Will a flat panel monitor do all right for Civ4?

[stwils]

Hello everyone (especially Padma.)

My old computer will not handle Civ 4, so I am thinking of getting a new Dell with a flat panel monitor.

My question is, will a Dell flat panel monitor be all right for Civ 4?

I've wanted Civ4, but it is only for Win XP or 2000. I still have my old faithful Windows 98. But it won't work for Civ 4.

So what do you suggest? I am especially concerned about using a flat panel monitor for games.

stwils

 

[Lithgon]

Flat panel is fine but you need to look at the video card for the computer you're looking at buying. Dell has a tendancy of putting horrible video cards in their computers.

 

[Xorg]

Flat Panels have no problems with games. The only issue is whether your graphics card and panel defalut resolution are supported by the game and most current games support multiple resolutions. The second issue that for shooter and action type games you want a panel with fast refresh rates, 16ms or under, and all of Dell's newer panels support that.

I run a Dell 2405 on my PC and its a thing of beauty and have a Dell XPS with a 17" wide screen at 1900x1200 that I do most of my CIV4 gaming on and its also wonderful.

 

[Xorg]

All computer companies use low end graphics cards as defaults to keep prices low - Dell offers some of the best video cards on the market if you want to upgrade, which is easy on their online order and configuration system. Note that Dell also just acquired Alienware - one of the best high end gaming computer companies.

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Flat panel is fine but you need to look at the video card for the computer you're looking at buying. Dell has a tendancy of putting horrible video cards in their computers.

 

[ShadowDagger]

Dont buy from Dell. Custom build. I normally buy all of my parts from Newegg. I last month I built a new comp:

AMD Athlon64 X2 4200+
Geforce 7800GT
1 GB (2-2-2-6) RAM
250 GB HD
Antec TruePowerII 550W PSU
19" Flat Panel
Soundblaster Audigy2
Logitech X-530 5.1 Speakers
Generic Keyboard and Mouse
A couple fans

All of this cost me $1630 with shipping. The Dell equivelent would have cost $2700.

 

[MrPaladin]

True any custom built high end machine will beat any name brand high end machine...

What I do favor in mentioning to people when they buy a name brand is if they get a mid or low end machine it would probably pay off, because of the lacck of technical knowledge in putting the machine together...

in reply to the original question: early flat pannels would often leave a trail when playing games making things blurred... but I've not seen any such problem in resent monitors, it would seem that LCD's are catching up to CRT's with refresh rates... I use my laptop for gaming and have no problem in high speed FPS games like Counter Strike Source....

 

[stwils]

For video cards I would be getting either an ATI Radeon X300, or a Nvidia GeForce 6800. (I am thinking of getting a Dell XPS 400)

Would that be adequate? Or better than adequate? (I can't build my own.)

stwils

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

in reply to the original question: early flat pannels would often leave a trail when playing games making things blurred... but I've not seen any such problem in resent monitors, it would seem that LCD's are catching up to CRT's with refresh rates... I use my laptop for gaming and have no problem in high speed FPS games like Counter Strike Source....

I have to agree. I was reluctant about getting a flat panel for my own computer, but I've experienced no problems with it. Civ4 is fine with one.

 

[Slip de Garcon]

Ditto. I still have my last PC, and really notice how much better my flat Iiyama monitor is when I go back to the CRT once in a while.

 

[DrewBledsoe]

I have to agree. I was reluctant about getting a flat panel for my own computer, but I've experienced no problems with it. Civ4 is fine with one.

Very easy test, does your flat monitor play movie dvds ok? If yes then it should have utterly no worries with any game yet invented (think about it)..

 

[scooter]

I have a dell comp and it works just fine, 8400 series w/ a flat panel, no custom options.

 

[Willem]

For video cards I would be getting either an ATI Radeon X300, or a Nvidia GeForce 6800. (I am thinking of getting a Dell XPS 400)

Would that be adequate? Or better than adequate? (I can't build my own.)

Better than adequate. Keep in mind that those cards use PCI-Express connections. Make sure you get a motherboard that supports that format.

 

[Monker]

For video cards I would be getting either an ATI Radeon X300, or a Nvidia GeForce 6800. (I am thinking of getting a Dell XPS 400)

Would that be adequate? Or better than adequate? (I can't build my own.)

stwils

I just got a dell XPS 400 with a GeForce 6800 and a flat screen a few months ago. It runs civ4 very well. I dunno how much other things might affect how well it runs though...RAM, processor, etc.?

 

[warpus]

want a panel with fast refresh rates, 16ms or under

I would actually go a bit further and recommend 12ms or better, preferably 8ms.

Anothe important thing to look up before you make the purchase is the dead pixel policy. Check out what theirs is and compare it to others.

 

[ShadowDagger]

If you don't think you have the knowlege of building a computer you can always buy the parts then go to a local computer store, pay the guy $25 to assemble it.

Mind telling us what price range you are looking at so we can give better advice?

 

[thordk]

my lcd is over 2 years old and back then you had to watch if it's able to be used for games. the rule of thumb has been "at least 30ms refresh". most current lcds have way better refresh rates than this.

oh, and my 30ms 19" lcd is the best monitor i ever had i'd never go back to crt anymore.

 

[`DG`]

I just tried plugging in a DELL 19" TFT at the weekend (I assume one of the upper end models as it's from a high end PC).

It's a bit of a toss up as to wether it's better or not than a CRT. Colours just dont look as good as a CRT, and when zoomed fully in the graphics just didnt look as sharp - though this latter point may be due to the 1280x1024 native res on 19" vs a 1024x768 on a 17" CRT, the game may well have been stretching textures to fit. I also didnt pay around with the Nvidia driver controls, I recall reading a thread elsewhere showing great results with colours from that.

While scrolling around there was noticably more blur on the TFT, but again it being a Dell i expect its 16 or 20ms response time. Fine for Civ4, but a no-go for a fast FPS game.

On the other hand, everything else seemed easier on the eye, text is crisper and there was no feeling of any strain (my CRT is at 100hz refresh). You dont have to fiddle for ages to get no moire, curved corners or focus.

To conclude, my CRT is getting a bit aged and I'm planning on getting a TFT- but a good one with 4ms or less response time and high contrast ratio.