade since your gaming experience will be much better on a larger screen. Your current CPU and GPU are strong enough for nice framerates up to a 24" monitor.

Reply to hundredislandsboy
- 0 +

misterjoe100 wrote :

Right now I have

GTX 260
Athlon X2 6000+ 3.1ghz
2gb ram
19in monitor

I'm wondering whether I should go with a phenom 2 or a 23-24in widescreen monitor. All my games run pretty well. But will upgrading my monitor and rez affect my fps at all? Or no since the gfx card is made for higher resolutions anyways? I have had this 19in for a while and want an upgrade. So CPU or monitor? Thanks


Most newer 22" monitors run at 19x12, could save a few $. Check the specs. With your setup, your older 19" monitor is currently throttling your GPU, thus causing more load on your CPU. A 30" monitor will likely overload your GPU, again causing your CPU to bottleneck.

Reply to croc
- 0 +

How much can you stretch that $200 budget?

The Dell Ultrasharp 2209WA is an excellent monitor for the price - it uses an IPS panel, and has much better image quality and viewing angle than most cheap monitors. It's the one I would recommend if you can stretch your budget a bit.

Reply to cjl

I know that is not what You asked but I would first go for 4GB Ram if You are on 32 bit OS or for extra 4GB(6GB total) if You are or planning to move to 64 bit OS soon. Between CPU and monitor I would go for 22" monitor with 1920x1200 or 1920x1080 resolution. I would not go bigger than 22" for monitor unless You are planning to watch movies on it.

Reply to ainarssems
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